Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Literature & Fiction

Recently widowed, Hannah Firth is still young - young enough to dream of a new life. When her spiteful daughter-in-law uses her as an unpaid servant, Hannah tries to leave, but she is unaware of the depths that Patty's spite will lead her to. Nathaniel King's life is ruined when his landlord's son lays waste to his market garden for a prank - and the resulting feud puts Nathaniel's livelihood at stake.

Flavia Albia's day-old marriage is in trouble - her new husband may be permanently disabled, and they have no funds. So when Palace officials ask her to help expose a plotter in their midst, she is obliged to accept their commission. The plot could not be bigger. Ever since he died in AD 68, apparently by his own hand, Rome has been haunted by reports that Emperor Nero is in fact very much alive and about to return to claim his throne.

The new Anna Jacobs saga continues the story of the younger sisters of Keara Michaels, the heroine of A Pennyworth of Sunshine, following their fortunes from 19th-century Ireland to the brave new world of Australia. In 1863 the authorities send Irish orphans Ismay and Mara to Australia against their will. Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, on arrival they're separated from one another. While Ismay is forced to take a job as a maid miles away in the country, Mara must stay in the care of the Catholic mission.

From earliest childhood, Robert Bruce has pursued his destiny, but the road has been a hard one. Behind him lie battles, murder, intrigue, defeat, and betrayal, and though he has at last achieved his ambition to wear the crown, he has not yet learned the true meaning of kingship. In Kingdom, Robert must come through his greatest tests, both personal and political, to lead his people towards the encounter with the English at Bannockburn which will echo down the centuries.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep. Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice - save the woman he loves or everyone else? - while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

Villains across London are being beaten, crippled and killed by vigilante cops. Crime rates are falling, but the powers that be want Dan 'Spider' Shepherd to bring the wave of rough justice to an end. Shepherd has always known that there are grey areas in the fight against crime. And that sometimes justice gets lost in the process. He has never been comfortable investigating cops, but working for the Serious Organised Crime Agency means that he has no choice.

It's wedding season, and tensions are brewing. When one lavish wedding ends in disaster before it can even begin - with the maid of honour discovered dead in Nantucket Harbor just hours before the ceremony - everyone in the wedding party is suddenly a suspect. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash digs into the best man, the bride, the groom's famous mystery novelist mother, and even a member of his own family, the chief discovers that every wedding is a minefield - and that no couple is perfect.

Sitting on a California beach at summer's end, Jane Marsh thinks back to her childhood at the estate called Elvie in a remote corner of Scotland. She remembers not only the heather-covered hills and the lonesome loch but her grandmother...and, of course, Sinclair. She has secretly dreamed of marrying rakishly handsome Sinclair and settling at Elvie forever. Then an urgent visit from her grandmother's lawyer becomes the catalyst for her return to Scotland, where waiting for her is passion, not gentle love....

Stephen King's epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower, is being made into a major movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Due in cinemas February 17, 2017 USA. The pivotal sixth instalment in King's best-selling epic fantasy saga provides the key to the quest that defines Roland's life.

Deep in the woods of Maine, there is a dark state facility where kids, abducted from across the United States, are incarcerated. In the Institute they are subjected to a series of tests and procedures meant to combine their exceptional gifts - telepathy, telekinesis - for concentrated effect. Luke Ellis is the latest recruit. He's just a regular 12-year-old, except he's not just smart, he's super-smart. And he has another gift which the Institute wants to use....

On the stormy planet of Windhaven, flyers are idolised as the vital link between its disparate islands. The common people rely on this elite class to support their way of life. These 'land-bound' can only dream of what it must be like to take to the skies. For Maris, dreams are not enough, and through an unlikely twist of fate, she has a taste of what life as a flyer is like. However, just as it seems that she has found her true calling, the hereditary dogma which rules the skies sets out to strip Maris of her wings.

After thirty-five years as the Chief of Police on Nantucket, Ed Kapenash's heart can no longer take the stress. But his plans to retire are thwarted when, with only three days left on the job, he receives a phone call. The Richardsons' 22-million-dollar summer home has been burned to the ground. The couple are far from hurt - they were out on the water at one of their lavish yacht parties. But their dependable personal assistant has vanished. To solve the case, the Chief will have to contend with small town gossip for one final act of service to the community he knows and loves.

There's only one thing more dangerous than a corrupt cop...and that's a corrupt cop with a gun. When a group of armed police in an elite unit turns maverick and starts to rip off drug dealers at gunpoint, undercover cop Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is given his most dangerous mission so far. Shepherd is ordered to infiltrate the tight-knit team, to gain their confidence and to ultimately betray them.Facing men with guns is nothing new for the former SAS trooper, but it's the first time he's had to investigate his own. And the job couldn't have come at a worse time for him.

Olivia fled her abusive marriage to return to her hometown and take over the family beekeeping business when her son was six. Now Asher is more than six feet tall and in his last year of high school, a kind, good-looking, popular ice hockey star with a tiny sprite of a new girlfriend whom Olivia loves. Then Lily is found with a catastrophic head injury at the bottom of the stairs—and Asher is arrested on a charge of murder. What was the truth of their relationship?

Stephen King's epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower, is being made into a major movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Due in cinemas February 17, 2017 USA. In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.

France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. And out of the chaos, an unlikely heroine is emerging. Reckless, steel-willed and brilliant, Joan has survived a childhood steeped in both joy and violence to claim an extraordinary—and fragile—position at the head of the French army. The battlefield and the royal court are full of dangers alike, and Joan finds herself under suspicion from all sides—as well as under threat from her own ambition.

Emma is house-sitting on the rainy Washington coast with only her golden retriever for company. She likes the isolation, the peace and quiet, and the opportunity to read. But her latest pick, a poorly written and gruesome horror novel, is disappointing and Emma leaves a one-star review. A message dings back - the author, H.G. Kane, has replied and he's furious. Emma brushes it off, until disturbing incidents start to occur. Scratches in the night. A figure crawling around in the shadows.

The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey. His second appearance is a thrilling quest to save his own brother - the Duke of Denver - from the hangman. The Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords. Naturally, his brother Lord Peter Wimsey is investigating the crime - this is a family affair.

Lancashire, 1930: Leah Turner's father has been killed in an accident at the laundry, and since her mother died years ago it falls to her to become sole provider for her little sister. But women's wages are half those of men, and pawning the few belongings she has left will keep their vicious rent collector at bay for only a few weeks, so even if she finds a job, they'll lose their home. Out of the blue, Charlie Willcox, the local pawnbroker, offers her a deal.

Gertie has always had her head in the clouds, wondering what her life might be like if she could only pluck up the courage to leave the remote Scottish island where she was born. It's the only place she knows, but you can't do anything there without everyone knowing - the glue of this close-knit community is the Knitting Circle, a group of strong, capable and frankly nosy women who work hard, gossip, knit and support each other through thick and thin. At the centre of this sisterhood is Gertie's mum Jean and her grandmother Elspeth, and the three generations of women live together.