Polly Edsell

Naomi is trying to start a new life after years of Alexander controlling - and draining - her finances. Will she be able to achieve the independence she craves?

Alice's dreams came true when she married sweetheart Daniel. Now he has returned to the war and Alice misses him terribly, but she is delighted to discover that she's carrying his child.

For Kate, life with her dysfunctional family on Brimbles Farm has never been easy but she now has Land Girls Pearl and Ruby to help, giving her more time for her friends. She's also in love with pilot Leo. But what sort of shadow will be cast over the lives of all at Brimbles Farm when her brother returns from the war with terrible injuries?

As ever, the Wartime Bookshop is a source of community and comfort. But disaster is about to strike...

Book 3 in the Wartime Bookshop series.

March 1914. When talented artist Isobel embarks on a journey to Egypt, it's to reunite her best friend Alice with her husband, Wilfred - and to use the stunning sights of Cairo as inspiration for her own paintings.

A whirlwind romance was the last thing she expected, but when Isobel meets Wilfred's handsome brother, Edward, neither can deny the strong connection between them - especially when unexpected tragedy strikes, leaving them all reeling.

Just as they get to grips with their grief, WW1 erupts, and the lovers are forced to separate. They promise to meet again in London. But when Edward is listed as 'missing - presumed dead' only weeks after landing in France, Isobel is devastated, unmarried and on the brink of ruin. She has only one way to save her honour... but it means betraying the love she holds so dear.

The village of Churchwood has never needed The Wartime Bookshop, or its community, more. But when the bookshop comes under threat at the worst possible time, can Alice, Kate and Naomi pull together to keep spirits high? Kate has always found life on Brimbles Farm difficult, but she is struggling more than ever to find time for the bookshop, for her friends - and especially for handsome pilot Leo Kinsella. Can two Land Girls help? Or will they be more trouble than they're worth?

Naomi has found new friends and purpose through the bookshop and is happier than she's been in a long time - until she finds evidence that her husband is being unfaithful. With old insecurities rearing up, she needs to uncover the truth. Alice worries for her fiancé Daniel away fighting in the war and frets over the loss of her financial independence following an injury to her hand. With no job opportunities in Churchwood, might she find work somewhere else?

Maisie Cooper is looking for peace and quiet. But the arrival of a troupe of actors for a new production at the local theatre turn her best laid plans upside down.

Among them is the young French actress, Adélaïde Amour, who appeals to Maisie for help as she struggles to prepare for her new role.

As opening night approaches, a terrible crime is committed, and a body is found concealed behind the scenes in the theatre.

Can Maisie unravel a real-life plot worthy of a great play? Or will the killer strike again?

Book 3 in the Maisie Cooper series.

It's been 18 years since Ava spent the summer on the Greek island of Corfu, but she has never forgotten what happened during those months - or who she left behind.

Now single, estranged from her family, and preparing to wave her daughter off to university, Ava's life seems a million miles away from the one she dreamed about as a teenager - a life now being lived by her sister instead.

When Ava decides to return to Corfu for the summer, she knows she must finally face the place and the people that broke her heart. But with old resentments festering, long-buried secrets lurking, and familiar feelings resurfacing, it looks set to be a holiday that will change all their lives forever. . .

It is the summer of 1934 when MI6 receives intelligence that two German scientists have made a breakthrough in germ warfare. British agent Elena Standish must return to Berlin to prevent unimaginable horror and, with the help of her trusted friend, Jacob Ritter, embark upon a mission fraught with fear and uncertainty. 

Meanwhile, her grandfather's old adversary Johann Paulus has risen to power as an adviser to Hitler. By his side is his loyal supporter Hans Beckendorff, who is married to Elena's childhood friend. But when Hans witnesses the bloodshed and atrocities of the Night of the Long Knives, he is torn between ambition and the realisation that he must protect his family from harm.

The stabbing of irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith fails to stir up grief in anyone - least of all his family, which is no wonder considering the way he had treated them all during the fateful weekend. He had disinherited his son, humiliated his wife, refused to help his financially stricken nephew and made no secret of his loathing for his son's fiancee, a cabaret dancer. Inspector Harding picks his way through a mass of familial discontent to find the culprit - and find much more besides.  Book 3 of series.

Alice is nursing an injured hand and a broken heart when she moves to the village of Churchwood at the start of WWII. She is desperate to be independent but worries that her injuries will make that impossible. Kate lives with her family on Brimbles Farm, where her father and brothers treat her no better than a servant. With no mother or sisters, and shunned by the locals, Kate longs for a friend of her own. Naomi is looked up to for owning the best house in the village. But privately, she carries the hurts of childlessness, a husband who has little time for her and some deep-rooted insecurities. With war raging overseas, and difficulties to overcome at home, friendship is needed now more than ever. Can the war effort and a shared love of books bring these women - and the community of Churchwood - together?

In 1947, returning to the UK with two young children to support, Margaret Durrell starts a boarding house in Bournemouth. But any hopes of respectability are dashed as the tenants reveal themselves to be a host of eccentrics: from a painter of nudes to a pair of glamorous young nurses whose late-night shifts combined with an ever-revolving roster of gentleman callers leading to a neighbourhood rumour that Margo is running a brothel. Margo's own two sons, Gerry and Nicholas, prove to be every bit as mischievous as their famous Uncle Gerald - and he himself returns periodically with weird and wonderful animals, from marmosets to monkeys, that are quite unsuitable for life in a Bournemouth garden.

The Mordaunts aren't like most families . . .For one, their family home is Roxborough Hall - a magnificent, centuries-old mansion in the Norfolk countryside. For another, the house isn't passed down from parent to child - but rather to the family member deemed most worthy. Cecily Mordaunt is dead. On the evening of her funeral, her family will gather for dinner and each will be given a letter, revealing who is the next custodian of Roxborough Hall. The house is a burden, a millstone, a full-time job . . . but they all want it. And some are willing do anything to get it. One family. Eight letters. Who will get what they deserve?