A blizzard, a farmhouse and a family at war. Giles and Marion Wilkerson are celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They have recently moved to France and it seems like the perfect excuse to invite a few friends and family over. Vicki Wilkerson, their daughter, has been once before, but this time she is bringing a friend; her new fiancé Akash. Her father does not approve. When Vicki's brother also arrives uninvited the situation takes a turn for the worse. Giles and Robbie have not spoken for years. Tensions begin to rise; and not just among the family. Some of their old friends also have scores to settle. With the phone lines down, heavy snow on the way and no mobile signal to be had, it looks like they will be staying at the farm for far longer than anyone anticipated. And it won't be long before bad feeling spills over into violence and murder.
A remote island in the South Pacific plays host to a dozen strangers. One of them is a murderer. An advertisement in a newspaper brings a disparate group of people to a tropical paradise. They will live together for a year, work and build a community, and film everything that happens for a documentary that will only see the light of day at the end of the trip. Almost at once, things begin to go wrong. They are meant to be strangers, but some of them have met before. They are meant to receive regular visits by the company funding the documentary, but nobody ever comes. And their only link with the outside world - a small portable radio transmitter - is incapable of transmitting anything.
A remote Scottish island plays host to a deadly reunion... It should be a lot of fun, meeting up for a long weekend in a rented lighthouse on a chunk of rock miles from anywhere. There will be drinks and games and all sorts of other amusements. It is ten years since the last get-together and twenty years since Nadia and her friends graduated from university. But not everything goes according to plan. One of the group has a more sinister agenda and, as events begin to spiral out of control, it becomes clear that not everyone will get off the island alive... Keywords: detective murder, british detective mysteries, mystery, detective fiction, detective mysteries, murder mystery, british isles, british mysteries, detective, isle, murder, traditional, british, scotland, scottish island, scotland mystery, scottish mystery, scottish island mystery, flannan isle, mystery of flannan isle, ballad of flannan isle, lighthouse mystery, island mystery, lighthouse murder, lighthouse murder mystery, island murder, island murder mystery, lighthouse whodunnit, lighthouse thriller, lighthouse, island whodunnit, remote island, flaxton isle, hebrides, outer hebrides, inner hebrides, isle of lewis, stornoway, eilean mor, northern lighthouse board, northern lighthouse commission, acetylene lamp, st flannan, lighthouse disappearance, lighthouse keeper, lighthouse keepers, thomas marshall, james ducat, donald macarthur, joseph moore, robert muirhead, lost keepers, lost lighthouse keepers, contemporary mystery, contemporary thriller, contemporary murder, contemporary murder mystery, contemporary mystery story, contemporary murder story, flares, flare gun, semaphore, agatha christie, modern agatha christie, contemporary agatha christie, student reunion, student reunion mystery, students reunion, class reunion, school reunion, school reunion mystery, class reunion mystery, university reunion, university reunion story, university reunion mystery, friends reunion, whodunnit, murder in paradise, death in paradise
A long forgotten book conceals a dangerous secret. James Faraday is about to turn eighty and his daughter has organised a gathering of friends and family at Woodford Grange to celebrate the big day. There will be a marquee in the garden, plenty of food and drink, and a huge stack of birthday presents. One particular gift, however, is proving difficult to track down. For Simon Turing, who works in the local bookshop, it is just another order; an out of print book of wartime statistics. It only takes a day or two for him to locate a copy. As soon as the book arrives, however, things start to go awry. The shop is burgled. Simon is knocked off his bike on his way to the Grange. And a worker at the estate suffers a fatal accident. Is it just a run of bad luck or are more sinister forces at work? Simon is about to find out.
The killer robots are having a quick cigarette outside the church hall. Filming is underway on the latest series of The Professor, a long-running television drama. Simon Turing has a small part in one episode, his first TV role. His character, David Egan, is due to be infected with a deadly virus and then to go on a murderous rampage. It all sounds great fun. Location shooting has begun down in Dorset, but all is not well with the production. Long simmering jealousies are rising to the surface and, when a crew member dies in suspicious circumstances, events threaten to spiral out of control.
