Bøker av Kate Hatfield

A battered husband, a beautiful unhappy woman and a failed priest are brought together during a trial one cold, wet spring in the west of England. Melissa Wraxall thought that she was happy - until she was summoned to act as a juror in a murder trial. In court she had to listen to accounts of a horrifyingly violent marriage, but while the life of the tortured defendant in the dock seemed far away from her own sweet, golden existence, with a ravishing house in Bath, her successful small business, her handsome husband, loving mother and supportive friends, Melissa began to hear disturbing echoes of her own life in the evidence which unfolded. Suddenly, all the things which she had prized proved to be tinged with doubt and violence, and as the trial moved to its shocking conclusion she found herself having to judge her own actions - and those of the people she loved. 'A strong and compelling novel. I enjoyed it very much' Elizabeth Buchan

Lavinia often reflected that it was a decidedly mixed blessing to have married into the powerful Medworth family. To be a Medworth you had to be successful, intellectual and tough. You also had to join in all the tribal rituals - especially at Christmas. The whole family gathered at the large and inconvenient Tudor mansion in Yorkshire for two weeks of forced celebration: the Christmas play, the hunter trials, Midnight Mass in the chapel, endless entertaining. Lavinia couldn't help wishing that she might just spend time alone with Tom and their children. But they would not let her. As a Medworth, Tom was both successful - he was an ambitious government minister - and family minded. He was also committed, as all the Medworths were, to hunting. Then he became a target for a group of violent animal rights activists, and everything changed. Lavinia began to find out things about Tom that she had never known. She also started to learn about herself, about fear and about love . . .

Helena and Irene Webton could not be more different. Thirty-year-old Helena is a successful restorer of the antique furniture; she is also watchful, damaged, and so private that even her lover has to be kept at a distance. Irene, her stepmother, is flamboyant, feisty, fat, and fed up with her role as the well-behaved wife of a High Court judge. Her first play is about to go into rehearsal, and she determined to build a career in the theatre before it's too late. They both adore Irene's son, Ivo, whose gilded good looks and cleverness ease his path through life. But not everyone shares their devotion, and there are those who believe something much more sinister lies behind his mask of charm and brilliance. When one of them tries to persuade Helena that Ivo could be involved in crime, she is faced with a horrible dilemma. Should she ignore the evidence, confront him - or involve the police and risk disaster for them all?