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A witty and poignant chiller about the evil of gossip and the sin of indifference. Father Christopher Pardoe is a good priest. He cares about his parishioners. He is also a human being-and is thus saddled with man's inherent weaknesses. Is it a bit odd, then, how much time the good Father has been spending at the house of a certain young, single mother called Julie Norris? And why, during each of his visits, are Julie's bedroom curtains always closed? Julie looks to be pregnant again. Just who could that father be? As nasty rumours begin to scorch the parish phone lines, Father Pardoe is suspended from St. Catherine's, and Cosmo Horrocks, the West Yorkshire Chronicle's shameless, muckraking journalist, exploits the story in a big way. Nothing goes over better than a juicy sex-and-the-church scandal, except, perhaps, murder. Do Father Pardoe and Julie protest too much? Why did Julie's parents throw her out and disown her? Is she really as bad as they say? And what, exactly, does Cosmo Horrocks hear in that London-to-Leeds dining car that makes him tingle with excitement? A tale of chastity besmirched? This story could make his year. But will it lead to tragedy? And, if so, whose? When Inspector Mike Oddie and Sergeant Charlie Peace are called in to investigate a murder, they are saddened and surprised by the raw emotions-the hate, the fear-they find in the outwardly peaceful town of Shipley. There may be only one killer, but there are many others who must share the town's guilt and, perhaps, one day start the process of healing. Rich with eccentric characters, crisp dialogue, stylish prose, and perceptive insights into human nature, Unholy Dying is vintage Barnard, acknowledged master of suspense. 'He plots a mystery as well as any writer alive' Time

Those two days in May seem to be a highpoint in Colin Pinnock's life: a stunning election victory, a new government, and junior office for himself. But among the many congratulations he receives is one hostile message, a grubby card asking, 'Who do you think you are?' Is this merely someone putting him back in his place, or do the words have a more profound meaning? And who, indeed, is he? Who were his real parents? As Colin investigates these questions he is led back in time to an old political scandal: a murder case which led to a politician's downfall and disappearance. Events in the present, however, start tangling with those of the past, and he finds himself the object of a series of incidents that at first seem designed to bring down his career with ridicule, but later actually threaten his life. A beautifully written and intriguing mystery form one of our foremost crime writers. 'Robert Barnard has the habit of delighting his readers' Sunday Times

The Mr Mozart of Bernard Bastable's Dead, Mr Mozart was a German child prodigy who stayed on in England after his visit of 1764, cursing the luck that made him a despised hack in a foreign country, instead of being cherished and honoured in his native Austria. Then he found himself involved, willy-nilly, in the sordid business of George IV's divorce from Queen Caroline. Now, in 1830, with Wolfgang Gottlieb (he prefers the German form of his name) Mozart still remarkably spry for his age, it seems things are looking up: he is asked to give piano lessons to the young Princess Victoria. He is less sure of his good fortune, however, when the princess, during her first lesson, makes a most unusual demand of him. And things go from bad to dangerous when she becomes Heir Apparent to the throne, and seems destined to be the victim of a tug-of-love between the new King, William IV, and her unwise mother, the Duchess of Kent. When the King's brood of illegitimate children, the FitzClarences, join in the situation rapidly gets alarming overtones, and when one of the guests at a Windsor Castle reception finds that drinking out of other people's glasses can have fatal consequences, Mr Mozart has to face up to the fact that someone may have designs on his rather delightful new pupil.

It is 1820, and George IV has just assumed the throne. An ageing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is intrigued by the prospect of a coronation, scenting rich pickings. As a child he had visited England with his family in 1764, but instead of returning to Austria and an early death (as orthodox music history relates), they stayed on, deluded by a piece of royal generosity - the result of a misunderstanding of guttural royal English. Now Mozart conducts his own meretricious rubbish at a London theatre, but dreams of having one more 'real' opera staged before he dies. However, the trial of George IV's wayward queen for adultery, before the Lords, leads Mozart into dangerous - and indeed murderous - waters. Insulted (most graciously) by the King, the composer finds himself involved in disposing of an inconvenient corpse and initiating enquiries to uncover the murderer . . . a matter which seems of remarkably little consequence to everyone else. This diverting and perplexing piece of alternative history is a delightful addition to our knowledge of the great composer, and to the output of Bernard Bastable, also known to crime fans as Robert Barnard. 'Not only fetchingly funny, but also craftily plotted.' The Scotsman 'Great fun is had with real and imagined historical personages.' Irish Times 'Tremendous period skulduggery' Sunday Times

