British Fiction

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

This recording contains four of Katherine Mansfield's best stories. In The Daughters of the Late Colonel, two sisters are recently bereaved; while in Her First Ball a young girl attends her first dance. The Singing Lesson features Miss Meadows, a music teacher in turmoil; and in The Stranger, a middle-aged couple are reunited.

Mrs. Braithwaite, self-appointed queen of her English village, finds herself dethroned, despised, and dismissed following her husband’s selfish divorce petition. Never deterred, the threat of a family secret being revealed sets off hot-foot to London to find the only person she has left - her clever daughter, Betty, who took work there at the first rumbles of war. But when she arrives, Betty’s landlord, the timid Mr. Norris, informs her that Betty hasn’t been home in days - with the chaos of the bombs, there’s no telling what might have befallen her.

Catherine Oliphant writes for women's magazines and lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow - although she's starting to wonder if they'll ever get married. Then Tom drops his bombshell: He's leaving her for a 19-year-old student. Though stunned by Tom's betrayal, Catherine quickly becomes fascinated by another anthropologist, Alaric Lydgate, a reclusive eccentric recently returned from Africa. As Catherine starts to weigh her options, she must figure out who she is and what she really wants.

A governess and a duke could never be a good match, but the Duke of Harrogate will stop at nothing to save Miss Sophia Weston from a desperate situation. Miss Sophia Weston is left destitute after her father dies. Her brother and sister-in-law, Lord and Lady Brookridge, refuse to support her, even though it is their duty. When Sophia is forced to seek employment, she accepts a position as a governess for the widowed Duke of Harrogate. The duke’s only daughter, Sarah, brings an immense amount of joy to Sophia. Soon enough, Sophia learns to accept her new situation and loves her daily ...

A lesson in love, success and destroying it all... Georgia Florence is a woman in the middle of her abundant life. A woman who is never late and never lost. Until now. Now she is lost amongst wanting different, wanting who she used to be, and drowning in the opinions of those around her. Whilst Georgia’s past hurt will lead her to question her own value, it is her final decision that will make the most noise. A decision made in search of hope. As her feet keep her grounded for what may be one last time, the next step forward could be the one that changes everything, for everyone. After ...

As bogus corruption charges loom over her, DS Kat Ballantyne finds herself deskbound and stuck with cold cases. Her hated boss, DI Carver, has given her just one week to explain how £50,000 found its way into her bank account. If she can’t, she’ll be lucky to have a desk at all. Then a close friend calls her from a murder scene, claiming to have strangled a local gangster’s wife. Kat has no choice but to disobey orders and investigate. Despite overwhelming forensic evidence supporting her friend’s confession, something still doesn’t add up…

Christmas at a snowed in country house. You know what happens next… Not necessarily. Agatha Aston is invited to spend the weekend before Christmas with some old friends. Accompanied by her Machiavellian Basset hound, Talleyrand, Agatha encounters murder, ghosts and romance at a country house where nothing is as it seems. While Agatha has her hands full solving a murder, Talleyrand has his own problems in the shape of Bismarck, the hosts’ unfriendly German Shepherd. Expect fireworks. Containing a short ghost story within a story, The Christmas Murder Mystery is a twisty box of delights, ...

Returning to the Broads after nearly two years at sea, John Tanner moors up next to a boat to find the body of a man whose five-year-old daughter is nowhere to be seen. As a torrent of unwanted memories begins flooding through his mind, an attractive Broads Ranger arrives at the scene with a disturbing tale; one of children being taken by a ghostly figure, standing at the helm of an old wooden boat.

Dashing young Edmond Dantès has everything: a fine reputation, an appointment as captain of a ship, and the heart of a beautiful woman. But his perfect life is shattered when three jealous friends conspire to destroy him. Falsely accused of a political crime, Dantès is locked away for life in the infamous Chateau d'If prison. But it is there that Dantès learns of a vast hidden treasure.

Smoke hides many truths … and many sins … After a case of industrial espionage leads to a manic pursuit gone fatally wrong, private investigator Thomas Blume is forced to face the agonizing pain of his role in a seemingly innocent bystander’s death. But when the victim’s wife shows up the next day suggesting a mysterious deeper conspiracy with much more going on beneath the surface, Blume is drawn into a case involving dangerous organized criminals, a seedy London underworld, and gangsters with nothing to lose. Now, with police closing in and a mob boss hunting him, can Blume ...

