FICTION

1075

What connects a botanical illustration of a butterfly with a missing baby and an enigma fifty years in the making? A twisty historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author. 1868 Morpeth Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family's country estate than she is finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby, so she cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before sighted in Australia. With the help of Clarrie, her maid, and her beautiful illustrations, she is poised to make a natural science discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie's new-born son goes missing and everything changes.1922 Sydney When would-be correspondent Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball on the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to go. Her late grandfather Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation - an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as she begins to dig, her investigation quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery, a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

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The Fossil Hunter $22.99

A fossil discovered at London's Natural History Museum leads one woman back in time to nineteenth century Australia and a world of scientific discovery and dark secrets in this compelling historical mystery. The Hunter Valley 1847The last thing Mellie Vale remembers before the fever takes her is running through the bush as a monster chases her - but no one believes her story. In a bid to curb Mellie's overactive imagination, her benefactors send her to visit a family friend, Anthea Winstanley. Anthea is an amateur palaeontologist with a dream. She is convinced she will one day find proof the great sea dragons - the ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur - swam in the vast inland sea that millions of years ago covered her property at Bow Wow Gorge. Soon, Mellie shares that dream for she loves fossil hunting too...1919When Penelope Jane Martindale arrives home from the battlefields of World War I with the intention of making her peace with her father and commemorating the death of her two younger brothers in the trenches, her reception is not as she had hoped. Looking for distraction, she finds a connection between a fossil at London's Natural History museum and her brothers which leads her to Bow Wow Gorge. But the gorge has a sinister reputation - 70 years ago people disappeared. So when PJ uncovers some unexpected remains, it seems as if the past is reaching into the present and she becomes determined to discover what really happened all that time ago...PRAISE'Fans of Natasha Lester and Kate Morton will absolutely devour The Fossil Hunter. It is the kind of story you can easily get swept up in. Readers interested in Australian history, museums, and the fascinating world of fossils will be especially delighted with Cooper's stunning new historical novel.' Better Reading'Cooper is an accomplished storyteller, employing the dual-timeline device to foster tension and suspense about the fate of Anthea and the girls. The result is an absorbing tale with a strong mystery element and feminist bent, with special appeal for those interested in the history of dinosaur hunters.' Historical Novel Society, US

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The Cartographer's Secret $19.99

The Cartographer's Secret A young woman's quest to heal a family rift entangles her in one of Australia's greatest historical puzzles when an intricately illustrated map offers a clue to the fate of a long-lost girl. A mesmerising historical mystery set in the Hunter Valley from bestselling author Tea Cooper for readers of Natasha Lester and Kate Morton. 1880 The Hunter Valley Evie Ludgrove loves to map the landscape around her home - hardly surprising since she grew up in the shadow of her father's obsession with the great Australian explorer Dr Ludwig Leichhardt. So when an advertisement appears in The Bulletin magazine offering a one thousand pound reward for proof of where Leichhardt met his fate, Evie is determined to figure it out - after all, there are clues in her father's papers and in the archives of The Royal Geographical Society. But when Evie sets out to prove her theory she vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a mystery that taints everyone's lives for thirty years. 1911 When Letitia Rawlings arrives at the family estate in her Model T Ford, her purpose is to inform her great aunt Olivia of a bereavement. But Letitia is also escaping her own problems - her brother's sudden death, her mother's scheming and her own dissatisfaction with the life planned out for her. So when Letitia discovers a beautifully illustrated map that might hold a clue to the fate of her missing aunt, Evie Ludgrove, her curiosity is aroused and she sets out to discover the truth of Evie's disappearance. But all is not as it seems at Yellow Rock estate and as events unfold, Letitia begins to realise that solving the mystery of her family's past could offer as much peril as redemption.

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The Girl In The Painting $19.99

For readers of The True Story of Maddie Bright, The Woman in the Green Dress and The Birdman's Wife comes this atmospheric and richly detailed Australian historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author. Maitland 1913 Miss Elizabeth Quinn is something of an institution in Maitland Town. For longer than anyone could remember she and her brother, businessman Michael, have lived in the impressive two-storey stone house next to the church. When she is discovered cowering in the corner of the exhibition gallery at the Technical College the entire town knows something strange has come to pass.Was it the prehistoric remains or perhaps the taxidermy exhibition that had reduced the whale-boned encased pillar of society to a quivering mess? Or is there something odd about a striking painting on loan from the National Gallery?Mathematical savant Jane Piper is determined to find out. Deposited on the doorstep of the local orphanage as a baby, she owes her life and education to the Quinns' philanthropic ventures and Elizabeth has no one else to turn to.As the past and the present converge, Elizabeth's grip on reality loosens. Can Jane, with her logical brain and penchant for puzzles, unravel Elizabeth's story before it is too late?Ranging from the gritty reality of the Australian goldfields to the grand institutions of Sydney, the bucolic English countryside to the charm of Maitland Town, this compelling historical mystery in the company of an eccentric and original heroine is rich with atmosphere and detail.PRAISE FOR TEA COOPER'Boasts strong female protagonists, an infectious fascination with the past, and the narrative skill to weave multiple timelines into a satisfying whole...smartly edited, cleanly written...easy to devour.' - Sydney Morning Herald on The Woman in the Green Dress'Cooper excels at creating strong and unique female characters set within interesting backdrops of Australian social history.' - Historical Novel Society on The Girl in the Painting

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The Woman In The Green Dress $16.99

For readers who loved Remarkable Creatures, The Naturalist's Daughter and The Birdman's Wife comes The Woman in the Green Dress... 1853 Mogo Creek, NSWDella 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...1919 Sydney, NSWWhen 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.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...

