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No death could have been more welcome than Evan Morgan's, or more fitting for the Welcome Home celebrations in the village of Llanddewi. For Morgan had spent the war making money and enemies down in the Vale of Glamorgan with about equal facility. In fact, on the night, it seemed as if a whole posse of murderers had beaten a path to the door of the Manor House.

Born to a French mother and an English father, Charlotte Bray has always felt like an outsider in her Cornish fishing village. She spends her days on her father's fishing boat, helping to feed a nation at war. But the war brings devastation, and her world is forever changed by tragedy. With nothing left to lose, she accepts a mysterious invitation to work for the War Office as a spy. She soon finds herself in Nazi-occupied Paris with a new identity. Charlotte begins working under the sombre but handsome Frenchman Pierre Lesieur. But do his allegiances lie elsewhere?

Pemberley is Mr Darcy’s splendid house, and it is there that, amidst their relatives one Christmas, his pride and his wife Elizabeth’s prejudice find themselves once again provoked. Told with stylish irony combined with insights into the emotions and mores of eighteenth century English high society, Pemberley is an elegant and diverting social comedy, a novel of genuine originality.

Escaping the rat race for a few happy weeks, Tom Chesshyre indulges in the freedom of the tracks. From France (dogged by rail worker strikes) through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland he goes, travelling as far east as Odessa by the Black Sea in Ukraine. With no set plans, simply a desire to let the trains lead the way, his trip takes him onwards via Hungary, the Balkans and Austria. Along the way he enjoys many an encounter, befriending fellow travellers as well as a conductor or two. This is a love letter to Europe, written from the trackside.

Edward is throwing a dinner party with Binny, his mistress. Aware that she has long been denied those small intimacies that his wife takes for granted – choosing a birthday present for his sister, for example, or sorting his socks – he wants to give her a chance to feel more involved in his life, to socialise with some of his friends (the discreet ones). Things are a little awkward to begin with, but everything seems to be going well. Then some uninvited and rather forceful guests arrive, and it doesn’t look like Edward is going to make it home on time…

Spring, 1943. After a visit to see her mother in Sussex with Ned, it's time for VAD nurse Evie Jones to say a fond farewell to Rookery House and seek a new home in Great Plumstead. When an unusual opportunity arises, will it be all she hopes for? Marianne is visited by her husband's sister, stirring up bad memories from the past. Scared that Alex's family will once again try to take her young daughters away, Marianne vows to do all she can to keep them safe and living with her at Rookery House.

The French Revolution is turning in on itself even as the war with the English drags on. As the armies move towards Italy, George Markham and his Marines find themselves assigned to the sloop Sylphide under the impetuous Captain Germain. Set ashore in the midst of the French army, Markham is charged with escorting a group of loyalists on a secret mission and is soon wishing he was back in the thick of it at sea.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. A Christmas Eve party at Clevere Hall ends in tragedy when the host is found stabbed to death. Major Ceely certainly wasn’t short of enemies, but who hated him enough to commit the crime?

Detective Inspector Michael Angel and his team are desperately searching for a murderer dressed in a dog collar. Mystified, Angel is unable to determine whether the murderer is a crazed priest or a man in priest’s clothes. Tramps who call at vicarages begging for money are suspected, but nothing is what it seems. Angel is greatly tested, and the investigations become more dangerous, as he races to find the killer to prevent more blood being spilled.

1787. Captain Edward Brazier is wounded and in desperate need of medical attention, but those from whom he could seek help have no idea where he is - although neither do his enemies. With his beloved Betsey currently imprisoned by her brother Henry, who is considering committing her to an asylum to take her off his hands, time is running out for Brazier to rescue her and end the tyranny of the local smuggling ring of Deal once and for all.

Dedicated local vet Laura cares for the farm animals of the little village of Bramble Heath. But falling bombs aren't the only danger as the war hits close to home. Laura is not afraid to serve her country by caring for animals and protecting the crops everyone relies on. But, just when the country is most in need of food, the farms of the village come under attack. Desperate to figure out who could be doing such terrible things even while German bombs rain down, Laura is relieved when the Ministry respond to her requests for help. But the man they send isn't what she expects.

When Inspector Field shows his friend Charles Dickens the body of a young woman dragged from the River Thames, he cannot have foreseen that the famous author would immediately recognise the victim as Isabella Gordon, a housemaid he had tried to help through his charity.

Set in the picturesque town of Askham, near Ullswater, the story opens with the funeral of Humphrey Craig, the builder who converted Simmy's new house in Hartsop. The following day, when Simmy goes back to look at the grave and the flowers on it, she meets two women, Lindsay Wilson, an academic in her late twenties who is writing a thesis on Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, and Pauline Parsons, a local matriarch aged 90. Just 24 hours later, Mrs Parsons is found dead on Askham Fell and Simmy is summoned to Penrith police station.

October 1942. Viola loves her new job away from the factory and hopes that her romance with the handsome Ralph might have a happy ending. Meanwhile, married life is proving tough for Fran and Davey. Following her husband's shocking confession, Beth finally feels as though she's regaining control of her life. Christmas is a time for family and friends, and the factory girls will do everything they can to ensure this year's celebration is one to remember.

Armistice Day 1940. The Blitz Detective John Jago finds himself despatched to Pimlico to investigate a suspicious death. A young man, Terry Watson, has been found in an Anderson shelter, battered about the head, and with two white poppies in his pocket. As the investigation delves into Watson's background, Jago and his assistant DC Craddock find themselves knee-deep in Pimlico's shady underworld and connections with Oswald Mosley's BUF party. It will take all their skills to uncover the truth behind the pacifist's brutal death.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. A locked-room mystery that will delight Agatha Christie fans. Dramatist Trevor Lowe and his friend Detective Inspector Shadgold board the Western Express to spend Christmas in the little Cornish village of St Merryan. Heavy snowfall forces their journey to an abrupt halt and, after seeking refuge in a local pub, one of their fellow passengers is found stabbed to death, clutching half a Christmas card. Is the murderer in their midst?

Winter 1644, the Tower of London. Colonel George Monck has been charged with high treason. A brilliant soldier, admiral and military governor, Monck joined the King's men in besieging Nantwich. But the Parliamentary side's more disciplined army successfully routed them, and Monck was thrown in jail. Brooding and despondent, Monck's troubles look to intensify when he starts an affair with Anne Ratsford, a married woman who is caring for him in The Tower.

Laurel Nightingale wants to start again. However, after discovering a dead body shortly after arriving in the tight-knit community, she wonders if village life is as wholesome as she first thought. . . Local police are convinced the death was accidental, but Laurel suspects murder, and enlists new friend Maggie to join her quest in uncovering the truth. When a second body is found, Laurel ruffles feathers by pointing the finger at one of the locals. But, when her accusation backfires, she's left alienated and afraid.

Peter Maxwell didn't want to attend the GNVQ course. He didn't want to get mixed up in murder either - but perhaps it was all part of death's rich tapestry. And while a disparate gathering of teachers was breaking ice upstairs at the Carnforth Centre, someone else was in the basement - breaking skulls. But what the killer couldn't have foreseen was that one of the victims was an old flame of Maxwell's. So now it was personal. And when 'Mad Max' takes something personally, he doesn't get madder - he gets results.

John Wilkins meets a beautiful, irresistible girl, and his world is turned upside down. Looking at his wife, and thinking of the girl, everything turns red before his eyes - the colour of murder. But did he really commit the heinous crime he was accused of?