Fifteen years ago, a serial killer was on a rampage murdering young women in Middlehampton. Then, suddenly, the killings stopped, and the murderer was never found… So when the body of another young woman is found bearing the twisted killer’s unique hallmark—the overpowering stench of lavender and an origami heart—DS Kat Ballantyne knows this can only mean one thing: the killer is back.

Henry is thrilled to have a second chance at love, but he risks losing Eleanor again when a scandal threatens to tear them apart! Lady Eleanor Dawson married the Earl of Brooke after it had been arranged by her father. However, soon after their wedding day, the earl passed away in a riding accident. After her year of mourning, Eleanor is finally ready to enter society once again, although marriage is the furthest thing from her mind. When Henry learns that Eleanor has returned to London and is once again free to marry, he longs for a second chance at earning her love. However, he must first...

DS Kat Ballantyne came to the crime-writing festival for an escape. Instead she’s walked straight into a murder scene. Moments before he’s due on stage, a famous novelist is found dead in a locked room. It looks like natural causes, but Kat sees tiny clues that suggest murder. As she investigates, she uncovers literary rivalries, personal vendettas and hidden agendas. Is there anyone who didn’t have a motive to murder Mark Swift?

Judgement is in the eye of the beholder Adrian Harvey, London wine merchant, has lost the Christmas spirit. Someone is stalking him, stealing his post and vandalising his shop. When the police question him after an anonymous tip-off, he's more than anxious. He's scared. And who is that nun? Long time neighbour and friend DI Beatrice Stubbs is dispatched to Germany to investigate a series of apparently related art thefts, so Adrian seizes the chance to flee the city. He follows her to Hamburg to do some Christmas shopping and visit his ex. Yet the stalker is still on his heels. While ...

The day Fitzwilliam Darcy marries Elizabeth Bennet, he thinks his life is complete at last. Four months later, even greater joy appears on the horizon when Elizabeth finds out she is pregnant. But it is not long before outside forces intrude on their happiness. When the unthinkable happens, Elizabeth and Darcy must discover their love for each other all over again. Romantic and insightful, Darcy's Temptation captures the original style and sardonic wit of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice while weaving its beloved characters into an exciting new tale. In a story set against the backdrop ...

Six weeks. Just forty-two short days. That’s all it takes to rip the heart out of a city and change the lives of those who live there. Forever. One such life belongs to Ryan Jarrod. In the early hours of a wet winter’s morning on Tyneside, Ryan Jarrod approaches the end of his second shift as a Special Constable when he stumbles across the body of a savagely beaten Teddy McGuffie, a down-at-heel taxi driver. On the same night, an explosion rips through the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne’s student community. Casualties are high; the city brought to a standstill. And the University blast ...

Serena Jones has plans to make an impact on the world, without the help of her family name, and falling in love is not among them but she never expected to run into her Prince Charming. The last person Serena Jones expects to meet when she walks into her local bookstore is Cian, the crown prince of Lochland. Things get weirder when she arrives at her brother’s house for dinner and Cian is there! After running into each other throughout LA, Cian has to return to Lochland and invites Serena to visit him and his country, but she has work to do before she can think of herself and what she ...

Nothing can shake a city to its core like the killing of a serving police officer. Especially when another murder swiftly follows. Was the death a tragic accident? Or was it payback? Was the officer in over his head with the local underworld? Or was his death a personal and permanent message? The investigation is entwined with an arson attack that destroys the landmark Calais Club, and DC Holly Towns and the rest of the Port Alma CIU team are divided. Holly runs the risk of alienating her only ally, not to mention her new boss. Her vision of the crime and its origins are different than ...

Rats invade our sewers. Our homes. And they won't stop there. Ethan Vine wants his country back. His freedom. For that, he’s ready to give his life. So what’s stopping him? England drowns under a plague of large killer rats. The towns and cities are death zones. Scattered pockets of human survivors battle against an increasingly vicious vermin. In the villages, the valiant fight on preserving a fragile hope. Life is short and hard; death swift and bloody. And now it’s about to get worse. A mysterious new breed of rat has emerged. A demon mutant. For Ethan and the others, the only hope...