Rosy Gilchrist has been asked to accompany Lady Fawcett to visit Delia Dovedale, an old school friend in Suffolk and whom she hasn't seen for years. Rather reluctantly Rosy agrees to be her companion on this reunion jaunt. But on arrival at their hostess's house the two guests discover that things are far from normal, and find themselves plunged into a series of bizarre and sinister events.
1960. Lady Fawcett is eager to vet her daughter Amy's current beau, aspiring film director Bartholomew Hackle who is shooting his first major project in Southwold. While Amy is unable to accompany her mother, Rosy Gilchrist is strong-armed into tagging along.On the set of The Languid Labyrinth nobody really knows what is going on - least of all Felix Smythe whose bit part is constantly changing thanks to Hackle, much to Felix's chagrin. But the unambiguous death by gun-shot of a female cast member brings a drama to proceedings lacking in the film itself, and Lady Fawcett, Rosy and Felix are once again at the centre of a murder mystery in which further victims may face the cut.
London, early 1950s. Marcia Beasley is discovered dead, naked and covered with a coal scuttle. Sergeant Greenleaf has to solve the crime. The members of the deceased's social circle all, it seems, have secrets to hide and grudges to bear. A host of colourful and comic characters hurry to identify the murderer and unravel the mystery of Marcia's life.
I've taken risks in my life. Some have been physical ones, but some have been bolder and required more of myself. When Englishwoman Frances McDonald sets up home in a remote South African hamlet in the shadow of the Hex River Mountains, she is regarded with suspicion by the community. Confined by a marriage of convenience, she seeks an outlet by learning the local language, teaching art, and exhibiting her paintings of the stunning veld landscape. Soon the spectre of war threatens to divide not only the country but the town itself and scupper Frances' hard-won acceptance. While her husband leaves to fight for the Allies, Frances chances to meet a former love. The bright joy of that unexpected reunion is clouded by a day that will change her life. Out of the smoke and ash of a shocking fire, she is propelled on a journey that will take her from the arid veld to the bright lights of London and beyond.
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.
When Lily rents a cottage in the seaside village of Steerborough to research the life of famous architect Klaus Lehmann, she's quickly entranced by the beautiful landscape and soon begins to question the hectic London world she inhabits with preoccupied lover Nick. Uncovering the depth of Lehmann's passion, not just for his work, but for his wife, Lily finds herself seduced into a new life by neighbour Grae, a man she barely knows. And she realizes she must make a choice, between a past she thought she knew and a future much less certain . . .
Archie McBudge's lazy summer has just turned into a magical meltdown! The second adventure in this madcap magical mystery series is perfect for fans of How to Train Your Dragon, amateur detectives and anyone who loves SWEETS! Archie McBudge was planning a sweet summer at Honeystone Hall. Picnics by the loch, watching the honeydragons flying around the hillsides, chasing ghosts through the shadowy castle hallways, and of course, testing out all the new sweets from the McBudge Confectionery Factory. But now the Wyrdie Tree, source of all the magic in the town of Dundoodle, is dying, and the guardian must save it before Dundoodle's magic is gone for good. And who's the guardian, you ask? That's right, Archie McBudge. With enemies on every side, puzzles to solve and secrets to uncover – not to mention a very scary dentist to avoid – Archie's summer's looking less like a strawberry marshmallow dream and more like a super-sour sherbet lemon with exploding bits that make your mouth go numb for a week! The follow-up to David O'Connell's The Chocolate Factory Ghost, this is a must read for anyone who loves ghosts, monsters, toffee, marshmallows, and wants to explore more of the weird and wonderful town of Dundoodle.
Rosy Gilchrist is sent to Venice to find a rare, signed translation of Horace's Odes by Dr Bodger. Rosy jumps at the chance to fit some sightseeing around work, but the holiday plans go on hold when she learns that there is a significant bounty prize for anyone who finds this valuable text. Finding herself in the midst of a cat-and-mouse chase, Rosy's rivals will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get their hands on the book.
Rosy Gilchrist and her hesitant sidekicks, Felix Smythe and Professor Cedric Dillworthy, are visiting Cambridge: Rosy to attend a Newnham reunion, and Felix and Cedric to attend preparations for the unveiling of a statue of the latter's old tutor. But plans for the statue are far from set in stone, and the meddling Gloria Biggs-Boothby is determined to see it created by another artist. It's inconvenient, then, when he turns up dead.As Rosy and her associates become increasingly embroiled in events, they face a number of teasing questions: is the deaf and frail Emeritus Prof. Aldous Phipps quite as benign as he seems? Is the Bursar a secret misogynist with a rooted aversion to large women (e.g. to Gloria)? And who is the unwitting husband that Dr John Smithers is so busy cuckolding?
