Julie Highmore

A twisty and gripping psychological thriller that keeps you guessing. THE AMERICAN'S COUSIN combines wit and suspense, in a dark and unsettling first case for investigator Edie Fox - one that blurs the professional and the personal with terrifying results. The American's cousin is missing ... or is she? Edie Fox is a Private Investigator. Or at least that's what she aspires to be. From her cramped office above a shop on the wrong side of town, she just about manages to stay afloat with the odd job spying on cheating spouses. This all changes when a wealthy young American, desperate to find his missing cousin, hires Edie to track her down. But things are not as they seem. People are telling lies, lots of them. Edie needs to work out why, but time is running short. As she gets swept up in the hunt for the American's cousin, she realises that she's out of her depth. And as personal and professional boundaries blur, she fears she could lose everything: her business, her family ... her life.

The American's Cousin

When the local library starts up a reading group, Ed is the first to sign up. Left home alone with baby Georgia once too often, he's looking for something more stimulating than the latest draft of his tiresome thesis. His fellow readers all have their own reasons for the weekly escape. Kate's social life is at a standstill and her quirky furniture shop barely breaks even. Zoe's self-esteem is regularly battered by her married lover. Semi-retired Bob, strongly encouraged by his wife, needs to get out of the house more. Donna, aged twenty-one and a mother of two, is desperate to feed her mind and catch up on her education. When English lecturer Gideon arrives, his literary certainties spark rivalries and emotions that no one expected. As the reading circle draws its members into an unlikely community, the plots become increasingly dramatic, and their lives grow ever more entwined ...

Pure Fiction

When Bea’s husband dies, she decides not to be a lonely widow, rattling around her big Oxford house. Instead, she chooses three tenants, each of whom needs her help, and each, in return, offers Bea more affection than her own son. Over the years they become a strange ‘family’, until the day they must find a new housemate. Will needs a place to stay, and expects the usual grimy kitchen and sloppy students. Bea’s beautiful house seems too good to be true – until he meets the housemates. They’re all at least twenty years older than him, and range from being outrageously camp to irritatingly raucous. Will takes the stunning spare room, and once he’s moved in it’s hard to escape. His sister, Harrie, falls in love with more than just the house when she comes to visit, and together they’re soon caught up in Bea’s final secret...

Your Place or Mine?

In the wilds of Norfolk, Dylan is mending his broken heart by rebuilding his house. Next door, Ellie gazes longingly at him over the fence, while her mother Fliss contemplates a school reunion. Should she risk an encounter with her first crush? Meanwhile Dylan's once-famous father Alex, arriving a little late in his son's life, is also recalling the perils of first love - but will Marie return Alex's renewed affection? Can an old rock star recapture the magic of his first hit?

Play It Again?

Looking for a good book? Try Pure Fiction... When the local library starts up a reading group, Ed is the first to sign up. Left home alone with baby Georgia once too often, he’s looking for something more stimulating than the latest draft of his tiresome thesis. His fellow readers all have their own reasons for the weekly escape. Kate’s social life is at a standstill and her quirky furniture shop barely breaks even. Zoe’s self-esteem is regularly battered by her married lover. Semi-retired Bob, strongly encouraged by his wife, needs to get out of the house more. Donna, aged twenty-one and a mother of two, is desperate to feed her mind and catch up on her education. When English lecturer Gideon arrives, his literary certainties spark rivalries and emotions that no one expected. As the reading circle draws its members into an unlikely community, the plots become increasingly dramatic, and their lives grow ever more entwined...

It's easy to make mistakes. The hard part is keeping them hidden.Emily spends a few precious hours with her lover, then picks up her children and returns to normal married life. Her brother Ben's career has crashed with the banks, and suddenly he has nowhere to go. But they must both put on a brave face for their mother's sixtieth birthday.Fran doesn't feel old. Mostly, she's worried about her increasingly depressed husband Duncan, and his slightly odd behaviour. Why did he think they'd been to Florence? Who is Alexa? And she doesn't really want a fuss over her birthday, but her daughter insists they must celebrate. Holding tight to their own secrets, the family gathers around Fran, but as one small revelation follows another, no one can foresee the huge repercussions of this birthday.

Julie Highmore

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