It is ten years after the end of the Second World War, and Mary Alderbrook - known to family and friends as Ming - feels life is passing her by. Though her sisters are all happily married and settled, Ming shies away from commitment and the attentions of Mark Sudley make her feel uneasy. Is it friendship she wants from him - or something deeper? When her friend Connie Wroughton offers Ming the chance to write for her new magazine, she gladly accepts, discovering a true flair for writing. But before she knows it, trouble is stalking her again - anonymous, threatening letters arrive - and Ming knows she must finally face up to tests that will change her life. This is the third in the compelling The Threaded Dances series following the Alderbrook sisters through love and marriage, tragedy and hope. Continue reading the sisters' story in The Tightrope Walkers.

The Mall, VE night 1945: the sky is glittering with fireworks and searchlights as jubilant Londoners celebrate the end the Second World War. Yet for some the waiting is not over. Julia Gillingham's husband, Anthony, has been missing since 1943. A doctor with the army in North Africa, he was captured, taken to prison camp, escaped - and disappeared. Julia has steadfastly refused to believe him dead, and her strength is rewarded when she finally learns that he has survived and is working with refugees in Italy. She leaves her promising career at the London Bar to help prepare the prosecution case in the war-crimes trial against Marshal Kesselring in Venice, so that she can join Anthony there and - she believes - rediscover happiness with him. The war has not damaged Venice itself - unlike the rest of the shattered Continent - but as she learns her way about its ravishing, sinister streets, Julia finds that all her old certainties have been destroyed. As she and Anthony struggle to rebuild a new love on the foundations of the old and secure the future that the war so nearly denied them, they are faced with one difficult decision after another - until, at last, Julia is confronted with the hardest choice of all. In Never Such Innocence Daphne Wright brings to life one of her most engaging, warm-hearted heroines, in a compelling tale of love, honour, danger and ultimate triumph. Julia's story is interwoven with a haunting depiction of the struggle to rebuild Europe amid the Nazis' legacy of devastation and suffering - a hard time, yet a time of hope, a time for living and forgiving. Never Such Innocence is the second book in the Threaded Dances series. Continue reading the story of the Alderbrook sisters in Dreams of Another Day.

It is 1968 and Flixe Suvarov, recently widowed and frighteningly short of money, is struggling to come to terms with her new life. Running a small party-planning business as she nurses a potential political career, she does everything she can to keep her family together. Andrew, her elder son, has fallen in love with her goddaughter, the beautiful, capricious Amanda Wallington. But Amanda is involved with people whose backgrounds are intimately - and unhappily - linked with those of her mother, Julia, and Flixe. They have no idea just how intimate Amanda has become with her new friends - and Amanda cannot even guess how their pas could damage her future. It is only as Flixe emerges from her shell of unhappiness and finds her own life miraculously transformed that she begins to understand what threatens them all . . . The final volume in The Threaded Dances series. Read more Daphne Wright in The Longest Winter.

This is the story of the Alderbrook sisters; of their volatile relationships with their parents, their friends and each other; of the dangers and deprivations of wartime London; of their roles in a secret intelligence department - and of Peter Suvarov, the dashing, mysterious Russian who recruited them. Their involvement with him threatened the marriage of one, the reputation of another, and the life of the third. They all loved him, but only one could marry him . . . 'There were three of you, weren't there? Three sisters, all ravishing, they say, and all very brilliant, working for him until the end of the war. All the people I have talked to said he was the most remarkable man.' 'He was. We loved him, all of us.' The Parrot Cage is the first novel in the Threaded Dances series. Continue reading the story of the Alderbrook sisters in Never Such Innocence.

Evelyn Markham, devastated by reports that her fiance is 'missing in action' in the trenches of France, leaves for Russia and the breathtaking opulence of her cousins' mansion in Petrograd. But it is 1916 and Russia is on the brink of a revolution that will change the course of its history. As chaos overwhelms the city, Evelyn and the Suvarovs are forced to leave for the frozen twilight of the north. There, amidst the bitter turmoil of civil war, Evelyn is plunged into a life without privilege and luxury, a life of hardship and danger. A life that unexpectedly leads her heart in a direction that she had thought barred to her for ever ...

