Jilly Bond

There's nothing like the contentment and security that money can bring. That's how it is for Lucinda, Elizabeth and Flora, living the risk-free dream in the glittering eighties. Houses, holidays, happiness - everything is there for the taking.

The financial slide comes crashing into their lives with a vengeance, and everything they've built up so carefully dissolves into a pool of hopelessness, taking self-respect and relationships with it.

Now, the secrets will out and within a year, someone will be dead.

In a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan's ambitions. When she volunteers to read to a blind, esteemed anthropologist in a nursing home, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers - research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague.

A delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, An Academic Question is prime Barbara Pym territory.

Angelica has the world at her feet: a gorgeous French husband, two beautiful children and a successful career. One night at a gossipy dinner party, Angelica’s husband harmlessly flirts with another woman and Angelica herself encounters Jack, a handsome and charismatic man from South Africa. Angelica and Jack are irrevocably drawn together and cannot ignore the sparks that fly between them. From her glamorous life in London, to the lush vineyards of South Africa, Angelica finds herself on a journey that will risk all she has worked for.

London, 1938. Bookseller Gertie Bingham is facing difficult times, having just lost her beloved husband, Harry, and with a lingering sadness at never having been able to have a child of her own. Struggling to face running the bookshop she and Harry opened together, Gertie is preparing to sell up and move away when she is asked if she would be willing to take in a young Jewish refugee from Germany. Gertie is unsure and when sullen teenager Hedy Fischer arrives, Gertie fears she has nothing left to give the troubled girl.

But when the German bombers come and the lights go out over London, Gertie and Hedy realise that joining forces will make them stronger, and that books have the power to bring young and old together and unite a community in need in its darkest hour...

When Mark Hannah finds a beautiful ship's figurehead he traces its origins to a small Cornish port. There he meets restorer Gabrielle Ellis, and the attraction between them is immediate and mutual. As neither wants to break up their marriages and families, they begin a secret relationship in London.

Angelica's running away again, whilst Katie and Ross are trying to save their marriage. Meanwhile Lauren is dreaming of the perfect first dance at her wedding. As friendships are formed over the foxtrot at the evening dance classes they all attend, everyone starts to find themselves learning important lessons about life and love.

Following on from The Siege (6023): Leningrad in 1952 is a city recovering from war, where Andrei, a young doctor and Anna, a nursery teacher, are forging a life together. Trying hard to avoid coming to the attention of the authorities their private happiness is threatened in a country ruled by whispers and watchfulness where betrayal can come from those closest to you.

A dazzling, shocking novel that speaks to our times, drawing on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys.

Alice Samuel might be old and sharp-tongued, but she's no fool. Visiting her new neighbours in her Fenland village, she suspects Squire Throckmorton's household is not as God-fearing as it seems and finds the children troubled. What she cannot foresee is that all five daughters will succumb in turn to a terrifying affliction and accuse her of witchcraft - who else to blame than an ugly, black-capped woman with mysterious healing skills?

The Throckmortons' maid Martha, uncomfortably aware of strange goings-on in the household herself, is reluctant to believe that Alice is a witch. Yet visiting scholars attracted by the news are convinced, evidence mounts and soon the entire village is swept up in the frenzied persecution of one of their own community.

Exploring a neglected episode in English history to powerful effect, The Bewitching chillingly conveys the brutal tribalism that can erupt in a closed society and how victims can be made to believe in their own wickedness.

Delve inside this CHRISTMAS STOCKING choc-full of perfectly themed, never-before-published seasonal short stories perfect for anyone who loves romance, humour and happy-ever-after endings.

When young governess Kate Malvern finds herself unemployed, she is taken in by Minerva Broome, the aunt she has never met, and whisked away to the majestic country home of Staplewood. However, things are not as they seem: strange things start to happen in the manor and Staplewood soon turns from an inviting stately house to a cold and gloomy mansion with a dreadful secret!

