Download or read book Magpie Lane written by Lucy Atkins and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2020-02-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Riveting, twisty, page-turning stuff' Guardian A 'best books of 2020' pick for BBC Radio 4 Open Book, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Good Housekeeping 'The page turner you've been looking for. Sly, witty and gripping . . . I devoured it' Naomi Alderman 'An utter joy . . . wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry 'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy, and an utterly compelling read' Claire Fuller 'Tender, creepy and gripping' Sunday Times 'Spellbinding and spooky . . . a dazzling high wire act, superbly absorbing' Sunday Mirror When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers. As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother. But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why is Felicity silent? Roaming Oxford's secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family - and what it is to be denied one. 'Enthralling . . . creepy and compelling' The Times 'Deliciously dark' Alexandra Shulman 'A gorgeously satisfying triumph' Lucy Mangan 'A rare thing . . . simply stunning' Daily Express 'I was gripped . . . highly original' Alex Clark 'Creepy, suspenseful' Independent 'One of the most intriguing narrators since Notes on a Scandal' Sara Collins 'Grown-up and cleverly written . . . a dizzying sense of uncertainty' Literary Review 'Keeps you guessing . . . a real sense of menace' Good Housekeeping 'Wholly beguiling' Mick Herron 'Dazzlingly good' Diane Setterfield 'Beautiful writing' Polly Samson 'Clever, tense and twisty' Amanda Craig 'Highly intelligent' Sarah Vaughan 'Simply brilliant!' JP Delaney 'Darkly atmospheric' Jane Fallon 'Clever and creepy' Erin Kelly 'Highly recommended' Louise Candlish

Download or read book Maggie the Magpie written by Lisa Peardon and published by Publicious Pty Limited. This book was released on 2018-03-23 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young lad named Tom rescues an injured magpie & takes her into his care. They become the best of friends and once Maggie the Magpie recovers, Tom releases her back into the wild. They reunite in the most heartfelt way when Tom revisits the area.

Download or read book The Missing One written by Lucy Atkins and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2014-01-16 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A gripping page-turner' Sunday Times 'Beautifully written and compelling' Sabine Durrant 'Satisfyingly creepy' Sunday Mirror The loss of her mother has left Kali McKenzie with too many unanswered questions. But while clearing out Elena's art studio, she finds a drawer packed with postcard each bearing an identical one-line message from a Canadian gallery owner called Susannah Gillespie: thinking of you. Who is this woman and what does she know about Elena's hidden past? Desperate to find out, Kali travels with her toddler, Finn, to Susannah's isolated home on a remote British Columbian island, a place of killer whales and storms. But as bad weather closes in, Kali quickly realises she has made a big mistake. The enigmatic Susannah refuses to talk about the past, and as Kali struggles to piece together what happened back in the 1970s, Susannah's behaviour grows more and more erratic. Most worrying of all, Susannah is becoming increasingly preoccupied with little Finn . . . PRAISE FOR LUCY ATKINS 'Wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry 'Sly, witty and gripping' Naomi Alderman 'Wholly beguiling' Mick Herron 'Highly intelligent' Sarah Vaughan 'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy' Claire Fuller

Download or read book Instructions for a Heatwave written by Maggie O'Farrell and published by Knopf Canada. This book was released on 2023-08-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the award-winning author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait: a sweeping family drama where a father's disappearance forces three adult siblings to come together and confront what they really know about their past. London, 1976. In the thick of a record-breaking heatwave, Gretta Riordan's newly-retired husband has cleaned out his bank account and vanished. Now, for the first time in years, the three Riordan children are converging on their childhood home: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, with two stepdaughters who despise her and an ugly secret that has driven a wedge between her and the little sister she once adored; and Aoife (pronounced EE-fah), the youngest, whose new life in Manhattan is elaborately arranged to conceal her illiteracy. As the siblings track down clues to their father's disappearance, they also navigate rocky pasts and long-held secrets. Their search ultimately brings them to their ancestral village in Ireland, where the truth of their family's past is revealed. Wise, lyrical, instantly engrossing, Instructions for a Heatwave is a richly satisfying page-turner from a writer of exceptional intelligence and grace.

Download or read book The Magpie s Sister written by Kerri Turner and published by Bonnier Zaffre Ltd.. This book was released on 2023-05-02 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1911: Sydney, Australia. From the moment the tumours appeared on her face, Maggie Bright knew she would never live a normal life. Abandoned by her mother and then given away by her father, she spent her childhood learning to become the 'Lagoon Creature': part acrobat, part clown, part circus hand. It's not a bad life -Rafferty Braun, the ringmaster, provides her with an ongoing education, and now, as a young woman, she has the kind of freedom her condition could have easily taken away from her. As much as she tries not to, however, Maggie can't help wishing for more. Charlotte Voigt could not be more different. The talented tightrope walker is a star of the circus, with the entertainment world at her slipper-clad feet. She is also a liar. When an opportunity arises to try on Charlotte's identity for her own, Maggie doesn't hesitate. She wants to know what it feels like to be admired, to be accepted, to be beautiful. And the circus's sudden decision to cross Australia via wagon provides her with the perfect cover. Each new town or remote settlement brings the women closer to understanding one another. Resentments begin to fade, but in their place are secrets that could undo the delicate trust they've built: Maggie, with her alternative life pretending to be the glamorous tightrope walker; Charlotte lying about her background, her family, and the reason she reappeared with the circus after several years' absence. The sawdust road will test their willpower. The truth will determine their futures.

Download or read book Magpie Murders written by Anthony Horowitz and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don’t miss Magpie Murders on PBS's MASTERPIECE Mystery! "A double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times New York Times Bestseller | Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Novel | NPR Best Book of the Year | Washington Post Best Book of the Year | Esquire Best Book of the Year From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery. When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job. Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder. Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.

Download or read book Honor Girl written by Maggie Thrash and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A graphic novel memoir depicting the author's teenage experiences at summer camp where she fell in love with an older girl.

Download or read book Nanny Ogg s Cookbook written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-11-23 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steel yourselves - Nanny Ogg is passing on some of her most interesting recipes and her most refined wisdom. 'Probably the best and certainly the tastiest of the Discworld spin-offs' - The Times 'They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach which just goes to show they're as confused about anatomy as they gen'rally are about everything else, unless they're talking about instructions on how to stab him, in which case a better way is up and under the ribcage.' Nanny Ogg Nanny Ogg, one of Discworld's most famous witches, is passing on some of her huge collection of tasty and above all interesting recipes. But in addition to the delights of the 'Strawberry Wobbler' and 'Nobby's Mum's Distressed Pudding', Mrs Ogg imparts her thoughts on social etiquette, life, death, courtship, children and weddings, all in a refined style that should not offend the most delicate of sensibilities. Well, not much... Jam-packed with recipes favoured (or not!) by the great and good of the Discworld, full of Nanny Ogg's unique wisdom and way with words, and peppered with apoplectic notes from the editor and the publisher, this is a treasure trove of literary, culinary and comic delights. A must- purchase for any fan of the legendary Sir Terry Pratchett. *Most of the recipes have been tried out on people who are still alive. __________________________________________________________________ What fans are saying... 'This is Nanny Ogg at her naughty best...I sniggered and snerked all the way through' - ***** Reader review 'As expected, hilarious. Also beautifully illustrated. Had a kick reading the recipes, and will likely try a few!' - ***** Reader review 'Love this book! It is brilliant! If you don't already have this buy it now!!' - ***** Reader review 'Totally Brilliant!!!' - ***** Reader review 'I laughed myself silly reading this; it is VERY funny...I am looking forward to trying the recipes' - ***** Reader review

Download or read book Someplace to Be Flying written by Charles de Lint and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-08 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in trade paperback, one of the classics of Charles de Lint's "Newford" sequence

Download or read book The Magpie Lord written by Kj Charles and published by Kjc Books. This book was released on 2017-08-04 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell. Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He's also inherited his family's enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry. Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane's family. Unfortunately, it's his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he's ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude...and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That's definitely unusual. Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane's dangerous appeal isn't the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can't find a way through it-they're both going to die. Book 1 of the Charm of Magpies series.

Download or read book The Lost Lights of St Kilda written by Elisabeth Gifford and published by Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2020-03-05 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *SHORTLISTED FOR THE RNA HISTORICAL ROMANCE AWARD 2021* *LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2020* 'Desperately romantic, lyrically written and with a fascinating plot' Katie Fforde Chrissie Gillies comes from the last ever community to live on the beautiful, isolated Scottish island of St Kilda. Evacuated in 1930, she will never forget her life there, nor the man she loved and lost who visited one fateful summer a few years before. Fred Lawson has been captured, beaten and imprisoned in Nazi-controlled France. Making a desperate escape across occupied territory, one thought sustains him: find Chrissie, the woman he should never have left behind on that desolate, glorious isle. The Lost Lights of St Kilda is a sweeping love story that crosses oceans and decades, and a testament to the extraordinary power of hope in the darkest of times. 'A gorgeous, melancholy love story.' The Times 'An undeniably haunting love story.' Sunday Times

Download or read book Penguin Bloom written by Cameron Bloom and published by . This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They saved a little bird . . . And in return she saved them tooAfter a near-fatal fall left Sam Bloom paralysed, no one - not her husband Cameron, nor their three boys - could reach her in the darkest days of her struggle. But everything changed when a new member of the family unexpectedly landed in their lives: an injured magpie chick abandoned after she fell from her nest, whom they named Penguin Bloom. Powerful and tender, Penguin Bloom is a beautifully written account of how compassion, friendship and family can come from unexpected places.

Download or read book Bayou Born written by Hailey Edwards and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Edwards [creates] amazing fantasy worlds that the reader becomes completely engrossed in." Goodreads Her beginning may be our end . . . Deep in the humid Mississippi bayou, a half-wild child is dragged from the murky waters. She has no memories, no family and is covered in mysterious markings. Adopted by the policeman who rescued her, Luce Boudreau follows him onto the force, determined to prove herself in the eyes of those who are still suspicious. However, there's more of a battle ahead than Luce could possibly imagine. She may be an orphan without a past, but no one - including Luce herself - could ever be prepared for the truth of her dark, powerful destiny . . "Well-plotted fantasy continues to engage the reader with its intriguing characters, heart-pounding action, suspenseful intrigue and subtle romance." RT Book Reviews "The world building is fresh ... The characters are well-drawn and easy to root for. And the romance really hits the spot." Red Hot Books

Download or read book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil written by John Berendt and published by Random House. This book was released on 1994-01-13 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city—now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author “Elegant and wicked . . . might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime.”—The New York Times Book Review Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. In this sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative, John Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case. It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproariously funny drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young people dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.

Download or read book A View Of The Harbour written by Elizabeth Taylor and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2011-09-29 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INTRODUCED BY SARAH WATERS 'Every one of her books is a treat and this is my favourite, because of its wonderful cast of characters, and because of the deftness with which Taylor's narrative moves between them ... A wonderful writer' SARAH WATERS In the faded coastal village of Newby, everyone looks out for - and in on - each other, and beneath the deceptively sleepy exterior, passions run high. Beautiful divorcee Tory is secretly involved with her neighbour, Robert, while his wife Beth, Tory's best friend, is consumed by the worlds she creates in her novels, oblivious to the relationship developing next door. Their daughter Prudence is aware, however, and is appalled by the treachery she observes. Mrs Bracey, an invalid whose grasp on life is slipping, forever peers from her window, constantly prodding her daughters for news of the outside world. And Lily Wilson, a lonely young widow, is frightened of her own home. Into their lives steps Bertram, a retired naval officer with the unfortunate capacity to inflict lasting damage while trying to do good. 'Her stories remain with one, indelibly, as though they had been some turning-point in one's own experience' - ELIZABETH BOWEN 'Always intelligent, often subversive and never dull, Elizabeth Taylor is the thinking person's dangerous housewife. Her sophisticated prose combines elegance, icy wit and freshness in a stimulating cocktail' - VALERIE MARTIN 'A magnificent and underrated mid-20th-century writer, the missing link between Jane Austen and John Updike' - DAVID BADDIEL

Download or read book The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing written by Mary Paulson-Ellis and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2019-09-05 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From The Times bestselling author of The Other Mrs Walker – Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year 2017 – comes Mary Paulson-Ellis's second stunning historical mystery, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing. Solomon knew that he had one advantage. A pawn ticket belonging to a dead man tucked into his top pocket – the only clue to the truth . . . An old soldier dies alone in his Edinburgh nursing home. No known relatives, and no Will to enact. Just a pawn ticket found amongst his belongings, and fifty thousand pounds in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit . . . Heir Hunter, Solomon Farthing – down on his luck, until, perhaps, now – is tipped off on this unexplained fortune. Armed with only the deceased’s name and the crumpled pawn ticket, he must find the dead man’s closest living relative if he is to get a cut of this much-needed cash. But in trawling through the deceased’s family tree, Solomon uncovers a mystery that goes back to 1918 and a group of eleven soldiers abandoned in a farmhouse billet in France in the weeks leading up to the armistice. Set between contemporary Edinburgh and the final brutal days of the First World War as the soldiers await their orders, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing shows us how the debts of the present can never be settled unless those of the past have been paid first . . .

Download or read book Creative Writing For Dummies written by Maggie Hamand and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-08-31 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlock your creative potential and write something special Ever dream of writing a book, article, poem, or play that means something to you—and maybe to someone else as well? Do you have an idea you're ready to get down on paper? In Creative Writing For Dummies, you'll learn how to unleash your creative side and become a confident and productive writer. Discover the essential elements of storytelling, including structure, characterization, setting, dialogue, and plot, as you navigate the countless ways you can express yourself with the written word. Explore the media and methods you can use to help find an audience—from traditional to self-publishing, social media, blogging, and more! Creative Writing For Dummies also shows you how to: Write in all sorts of different formats, including screenplays, scripts, creative nonfiction, poetry, short stories, novels, and beyond Navigate the world of social media and learn how it can contribute to getting your work read by more people in more places Understand the new, online nature of contemporary journalism and the proliferation of news and blogging sites A can't-miss roadmap to getting your first—or hundred-and-first—story, poem, or script committed to paper, Creative Writing For Dummies is an essential read for aspiring, amateur, and professional writers everywhere.