Sara Sheridan

It's the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event which only occurs once in several decades.When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which border the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant's impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation.Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city. And when they are revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences . . .

Could a Rare Plant Hold the Secret of True Love?

The Fair Botanists

Daisy Goodwin

"The second tie-in to ITV drama Victoria unveils the complex, passionate relationship of Victoria and Albert. What happened after the Queen married her handsome prince? Did they live happily ever after, or did their marriage, like so many royal marriages past and present fizzle into a loveless bond of duty? Victoria and Albert were the royal couple that broke the mould - it may have been an arranged match, yet their union was a passionate, tempestuous relationship between two extremely strong-willed individuals. Despite the fact that they were first cousins they could not have been more different people - she was impulsive, emotional, capricious, while he was cautious, self-controlled, and logical. But together they became the most successful royal couple there had ever been, and this book reveals the private and the public face of Victoria and Albert's marriage. Using their letters and diaries, Victoria and Albert charts the constant ebb and flow of power between the couple, and presents a picture of a very modern marriage. This companion book, full of rich historical detail, takes fans deeper into that period than ever before. Discover the inner workings behind the scenes, with profiles of all the major characters, interviews with the actors and fascinating, in-depth information on the production, the costumes and the props." -- provided by publisher.

A Royal Love Affair

Victoria and Albert

1952, Brighton and London. When 17 year old debutante Rose Bellamy Gore goes missing in a seedy Soho jazz club the prime suspect is black saxophone player, Lindon Claremont, the last person to be seen talking to her. Under suspicion, Lindon heads straight for Brighton and his childhood friend, Vesta Churchill who works with ex-Secret Service office girl Mirabelle Bevan, now in charge of the McGuigan and McGuigan Debt Collection Agency. When Lindon is taken into custody the two women dive into London's underworld of smoky night clubs, smart cars and lethal cocktails to establish the truth.

A Mirabelle Bevan Mystery

London Calling

"Official companion to the Masterpiece series on PBS"--Jacket.

Victoria & Albert: A Royal Love Affair

A sweeping tale of drama, passion and espionage set in China at the time of the Opium Wars.

The Secret Mandarin

Andrew Davies

An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of Jane Austen's Sanditon television series. Sanditon, the final novel Austen was working on before her death, has been given an exciting conclusion, and will be brought to a primetime television audience on PBS/Masterpiece for the very first time by Emmy and BAFTA Award winning screenwriter Andrew Davies (War & Peace, Mr. Selfridge, Les Misérables, Pride and Prejudice). This, the official companion to the Masterpiece series, contains everything a fan could want to know. It explores the world Austen created, along with fascinating insights about the period and the real-life heartbreak behind her final story. And it offers location guides, behind the scenes details, and interviews with the cast, alongside beautiful illustrations and set photography.

The World of Sanditon: The Official Companion

1951. Brighton. With the war over and the Nazis brought to justice at Nuremberg, Mirabelle Bevan (Secret Service, retired) thinks her skills are no longer required. After her lover's death she retires to the seaside to put the past behind her and takes a job at a debt collection agency run by the charismatic Big Ben McGuigan. But when the case of Romana Laszlo - a pregnant Hungarian refugee - comes in, Mirabelle soon discovers that her specialist knowledge is vital. With enthusiastic assistance from insurance clerk Vesta Churchill, they follow a mysterious trail of gold sovereigns and corpses that only they can unravel.

Brighton Belle

On Starlit Seas

Secret of the Sands

Gordon Brown

Val McDermid

Ann Cleeves

Lin Anderson

Chris Brookmyre

Denise Mina

Doug Johnstone

Craig Robertson

Stuart McBride

In Bloody Scotland a selection of Scotland's best crime writers use the sinister side of the country's built heritage in stories that are by turns gripping, chilling and redemptive.

Stellar contributors Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina, Ann Cleeves, Louise Welsh, Lin Anderson, Doug Johnstone, Gordon Brown, Craig Robertson, E S Thomson, Sara Sheridan and Stuart MacBride explore the thrilling potential of Scotland's iconic sites and structures. From murder in an Iron Age broch and a macabre tale of revenge among the furious clamour of an eighteenth century mill, to a dark psychological thriller set within the tourist throng of Edinburgh Castle and a rivalry turning fatal in the concrete galleries of an abandoned modernist ruin, this collection uncovers the intimate - and deadly - connections between people and places.

Prepare for a dangerous journey into the dark shadows of our nation's buildings - where passion, fury, desire and death collide.


Bloody Scotland

It's 1833 and the British Navy are conducting a survey of the Arabian Peninsula where slavery is as rife as ever despite abolition. Zena, a headstrong and determined young Abyssinian beauty has been torn from her remote village, subjected to a tortuous journey, and is now being offered for sale in the market of Muscat.

The second tie-in to ITV drama Victoria unveils the complex, passionate relationship of Victoria and Albert.

