FICTION

<strong>For readers who loved <em>Remarkable Creatures</em>, <em>The Naturalist's Daughter </em>and <em>The Birdman's Wife</em> comes <em>The Woman in the Green Dress</em>...</strong> <p><strong>1853 Mogo Creek, NSW</strong></p><p>Della Atterton, bereft at the loss of her parents, is holed up in the place she loves best: the beautiful Hawkesbury in New South Wales. Happiest following the trade her father taught her, taxidermy, Della has no wish to return to Sydney. But the unexpected arrival of Captain Stefan von Richter on a quest to retrieve what could be Australia's first opal, precipitates Della's return to Sydney and her Curio Shop of Wonders, where she discovers her enigmatic aunt, Cordelia, is selling more than curiosities to collectors. Strange things are afoot and Della, a fly in a spider's web, is caught up in events with unimaginable consequences...</p><p><strong>1919 Sydney, NSW</strong></p><p>When London teashop waitress Fleur Richards inherits land and wealth in Australia from her husband, Hugh, killed in the war, she wants nothing to do with it. After all, accepting it will mean Hugh really is dead. But Hugh's lawyer is insistent, and so she finds herself ensconced in the Berkeley Hotel on Bent St, Sydney, the reluctant owner of a Hawkesbury property and an old curio shop, now desolate and boarded up.</p><p>As the real story of her inheritance unravels, Fleur finds herself in the company of a damaged returned soldier Kip, holding a thread that takes her deep into the past, a thread that could unravel a mystery surrounding an opal and a woman in a green dress; a green that is the colour of envy, the colour buried deep within an opal, the colour of poison...</p>

<p>From a bestselling Australian author, this compellingly realised novel brings to life the story of an enigmatic figure, wife to feted colonial architect Francis Greenway, and asks, whose hand really shaped Sydney? Who is the talented Mrs Greenway?</p> <p><strong>1814 Sydney</strong> When Mary Greenway, freshly arrived from the old country, steps into the maelstrom of Sydney Town with three children at her skirts, she has high hopes of a new beginning, despite having little money and a husband in irons. After all, the sudden death of her sadistic first husband has meant freedom from her gilded cage and Francis Greenway is an architect of some promise, under the protection of Admiral Phillip himself.</p><p>Mary herself is a woman of great resources and an even greater creative passion, a passion that will surely burn through anything that the filthy, burgeoning, vitality of colonial Sydney can throw at her. Soon ensconced in a tiny cottage in George Street, Mary sets about moulding a life for her family from the unpromising clay of this new colony, with a determination fired in equal parts by guilt for her disastrous past action that nearly brought ruin to them all and desire to see her true calling realised.</p><p>When she is befriended by Elizabeth Macquarie it seems that fate is smiling on them with the promise of a better life in her grasp. But fate is a difficult mistress and with past secrets to keep, and current betrayals on the brink of discovery, the stakes are higher than ever. With Mary's grip on this new life slipping, will her past lies come back to haunt her?</p>