For twenty-six-year-old Perdita Whitney, life in India with a father she hardly remembers seems just like a fairy tale. His generosity and affection gradually heal the wounds in her soul. And her new-found happiness is crowned when she marries the man of her dreams - Lord Beaminster, the dashing hero of his regiment. But dream turns to nightmare when her husband becomes a stranger. And as the army struggles its way through the treacherous passes of Afghanistan, Perdita must fight her own painful battle . . . An historical romance set in the time of the first Afghan War.

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

The brilliant and idealistic Trish Maguire returns in a devastating case of corruption and conspiracy. In a particularly difficult case of alleged child abuse, Trish knows that the jury's decision hinges on the persuasive testimony of her friend and star witness, Kara Huggate. When Kara doesn't appear at the trial, she realizes that something must have gone terribly wrong. She returns to her chambers after court to find the police waiting for her with some horrifying news: Kara has been brutally raped and murdered. At first it seems as though her attacker was the Kinsford Rapist - a serial rapist and killer who has managed to elude the police. Then several inexplicable clues indicate that the murderer may have been a copycat. Trish receives a letter from Kara, posted the night of her death, asking her to help a suspicious man named Blair Collons. Although Trish decides to help him out of loyalty and affection for her friend, she cannot understand why Kara cared so much for the paranoid and strangely obsessive Blair. Soon Trish finds herself mired in his unhappy story, with potentially devastating consequences. Fault Lines is a tense and disturbing examination of the power of corruption and the lengths to which people will go to protect themselves.

Norway in cherry blossom time seemed exactly the right place to hold a conference of the World Association of Romantic Novelists (WARN for short). Superintendent Perry Trethowan wondered at times how he had allowed his sister to 'con' him into accompanying her to the conference but he finally decided that his role was to be one of amused detachment and observation, most especially of the two Queens of the Conference - frothy, gushy, lethal Amanda Fairchild, the British challenger, and the vast, malevolent Lorelei Zuckerman from America. What Perry had not been prepared for was a body - one clothed in billowing pink, with a bough of cherry blossom carefully placed on the corpse. It was a most unusual murder, in a most unusual place. 'Mr Barnard disports himself with reliable zest, humour and cunning' Sunday Times 'Immaculately plotted, written with a touch as light as thistledown, and infused with gentle malice, this is a delicious souffle of a whodunnit and the secret, which is worth waiting for, is kept to the end. Brilliant, Mr Barnard' Irish Times 'The sort of exhilarating and satisfactory performance readers have come to expect from the virtuoso barnard' Financial Times

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?

Superintendent Perry Trethowan was enjoying a peaceful motoring holiday in North Yorkshire when he and his wife, Jan, had a strange encounter in a country pub. The seemingly unremarkable elderly spinster who introduced herself as Miss Edith Wing, a retired schoolmistress, proceeded to produce form her capacious blue handbag a yellowing manuscript - and claimed that it was part of an undiscovered novel by one of the Bronte sisters. Was it a clever forgery, or the literary sensation of the century? What started out as a harmless holiday diversion for the superintendent turned into a hunt for a vicious attacker as both Miss Wing and Perry himself found themselves in deadly danger. 'You can count on a Barnard mystery being witty, intelligent and a joy to read' Publishers Weekly 'One of our most original and versatile bloodspillers' Marcel Berlins, The Times 'Delicious . . . an appetising entertainment' New York Times

Police superintendent Percy Trethowan found London's Soho as colourful and full of life as every-except for the four corpses in a seedy photography studio. Shot doing a layout for Bodies, a soft-porn "e;health and fitness"e; magazine, the photographer, his assistant, and two models had left a camera loaded with film but no clues. Then one victim's obsession with pumping iron sent Trethowan into the erotic world of body-building, where an out-of-shape policeman would learn that building biceps isbeautiful and the temptation to star in the buff in the bluest of movies could really be murder.

Now a full-time mother and bestselling writer, Willow King is content to leave crime-solving to her police chief husband. Yet she can't resist a case involving Andrew Lutterworth, accused of a fatal hit-and-run that landed him in prison for manslaughter. His wife suspects he was forced to confess and was incarcerated on purely circumstantial evidence. But what could motivate a man to admit to a crime he did not commit a willingly go to jail because of it? The truth behind the puzzle is as dark and perplexing as the human psyche-and as tragic as the half-truths of self-deception that lead to murder. 'Elegant . . .deeply satisfying.' Library Journal 'With her deft characterizations and intriguing puzzle, Cooper provides a . . . fine British cozy.' Publishers Weekly

