Maggie Stokes

The enduring story of the children, the breadcrumb trail and the gingerbread house is brought to life by master storyteller, Neil Gaiman. Who better to retell the Brothers Grimm's greatest, and perhaps darkest, fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel?

The life, crimes and bloody end of John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer were straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster – and Marnie Palmer, his wife of forty years, had a front row seat. 

The poor Solihull lad, whose childhood home was so cold the goldfish froze, fought his way up to a lifestyle of private jets, yachts and Ferraris, thanks to a home-made gold smelter in his back garden and a multi-million-pound timeshare empire. By the turn of the millennium, Palmer was 105th on the Sunday Times Rich List, but Goldfinger had a long list of enemies.

In Goldfinger and Me, his widow Marnie shares her unique insight into his roller coaster life, from dealing scrap in Bristol, to the Brink’s-Mat raid that changed their lives – ending with his downfall of betrayals, jail stints and his still unsolved assassination.

Whether you are a vampire or a ghost, a werewolf or a yeti, a bedtime routine is absolutely essential for a good night's sleep. Adults and children will fall in love with Blob and the whole cast of monsters as they brush their teeth, put on their pyjamas, and get tucked up in bed.

Cordelia Gray is twenty-two and sole inheritor of the Pryde Detective Agency. Her first assignment finds her hired by Sir Ronald Callender to investigate the death of his son Mark, a young Cambridge student found hanged in mysterious circumstances. Cordelia is required to delve into the hidden secrets of the Callender family and soon realizes it is not a case of suicide, and that the truth is entirely more sinister.

When wealthy divorcée, Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in, Agatha gets her first real case. Death threats, blackmail and physical attack soon follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do.  Book 15 of series.

Outside a London theatre a throng of people wait for the last performance of a popular musical. But as the doors open at last, a man in the queue is found murdered by the deadly thrust of a stiletto. Inspector Alan Grant investigates and tenaciously pursues his suspects throughout the length of Britain and the labyrinth of London.

Life is bleak for Rose Lucas, a spirited, intelligent girl, born into a large family in the slums of pre-war Birmingham. But her friendship with Diana, daughter of a vicar from middle-class Moseley, gives her hope. She learns to aspire to a different kind of existence, vowing never to become a child-bearing drudge like her mother. Life, however, never follows the way of dreams...

From the imaginations of Gothic short-story writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, and later weirdists such as H.P. Lovecraft came one of the most complex of villains-the mad scientist.

Promethean Horrors presents some of the greatest mad scientists ever created, as each cautionary tale explores the consequences of pushing nature too far.

These savants take many forms: there are malcontents who strive to create poisonous humans; technologists obsessed with genetic splicing; mesmerists interested in the way consciousness operates after death, and inventors who believe in a hidden reality.

From essential Gothic stories by Mary Shelley, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Edgar Allan Poe to later forays into the weird and psychedelic by E. Nesbit, H. P. Lovecraft and George Langelaan, the classic figure of the mad scientist is reanimated in these pages along with every untethered ambition and its calamitous consequences.

When Clarice Beech finds her friend Peter Ramsey dead in his kitchen, she believes he's succumbed to a fatal heart attack.

Peter, who lived in one of the five cottages on Magpie Row in the Lincolnshire Wolds, was a keen supporter of stray cats - which made him very unpopular with the neighbours. And after Chris Morris, an alcoholic neighbour, disrupts Peter's funeral, insisting Peter was murdered - and he knows who the murderer is - Clarice discovers there's no shortage of possible suspects among the Magpie Row inhabitants.

Who, behind Magpie Row's idyllic façade, might have had murder in mind? And, after his outburst at Peter's funeral, where is Chris? And is Clarice, with her mission to tend to Peter's strays, as well as uncover the truth about her friend's death, putting herself in danger's way?

Book 4 in the Clarice Beech series.

Freddie Sullivan, having failed to persuade his cousin Julia to marry him, goes to Bath in desperate search of a rich wife so that he can pay off his debts. Clara Danforth, plain and wheelchair-bound, seems the ideal choice, and Freddie sets about wooing her with his good looks, flattery, and considerable charm. Clara is not deceived for a moment, but she encourages him anyway as for once she wants to possess something beautiful in her life.

Lady Harriet Wingham, a widow, takes her young daughter to London to stay with friends. There she becomes reacquainted with the Duke of Tenby, the man who broke her heart six years earlier when he offered her carte blanche instead of marriage. This time he has honourable intentions toward her, but Harriet misunderstands and impulsively agrees to become his mistress. And so begins an affair disastrous to them both, for their feelings for each other cannot be satisfied by such a casual and clandestine arrangement.

