Julia Barrie

On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. Maisie is invited into Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch as an adviser on the case and becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge, and will, to murder thousands of innocent people.

Thirty years have passed since Greta Marchmont left the Marchmont Hall. Now she finally returns, with amnesia and no memory of her past. But a walk through the wintry landscape leads to a disturbing discovery. Greta begins to search for the woman she once was and to do so, she must summon all of her courage…

In seventeenth-century Persia a young woman and her mother are left alone, and without money or a dowry. They travel to Isfahan to work for an uncle, a wealthy rug designer. The young woman develops into a talented carpet designer, but as her talent grows her chances of happiness fade. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

Following a gruelling operation in Paris, Liz Carlyle’s bosses post her to MI5’s counter-espionage desk, but they haven’t counted on the fallout from Putin’s incursions into the Ukraine. Liz needs to track down a Russian spy who has entered the UK before he completes his fatal mission.

When Suzanne was left, two weeks old, at the door of Nazareth House orphanage, she was abandoned by those who should have protected and loved her. But it was Nancy, a nanny at the orphanage, who was to provide all the love and support that a child could need, going on to fight for the right to adopt Suzanne and give her a mother figure for life. This is her story.

Liz Carlyle and her Counter Terrorism unit in MI5 have been charged with the task of watching the international under-the-counter arms trade and have become increasingly concerned that extremist Al-Qaeda jihadis are building their power base ready to launch an attack. As the pressure mounts, Liz and her team must intercept illegal weapons before they get into the wrong hands.

Izzy Dane lives in the sleepy village of Halfhidden with her aunt Debo, who runs the local kennels. Izzy's life isn’t particularly exciting, but that's just how she likes it. So what happens when someone forces Izzy to fall in love with life again? Can you make an omelette without breaking a few eggs?

Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There's just one survivor. She's seen the killer's face - but he's also seen hers. And he won't rest until he's eliminated the only witness to his crime. Alone, scared, trusting no one, she's running to where she feels safe - but it could be the most dangerous place of all...

No one feels safe when there's a murderer in their midst...

Ann Granger returns to her fan favourite series with the gripping sixteenth Mitchell and Markby novel, featuring her trademark strong and appealing characters, gentle wit and engrossing intrigue.

Superintendent Alan Markby and his wife Meredith have retired for the night when they are disturbed by a visitor. It's not the first time someone has called at the Old Vicarage in search of a priest, but in this case, having just found a dead body in the churchyard, Callum Henderson needs the police. Accompanying Callum to the graveyard, Alan declares that this has all the hallmarks of a murder scene.

News of the incident travels fast in the market town of Bamford, but no one seems willing to admit to knowing the dead man or how he ended up in the cemetery. As Alan and his team search for clues, Meredith becomes convinced that something must have been overlooked. Meanwhile, despite Alan's warnings, Callum appears to be in cahoots with the team's latest recruit, DS Beth Santos. While every lead points to yet more foul play, nothing can prepare Meredith and Markby for the shocking truth behind this mystery...  Book 16 of series.

It's 1946 and 17-year-old Laura Trelling is stagnating in her dilapidated Sussex family home. Then a chance encounter brings her a new life in pre-apartheid South Africa. Three years earlier, 16-year-old Gay Gibson is no less desperate to escape England. When their paths cross, they find their lives inextricably entangled, with fatal consequences.

Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, 'Hunter’s Moon' has been the Hamilton’s home for over fifty years. But now it's up for sale and estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets – and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past ...

When a rogue Russian spy warns her of a plot to hack into the West's military satellite systems, MI5's Liz Carlyle finds her past catching up with her. As Liz and her team hunt for a mole inside the MOD, the trail leads them from Geneva and into a labyrinth of international intrigue, in a race against time to stop the Cold War heating up once again...

Three children find the missing part of a belt. If used properly the dark lord can be summoned from his rest.

Maisie doesn't understand why her mother can't love her, but she knows that her life is deeply unhappy. When her stepfather George, leaves, Maisie has no protector, until she begins to escape into her own imagination. She first meets Hamilton as a lonely seven year old, but he has to remain a secret, for what would people think if she reveals her only friend is an imaginary horse?  Book 1 of series.

1382: Hildegaard, a nun, rides out for York and the Abbey of Meaux. The country is in a state of volatile peace after the peasants revolt. She encounters a gibbet with five corpses, and a little further on the body of a youth, brutally murdered. Who is he, and what is his connection to the hanged men?

Catherine Cookson's well-loved novels Hamilton and Goodbye Hamilton tell the story of Maisie, who invented an imaginary horse to keep her company through the long years of an unhappy marriage, and before she became a bestselling author. In this engaging sequel, Hamilton has vanished from Maisie's life and two human companions take his place. In the days of mourning that follow the death of her beloved second husband Nardy, Maisie takes comfort and joy in the company of the cheerful, bright-eyed little cockney boy called Harold.  Book 3 of series.

Now, a year later, she decides to adopt him, and begins to find happiness once more and rarely needs to escape from reality into her imagination. She is even beginning to hope that true love could strike twice. But life is never simple and an unexpected friendship with a curious man could leave Maisie in grave danger...

Nightingale Books, nestled in the idyllic Cotswold town of Peasebrook, is a dream come true for booklovers. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the bookshop open. The temptation to sell up is proving enormous – but what about the loyalty she owes to her customers...

Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins - she told nobody. Now she has another secret - the man she has fallen in love with, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When he vanishes, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he's not missing...