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The Talented Mrs Greenway $22.99

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? 1814 Sydney 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.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.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?

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Stormed Fortress $22.99

The spellbinding final instalment of The Alliance of Light. Though Athera may be free, the fight is far from over… The heartstopping conclusion to the Alliance of Light series brings Lysaer's army of Light to besiege the great citadel of Alestron. Master of Shadow, Arithon, with barely a moment's recuperation from his victory over the necromancers, has discovered that young Jeynsa s'Valerient whom he has sworn to protect, has joined the ranks of his disowned allies within the threatened citadel. Worse, following a failed rescue attempt, his beloved Elaira, his double, Fionn Areth, and the spellbinder Dakar are also trapped within Alestron's walls. The chancy wiles of Davien the betrayer must spirit Arithon across the enemy lines to attempt a bold and perilous rescue mission. Arithon must seek the heartcore of his talent, even while embroiled in a savage battle against those he has vowed to protect. But treachery strikes from deep within the duke's ranks. Lysaer's fanatics will be unleashed to claim their bloody revenge. With the Fellowship Sorcerers in mortal danger, and all under threat from a collapsing grimward, Davien the betrayer is unable to intercede to save his colleagues and so will be forced to invoke the dire terms of an ancient and most secretive bargain. Arithon stands alone at the hour of reckoning as the true purpose of the Koriani enchantresses becomes, at long last fully, unveiled – with the covetous Prime Matriarch now poised to snatch a prize, a prize beyond that of merely integrity and life…

The Seven Skins Of Esther Wilding $24.99

The bestselling novel from the author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a haunting and magical novel about joy, grief, courage, and transformation. '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.'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.The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding 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.'Vivid and soaring ... The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding 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 The Language of Flowers or Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things, as well as Ringland's debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart' Books+Publishing'Like the best books, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is ultimately a story about love. Ringland is a virtuoso of fairytale storytelling for adults.' Sydney Morning Herald'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.' The Australian'This intercontinental journey into joy, grief, nature and magic confirms Holly Ringland as one of Australia's most precious, life-changing storytellers.' Booktopia'Fans of Holly Ringland's beautiful first novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, will fall equally in love with her second.' The West Australian'Myths and legends are the touchstone to truth in this epic journey through love, loss, courage and kinship. But The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding 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 Bone Memories'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 Leap'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, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is tender, magical, epic, funny and devastating. This is a very special writer at her best' - Kate Leaver, author of The Friendship Cure

The Scholar $22.99

'Dervla McTiernan has rocked the crime fiction world with good reason. Taut, tense and darkly addictive. A treat for lovers of fine crime writing.' - Candice Fox Being brilliant has never been this dangerous ...When Dr Emma Sweeney stumbles across the victim of a hit and run outside Galway University late one evening, she calls her partner, Detective Cormac Reilly, bringing him first to the scene of a murder that would otherwise never have been assigned to him. A security card in the dead woman's pocket identifies her as Carline Darcy, a gifted student and heir apparent to Irish pharmaceutical giant Darcy Therapeutics. The multi-billion-dollar company, founded by her grandfather, has a finger in every pie, from sponsoring university research facilities to funding political parties to philanthropy - it has funded Emma's own ground-breaking research. The enquiry into Carline's death promises to be high profile and high pressure.As Cormac investigates, evidence mounts that the death is linked to a Darcy laboratory and, increasingly, to Emma herself. Cormac is sure she couldn't be involved, but as his running of the case comes under scrutiny from the department and his colleagues, he is forced to question his own objectivity. Could his loyalty to Emma have led him to overlook evidence? Has it made him a liability?PRAISE FOR THE SCHOLAR'Atmospheric and beautifully paced, with nuanced characters and a gripping plot - The Scholar has it all.' - Chris Hammer'This is top-notch crime writing - fast, clever, surprising, and psychologically acute. I can only wish Dervla could write as fast as I can read!' - Kate Forsyth'The Scholar is a gripping follow-up to McTiernan's debut crime novel The Ruin, featuring the enigmatic DS Cormac Reilly ... The Scholar is a tightly plotted, fast-paced read with enough twists to keep you guessing right to the end.' - Better Homes & Gardens'Another thrilling tale that delivers on all the promise of McTiernan's debut - not to be missed.' - Readings Monthly

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The Ruin $22.99

The Top Ten fiction bestseller and critically acclaimed crime debut featuring everyone's favourite new detective, Cormac Reilly 'The Ruin is spectacularly good. So CONFIDENT ... excellently written and, at times, heartachingly sad' Marian Keyes'Corruption, clandestine cover-ups and criminal conspiracy ... as moving as it is fast-paced' Val McDermid'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)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.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.What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't.

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The Mystery Guest $24.99

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

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The Maid $22.99

*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

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Magnolia Falls (1) $22.99

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

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Magnolia Falls (2) - Wild River $22.99

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

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Traitors Gate $22.99

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

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