Recommendations based on "Whispering Muse"

Product Description In her second volume of short stories, which follows the hugely successful Encounters, Barbara Erskine has created a wide and vivid range of worlds and emotions, From love, romance, loneliness, grief, to betrayal, passion, adventure and compelling suspense. A biographer investigating a tragic death hears voices from the past drawing her towards the truth... A nineteenth-century parson's daughter is caught tip in the excitement and romance of a smuggling intrigue... A young boy from a deprived background finds his own haven in the wastelands of the inner city... A young woman, struggling to choose between love or her career, finds help from an unexpected source... Contemporary, historical, spooky, humorous, there are over thirty delightful stories, each one guaranteed to capture the reader's imagination, and all demonstrating Barbara Erskine's unique powers its a storyteller. From the Publisher Bestselling author of Lady of Hay'Vivid, romantic, and deliciously scary' - Living 'Barbara Erskine's storytelling talent is undeniable.' - The Times About the Author Barbara Erskine is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Lady of Hay, which was translated into seventeen languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. This was followed by another bestseller, Kingdom of Shadows. Her third novel, Child of the Phoenix, was based on the story of one of her own ancestors, and provides a link between some of the characters from Lady of Hay and Kingdom of Shadows, again encapsulating the author's dual themes of the supernatural and of history. Midnight is a Lonely Place enjoyed the same international bestselling success of Lady of Hay and was shortlisted for the WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award of 1995, and was followed by her most recent bestselling novel, House of Echoes, which was shortlisted for the WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award of 1996. She has also published a second volume of short stones, Distant Voices. Barbara Erskine has a degree in mediaeval Scottish history from Edinburgh University. She and her family divide their time between the Welsh borders and their ancient, crumbling manor house, near the unspoiled coast of North Essex.

Two women, centuries apart. One endless nightmare tearing Wales apart – and only they can stop it.Sunday Times bestselling author Barbara Erskine returns to Hay in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of her sensational debut bestseller, Lady of Hay.Hay-On-Wye, 1400 – War is brewing in the Welsh borders, Catrin is on the brink of womanhood and falling in love for the first time. Her father is a soothsayer, playing a dangerous game playing on the mixed loyalties and furious rivalries between welsh princes and English lords. For two hundred years, the Welsh people have lain under the English yoke, dreaming of independence. And finally it looks as though the charismatic Owain Glyndwr may be the man legend tralks of. In the walls of Sleeper’s Castle, Catrin finds herself caught in the middle of a doomed war as she is called upon to foretell Wales’s destiny… And what she sees, is blood and war coming closer…Hay, 2015. Miranda has moved to Sleeper’s Castle to escape and grieve. Slowly she feels herself coming to life in the solitude of the mountains. But every time she closes her eyes her dreams become more vivid. And she makes a connection with a young girl, who’s screaming, who’s reaching out… who only Miranda can help. Is she losing herself to time?

The Start Of A Thrilling New Second World War Mystery Series From The Number-one-bestselling And Multi-award-winning Author Of Murder Most Unladylike. 1940. Britain Is At War, And A Secret Arm Of The British Government Called The Ministry Of Unladylike Activity Is Training Up Spies. Enter May Wong: Courageous, Stubborn, And Desperate To Help End The War So That She Can Go Home To Hong Kong (and Leave Her Annoying School, Deepdean, Behind Forever). May Knows That She Would Make The Perfect Spy. After All, Grown-ups Always Underestimate Children Like Her. When May And Her Friend Eric Are Turned Away By The Ministry, They Take Matters Into Their Own Hands. Masquerading As Evacuees, They Travel To Elysium Hall, Home To The Wealthy Verey Family - Including Snobby, Dramatic Nuala. They Suspect That One Of The Vereys Is Passing Information To Germany. If They Can Prove It, The Ministry Will Have To Take Them On. But There Are More Secrets At Elysium Hall Than May Or Eric Could Ever Have Imagined. And Then Someone Is Murdered...

For fans of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society, here comes the final book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood.