Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Historical Fiction

Consider Vivien in November 1922: she is 24 and a spinster. She wears fashionable clothes, but she is plain and - almost worse in those times - intelligent. At nearly six feet tall, she is known unkindly by her family as 'the giantess'. Fortunately Vivien is rich, so she can travel to London and bribe a charismatic gentleman publisher to marry her. What he does not know is that Vivien is pregnant with another man's child and will die in childbirth in just a few months....

Dartmoor, 1875. Rose Maddiford, beautiful, vivacious and intelligent, could have her pick of men across Dartmoor. But she is in no hurry to marry unless it is for true love - and certainly not while she can help her father manage the Cherrybrook Gunpowder Mills. Then tragedy strikes. Rose’s father is injured by an explosion at the mill, and the family is left teetering on the edge of poverty. Rose is left with just two options: accept arrogant, controlling Charles Chadwicks’ proposal and move to London or let her family perish. Rose must choose duty over love.

Beloved author Lindsey Hutchinson is back with another novel of triumph over adversity set in the heart of a Black Country community. Perfect for fans of Josephine Cox and Lyn Andrews. Taken into service, orphan Lily Rae has heard all the stories about what entitled masters think their pretty maid's duties include. But when the very worst happens to her, she knows scrubbing the scullery floors of Ryder House no longer provides refuge from the sadistic Sebastian Ryder. Cold and alone, Lily makes for the town of Wednesbury, knowing she has only herself to rely on.....

As Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in North East Lincolnshire. The Wersgorix, whose scouting ship it is, are quite expert at taking conquering planets, and having determined from orbit that this one is suitable, they initiate standard procedure. Their ship carries guided missiles and nuclear weaponry—but they have long since lost the art of hand-to-hand fighting.

It's 1943, and the Second World War is raging. Ruby Mottram works for her local newspaper, the Bartonford Herald, typing up adverts and obituaries, whilst dreaming of a more exciting life. Between her shifts as an ARP warden and caring for her ailing father, the chance for escape doesn't come often to Devon. Meanwhile, in America's Deep South, Sam Archer is hatching a plan to raise enough money to get his mother and sister away from his abusive stepfather.

In 1885, Abigail Wilson participated in an archaeological excavation at Rome's Colosseum. Fifteen years later, now a distinguished archaeologist and one half of the Museum Detectives with her husband, Daniel, she returns to Rome as a speaker at the Conference on Ancient Roman Civilization. Their visit takes a perilous turn when a fellow archaeologist and his wife are discovered murdered within the Colosseum, propelling the Wilsons into a complex investigation amidst the Eternal City's historic backdrop.

New Orleans, 1919. As a dark serial killer - The Axeman - stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him. As Michael, Luca and Ida each draw closer to discovering the killer's identity, the Axeman himself will issue a challenge to the people of New Orleans: play jazz or risk becoming the next victim. And as the case builds to its crescendo, the sky will darken and a great storm will loom over the city.

Widowed early in World War Two, heartbroken Helen Harrison decides to leave her domineering mother determined to rebuild her shattered life. Her godmother, Pearl, offers her work in a fashion wholesaler. When the showroom is robbed, she meets DC Kershaw and he inspires her to join the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps. Helen throws herself into the work, dealing with evacuees, the destitute and vulnerable. A series of tragic events makes Helen realise there's still something missing in her life, and soon she will have to choose between two very different men vying for her heart.

Susanna Weber is the best dress maker in Imperial Vienna. Through skill and hard work, she now owns her own dress shop, looking out over the beautiful Madensky Square. To do so, she has left her past behind, if not without regret, at least resolutely. Looking around her, at her customers and friends, Susanna is aware that she has more than most - but a few small changes cause her to realize just how precarious her situation is.

London, 1873. Madeleine Brewster's marriage to Dr. Lucius Everley was meant to be the solution to her family's sullied reputation. After all, Lucius is a well-respected collector of natural curiosities. His 'Small Museum' of bones and specimens in jars is his pride and joy, although firmly kept under lock and key. His sister Grace's philanthropic work with fallen women is also highly laudable. However, Maddie soon finds herself unwelcome in what is meant to be her new home.

In 1938, English spy Harry Taverner and Jewish photographer Anna Cantrell spend the night dancing at Berlin's most elegant hotel. Anna is married to another man, the Nazi shadow is rising over Europe and neither expects to ever meet again. But once peace is declared, they reunite in the ruins of Berlin, where Anna is searching for her missing children. With the blockade tightening and the Soviets set on conquest, Harry and Anna walk a treacherous line between love and duty, integrity and survival, loyalty and betrayal.

London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life.

For recently engaged DI Joanna Piercy, a murder is the last thing she wants to deal with. Especially one with as dark a back story as that relating to calculating landowner and farmer Jakob Grimshaw; a man who managed to make enemies of all his neighbours and what little family he still had. One thing is certain; Joanna has a tough job ahead of her.

Christopher Templeton is a lawyer whose conscience troubles him. He knows many of the secrets of The Fellowship, the shadowy group profiting from the civil unrest in the nation, and has intimated to the Company of Rogues that he is willing to share them. The problem is, he has vanished. Jonas Flynt – thief, gambler, killer – still recovering from a duel with death upon the frozen Thames, is tasked with finding him. The trail takes him from the dark slums of London to a quiet village in the north of England, where all is not as it seems.

A tale of love and betrayal set in the borderlands of medieval Scotland. Badly disfigured Lady Isobel has fought to defend her Keep, with little thought for her safety. Why, then, has she let a stranger within her walls? Marc de Courtenay is a mercenary and a loner, drawn to the damaged, beautiful Isobel. But she has unwittingly given him secrets that will enable him to betray her. What would she do if she were ever to find out who he really is?

Former Emperor's consort Ling Suyin was renowned for her beauty: the ultimate seductress. Now she lives quietly alone - until the most ruthless warlord in the region comes and steals her away... Li Tao lives by the sword and is trapped in a web of politics, at the centre of which is Ling Suyin. Can he uncover her mystery without falling under the spell of her innocence and beauty?

After one uncharacteristically wicked night, the once reckless Eleanor Bracewell-Lowen now leads a safe and prudent life. On his return to London's high society, Lord Cristo Wellingham looks different from the man she knew so briefly in Paris, but he is still as magnetic... In his cold amber eyes Eleanor detects something she has seen mirrored in her own - longing. His touch invites passion, but this is a man who could destroy her good name with just one glance....

It's September in Brighton, and the city is playing host to weeks of endless rain and lashings of villainy. A trusted member of a local gang has disappeared part way through planning a huge heist, a violent criminal obsessed with boiling the heads of policemen has escaped Broadmoor and is rumoured to be headed towards the city, while at Gosling's department store, an American researcher has been found dead in the music section.

Set in London 1929, A Queer Case follows the exploits of Selby Bigge, a gay man who finds himself embroiled in a murder. Selby is a bank clerk by day and a denizen of London’s homosexual underworld by night. He yearns for a more glamorous life and is delighted to receive an invitation to the birthday of the rich banker Sir Lionel Duker.

Cornwall, 1801. In the wake of her mother's death, Pandora Woodville is desperate to escape her domineering father and finally return to Cornwall. Posing as a widow, she safely makes it across the Atlantic, bright with the dream of working at her Aunt Harriet's school for young women. But as Pandora is soon to learn, the school is facing imminent closure after a series of sinister events threatened its reputation.