Leeds, 1957: When enquiry agent Dan Markham and his new partner, retired Detective Sergeant Baker, take on a missing persons case, a simple matter turns into a murder investigation when a body is recovered from the River Aire. Nothing is what it seems. The dead man is an East German. A defector or spy? More mysterious deaths follow and the investigation takes a deadly turn as the pair try to track down a ruthless Russian assassin and Markham finds himself dragged into the heart of a Cold War – in Leeds.
1944: Twenty years after WPC Lottie Armstrong was dismissed from the Leeds police force, she's back, now a member of the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps. Detective Chief Superintendent McMillan is now head of CID, trying to keep order with a depleted force as many of the male officers have enlisted. This hasn't stopped the criminals, however, and as the Second World War rages around them, can they stop a blackout killer with a taste for murder?
1924: Still reeling from the effects of the Great War, life in the city of Leeds is hard: poverty is rife, work is scarce and crime is becoming more sophisticated. Bravely entering this maelstrom is one of the city's first policewomen to walk the beat, the resourceful, inquisitive and practical WPC Lottie Armstrong. Eager to prove herself and determined to succeed, Lottie faces apathy from colleagues and the general public alike until she suddenly finds herself on the trail of a missing girl that leads to the underbelly of the city and to murder. As Lottie uncovers a plot involving high level corruption, CID reluctantly find they need her knowledge and people skills, but as the truth is slowly laid bare Lottie's bravery is tested to its limit in a breathtaking climax.
John the Carpenter has been happy to leave the investigation of death behind. For six years now he's been content to work with wood. His life looks prosperous, but times are growing desperate. Then the coroner summons him to look at the mysterious death of an anchoress, a religious woman who lived in confined solitude. She's been murdered. Her father is an important local landowner, a man of influence with the crown. He's distraught, and the money he offers John to find the killer can solve his problems and leave his family comfortable for life. But the path to the truth leads John to the heart of the rich, and back into history, to places where he's not welcome and in danger for his own life. Can he find the killer? And what will happen if he doesn't?
1364: The plague has returned and fear fills the air as the pestilence claims its first victims in Chesterfield. When the local priest vanishes, John the Carpenter believes the man is simply scared – until he discovers a body left in an empty house. Charged with finding the murderer by the coroner, John must dig deep into the past to discover who in the present has enough hatred to kill. But as the roll of the dead grows longer, can he keep his family safe from malign forces outside of his control? The third title in a gripping series following the best-selling titles The Crooked Spire and The Saltergate Psalter.
This book is unique in adopting a family history approach to Irish immigrants in nineteenth century Britain. It shows that the family was central to the migrants’ lives and identities. The techniques of family and digital history are used for the first time to reveal the paths followed by a representative body of Irish immigrant families, using the town of Stafford in the West Midlands as a case study. The book contains vital evidence about the lives of ordinary families. In the long term many intermarried with the local population, but others moved away and some simply died out. The book investigates what forces determined the paths they followed and why their ultimate fates were so varied. A fascinating picture is revealed of family life and gender relations in nineteenth-century England which will appeal to scholars of Irish history, social history, genealogy and the history of the family.
Ten league titles. Eleven FA Cups. Three European Cups. 481 goals across a 38-year playing career. A surprisingly high number of kidnappings. An assassination attempt. Not one, but two narrow escapes from earthquakes. A career-ending helicopter crash. My name is Roy Race. You know me as Roy of the Rovers. This is my story. From the five terrifying kidnappings that threatened to blight his playing career to the stomach-churning murder attempt in 1980, which left Roy in a life-threatening coma; from the sickening car bomb attack that tragically killed eight of Roy's team-mates while on a pre-season tour of Basran to the horrific helicopter crash in 1993 that resulted in the amputation of Roy's legendary left foot: this is the shocking tell-all autobiography of one of England's greatest ever sportsmen. Candid, emotional, optimistic, strangely repetitive, full of crushing lows and dizzying highs, and bearing an inexplicable resemblance to the plot structure of old comic strips, Roy's autobiography shines as brightly as the Melchester Rovers legend himself. Sit down, kick back, and treat yourself to the greatest football fairytale story of all time.* *except for Leicester