<p>The bestselling novel from the author of <em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart</em>, a haunting and magical novel about joy, grief, courage, and transformation.</p> <p><em>'On the afternoon that Esther Wilding drove homeward along the coast, a year after her sister had walked into the sea and disappeared, the light was painfully golden.'</em></p><p>The last time Esther Wilding's beloved older sister Aura was seen, she was walking along the shore towards the sea. In the wake of Aura's disappearance, Esther's family struggles to live with their loss. To seek the truth about her sister's death, Esther reluctantly travels from Lutruwita, Tasmania to Copenhagen, and then to the Faroe Islands, following the trail of the stories Aura left behind: seven fairy tales about selkies, swans and women, alongside cryptic verses Aura wrote and had secretly tattooed on her body.</p><p><em>The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding</em> is a sweeping, deeply beautiful and profoundly moving novel about the far-reaches of sisterly love, the power of wearing your heart on your skin, and the ways life can transform when we find the courage to feel the fullness of both grief and joy.</p><p>'Vivid and soaring ... <em>The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding</em> is a haunting story of trauma and redemption that is nonetheless compelling and accessible. It's a great recommendation for fans of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's <em>The Language of Flowers</em> or Elizabeth Gilbert's <em>The Signature of All Things</em>, as well as Ringland's debut <em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart</em>' Books+Publishing</p><p>'Like the best books, <em>The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding </em>is ultimately a story about love. Ringland is a virtuoso of fairytale storytelling for adults.' <em>Sydney Morning Herald</em></p><p>'A mythological journey as much as an unfolding mystery, full of symbols ... a magical, witchy, quirky, luminous book, full of the natural world, the night sky and the ever-changing water around the islands on which it is set.' <em>The Australian</em></p><p>'This intercontinental journey into joy, grief, nature and magic confirms Holly Ringland as one of Australia's most precious, life-changing storytellers.' Booktopia</p><p>'Fans of Holly Ringland's beautiful first novel, <em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart</em>, will fall equally in love with her second.' <em>The West Australian</em></p><p>'Myths and legends are the touchstone to truth in this epic journey through love, loss, courage and kinship. But <em>The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding </em>is also an elegant and mesmerising tribute to the places that hold our stories, heart and memories. Holly Ringland writes with such tenderness, wit and imagination about all these things that it's impossible to come away from this magical story unchanged' Sally Piper, author of <em>Bone Memories</em></p><p>'Another spell is cast by Holly Ringland. I was swept away by this triumphant and luminous story' Myfanwy Jones, Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlisted author for <em>Leap</em></p><p>'Nobody writes about the pain of being alive more deftly than Holly Ringland. She brings such empathy to the topics of grief, love, family conflict and loss. Some of her sentences took my breath away, and I found myself madly flicking pages, days later, to find them again for safekeeping. Astonishing in its scope, detail and sensitivity, <em>The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding</em> is tender, magical, epic, funny and devastating. This is a very special writer at her best' - Kate Leaver, author of <em>The Friendship Cure</em></p>

The Top Ten fiction bestseller and critically acclaimed crime debut featuring everyone's favourite new detective, Cormac Reilly <p>'<strong><em>The Ruin</em> is spectacularly good. So CONFIDENT ... excellently written and, at times, heartachingly sad' Marian Keyes</strong></p><p><strong>'Corruption, clandestine cover-ups and criminal conspiracy ... as moving as it is fast-paced' Val McDermid</strong></p><p><strong>'Dervla McTiernan's first novel outclasses some of the genre's stalwarts making her a crime writer to watch ... fans of Ian Rankin and Tana French will feel right at home' Bookseller + Publisher (4.5 stars)</strong></p><p>Galway 1993: Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children - fifteen-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack - are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.</p><p>Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings - and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career - what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.</p><p>What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? <em>The Ruin</em> draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't.</p><p> </p>

DO NOT DISTURB. WHODUNNIT IN PROGRESS… ‘So many twists and turns’ ‘Full of such charm! 'Had me gripped from the beginning' _______________ DO NOT DISTURB. WHODUNNIT IN PROGRESS… Molly the maid sees everything at The Regency Grand Hotel. So when a renowned guest drops very dead on the tearoom floor, sullying the hotel’s five-star reputation, it falls to Molly to sweep up the clues. An unfortunate accident? Or a murderous mess? The answers to the mystery lie behind one guest’s door – and only the maid holds the key… _________________________________________________________________ Over a MILLION READERS have been swept away by Nita Prose's delightful mysteries: ‘Excellent and totally entertaining … the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time’ STEPHEN KING ‘This is phenomenal thriller. Maid or murderer or victim? Find out in the book’ READER REVIEW ‘Gripping, deftly written, and led by a truly unforgettable protagonist in Molly. I'm recommending it to everyone I know' EMMA STONEX ‘I loved everything about this book’ READER REVIEW ‘I didn’t think I could love a character any more than I loved Eleanor Oliphant but along comes Molly the Maid. God, I love her’ READER REVIEW ‘Fresh, fiendish and darkly beguiling. The Maid is so thrillingly original, and clever, and joyous. I just adored every page’ CHRIS WHITAKER ‘Felt like a modern day homage to Agatha Christie’ READER REVIEW ‘Lots of twists and turns and highly gripping’ READER REVIEW The Maid was a Sunday Times bestseller for w/c 08/05/2023