Christmas is coming, and life is busy for vet Maz Harwood. She has a beautiful baby boy, George, and she will soon be marrying fellow vet Alex Fox-Gifford. But between arranging the wedding, performing life-saving animal surgery, and taking care of George, Maz doesn't have much time left for Alex, and even if she did, he's working even harder than her. And as Alex won't do anything to make life easier, Maz has decided that she will have to take matters into her own hands. But Maz's solution has truly terrible consequences for them all, and as the wedding approaches, Maz realises that it will take a Christmas miracle to get her and Alex to the altar.

Teri has dated more men than she's had low-calorie, low-fat dinners, and she still hasn't found Mr Right. That is until she's literally knocked off her feet by Jamie Duncan as they rush to catch the same train from Euston station: the 18.07 from platform 8. It's not long before love blossoms and commuting takes on a whole new meaning. There's just one problem. Teri may have found Mr Right but he may not be Mr Available...

Nine-year-old Lucy is really pleased when Allegra Greenwood moves in next door and the girls quickly become friends. But when Allegra tells her that she is a ‘stardust spirit’ Lucy discovers a whole world of magic beyond her imagination. Two magical adventures about Lucy and her ‘stardust spirit’ friends.

When she’s fed up, Enna doodles. This time it’s a scribbly, hunchbacked, squatting figure. Just the way she feels in fact. Suddenly the figure winks at her, speaks, and jumps off the page. It’s alive with a mind of its own. Will it be a friend? She needs one.

On the cobbled streets of Bradford in 1931, Lily Briggs does all she can to keep trouble at bay for her and her family.

She works hard at Calvert Mill to make ends meet and take care of her parents and younger siblings. Saturday nights at the dance hall and dressmaking with her two best friends keep Lily upbeat, and now there's a blossoming romance with childhood friend Harry Bainbridge to put an extra spring in her step, too.

But then a run of misfortune threatens Lily's work, home and personal life, and she has to rely on the community at the mill to rally together for support. With so many others to worry about, will Lily always put them first or can she find her own happy ending?

Amateur detective Libby Sarjeant finds herself involved in a mystery, this time because of the death of her friend Fran's Aunt Eleanor. Echoes of the past clash with very 21st century motives, and once again, the Steeple Martin posse are on hand to give encouragement and advice.

After Chloe and her daughter are rescued from disaster by a man, Chloe decides she must find him again to thank him. But instead she comes across Nadine Caspian, who warns her that the man is dangerous and a compulsive liar. Chloe knows that the sensible choice would be to walk away. But she is too curious. What could Nadine have meant? Quick Reads.

Black February in the year 1383: The nun Hildegard is sent across Europe in search of a precious relic, the Cross of Constantine. She will need remarkable skills to survive such a dangerous quest. Many want her mission to fail, and one, above all, who plans a deadly revenge.

When pirates attack a cargo ship off the Somalian coast, one of them is found to be a British-born Pakistani. MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle is brought in to establish how and why a young British Muslim could end up onboard a pirate skiff in the Indian Ocean, armed with a Kalashnikov. After an undercover operative connected to the case turns up dead in Athens, it looks like piracy may be the least of the Service's problems...

TV producer Fliss Benson finds out she's going to be working on a documentary about miscarriages of justice involving cot-death mothers wrongly accused of murder. For reasons she has shared with nobody, this is the last project Fliss wants to be working on. And then one of the mothers is found dead at her home…

A blaze at an abandoned chapel turns out to be more than just arson when the body of a man who has been shot twice is discovered in the ashes. Detective Constable Rachel Bailey and her partner, DC Janet Scott must put aside their own troubles if they are to solve this murder investigation.

A luxury yacht arrives in Reykjavik harbour with nobody on board. What has happened to the crew, and to the family who were on board when it left Lisbon? Thora Gudmundsdottir is hired by the young father's parents to investigate, and is soon drawn deeper into the mystery.

Hope is just a child when she's orphaned, and as she grows up her dream is always to have a family of her own. When she meets and falls in love with Daniel Fallow, son of a successful businessman, she's quick to accept his proposal of marriage. But tragedy is just around the corner, and worse is to come when war is declared in 1939.

A bestselling author is drowned in her bath just days after being threatened by a seriously disturbed fan who has subsequently disappeared. DC Sukey Reynolds and her colleague DC Vicky Armstrong are given the task of finding her. But the apparently straightforward case becomes more complicated - with numerous twists and turns along the way.

East Berlin, 1975: Oberleutnant Karin Müller is called to investigate a girl's body at the foot of the Wall. It seems the girl was trying to escape - but from the West. The Stasi want her to discover the identity of the girl, but assure Müller the case is otherwise closed. But Müller doesn't realise that the trail she's following will lead her dangerously close to home…

Karin Müller from the murder squad in Berlin, is sent to Halle-Neustadt, where a pair of infant twins have gone missing. But Müller finds she is forbidden by the Stasi from publicising the disappearances, lest they tarnish the town's image. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking to rescue the twins alive…

City vet Maz Harwood has learned the hard way that love and work don't mix. So when an old friend asks her to look after her Devonshire practice for six months, Maz decides running away from London is her only option. But country life is trickier than she feared..

Rosie hates her life; she’s always getting into trouble, and she desperately tries to hide the fact that she can’t read properly. But everything changes when she is given a mysterious old watch and wakes up at Elizabeth I's court with the Spanish Armada approaching. When Rosie uncovers a spy she knows she must act and warn the Queen. Can she make it to the port before it’s too late?