Pontypridd, in 1939, blackouts and conscription shatter family life. Three women are separated, possibly forever from the men they love.

Jenny Powell's husband, Eddie, abandoned her on her wedding night. Italian Tina Ronconi's sweetheart enlists, just as she and she and her entire family face internment as enemy aliens. Bethan's doctor husband, Andrew is called up, leaving her, pregnant with a toddler to care for.

All they can do is wait. Then comes news of the Allies' retreat at Dunkirk and, for some life will never be the same again.  Book 5 of series.

Brighton, 1871. Psychics and mediums have become all the rage in fashionable Brighton. But can they really communicate with the dead?

Mina Scarletti, a local authoress, is sceptical. But when her recently widowed mother insists on hosting a séance, she agrees to take part.

Miss Eustace certainly seems convincing, and there is no doubt that she has amassed plenty of loyal followers, but why are the meetings always held in the dark? And why is her address kept a secret?

Plagued with doubts and concerned that her mother and her vulnerable friends may be falling prey to conmen and tricksters, Mina decides to investigate. Under the ploy of wishing to communicate with her dead father’s – Mr Scarletti’s – ghost, she leaves no stone unturned in her quest for the truth.

Book 1 in the Mina Scarletti series.

When pretty but avaricious Lee Montgomery disappears in the little seaside town of Taviscombe, her fiancé Charles Richardson enlists Mrs Malory’s help. The dauntless Mrs Malory soon suspects the worst. Little does she realize the terrible secrets her investigation will reveal …

Sheila Malory is swept up in the organization of the Taviscombe Festival, and has to spend more and more time in the company of the unpleasant Adrian Palgrave whose overbearing manner makes him unpopular with almost everyone. But the village is shocked when his lifeless and bloody body is found. Mrs Malory has impressive credentials when it comes to solving murders, but with so many suspects, she hardly knows where to begin.

1945. Finally, peace has been declared. Cathie hardly dares believe that Alex, the fiance she has not seen for nearly two years, is coming home. And, finally, life can begin again for Cathie and the orphaned baby in her care.

But the Alex who returns is not the kind, loving man Cathie remembers. He's cold, selfish, sometimes even frightening. So Cathie has a choice: stand by him, and try to contain his violent temper? Or hold her tiny baby close...and run from the man she has yearned for.

Home is Where the Heart Is is a heart-wrenchingly, poignant new saga from Freda Lightfoot, set in the aftermath of World War II.

When Sam Dee moves to the beautiful Wiltshire village of Bishops Well, he expects a quiet life of country walks and pub lunches. OK, so his new neighbour, Maggie Kaye, is a little peculiar, but she's very nice - and his old pal Richard Ruta lives just down the road. But when Richard throws one of his famous parties, things take a sinister turn. Sam, Maggie and the rest of the guests are dumbfounded when Richard falls down dead. A horrible tragedy - or a cunningly planned murder? With a village full of suspects - and plenty of dark secrets - just who exactly would want to bump off their host? Is there a connection to another mysterious death, nearly twenty years before? Armed with her local knowledge, Maggie - with Sam's reluctant but indispensable help - is soon on the case. But when the body count starts to rise, will sleepy Bishops Well ever be the same again?

When Maggie Kaye and Sam Dee join the Bishops Well archaeological dig, they are as surprised as everyone else to unearth a body that was buried there less than fifty years ago. It can't possibly be the remains of an ancient Celt.

Maggie, with her usual flair - and psychic intuition - is convinced that there is more to this discovery than meets the eye. And some Bishops residents seem to know a lot more about the case than they are willing to let on.

But nobody is as shocked as Maggie when a face from the past - a face she thought she'd never see again - appears in the village, and long-hidden secrets begin to surface.

With danger at her door, and Sam by her side, can Maggie uncover the truth before it's too late?

In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. To live, you must follow the rules. If you don't the punishment is simple and deadly - you are allowed outside. Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.

Ellen Tyson is living the perfect village life in Goswell. But when her stepdaughter moves in, her fragile idyll is fractured.

At seventeen, Annabelle is surly, withdrawn, and adamant that she isn't, and never will be, part of her father's second family. As Ellen battles with Annabelle, new tensions arise with her husband Alex, shattering the happiness she'd once so carelessly enjoyed. Then Ellen finds a death certificate from the 1870s hidden under the floorboards, and its few stark lines awaken a curiosity in her. Ellen tries to involve Annabelle in her search for answers. But as they dig deeper into the circumstances of Sarah Mills' untimely death, truths both poignant and shocking come to light - about the present as well as the past.