Fruiting Bodies is a compelling novel featuring female sleuth, Willow King, set within the fraught corridors of an NHS hospital. Just as Willow is giving birth to her first child, her obstetrician is found dead, face-down in his own birthing pool. To her he has always been charming, supportive and reassuring, but someone hated him enough to hold his head under water until he drowned. She has to find out why. Her husband, Superintendent Tom Worth, warns her that it is neither easy nor safe to pre-empt a police murder investigation, but Willow cannot stop. Interviewing a hospital administrator at one moment and a leading member of WOMB (Women Overtake Male Birthing) the next, Willow starts to find out what lay behind the obstetrician's facade of charm and professional competence. When she and her baby are released form hospital, the scope of her enquiry widens. But she soon discovers that Tom was right and, in a violent confrontation, she pays a high price for her curiosity. In Fruiting Bodies Natasha Cooper once more mixes an entertaining, light-hearted mystery with a sidelong glance at some of the more intractable antagonisms of contemporary life and a shrewd psychological insight into the minds of those who love, those who hate, and those who cannot believe that they have to abide by the same rules as the rest of us.

Superintendent Perry Trethowan was used to cases that involved people in high places, and in this one he finds himself at the top of the tree - among the British royals. A Princess, albeit only a minuscule royal offshoot, with a snug little apartment in Kensington Palace and a snug little sum on the Civil List, is threatened - but by whom, why, and exactly what is uncertain. Her circle consists mostly of boy-friends, and they are a motley lot, drawn from the worlds of politics, the stage, even the football field. But are they endangered too or are they part of the threat? The Princess (fresh as morning dew, and much more treacherous) trips gaily through the minefield, while around her men keep dying. But blood will out, especially blue blood, and by the time Perry Trethowan gets to the bottom of the case, a murderer has been brought to justice and not a few reputations tremble in the scales. Robert Barnard's ability to create entertaining plots in the classic tradition was recognised through multiple nominations for Edgar Awards in the States, and he received the 2003 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for a lifetime of achievement.

Passions run high in the world of publishing, but they rarely lead to murder - or do they? Gloria Grainger, wealthy bestselling novelist, is found dead in her room one morning. Everyone assumes she died of natural causes - except for Willow King. Despite Chief Inspector Tom Worth's mockery of her suspicions Willow is determined to uncover the sinister truth. She finds herself investigating a particularly nasty murder case, in which there seems no limit to the amount of emotional damage people can inflict upon each other. Then Willow herself becomes a target for the same murderous hatred that surrounded Gloria . . . 'This sparkling whodunnit effectively blends mystery, sophistication, and a dash of romantic melodrama' Publishers Weekly (Bloody Roses) 'Well plotted - and immense fun to read' The Times (Poison Flowers)

Death . . . and taxes Willow King, civil servant, and Cressida Woodruffe, author of sweeping romances, are one and the same. But it is the former who's called into play when she is asked to probe the case of Fiona Fydgett, a famous art historian whose tax affairs are under investigation by Inland Revenue. By all accounts, Fiona killed herself-and whispers of harassment by the tax office needs to be explored. But when Willow's police officer husband is mysteriously shot, and a fire in the tax office kills the investigator on the Fydgett case and nearly kills Willow, a simple case turns both urgent and very personal . . . 'A strong heroine, an inventive plot with an unexpected climax . . .' Booklist '. . . clever, unpredictable and thoroughly absorbing.' Publishers Weekly 'An elegant sleuth.' Cosmopolitan

The Department of Old Age Pensions is not noted for drama. Nor for scandal, corruption or even the odd leak to the tabloids. Not until Algernon Endlesham, its high-flying Minister, is brutally bludgeoned to death. Willow King, Assistant Secretary (Finance), is noted for her formidably enquiring mind. Though an enquiry is the last thing she could wish for. Especially if daunting ex-SAS Inspector Worth uncovers her figment of an alibi and well-kept secret. Disconcertingly for Willow, however, someone has a very violent means of silencing the curious . . . 'A smart plot with some clever twists' Oxford Times 'Festering Lilies is witty and elegant. It is a pleasure to light on a new talent' The Bookseller 'Instead of the physical violence in which heroes of thrillers usually engage, Willow proves her superiority by verbal decimation . . . as she effortlessly trumps male condescension' Observer