Violet Hetherington has taken the rash step of joining a transatlantic cruise ship to New York to visit Edwin, an old friend. As she makes the six day crossing, she relives the traumatic events that led to her losing Edwin's friendship, and abandoning her career as a poet, for the safety of marriage and domesticity.

Returning from a brief holiday, Juno Browne is relieved to find that no one has been murdered in the picturesque Dartmoor town of Ashburton while she was away. Though uncharitable friends suggest that the quiet was simply due to her absence. Just as she’s settling back into her routine at the antiques shop and as domestic helper and dog walker, the brutal killing of local journalist Sandy Thomas shocks the town and Juno is swept up into a fresh murder inquiry.

What was Sandy really investigating on the night she was killed? With a spate of dog kidnappings to contend with as well, the Devon countryside never felt less tranquil, and inevitably Juno’s amateur sleuthing skills will be called upon once again…

Book 6 in the Devon Mysteries.

As amateur sleuth Juno Browne’s Sunday gets to a chilly start in the delightful Devon town of Ashburton, a murder is brewing. As always seems to happen, Juno is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she discovers the body of Bob the Blacksmith, his dead hands entwined with a sprig of elder.

Juno begins to see links with previous ‘accidental’ deaths, although her way through the cloud of suspicion is further obscured by those who insist on links to ancient folklore. Determined to take the evidence with a generous pinch of salt, Juno navigates pagan ceremonies and astrological connections that turn up yet more bodies on a deadly path to the truth.

Book 7 in the Devon Mysteries.

Mercia, 788 AD. In the grand Saxon halls of Mercia, King Offa rules with cold ambition. His youngest daughter Eadburh is destined for an arranged marriage, but with reckless spirit her heart is taken by a Welsh prince, a man she can never be matched with and who is quickly and cruelly taken from her. Eadburh inherited her father's ruthless ways but it's the gifts passed down from her mother that are far more dangerous. She is determined to carve her own place in the world, yet her path could cause war.

Offa's Dyke, 202. In a cottage hidden amongst the misty Welsh hills of Offa's Dyke, Bea Dalloway is called to help Simon Armstrong, who is searching for peace. Instead he finds himself disturbed by unsettling noises and visions.It isn't long before Bea is also swept up by haunting dreams. The past is whispering to them, calling out for the truth to be told at last. And as dreams and reality weave closer together, Bea and Simon must be strong to resist the pull of the past - and its desire for revenge...

A grey dawn in Rome, 1943: Two young women, complete strangers to each other, lock eyes for a moment. Chiara Ravello, is about to flee the occupied city for the safety of the hills. The other has been herded on to a truck with her young children, and will shortly be driven off into the darkness. Before she has time to think about what she is doing, Chiara makes a decision that changes her life for ever ...

Ginny, the young wife of an Opposition MP, is entirely content with her life in the constituency home. So when she overhears gossip of her husband's affair, it is a shattering blow. She decides that there is only one way to stop being a perpetual victim of the system, and that is to become its master. Ginny will not be satisfied until she is the wife of the Prime Minister.

1936: When Aster turns 21, she receives a letter that will turn her world upside down. With the comfort of her mother's treasured flower book, she travels to London to unearth the secrets of her childhood..

Helen Kovac’s research into the Nazis in Eastern Europe leads to her murder. Her friend Faith retraces the dead woman’s steps, accompanied by a journalist who is investigating her grandfather, Marek, a refugee of WWII.

Gina Makepiece and her sister Sally have inherited a stall in the French House - an antiques centre nestled in the heart of the English countryside. Its grumpy owner, Matthew Ballinger is less than happy with the whirlwind that has arrived on his doorstep. The last thing either of them want is to fall in love. But will a trip to France change their minds?

The Gardens of Delight brochure promises the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful gardens in Italy. Keen gardener Helen is tempted to visit the gardens in the Lake Como area. But is it only the gardens that will tempt her?

In a tiny stained-glass shop in the hidden backstreets of Westminster lies the cracked, sparkling image of an angel. Fran Morrison helps craftsman Zac restore the shattered church window. As they reassemble the dazzling shards of coloured glass, they uncover an extraordinary love story from the Victorian past, sparked from the window's creation.