*Molly the maid returns in THE MAID'S SECRET – available to pre-order now* _________________________________________________________________ Get swept away by the million-copy bestseller … *THE NO.1 NEW YORK TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER *WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER *WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION *A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME PICK ‘An escapist pleasure’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘An instantly gripping whodunnit’ STYLIST ‘Smart, riveting, and deliciously refreshing ’ LISA JEWELL _________________________________________________________________ It begins like any other day for Molly Gray, silently dusting her way through the luxury rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel. But when she enters suite 401 and discovers an infamous guest dead in his bed, a very messy mystery begins to unfold. And Molly’s at the heart of it – because if anyone can uncover the secrets beneath the surface, the fingerprints amongst the filth – it’s the maid . . . _______________________________________________________ Everyone’s getting swept away by The Maid: ‘Excellent and totally entertaining . . . the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time’ STEPHEN KING ‘This is phenomenal thriller. Maid or murderer or victim? Find out in the book’ READER REVIEW ‘Gripping, deftly written, and led by a truly unforgettable protagonist in Molly. I'm recommending it to everyone I know' EMMA STONEX ‘I loved everything about this book’ READER REVIEW ‘I didn’t think I could love a character any more than I loved Eleanor Oliphant but along comes Molly the Maid. God, I love her’ READER REVIEW ‘Fresh, fiendish and darkly beguiling. The Maid is so thrillingly original, and clever, and joyous. I just adored every page’ CHRIS WHITAKER ‘Felt like a modern day homage to Agatha Christie’ READER REVIEW ‘Lots of twists and turns and highly gripping’ READER REVIEW A Sunday Times No.4 bestseller for w/c 24/01/2022 A New York Times No.1 bestseller for w/c 31/01/2022

Hating her was my end game, loving her was just the beginning … A grumpy small-town boxer meets a sunshine girl as sweet as pumpkin spice. Welcome to Magnolia Falls, perfect for fans of Elsie Silver, Lucy Score and B.K. Borison!*** Demi Crawford is Magnolia Falls royalty. I'm the boxer from the wrong side of the tracks. We couldn't be more different.Her family is enemy number one, and it made her guilty by association. I despised her before I even knew her. It was easier that way.But now she's moved in next door to me, and she's everywhere I turn. She is beautiful and honest and sweet. Everything I know I shouldn't want.They say there's a fine line between love and hate, and I don't know when I crossed over. She is the right hook I never saw coming. But the secrets between us will threaten to tear us apart.Lucky for her I'm a born fighter. And she is definitely worth the fight …Readers have fallen for LOVING ROMEO, will you?'A delicious slow burn with all the feels' 'I laughed, I cried, I blushed and kicked my feet like crazy, this book was EVERYTHING!' 'The spice in this book was top tier' 'I loved Romeo's friends … cannot wait to read their stories' 'A perfect small town, enemies-to-lovers romance' Tropes: Grumpy x sunshine Small town Opposites attract Found family

I may be the lawyer, but she's the one judging me …A bad boy small-town lawyer meets his match. Welcome to Magnolia Falls, perfect for fans of Elsie Silver, Lucy Score and B.K. Borison!*** Ruby Rose declared me the enemy before I had a chance to defend myself. I may be an attorney, but this girl had appointed herself judge and jury. And I’d never minded a good verbal sparring. But the more we fought – the more I craved her. Until our arguing turned into a bit of a wager. One I was determined to win. One time. Sixty seconds. A secret only we would share. But from the minute we crossed the line, there was no turning back. Ruby Rose may have given me more than sixty seconds, but she wasn’t offering forever. And now my world doesn’t work without her in it. But how do I convince her to stay, when she already has one foot out the door? Readers have fallen for WILD RIVER, will you?'This book omg! The way I obsessed over River and Ruby was not okay' 'Burned hotter than any fire … I could feel myself blushing whilst reading' 'Falling in love with the ride or die gang has been a highlight of 2024' 'I highly recommend reading this small town romance, Laura is the queen of them' 'Moving, epically sweet and searingly romantic … this is your next favourite read' Tropes: Enemies to lovers Small town Black cat FMC Found family