Victoria and Albert - A Royal Love Affair: Official companion to the ITV series

"1842. Stranded on Deception Island in the South Atlantic, her whaling captain husband lost at sea, Karina is destitute and desperate. Disguised as a cabin boy, she stows away on a British ship. But Karina is about to get a nasty surprise. As she grows closer to ship's surgeon Joseph Hooker, Karina and the rest of the crew find themselves pushed to the limits both physically and emotionally as conditions worsen onboard. Engulfed in the chillingly hostile Antarctic landscape, something extraordinary happens--and Karina's story becomes intetwined with some of the 20th century's bravest Polar exploreres."--provided by publisher

The ice maiden

Brighton 1956 When Mirabelle's on-off boyfriend, Superintendent Alan McGregor, is taken off a gruesome murder case because the key suspect is an old school friend, Mirabelle steps in to unravel the tangle of poisoned gin, call girls and high stakes gambling that surrounds the death. It isn't long before McGregor's integrity is called into question and Mirabelle finds herself doubting him. So when a wartime hero's body turns up on the Sussex Downs, she is glad that McGregor is caught up in a mystery of his own as Brighton's establishment closes ranks. Mirabelle is in a dangerous situation though and she doesn't have McGregor watching her back on this one. And when the dead man on the Downs turns out to have been a member of a deadly thrillseekers club, related to the earlier murder, Mirabelle is determined to uncover the truth and free the innocent people who are bearing the brunt of the cover up. As her relationship with McGregor reaches breaking point, she has to draw on all her wartime experience to stand up for what she believes in - even if it means their relationship may not survive. 'With sharp blows delivered for gender and racial equality, Sheridan's story builds to a chilling climax' Daily Mail 'This consistently impressive series is a kind of "hard-boiled cosy", combining an emphasis on atmosphere and the lives of the recurring characters with a stern eye for post-war strugges against inequality and deference' Morning Star

Russian Roulette

Celebrated writer and historian Maria Graham must make the treacherous voyage from Brazil to London to deliver her latest book to her publisher. Having come to terms with the loss of her beloved husband, Maria now has renewed hope for the future and is determined to live her life as she pleases, free from the smothering constraints of Georgian society. For a woman travelling alone it's a journey fraught with danger, and as civil war rages around her, the only ship prepared to take Maria belongs to roguish smuggler Captain James Henderson. Onboard, all is well until Maria makes two shocking discoveries - the first a deadly secret, the second an irresistible attraction to the enigmatic captain. With Henderson on a journey of his own and determined to finally put his life of crime behind him, he and Maria grow ever closer. But can Henderson escape his illicit past or will the scandalous secret he's hiding ruin them both? On Starlit Seas is a breathtaking and compelling story of passion, secrets and escape. "A story as rich and velvety as the chocolate at its heart... A joy to read." MARY CHAMBERLAIN (author of The Dressmaker of Dachau) "This is a novel to take one seamlessly from exotic places to shadowy underworlds and polite drawing rooms, in order to revel in an emotionally charged and socially challenged Victorian romance, coupled with the cliff-hanging jeopardy of Brazilian and London low-life... Five stars with extra phosphorescence!" JOANNA HICKSON (author of The Tudor Bride)

Molly Sheridan

When Nessie finds an ancient map showing a network of Monster tunnels she decides to leave her life in Loch Ness and sets off on an adventure. She doesn't know if there are other monsters out there but she needn't worry, she discovers lots of new friends. The only trouble is that the tunnels are getting blocked with waste - so Nessie makes a plan.

Monsters Unite

Indian Summer

Set during the summer heatwave of 1953, 'England Expects' finds Mirabelle and Vesta investigating the seemingly unrelated murders of a racing journalist and a cleaning woman. Their searches lead them through Brighton Pavilion's crumbling passageways to the quad of a Cambridge college and finally into the shady underworld of Brighton freemasonry. And, while not on the murder trail, Vesta has to make some difficult decisions about her personal life.

England expects

"Scottish Highlands, 1958. Britain is awash in Cold War anxiety as Mirabelle Bevan heads for the Highlands on a holiday to visit Superintendent Alan McGregor's family. More glamorous than she expected, the Robertsons welcome her with open arms and an array of cocktails, but she has scarcely arrived when the body of an American fashion buyer turns up brutally murdered, plunging the local village into disarray and sending shockwaves around the close, Highland community. Mirabelle can't resist investigating, but what she finds lays the limitations of her feelings for McGregor bare and calls into question the loyalties of all those around her from the Robertson's housekeeper Mrs Gillies to the family of the dead woman. What started as a relaxing break in scenic surroundings soon spirals into a week fraught with danger. As the press descend on the Robertson's Highland estate, it rapidly becomes clear that things are not as black and white as they first appeared and Mirabelle can't count on anyone . . ."--Provided by publisher.

Highland Fling

Brighton, 1956: When Mirabelle's on-off boyfriend, Superintendent Alan McGregor, is taken off a gruesome murder case, she steps in to unravel the tangle of poisoned gin, prostitutes and high-stakes gambling that surrounds the death. It isn't long before McGregor's integrity is called into question, and Mirabelle finds herself doubting him. So when a wartime hero's body turns up on the Sussex Downs, she is glad that he is caught up in a mystery of his own as Brighton's establishment close ranks. Mirabelle is in a dangerous situation, though, and she doesn't have McGregor watching her back on this one. And when the dead man on the Downs turns out to have been a member of a deadly thrill-seekers club, related to the earlier murder, Mirabelle is determined to uncover the truth...

Sara Sheridan

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