Churches are all around us. Their steeples remain landmarks in our towns, villages and cities, even as their influence and authority has waned. They contain art and architectural wonders - one huge gallery scattered, like a handful of jewels, across these isles. Award-winning writer Peter Ross sets out to tell their stories, and through them a stor...

Archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, former SAS soldier Eddie Chase, believe their globe-trotting adventures are over - the biggest worry being how their now-adult daughter Macy is going to spend her life. But after the violent theft of dangerous relics, with the only surviving guard claiming his attackers were "angels", Nina and Eddie are thr...

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable, but their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is breath-taking, but it has a dark past: in 1974 it was rented by a notorious rockstar, who was joined by...

The 12th heart-pounding thriller in Stephen Leather's best-selling Spider Shepherd series. In what could be his highest-profile mission ever, Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is called in to prevent the assassination of a head of state on British soil. As an MI5 agent, Spider is used to going undercover, but when he's asked to assume the identity of the contr...

'Any rag and bone!' Everyone recognises the cry of Meg Sutcliffe as she plies her trade along the back streets of Ryhope. She learnt the ropes from her dad when he returned from the war. But when tragedy struck, Meg had no choice but to continue alone, with only her trusty dog, Spot, and beloved horse, Stella, for company. Now the meagre money she...

In the summer of 1962, an American millionaire arrives in a small, sleepy Irish town with far-reaching consequences. For the children of the Ryan family, the long hot summers are usually spent playing in the ruins of a large, abandoned house. But when the American, Patrick O'Neill, buys the ruins, dreams are made and broken and secrets which should...

Seventeen-year-old Ruth Hardy works long hours at Grange Paper Works with her younger sister, Bea, and spends her free time caring for their ailing parents. Their meagre income barely covers their needs, so when Bea reveals that she is pregnant out of wedlock, Ruth knows even tougher times are ahead. Ruth's hard work at the mill does not go unnotic...

Three young siblings arrive at Maggie's door after being taken into care. Teachers of eight-year-old Bobby spotted distinct hand-shaped bruises on his arm and his dad and stepmother are uncooperative and hostile to Social Services. While they investigate, Bobby, as well as Melodie and Poppy, are looked after in Maggie's home. As the children settle...

Monday mornings aren't supposed to be fun, but they should be predictable. However, on this particular Monday, Stephanie Plum knows that something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie's Bail Bonds to find that longtime office manager Connie Rosolli, who is as reliable as the tides in Atlantic City, hasn't shown up. Stephanie's worst fears...

The explosive new thriller in the Spider Shepherd series Dan 'Spider' Shepherd's career path - soldier, policeman, MI5 officer - has always put a strain on his family. So he is far from happy to learn that MI5 is using teenagers as informants. Parents are being kept in the dark and Shepherd fears that the children are being exploited. As an underco...

The echo of the novels of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series resonates in the stories of Carlos Ruiz Zafón: gathered here for the first time - and some never before published in English - these stories are a celebration of one of the world's great storytellers. A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts ca...

To the outside world, Emily looks like a typical girl, with a normal family, living an ordinary life. But inside, Emily does not feel typical, and the older she gets, the more she realises that she is different. As she finally discovers when she is 16, Emily is autistic. Girl Unmasked is the extraordinary story of how she got there - and how she ve...

1916, Calcutta. A man pauses for breath outside the ruins of Jheeter's Gate station knowing he has only hours to live. Pursued by assassins, he must ensure the safety of two newborn twins, before disappearing into the night to meet his fate. 1932. Ben and his friends are due to leave the orphanage which has been their home for sixteen years. Tonigh...

The fight against terrorism never ends, and Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is in the front line of Britain's defence against the extremists. When an ISIS bombmaker arrives at Heathrow Airport asking for asylum in exchange for revealing details of his paymasters, Shepherd is given the case. The bombmaker specialises in drone strikes, and homegrown jihadists...

Did I know it would come to this? There is no shot at redemption. I am going to die. The gun is in my eye-line as the second bullet is fired. That's the one that kills me. Late at night, two powerful men meet in a secret location to discuss a long nurtured plan about to come to fruition. One is desperate to know there is nothing standing in their w...

London. Nine million people. Two-hundred-and-seventy tube stations. Every day, thousands of chance encounters, first dates, goodbyes and happy ever afters. And for 20 years, it's been where one man and one woman can never get their timing right. Jennifer and Nick meet as teenagers, and over the next two decades, they fall in and out of love with ea...

Pack your suitcase for the final magical adventure at the Strangeworlds Travel Agency! Flick and Jonathan have faced countless dangers in their roles as part of the Strangeworlds Society and come out alive on the other side. But what do they really know about the Society they are risking their lives for? Why does it exist? Who is Strangeworlds ther...

The best-selling author of With Our Blessing and Beneath the Surface. The inspector frowned and examined the earth under the trees. As he scanned the glade, his stomach lurched. One, two, three, four. Five, counting the mound of earth disturbed under the tent. Somebody had cleared the earth of its natural layer and sown their own flowers. In five p...

Christmas day, and DCI Tom Reynolds receives an alarming call. A mass grave has been discovered on Oileán na Caillte, the island which housed the controversial psychiatric institution St. Christina's. The hospital has been closed for decades, and onsite graves were tragically common. Reynolds thinks his adversarial boss is handing him a cold...

We humans take our domination of the planet for granted, but sometimes nature reminds us that this is an illusion. Tectonics rip open the earth, vast waves sweep away coastal towns, magma spews from volcanoes and hurricanes lay waste to entire countries. This book explores nature at its most destructive. Clear, coherent explanations break down the...

This book is for anyone who wants to easily understand the mind-blowing fundamentals of our extraordinary, expanding universe. Written by Oxford astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst and composed of 10 captivating, simple essays, it guides you swiftly through the galaxies, explaining the mysteries of black holes, dark matter and what existed before the...