The gripping new instalment in the William Warwick series, An Eye for an Eye, is available to pre-order now! 24 hours to stop the crime of the century The race against time is about to begin… THE TOWER OF LONDON… Impenetrable. Well protected. Secure. Home to the most valuable jewels on earth. But once a year, the Metropolitan Police must execute the most secret operation in their armoury when they transport the Crown Jewels across London. SCOTLAND YARD… For four years, Chief Superindendent William Warwick – together with his second-in-command Inspector Ross Hogan – has been in charge of the operation. And for four years it’s run like clockwork. THE HEIST… But this year, everything is about to change. Because master criminal Miles Faulkner has set his heart on pulling off the most outrageous theft in history – and with a man on the inside, the odds are in his favour. Unless Warwick and Hogan can stop him before it’s too late… An unputdownable new thriller from the master storyteller 'Archer always delivers, and this heist thriller hits the spot again' The Sun 'Archer can still tell a gripping yarn' The Sunday Times ‘Probably the greatest storyteller of our age’ Mail on Sunday ‘If there were a Nobel Prize for storytelling, Archer would win’ Daily Telegraph ‘Peerless master of the page turner’ Daily Mail

The gripping new instalment in the William Warwick series, An Eye for an Eye, is available to pre-order now! THE UNPUTDOWNABLE THRILLER FROM THE MASTER STORYTELLER ‘Only someone like Jeffrey Archer . . . could have written a compelling story like this. Every page bristles with suspense and the ending comes at you with the force of a tank round’ DAVID BALDACCI London, 1988. Royal fever sweeps the nation as Britain falls in love with the ‘people’s princess’. Which means for Scotland Yard, the focus is on the elite Royalty Protection Command, and its commanding officer. Entrusted with protecting the most famous family on earth, they quite simply have to be the best. A weak link could spell disaster. Detective Chief Inspector William Warwick and his Scotland Yard squad are sent in to investigate the team. Maverick ex-undercover operative Ross Hogan is charged with a very sensitive – and unique – responsibility. But it soon becomes clear the problems in Royalty Protection are just the beginning. A renegade organization has the security of the country – and the Crown – in its sights. The only question is which target is next in line… Over My Dead Body hit #4 in the Sunday Times bestselling charts on 4th June 2022.

PRE-ORDER THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN, COMING SPRING 2025! A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 'One of their very best. Compelling, moving and beautifully written . . . an absolute winner' Observer ‘Classic Nicci French: an unputdownable missing-persons thriller that’s also a searing examination of family, memory and grief. A big-skied, full-blooded, broken-hearted book' Erin Kelly She’s loved by all who meet her. But someone wants her gone . . . Then When beautiful and vivacious Charlotte Salter fails to turn up to her husband Alec’s 50th birthday party, her kids are worried, but Alec is not. As the days pass and there’s still no word from Charlie, her daughter, Etty, and her sons, Niall, Paul and Ollie, all struggle to come to terms with her disappearance. How can anyone just vanish without a trace? Left with no answers and in limbo, the Salter children try and go on with their lives, all the while thinking that their mother’s killer is potentially very close to home. Now After years away, Etty returns home to the small East Anglian village where she grew up to help move her father into a care home. Now in his eighties, Alec has dementia and often mistakes his daughter for her mother. Etty is a changed woman from the trouble-free girl she was when Charlie was still around - all the Salter children have spent decades running and hiding from their mother’s disappearance. But when their childhood friends, Greg and Morgen Ackerley, decide to do a podcast about Charlotte’s disappearance, it seems like the town’s buried secrets – and the Salters’ – might finally come to light. After all this time, will they finally find out what really happened to Charlotte Salter? PRAISE FOR NICCI FRENCH: 'Fantastic - a breathless drumbeat of dread and suspense . . . no one does it better than Nicci French' Lee Child 'Expertly paced, psychologically sharp, thoroughly enjoyable' Louise Candlish 'Heart-thumping, head-scratching, nail-biting stuff' Erin Kelly 'Perfection' Sophie Hannah 'No-one does the dark distortion of good intentions like Nicci French' Cara Hunter 'An absolute masterclass of crime writing' Kate Rhodes 'As well as a fantastic mystery, Nicci French has written a powerful, moving and wise story about the damage that loss does to families, with characters you can’t forget. I loved it' Jo Callaghan

The third installment in the bestselling Maple Hills series follows fan-favourite Henry and a bookish fellow student who come up with a plan to help each other in and out of the classroom. When procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new role as ice hockey captain – which he didn’t even want – Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club. Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and when she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. But being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job and the novel she’s trying to write. New experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, though, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her. They just need to stick to their rulebook. Oh, and not fall in love. Note: Daydream contains 18+ content and is not suitable for younger readers.