Interlacing the lives of Ellen Tyson and Sarah Mills, The Second Bride is a captivating and moving story about what it means to be a family, and the lengths we will go to for the people we love.

Lonely and stagnating in a soulless job, thirty-seven-year-old Marin Ellis is in need of a new start - but she is not prepared for the one she is given, when, after her estranged father and his second wife die in a car accident, she is made guardian of her fifteen-year-old half-sister Rebecca.

The half-sisters are practically strangers, and their life in Hampshire is stilted and strange. At Rebecca's pleading they move to the picturesque village of Goswell on the Cumbrian coast, settling into the charming Bower House on the edge of church property. When a door to a walled garden captures Rebecca's interest, Marin becomes determined to open it and discover what is hidden beneath the brambles. She enlists the help of local gardener Joss Fowler, and together they begin to uncover the garden's surprising secrets.

In 1919, nineteen-year-old Eleanor Sanderson, daughter of Goswell's vicar, is grieving the loss of her beloved brother Walter, killed just days before the Armistice was signed. As winter passes into spring, her mood remains bleak despite her attempts to alleviate the emptiness she feels. When her father decides to hire someone to help Eleanor restore the once beloved, but now neglected, vicarage gardens, she is enchanted by the possibility of a new garden-and the gardener her father hires, Yorkshireman Jack Taylor. Jack understands the nature of Eleanor's grief more than anyone else seems to, and as they spend time together, a surprising-and unsuitable-friendship unfolds...

The Lost Garden is a luminous novel about tragic secrets, the chance for forgiveness, and the healing that can come from a new start.

Early Summer, 1907, and the sparkling new concert hall, The Alexandria, is about to open its doors for the first time in the seaside resort of Nethergate. Dorinda Alexander has recruited company members from the London stage to join her existing concert party and is looking forward to their first season as The Alexandrians.

But when one of the company is murdered, Dorinda’s past threatens to destroy her new life. The local police inspector is determined to find her guilty, and the murder seems an impossible task to solve, until an enigmatic Scotland Yard detective shows up…

When the recently widowed Lady Amelia Washington comes to the seaside town of Nethergate's Alexandria theatre, its proprietor Dorinda has her suspicions that this is more than just a passing visit. 

Dorinda's old friend Lady Ivy has suggested to Amelia that Nethergate's quiet seaside setting would make the perfect retreat from the pressures of life in society - and with both ladies having a background in the music halls, Dorinda's concert party, The Alexandrians, seems like the perfect place to blend in and get away from it all.

It seems like a reasonable story - but in that case, why are the police so interested in speaking to Lady Amelia - and what secret is she trying to hide hide?

The Alexandria, the popular seaside concert hall owned and run by Dorinda Alexander, introduces a controversial male impersonator to the stage. Played by the very well known Jessie James, this entertainer is very much in the vein of Vesta Tilley. Chased from her home by her strict Baptist father, Jessie has been sent to Dorinda by Amy, the former Lady Washington, now Mrs Jeremy Coutts, who has said that The Alexandria is a good place to hide. But when your act is so unconventional, you can't stay hidden forever, and once again, handsome detective Jack Colyer is there to help Dorinda and The Alexandrians!

Mary Owen is forced to seek work in order to support her elderly aunt. Catching the eye of Will, a young waiter at Letts restaurant, she strikes it lucky: Will is desperate to meet her acquaintance and persuades the head chef to take Mary on in the kitchen.

It is not only Will who takes an interest in Mary. After spending two years in the trenches, Henry Lett has taken on the running of the family's famous London restaurant since his father got sick. Henry is intrigued by Mary's mysterious beauty and promoted her to an office job. But before he can make a move, his younger brother enters the scene. Charming, irresponsible Geoffrey, with film-star looks and money to burn, seems to have everything a girl on the brink of womanhood could desire.

Book 1 in the Lett Family series.

Mary Lett has been struggling since the death of her baby daughter. Her husband Geoffrey cannot understand why she finds it so difficult to let go of the memory of their child and seeks solace elsewhere.

In an effort to forget his own feelings for Mary, Geoffrey's brother, Henry, marries another woman. Meanwhile, Will considers marriage to be out of the question.

When it becomes clear that Mary and Geoffrey have really hit the rocks, both Henry and Will are presented with another chance at happiness, but are either of them able to take it?