"I've been a scoundrel, a thief, a blackmailer and a whore, but never a murderer. Until now..." The year is 1929. As the world teeters on the brink of a global recession, Bletchley Park plays host to a rather special event. MI5 is celebrating its twentieth anniversary and a select band of former and current employees are gathering at the private estate for a weekend of music, dance and heavy drinking. Among them is Sir Hilary Manningham-Butler, a middle aged woman whose entire adult life has been spent masquerading as a man. She doesn't know why she has been invited – it is many years since she left the secret service – but it is clear she is not the only one with things to hide. And when one of the other guests threatens to expose her secret, the consequences could prove disastrous for everyone. Keywords: 1920s, 1929, 1930s, agatha christie, turing, art deco, blackguard, bletchley park mansion. bletchley park novel, bletchley park novels, bletchley mystery, bletchley murder, bletchley murders, bletchley spies, bletchley spy, bletchley park mystery, blecthley park murder, bletchley murders, bletchley spy, british mystery books, code, comedy, comedy detective, comedy novel, comedy detective book, country house, country house murder, country house murder mystery, country house mystery, country house mystery book, cross-dressing, cross dressing, cross dressing detective, cross-dressing detective, cross-dressing novel, cross-dressing books, detective mystery, detective mystery's, drunk detective, enigma, espionage, fanny leon, farce, farcical mystery, female detective, female detectives, female secret agent, flashman, flashman at the charge, flashman and the great game, flashman's lady, flashman and the redskins, fun mystery novel, fun detective novel, fun novel, george macdonald fraser, girl detective, girl detectives, golden age, golden age crime, golden age detective, harry flashman, hilary manningham-butler, sir hilary manningham-butler, sir hilary, historical whodunnit, hopeless detective, jazz age, lady detective, lady detectives, lgbt, lgbt fiction, lgbt mystery, lgbt whodunnit, light mystery, light mystery novel, light novel, living a lie, mi5, mi6, morris oxford, morris oxford car, mystery farce, mystery novel, mystery novels, old-fashioned, old fashioned, pg wodehouse, p.g.wodehouse, p g wodehouse, wodehouse, reluctant detective, roaring twenties, rotter, royal flash, scandal at bletchley, scoundrel, secret agent, secret agents, secret service, sis, spies, spy, butler did it, the butler, butler book, traditional mystery, traditional detective, transvestism, transvestite, transvestite detective, transvestite mystery, unreliable detective, vernon kell, sir vernon kell, vintage detective, vintage detective novel, vintage mystery, whodunnit, woman detective, woman living as a man, woman living as man, woman pretending to be a man, women detectives, women pretending to be men, woman spy, women spies, female spy, female spies, girl spy, girl spies, jazz age murder, jazz age mystery, jazz age detective, bletchley fiction, bletchley novel, bletchley novels, british spy, british spies, english spy, english spies, english murder, english mystery, english murder mystery, code-breaking, lady spy, lady spies, park novel, park mystery, park murder, park whodunnit, stately home book, stately home mystery, stately home murder, stately home whodunnit, wall street crash, twenties, unreliable narrator, oddball mystery, great depression, harry lime, blackmail, blackmailer, jeeves, jeeves and wooster, bertie wooster, kyril bonfiglioli, bonfiglioli, dont point that thing at me, charlie mortdecai, mortdecai, after you with the pistol, something nasty in the woodshed, flash for freedom, flashman and the dragon, flashman and the mountain of light, flashman and the angel of the lord, flashman and the tiger, flashman on the march, mr american, the pyrates, black ajax, the candlemass road, the reavers, captain in calico, audio mystery, audiobook mystery, comedy audio, comedy audiobook
"A dangerous disease requires a desperate remedy..." Robert Catesby is a man in despair. His wife is dead and his country is under siege. A new king presents a new hope but the persecution of Catholics in England continues unabated and Catesby can tolerate it no longer. King James bears responsibility but the whole government must be eradicated if anything is to really change. And Catesby has a plan. The Gunpowder Treason is a fast-paced historical thriller. Every character is based on a real person and almost every scene is derived from eye-witness accounts. This is the story of the Gunpowder Plot, as told by the people who were there... ***** Keywords: historical thriller, historical fiction, treason, thriller, historical, powder, history novel, gunpowder. gunpowder plot, powder treason, guy fawkes, guido fawkes, robert catesby, parliament, houses of parliament, terrorism, terrorism fiction, terrorist, terrorists, terrorists fiction, historical