British House

Four ghost stories from England’s historic shires present a heady brew of the Gothic, folk horror, historical fiction and satire. The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? At Fall of Night A ghostly excursion into the Victorian Gothic; a tale of obsession, terror, and vengeance. Welcome to Wiltshire in the autumn of 1843. Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world and a man of cultured accomplishments, finds himself ...

As the Season of 1899 comes to an end, the world is poised on the brink of profound, irrevocable change. The Earl of Dilberne is facing serious financial concerns. The ripple effects spread to everyone in the household: Lord Robert, who has gambled unwisely on the stock market and seeks a place in the Cabinet; his unmarried children, Arthur, who keeps a courtesan, and Rosina, who keeps a parrot in her bedroom; Lord Robert's wife Isobel, who orders the affairs of the household in Belgrave Square; and Grace, the lady's maid who orders the life of her mistress.

In Behind the Throne, historian Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking the listener on a remarkable journey from one Queen Elizabeth to another and exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads: the power struggles and petty rivalries, the tension between duty and desire, the practicalities of cooking dinner for thousands and of ensuring the king always won when he played a game of tennis.

It’s time to put the guns down, Detective Cross. Even if you knew the way out of this place, we would catch you. A serial killer is taking out America’s finest legal minds, and Alex Cross is called to investigate their brutal murders. But during a dangerous mission to track down the killer, his wife, Bree, and best friend, John Sampson, go missing.

Amber ignored the tales of Gull's Nest, the sea-cliff house shrouded in dark history. When she realizes the legends are terrifyingly real, it's already too late. Amber's world spiraled into the unknown when her brother, Jeremy, ignored all cautions and bought Gull's Nest, an eerie house perched on a sea cliff, notorious for its dark past. Jeremy's disturbing visions were hardly a shock, given his penchant for delving into the mystical, beyond mere earthly indulgences. Amber's visit to Gull's Nest took a chilling turn when she was greeted not by her brother, but by the police, demanding she ...

In July 1949, an unpopular and deeply unpleasant man is stabbed to death in the courthouse of an English city. As the murder has been committed in a room to which the general public doesn’t have access, it seems probable that the culprit is someone involved with the business of the courts. Suspects include a number of lawyers, police officers, and magistrates. For various reasons, the local Chief Constable decides to ask Scotland Yard to investigate the murder. Chief Inspector Philip Bryce and Sergeant Alex Haig are assigned to the case. Theirs is a recent partnership, but the two men ...

The year is 1861. The American Civil War has just begun, and London arms dealer Daniel Alberton is becoming a very wealthy man. His quiet dinner party seems remote indeed from the passions rending America. Yet investigator William Monk and his bride, Hester, sense growing tensions and barely concealed violence.

After a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home in 1908, the police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater, an immigrant Jewish cardsharp. Though he was known to be innocent, Slater was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor. Outraged by this injustice, Arthur Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, used the methods of his most famous character to reinvestigate the case, ultimately winning Slater’s freedom.

In an innovative and engaging narrative of everyday life in Shakespeare’s England, Ramie Targoff carries us from the sumptuous coronation of Queen Elizabeth in the mid-sixteenth century into the private lives of four women writers working at a time when women were legally the property of men.

It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home.

Christmas at a fairytale German castle turns into a nightmare for Agatha and Eustace… Agatha and Eustace along with their Basset hound, Talleyrand, agree to spend Christmas with their friend Ernst Marlow at the castle of his friend in the middle of Germany’s Teutoburg Forest. They expect a holiday filled with snow-covered landscapes, roaring fires, and festive cheer. But as they arrive at the ancient fortress, they are met with a chilling atmosphere that feels more like a scene from a Grimm’s fairytale than a cozy winter retreat. The castle, steeped in legends of dark forests and ...

Alex-Li Tandem sells autographs. A small blip in a huge worldwide network of desire, his business is to hunt for names on paper, collect them, sell them, and occasionally fake them - all to give the people what they want: a little piece of Fame. But what does Alex want? Only the return of his father, the reinstatement of some kind of all-powerful, benevolent God-type figure, the end of religion, something for his headache, three different girls, infinite grace, and the rare autograph of '40s movie actress Kitty Alexander. With fries.

Someone, or something wants him out... "You MUST read this book... It's as scary as hell..." "I defy anyone not to be gripped by the opening paragraph..." Neil is counting the days until he can leave his terrifying student digs and go home for the holidays. For weeks he's suffered hearing harrowing noises in the middle of the night, and seeing things moving which shouldn’t. It’s all becoming clear: someone or something wants him out! When a psychic friend of the family confirms his worst fears, Neil and his fellow students can't bear to go back. Nothing is as it seems, and when ...

Five ghost stories and occult tales from the English West Country with a whiff of brimstone and a distinct dash of dry humour. Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, they find, should not be treated lightly. Gwydion’s Dawn Murder, mystery and magic: a satirical journey into the occult. Meet Gwydion Turner, an inept, portentous, psychedelic demon raiser; a ...

Jas’ fantasy is Mr. Darcy, elegant balls, and amusing assemblies. So romantic. Jas’ reality? Rory, boring work, and painting the hall. Not romantic … at all. An accidental purchase of a lover’s locket enables Jas to time travel back to its origins: the Regency era. Her excitement is short-lived, however, when she realizes she is not just an observer but is inhabiting the real lives of real, living people; people never mentioned in any of Jane Austen’s novels; people whose lives are neither romantic nor elegant. So much for fantasy. Seeking romance in the Regency era seems like a ...

A charming English village mystery.A stand-alone Chapman and Morris Mystery.Simon and Kate land the perfect house-sitting job in a quirky, old farmhouse.But, when the neighbours are murdered, they discover the house has a sinister past connected to an identical killing.Following another attack, Simon disappears, and the police uncover disturbing secrets about his past.Compelling evidence against Simon mounts, leaving Kate alone, unsure what to believe or who to trust. Is Simon the killer? Or a pawn in somebody else’s game?As Kate closes in on the truth, she realises too late that the ...

Neil Carson, a lifelong sceptic inherits his late uncle’s Victorian house where, in spite of life-long scepticism, he starts to experience increasingly weird events and seeing spectral figures all seemingly reliving a long forgotten tragedy. His scepticism is stretched still further when he meets the living counterpart of one of the spectres he has seen and then matters take a horrifying turn as those long-ago events start to play themselves out once more. Extract I suppose I must have been working sporadically for maybe an hour when suddenly I once again had that feeling that I wasn’t ...

I had a plan: work hard, save money, and move to the UK to be with my boyfriend. But when I get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work as a data analyst in Dublin, I can’t say no. As my career takes off, my intense long-distance romance with my brother's best friend faces the ultimate test, leading me to the UK in a desperate bid to save our love amidst the challenges of a new life abroad. I believe this country holds my happily ever after, but it looks like I'm going to lose everything I worked so hard for. --- Every Move I Make is the second book in the All of Me Trilogy with a Happy ...

Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the truth about Joseph P. Kennedy's shockingly controversial tenure as ambassador to Great Britain on the eve of World War II.

As World War I drew to a close, change reverberated through the halls of England's country homes. As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes. In The Long Weekend, historian Adrian Tinniswood introduces us to the tumultuous, scandalous, and glamorous history of English country houses during the years between world wars.