Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Psychological

It's the year 2035 and fiction has been banned by the government for five years. Writing novels is a crime. Reading fairytales to children is punishable by law. Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.

As a photographer for Manhattan's elite, Delta Dawn is intimately familiar with the city's most illustrious families - and all their secrets. She may blend into the background, but she sees everything. When she is booked for a job by the glamorous Amelia Straub, there is a jolt of recognition. This time the family feels special - and wouldn't Delta fit so perfectly here with them, in their gorgeous home, their elegant life? As she steadily befriends them all, she discovers that the one thing Amelia wants most is also the perfect way to ensure Delta will never be asked to leave.

A chilling debut for fans of Mo Hayder and Sharon Bolton, The Binding Song takes you on a trip to Halvergate Prison. If you're lucky, you'll get to leave.... Dr Janet Palmer is the new lead psychologist at HMP Halvergate in a remote, bleak area of Norfolk. At first she was excited by the promotion. Then she starts to see how many secrets are hiding behind the high walls. A string of inmates have committed suicide, leaving no reasons why, and her predecessor has disappeared - along with his notes.

Single White Female meets the psychological suspense of Samantha Downing. When Eleanor Hardwicke's beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by the discovery of a gut-wrenching secret: the man she's grieving isn't her biological dad. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks out the family she never knew she had, finding an infuriatingly enviable half-sister. Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. And this gets Eleanor thinking - aren't good sisters supposed to share?

Connie lost her words at the age of five, the day she witnessed her mother and father's untimely death. Since then she has been all but mute, only being able to choke out a few select words. Now, years on, Connie's husband is on his deathbed, and all she can do is quietly sit by his side. But there are so many dreadful secrets locked up in Connie's silent prison. And time is running out to set them free....

A group of young professionals travel to the Westman Islands off the coast of Iceland to attend an old friend's wake. When two bodies are found on a rocky beach close to the refurbished lighthouse keeper's house that the group had stayed in, medical examiner Iðunn is sent to provide the local police assistance. For Iðunn, who grew up on the island, this takes her back to the heart of her complex family and the ghosts of her own past she would prefer to keep at bay.

When Tess hears Lydia Green is moving back to the village, she is full of excitement. As teenagers, Tess and Lydia were inseparable. Until the end of that last summer when Lydia suddenly moved away. With the recent loss of her husband and two small children to care for, Tess could really use the support of her old best friend. It feels like a bright spot of light in such a difficult time. Like fate has brought Lydia back to her. But when Tess sees Lydia for the first time in decades, in front of all the other mums at Saturday sport, Lydia pretends not to know her.

With supply in the Scottish cities drying up, Aida is forced back home to live with her mum at their rural farm. For now, they are safe with just enough to get by. Yet at the border, tensions are close to breaking point as more and more southerners chase the delusion that Scotland is an eternal spring - while fewer and fewer are allowed through. The service station where Aida works grows emptier with every day. Then, when suspicious strangers arrive at the farm asking for help, Aida and her family face a terrible decision. How much water can they afford to share?

Rani's life is far from idyllic—with two small children and a partner in a tiny rented flat that has never felt like home, she has always wished for a different life. Then, Natalie moves into the large house across the road—and Rani can't help but be drawn to her. To her life of luxury, to her perfect husband, her perfect house. But not all is as it seems behind closed doors, and as Rani gets closer to Natalie, she discovers everyone has secrets—and some will stay with you for a lifetime.

Where to hide when there's nowhere left to run? Sandrine is asked to empty her late grandmother's house on a small island near the Normandy coast. She soon discovers that its elderly inhabitants haven't left the island since their arrival as children during World War II. Sandrine can tell they are terrified of someone, or something. Yet, they refuse to leave the island. What happened to the children from the holiday camp that was suddenly shut down in 1949? And who was Sandrine's grandmother really?

When little Julie goes missing in summer 1986, David and Samuel share the terrible secret of her disappearance. Thirty years later, David has become a famous author and Samuel his publisher. Both receive identical manuscript chapters telling the story of what really happened that tragic summer.

New York in the 1990s - impoverished writer Jonathan Dainty takes his wife, Maddie, out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger's car and allowed it to drive her away. More than 20 years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life. Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people.

Rebecca Bray has moved on from a childhood she wants to forget. She has the dream fiancé, a loving stepdaughter and a career she's proud of. But with a move back to her hometown of Cornwall, everything she wanted to bury starts to surface. And when her stepdaughter goes missing at a New Year's Eve party, Rebecca must finally face the ghosts of her past - or Ava might never come home safely.

After every parents' evening, friends Nina, Bel and Rachel look forward to their regular debrief at the pub. But there will be no clinking Prosecco tonight. They are discussing an anonymous note that has been left in a child's schoolbag: this class has secrets. All the parents tell lies. As more notes are discovered, scandalous accusations are made and the school playground becomes rife with rumours. Who could be revealing the three friends' secrets? Because they thought the only people who knew everything about them were each other....

When Afrah arrives at Ravenswood Lodge Care Home for the first time, she feels far from home. Her daughter, Amira, didn't want to send her away from the comfort and familiarity of her surroundings but she's struggling to cope. Ravenswood Lodge was meant to be a safe space for Afrah. But when her belongings start vanishing, her family photographs, her jewellery, her pill boxes, Amira and the staff say it's just Afrah's imagination, it's just her failing memory. But Afrah is adamant someone is playing games with her. She knows Ravenswood Lodge isn't safe for her. Someone wants her gone.

Sam Cooper has a happy life: a good job, a blossoming relationship. Yet, there's something he can never forget - the image seared into his mind of his mother, Laurie, dying when he was a child. His father allowed his grief to tear them apart, and Sam hasn't seen him in years. Until an unexpected call from Firwood hospital, asking Sam to come home, puts in motion a chain of devastating events. On his deathbed, Sam's father makes a shocking confession.

When Pax, a middle-aged second-rate actor, scores an audition for a blockbuster, he is convinced fate has taken pity on him and he will finally get to spend some time in the limelight. He leaves his flat in a hurry, ignoring the alarming sounds coming from the apartment above. He is beside himself when he learns what devastating consequences his decision had: not only was his neighbour Alex assaulted and left for dead, he is also his girlfriend Emi's son....

Maggie is a husband watcher. A snooper, a marriage doctor, a destroyer of dreams, a killer of happy ever afters. She runs her own private detective agency specialising in catching those who cheat. Helene is a husband catcher. A beautiful wife, a doting stepmother, a perfect homemaker and a dazzling presence at parties. She has landed herself with one of the most eligible bachelors in town - handsome property developer Gabe Moreau. Alice is just a teenager. A perfect daughter to Gabe, a kind stepchild to Helene, a tragic girl to a dead mother.

Sara is lonely. No one talks to her - not even her bad-tempered workaholic husband or her two beloved sons. Her solace is her house, the biggest in the village, hidden away behind high hedges. Then she strikes up a friendship with Katie, a college student living nearby, and a new world opens up. Her neighbours have been dying to get to know her, and they rush to help when Sara is devastated by a terrible accident.

Benny Abbott and Joy Moore host one of the most beloved podcasts in the world. Each week, they delight listeners with a different "against-all-odds" survival story, gleefully finding the weird, life-affirming humor in near-death experiences....