Tudor Fiction

North Africa, 1942. Dust, heat, thirst, flies. For those who liked that sort of thing, it was a good clean fight: nothing to harm but the sand, the enemy and yourself. Striking hard and escaping fast, Fanny Barton’s squadron play Russian roulette, flying their clapped out Tomahawks on ground-strafing forays. On the ground, the men of Captain Lampard’s SAS patrol drive hundreds of miles behind enemy lines to plant bombs on German aircraft.

1325: in the gilded cage that is the Palace of Westminster, Isabella, Queen of England, is troubled by court intrigue. Her jealous husband, Edward II, has removed all her privileges, her regal status and even her children. When Isabella is dispatched to France to negotiate peace with the French King, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill travels with her to ensure her safety. But it seems that no one can be trusted, not least the queen’s own retinue.

Tudor adventurer, courtier, explorer and poet, Sir Walter Raleigh has been called the last true Elizabethan. He didn’t dance or joust, didn’t come from a noble family, or marry into one. So how did an impoverished law student become a favourite of the queen, and Captain of the Guard? The story which began with the Tudor trilogy follows Walter Raleigh from his first days at the Elizabethan Court to the end of the Tudor dynasty.

All Hanna Fischer ever wanted to do was to study physics under the great Albert Einstein. But when, as a teenager in 1919, her life is suddenly turned upside-down, she is catapulted into a new and extraordinary life - as a secretary, a scientist, a sister and a spy. From racist gangs in Berlin to gangsters in New York City, Nazis in the 1930s and Hitler's inner circle during the Second World War, Hanna will encounter some of history's greatest minds and most terrible moments, all while desperately trying to stay alive.

A small Alaskan town. A missing boy. A brutal murder. A detective brought in from out of state to assist the former sherriff who investigated a similar murder twenty-five years ago. But are they hunting a twisted psychopath - or something even more terrifying?

Varina Westcott is a young widow and a talented candlemaker for the royal court and church. At a time of great political unrest in 1501, Varina is conscripted for a secret project by Queen Elizabeth of York. Her task? To carve wax figures of four dead children. But soon, news comes to the court: The queen's eldest child, heir to the throne, Arthur, prince of Wales, has died. Deep in her grief, Elizabeth of York does not believe her son died of natural causes or because of a sudden illness - she believes he was murdered by the king's enemies.

Margaret Beaufort was rich, beautiful and just 13 years of age when she discovered that she carried the future king of England within her body. Forced to give him up as a web of intrigue and danger was spun around her son, she entrusted the child to the care of his uncle, Jasper Tudor, who would have laid down his life for the Lancastrian cause. Caught up in the Wars of the Roses, Margaret was banished from court in disgrace, and although she later won the love and loyalty of three powerful men, her heart remained true to Edmund Tudor, the father of her son.

Seduction and stealth are Belinda Primrose's skills - weapons befitting the queen's bastard daughter, a pawn of espionage conceived by Lorraine, ruler of Aulun, and her lover and spymaster, Belinda's father. Now an accomplished assassin, Belinda uncovers the true game her father never intended for her to play. For Belinda has found her witchpower, a legacy born from something not of this Earth.

Fresh from the cultivated hothouse of Renaissance France, Anne draws attention at the English court. A nobleman, a poet and a king vie for her love. She has a spirit worthy of a crown - and a crown is what she seeks. It is a more powerful aphrodisiac than love. And so she embarks on her perilous course, which will plunge a kingdom into turmoil. Blood will flow on her account. Her only protection is the King's great love.

The sudden death of Guy Brouard after his morning swim shocks the residents of Guernsey. A generous patron and benefactor of the island since his arrival there a decade ago, his demise puts a question mark over many cherished projects. When a young American woman is charged with the murder, her brother seeks help from the only contact he has in the UK - Deborah St James. Deborah is horrified to find that her old friend has been arrested and persuades her husband Simon to accompany her to Guernsey to avert this miscarriage of justice. There they find a tangled web of deceit and betrayal....

Five months after Mel told her husband to leave, a ghost moved in upstairs. A young man who reminds her, with eerie intensity, of a past lover, someone who changed Mel's life and then vanished. When the man's travelling girlfriend joins him, Mel's obsession with the couple upstairs builds and the boundaries between the two homes begin to blur, with devastating consequences.

Meet single mum Samantha, entrepreneur Rhea, and first-time mother Tahlie, all from different walks of life, brought together by their weekly mum and baby group in the town of Hickory Creek. Here they all find support—and a moment's peace—in the haze of raising their new-borns. But when the group is cancelled due to a lack of funds, it looks like the invaluable support they received will be no more.

Browsing antiques shops in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait - supposedly of Anne Boleyn. Except Alison knows better.... The woman is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557 as an unwanted orphan and presumed dead after going missing as a child. The painting is more than just a beautiful object from Alison's past - it holds the key to her future, unlocking the mystery surrounding Mary's disappearance and the enigma of Alison's son.

1572. Europe is in turmoil. A vengeful faction of exiled English Catholics is scattered about the continent, plotting to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and install her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne. And in the Netherlands, the streets are red with the blood of those who dare to oppose the brutal Spanish occupation. But amid the unrest, one resourceful young woman has made a lucrative enterprise...Scottish-born Fenella Doorn salvages crippled vessels.

A naive young woman at the mercy of her ambitious family. At just 19, Katheryn Howard is quick to trust and fall in love. She comes to court. She sings, she dances. She captures the heart of the king. Henry declares she is his rose without a thorn. But Katheryn has a past of which he knows nothing. It comes back increasingly to haunt her. For those who share her secrets are waiting in the shadows, whispering words of love...and blackmail.

Detective Alex Cross is hunting a killer who targets families around Washington, DC. But Cross isn't the only one investigating. A charismatic true-crime author has spotted patterns in the actions of 'The Family Man' that others have missed. It's up to Cross to determine whether the writer's theories are fact or fiction.

Young Queen Elizabeth I's path to the throne has been a perilous one, and already she faces a dangerous crisis. French troops have landed in Scotland to quell a rebel Protestant army, and Elizabeth fears once they are entrenched on the border, they will invade England. Isabel Thornleigh has returned to London from the New World with her Spanish husband, Carlos Valverde, and their young son. Ever the queen's loyal servant, Isabel is recruited to smuggle money to the Scottish rebels. Yet Elizabeth's trust only goes so far.

At just 19, Katheryn Howard is quick to trust and fall in love. She comes to court. She sings, she dances. She captures the heart of the King. Henry declares she is his rose without a thorn. But Katheryn has a past of which he knows nothing. It comes back increasingly to haunt her. For those who share her secrets are waiting in the shadows, whispering words of love...and blackmail.

King Henry VIII is inconsolable over the loss of his beloved queen, Jane Seymour. He banishes himself to the lower-levels of Whitehall Palace and refuses to see or speak to anyone. A deeply concerned Cromwell has a desperate plan: To send down the old court jester, the unstable Will Sommers, into the darkness, to somehow help. Meanwhile, Cromwell's enemies at court are gathering. Henry's grief regresses into a strange kind of manic madness. But can a fool really save the King?

A woman's naked body is found floating in the weeds of a lake near Bath by an elderly woman walking her Siamese cats. No one comes forward to identify her, and no murder weapon is found, but sleuthing is Superintendent Peter Diamond's speciality. A genuine gumshoe, practising door stopping and deduction: he is the last detective. Struggling with office politics and a bizarre cast of suspects, Diamond strikes out on his own, even when Forensics think they have the culprit.