terrorist, historical terrorists, catholicism, catholic plot, protestantism, protestant plot, regicide, blowing up parliament, regime change, remember remember the fifth of november, fifth of november, 5th november, bonfire night, tom wintour, thomas wintour, lord monteagle, monteagle letter, the monteagle letter, francis tresham, james i, james vi, king james, king james i, king james vi, holbeach house, fireworks night, bonfire night fiction, guy fawkes fiction, guy fawkes mystery, thomas percy, holbeach massacre, scottish king, stuart king, stuart kings, matchlock, jack wright, john wright, powder plot, gunpowder treason, gunpowder treason and plot, english plot, english king, monarchy, true crime fiction, antonia fraser, hilary mantel, v for vendetta, fireworks, elizabeth i, house of lords, king james bible, catholic, protestant, tunnel, digging a tunnel, execution, hung drawn and quartered, capital punishment, hanging, priest hole, jesuit, jesuits, recusant, recusancy, religious law, holbeach, terrorist fiction, robert cecil, robert wintour, sir everard digby, everard digby, stephen littleton, edmund doubleday, sir thomas knyvett, thomas knyvett, oswald tesimond, henry garnet, ambrose rookwood, holbeach massacre, holbeache house, holbeche, holbeche massacre, holbeche house, wolf hall, antonia fraser, philippa gregory, victoria holt, georgette heyer, cj samson, fawkes, catesby
"Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” the headline screams on 15th January 1934. Hilary Manningham-Butler is less than impressed. She has inveigled her way into the January Club, an elite debating society which acts as a recruiting ground for the newly formed British Union of Fascists. The Security Service is concerned that the BUF may be receiving funds from a foreign power. Using her newly acquired contacts, Hilary is despatched to Rome to investigate. Arriving at the villa of a fellow club member, events take a sinister turn when one of the house guests meets with an unfortunate accident. Hilary is not convinced that the death is accidental and the Italian police are quick to come to the same conclusion. But can a police force in the pay of a fascist administration ever be relied upon to deliver justice?
"You'll never get me up in one of those things. They're absolutely lethal." Seville, 1931. Six months after the loss of the British airship the R101, a German Zeppelin is coming in to land in Southern Spain. Hilary Manningham-Butler is an MI5 operative eking out a pitiful existence on the Rock of Gibraltar. The offer of a job in the Americas provides a potential life line but there are strings attached. First she must prove her mettle to her masters in London and that means stepping on board the Richthofen before the airship leaves Seville. A cache of secret documents has been stolen from Scotland Yard and the files must be recovered if British security is not to be severely compromised. Hilary must put her life on the line to discover the identity of the thief. But as the airship makes its way across the Atlantic towards Brazil it becomes clear that nobody on board is quite what they seem. And there is no guarantee that any of them will reach Rio de Janeiro alive... Keywords: agatha christie, mystery, british mystery, whodunnit, sis, mi5, mi6, zeppelin, zeppelin mystery, zeppelin disaster, R101, R101 disaster, hindenburg, hindenburg disaster, hindenburg mystery, airship, blimp, airship mystery, 1930, 1931, 1930s, period mystery, secret agent mystery, spanish republic, king alfonoso, secret documents, female detective, comedy, comedy detective, flashman, george macdonald fraser, jeeves and wooster, jeeves, pg wodehouse, p g wodehouse, audio mystery, audiobook mystery, british detectives, comedy audio, comedy audiobook, comedy detective book, comedy novel, fiction paperbacks, female spies, female spy, fiction paperbacks, girl spies, girl spy, golden age, golden age crime, golden age detective, harry flashman, historical fiction paperbacks, jazz age detective, woman spy, jazz age mystery, mystery farce, mystery novel, mystery novels, secret agent, secret agents, suspense, women spies
The corpse was snoring softly behind the sofa. It is early November and the Wynmouth Fire Festival is in full flow. A dozen or more giant statues are about to be put to the torch. The locals jokingly refer to it as "the Bonfire Night Massacre". Fireworks and bonfires are the order of the day, and Simon Turing is looking forward to seeing the display. He is in town performing at a local theatre, a revival of a fifties mystery play. All is not well at the venue, however. The theatre is in financial trouble and there are tensions backstage. The management needs a good box office if the theatre is to survive the winter. Luckily, the fire festival is a significant draw to the town. But when the theatre's own contribution to the festivities erupts into flames a couple of days earlier than planned, it does not bode well for the rest of the run.
