Showing results by publisher "Zaffre" in Genre Fiction

Rebecca Neumanner's marriage is on the brink of collapse as her desire to be a mother becomes an obsession. Then she receives news from her estranged family in Rhodes. Called back to the beautiful Greek island of her birth, she realises how little she knows of the grandmother she has eluded for over a decade. Bubba has never spoken of the Nazi occupation during her youth, but there have always been whispers. What desperate measures did she take that terrible day in 1944 when her family was ripped apart? Can the rumour she had blood on her own hands really be true? But Bubba intends to take her secrets to the grave.

A family under constant scrutiny from both the police and the press as a fifteen-year-old goes missing after a sleepover with a friend; a marriage at breaking point; a father who has seemingly lied about his alibi; and a detective feeling the pressure to deliver an arrest, are thrust together to make for yet another incredibly intricate and dark thriller from Lynda La Plante.

England is deep in the coldest winter anyone can remember. It snows every day, temperatures do not rise above freezing for seven weeks, coal cannot get from the pitheads to the power stations, food and fuel are in desperately short supply. More than that, the country's secret services have been penetrated, which means Britain is more vulnerable than ever. And Stalin knows it. He decides it is time to send his master of 'Special Tasks' to create a little extra chaos.

Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional - until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again. Twelve years later, the remaining members of the group receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote hunting lodge in Scotland. When they arrive they are each assigned a new identity themed around the Twelve Days of Christmas.

South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal is about to burst into flame. War is coming and no one can prevent it. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne, hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman, is sent to Mafeking to recruit and train men for the fighting ahead. Amber, his wife, the successful novelist, accompanies him - eager to see more of the country her husband is about to risk his life for.

1875. With their father missing and their mother suddenly passing, Esme and Gabriel are forced to track down their estranged grandfather in Lincolnshire. Cold and unwelcoming, he is reluctant to take them in, but aware of his standing as the village vicar, he knows must protect his reputation, and allow the children to stay with him. Esme's relief at finding refuge soon turns to despair when Gabriel is sent to boarding school, leaving her alone in their grandfather's unhappy home. But the house isn't as empty as it first appeared.

A year after his older brother made the ultimate sacrifice, Sergeant Major Luke Carter, decorated hero of 22 SAS, is sent to Perth on a recruiting job. His orders: select two candidates from the SASR for a highly sensitive mission on foreign soil. But when a sudden crisis threatens to derail the plan, Carter and his new colleagues find themselves forced into action on a high-stakes operation. One that has the potential to change the course of the war in Ukraine. So begins a deadly game of predator and prey, moving from the streets of Minsk to the cliffs above the Black Sea.

Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead. The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than she is. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.

Clare Greene and Sam Wilson are getting married, and everyone in Little Bramble is excited for the event of the year. But Clare and Sam are busy people and have left organising their wedding to the last minute. Luckily, wedding planner Hazel Campbell has recently moved to the village. She had what she thought was a wonderful life in Edinburgh with a successful business and a wedding of her own to plan, but when she caught her fiancé with her best friend she fled, leaving her whole life behind. Little Bramble seems like the ideal place for Hazel to start over.

Manx born and bred, Bridget Quayle loves the island and knows every inch of it like the back of her hand. But that doesn't mean she wants to be there now, as World War II rages around the world. As a newly trained police officer, living in the vibrant and bustling city of London, she had it all. A budding career, celebrity status as one of only a few female officers, and a busy social life. Then World War II strengthened its grip and she found herself posted back to the island - a stark contrast to the exciting streets of the capital.

After single-handedly intervening in a deadly terrorist attack in Mali, SAS Warrant Officer Jamie 'Geordie' Carter is denounced as a lone wolf by jealous superiors. Now a Regiment outcast, Carter is given a second chance with a deniable mission: locate SAS hero-gone-rogue David Vann. Vann had been sent into Afghanistan to train local rebels to fight the Taliban. But he's since gone silent, and expected attacks on key targets have not happened.

Lily Moon, the local miner's daughter, spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, on the outskirts of Nuneaton. She's always been happy with her lot in life, and never expected more. But one day, everything changes when she temporarily becomes lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with the illegitimate child of her lover, and about to be unhappily married off to a man double her age.

Germany, late summer 1945. The war is over, but the country is in ruins. Millions of refugees and holocaust survivors strive to rebuild their lives in displaced persons camps. Millions of German soldiers and SS men are held captive in primitive conditions in open-air detention centres. Everywhere, civilians are desperate for food and shelter. No one admits to having voted Nazi, yet many are unrepentant. Adolf Hitler is said to have killed himself in his Berlin bunker. But no body was found - and many people believe he is alive.

Goth-girl mortuary technician Cassie Raven has seen thousands of dead bodies but when a drowned man knocks against the hull of her canalboat, it's a bit too close to home. Cassie is grappling with the loss of her 'gift' - her conviction that she could sense the last thoughts of the dead - and at first the mystery man with the golden-green eyes isn't sharing his secrets. But the case gets under her skin and when Cassie joins forces with Detective Phyllida Flyte, together they start to dredge up secrets from the past.

Number five Kitchener Avenue heralds the start of a new life for the Hope family. For pregnant Miriam, it is a warm, safe environment to bring up her child. For her sister, 14-year-old Barbara, it means independence...and boys. And for Fred, it means the security he craves for his young family. In the lead up to Christmas, the Hopes settle in, and start to make happy memories in their new home. But World War II is round the corner, and this carefree life can't last.

Emma Patrick's life is spiralling out of control. On the cusp of her 50th birthday, she realises that she's been so focused on work that she's lost any real connection to people. When Emma's ageing father needs her help, she decides to go back home to the countryside to spend some time with him. But returning to Little Bramble after years away is filled with complications and people she'd rather avoid.

Growing up in extreme poverty in London, Pearl thinks life can get no worse. But when her parents discover there's yet another baby on the way, they have to tighten the belt even further. Pearl's mother decides to send her and her younger sister, Eliza, to the workhouse, where they are forced into a new life of hardship and struggle.

At the heart of Dover's Market Square lies the Castle's Café. A bustling, homely place run by the formidable Nellie Castle and her six children. Since the scandalous birth of her beloved son 10 years before, Marianne, Nellie's eldest daughter, has preferred to stay in the kitchen, hidden away from the town gossips. Overcome with shame, Marianne has never revealed the name of Donny's father - not even to her own mother. But with World War II just around the corner, Marianne's past catches up with her. And suddenly the lives of the Castle family become a lot more complicated.

Cassie has always had a strange affinity with death, ever since her parents were killed in a car crash when she was four. At least that's what she grew up believing. But that was a lie. Cassie's father is alive. He was convicted of murdering her mother and spent years behind bars. Now he's out—and he's looking for her. He swears he didn't do it. And Cassie wants to believe him. To find the truth, she must turn detective. As she seeks answers, help is to be found in inexplicable places—for the dead are ready to talk.

The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood; a lust for private vengeance burns within him. French intelligence agent Henri d'Erloncourt has come across the seas to foment rebellion against William of Orange, the newly installed Dutch ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.