Willow is sure Richard Crescent couldn't commit murder. The police, finding him drenched in his colleague's blood in the locked Corporate Finance department, are sure he did. Rushing back from a Tuscan idyll with Chief Inspector Tom Worth to help her friend, Willow uses all her romantic novelist's imagination, her own experience as a high-powered woman in a man's world, and her understanding of an uneasy double life, to put herself in the other woman's shoes and learn why Sarah Allfarthing had to die. And as well as the high-tension world of merchant banking, conflict with Tom, and personal danger, Willow has to face the terrible possibility that the police could be right . . . 'This sparkling whodunnit effectively blends mystery, sophistication and a dash of romantic melodrama' Publishers Weekly 'Well plotted - and immense fun to read' The Times (Poison Flowers)

Three people die, in agony, each the victim of a different person. The police are convinced that there is no connection. Inspector Tom Worth disagrees. So does Willow King. Risking not only the secrets of her double identity, but also her own life, Willow races to unmask the serial killer before anyone else is murdered. From the dreariness of her part-time job in Clapham to the luxury and extravagance of her life in Belgravia, this most unusual female sleuth takes up the challenge and becomes involved in an exciting but near-fatal adventure. 'Willy and elegant . . . an excellent read' Publishing News 'A well written, consistently enjoyable English antidote to the sometimes over-muscular American fashion' Marcel Berlins, The Times (Bitter Herbs) 'Willow is a beguiling heroine' Francis Fyfield, Evening Standard (Bloody Roses)

Henry, Lee, Kip and Ronny grew up together in rural Wisconsin. Friends since childhood, their lives all began the same way, but have since taken different paths. Henry stayed on the family farm and married his first love, whilst the others left in search of something more. Ronnie became a rodeo star, Kip made his fortune in the city, and musician Lee found fame - but heartbreak, too. Now all four are back in town for a wedding, each of them hoping to recapture their old closeness but unable to escape how much has changed. Amid the happiness of reunion and celebration, old rivalries resurface and a wife's secret threatens to tear both a marriage and a friendship apart . . . This is a novel about the things that matter - love and loyalty, the power of music and the beauty of nature - told in a uniquely beautiful, warm-hearted and profound way and exploring the age-old question of whether we can ever truly come home.

Stephen Maxwell has just retired from a lifetime spent teaching history at his alma mater. As he writes the official history of Blake's, a minor public school steeped in military tradition, he also reveals how, forty years ago, a secret conflict dating from the Second World War re-enacted itself among staff and pupils, when fascism once more made its presence felt in the school and the city, with violent and nightmarish results.

Pluto - the non-planet, the ex-planet - is the dominant celestial influence in Glyn Maxwell's new collection: Pluto is a book about change, the before-and-after of love, the aftermath of loss: change of status and station, home and place, of tense and pronoun. It also marks a radical departure for one of our most celebrated English poets: his formidable skills as a rhetorician and dramatist are suddenly directed inwardly, to produce poems of brutal self-examination, raw elegy, and strange songs of the kind those bruising encounters often leave us singing to ourselves. In Pluto, Maxwell has set out something like a metaphysic of the affair; the result is a lean and concentrated poetry of great emotional power, and far and away Glyn Maxwell's most directly personal work to date.

This collection, drawing on almost forty years of verse, represents the definitive guide to one of the leading English poets working today. It will allow the reader the chance to survey both the remarkable variety and the consistent quality of O'Brien's work, as well as the enduring strength of his obsessions: these have helped create a tone and a landscape as immediately recognizable as those of MacNeice, Larkin or Eliot. O'Brien's hells and heavens, underworlds and urban dystopias, trains and waterways have formed the imaginative theatre for his songs, satires, pastorals and elegies; throughout, the poems demonstrate O'Brien's astonishing flair for the dramatic line, where he has inherited the mantle of W. H. Auden. Also included are selections from both O'Brien's dramatic writing and his acclaimed version of the Inferno.

Charged with strangeness and beauty, Hill of Doors is a haunted and haunting book, where each successive poem seems a shape conjured from the shadows, and where the uncanny is made physically present. The collection sees the return of some familiar members of the Robertson company, including Strindberg - heading, as usual, towards calamity - and the shape-shifter Dionysus. Four loose retellings of stories of the Greek god form pillars for the book, alongside four short Ovid versions. Threaded through these are a series of pieces about the poet's childhood on the north-east coast, his fascination with the sea and the islands of Scotland. However, the reader will also discover a distinct new note in Robertson's austere but ravishing poetry: towards the possibility of contentment - a house, a door, a key - finding, at last, a 'happiness of the hand and heart'. Magisterial in its command and range, indelibly moving and memorable in its speech, Hill of Doors is Robin Robertson's most powerful book to date.