Somerset 1936 and baby Hope is the outcome of her mother’s adultery. She is secretly taken in by a loving warm family in a nearby village. She becomes a nurse which takes her to the battlefields of the Crimea. Unaware of her true identity Hope returns to England to face the legacy of her birth.

On a street in the North of England ordinary people, doing every day things, lead normal lives, often interconnecting yet never really connecting. But when a summer evening is shattered by a terrible event, those who witness it will never be the same again.

Without noticing, Esther Fairchild has become a prisoner of routine. Living with her brother she illustrates children's books in the day and works as a waitress at night. Every week she visits her father, and every fortnight she meets her married lover. Then one day she encounters a face in a crowd…

As an heir to the Plantagenets, Margaret of York is seen by the King's mother as a powerful threat to the Tudor claim to the throne. Caught between the old and the new, Margaret must find her own way, concealing deep within her the knowledge that an old curse cast upon all the Tudors is slowly coming true...

On a beautifully restored barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu runs a bookshop or, rather, a 'literary apothecary', for this bookseller possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers. The only person he is unable to cure, it seems, is himself...

Set in England in the 1950s, at the start of the rock and roll era, this is a charming story of 17-year-old Penelope Wallace and her eccentric family. There's her beautiful widowed mother, her younger brother who's obsessed with Elvis, and a large crumbling ancestral home. Oh, and there's her best friend's cousin, Henry… Richard & Judy Bookclub

When a number of strays from a rescue centre are matched with new owners, it's not just the dogs who are in need of a second chance. As the new owners cross paths on their regular walks they quickly move from awkward nods of recognition to something more. The lives of the dogs and the dog owners become interwoven and linked.

Harriet Swift has the perfect life - she is thirty-two with a satisfying career, her own flat and a new boyfriend. When her sister is killed, Harriet gives up her ordered life to help look after her niece and nephew. Moving back isn't easy, but she starts to discover things about the family she never believed possible.

In the tradition of Sarah Waters, this is an historical novel about an orphan girl’s journey form poverty to film stardom, set against the backdrop of World War 1 Berlin, the cabaret era and the run-up to World War 2. Richard & Judy Bookclub

Jen has no idea that her neat life is about to unravel. With one misplaced voicemail from her husband, she discovers that her marriage is a sham. Numb with shock, she's hiding from the future when she's stunned by a face from the past.

Violet Dimond has delivered many of the town children - and often their children - in her capacity as handywoman. But Violet's calling is dying out as, with medicine's advances, the good old ways are no longer good enough. For Violet and her adopted daughter, Grace, the coming war will bring more upheaval into their lives: can they endure it, or will they, like so many, be swept aside by history's tide?

Two apparently harmless women reside in cottages one building apart in the idyllic English village of Little Camborne. Miss Finch and Miss Swallow, cousins, have put their pasts behind them and settled into conventional country life. But when a mysterious foreigner, Theodore Cadmus - from Caldera, a Mediterranean island nobody has heard of - moves into the middle cottage, the safe monotony of their lives is shattered.

The fates of the two cousins and Mr Cadmus, and those of Little Camborne and Caldera, become inextricably enmeshed. Long-hidden secrets and long-held grudges threaten to surface, drawing all into a vortex of subterfuge, theft, violence, mayhem . . . and murder.

Sheba Hart is having an illicit affair with a pupil. But when her colleague Barbara Covett becomes her comfort and confidance, Barbara turns as treacherous as any lover. Richard & Judy Bookclub.

When Pru travels to Vietnam to visit her daughter she is thrust into a life-or-death adventure.

When Kate Ivory returns from holiday and visits her mother, Roz, she sends her away insisting that her new friends, the Freemans, are taking care of her. Something about the couple disturbs Kate, so she decides to look into their background. She uncovers a countrywide trail of deception and soon realises that her mother may not be the only one in danger...