When Henry Lett dies, he leaves a restaurant that is far from thriving. His nephew, Edwin, is loath to see the once-famous Letts pass out of the family's hands, and he persuades his aunt to sell her shares and give him a chance to get the restaurant back on its feet.

As Edwin prepares to marry Helen, the lovely young daughter of restaurant manager, William Goodridge, it seems everything has fallen into place. But the flame of attraction between Helen and Hugh, Edwin's cousin, simmers in the background. A fearful Will watches over the trio, waiting and wondering when to reveal a secret that will reopen old wounds.

Book 3 in the Lett Family series.

Early in 1938, with the threat of WW2 little more than a shadow on the horizon, Rose Hammond marries Tom Benest, whom she hardly knows, and leaves London to go to live with Tom on his family’s farm in Jersey. There, she’s welcomed by his parents as she attempts to adjust to her new life, but meets with open hostility from Tom’s sister, Kathleen.

Less than two years later, the lives of the family are turned upside down when Jersey is cut loose from British protection. The Germans move in and seize control of the island, forcing the islanders into a perilous situation that will test their endurance and resourcefulness.

As the German Occupation tightens its grip on life on the island, Tom and Rose are torn apart in a situation of unimaginable heartbreak, which calls for the greatest of courage, and a powerful determination to survive.

Wycliffe investigates the murder of a young woman at an artists' colony in St. Ives. But he soon discovers that several members of the colony have very good reasons for not wanting the police poking into their affairs . . .

After her years in domestic service, Winifred Foley married and started a family, but she continued to long for her home in the Forest of Dean. Determined to give their children the rural upbringing she had enjoyed, the couple moved to an isolated cottage not far from the Forest. Even in the 1950s it was a primitive life of hard work on the land, struggling to make ends meet, and finding strength in the embrace of a loving family.

Katherine Mansfield is known for her tender humanity, her clarity, her wit and her courageous gaiety. Of this collection of stories, many are set in the author's native New Zealand, others in England and the French Riviera. All are revelations of the unspoken, half-understood emotions that make up everyday experience.

1938: Sixteen-year-old Kate Monroe is living in Birmingham, far away from her family in Ireland. Her parents have always doted on her siblings, Sally and James, leaving no time for her. Kate harbours a dark secret, a deep longing for her cousin. Feelings she must suppress in this deeply staunch Irish-Catholic community - even if they are reciprocated. Crazed by her infatuation, Kate is left with no option, other than to up-roots once more and seek out a new life, far away from the temptation of Tim Monroe. Will Kate find true love, or will distance make the heart grow fonder?

When Joanie Littler moves back home to look after her mother, she quickly falls for their stylish neighbour Susan, who has an admirable lounge but never invites Joanie to her patio parties. Finding herself with just her cat Edith Piaf for company, our heroine invents a new lover. 'Freddy' will provide hilarious material for Joanie's proposed comedy act and her passport back into the world of couples.

One day, Shirley Weeks' secret fiance, Guy Lamb, stepped off a plane at Heathrow airport and disappeared. For eighteen years she has kept the flame of love and hope alive. Without word or any sign from him, Shirley continues to work at the decaying mansion of Cartegena, which should have been Guy's inheritance. Shirley feels her life is governed by her own mother and the elderly Mrs Lamb. And then Frank comes into her life, but even he has secrets of his own. What will happen if Guy returns? Or if Frank goes away? This is a powerful and mysterious story of a woman trapped by her past.

When Lucy Entwhistle's father dies suddenly, she is left alone in the world struggling to find her place in life. But on the very same day she happens to meet the recently widowed Everard Wemyss. Their shared grief brings them together as they find in each other someone to talk to and in whom to confide, and Lucy finds a comforting hand to guide and protect her. As Wemyss' control over Lucy strengthens, an engagement seems imminent, only Lucy's aunt seems to apprehend some danger in the unsettling Wemyss. Returning from their honeymoon, Lucy takes up her place as mistress of 'The Willows', the Wemyss family home. But the spectre of Wemyss's first wife seems to hang heavy in the air as Lucy takes over the dead wife's sitting room and marital bed. With Everard's ever increasing controlling behaviour, the claustrophobic atmosphere deepens, and Lucy becomes more obsessed with the mysterious Vera. The oppressive situation threatens to build to crisis level. How did Vera really die? Can Lucy ever be happy at 'The Willows'?

In her memoir, Mary Wood shares her amusing coming-of-age journey to overcome religious dogma in post-war London during the ever-changing 1950s and 1960s. She offers a witty glimpse into one woman's entertaining journey as she fights to hold onto her identity, discover her passions in life, and ultimately achieve her true destiny.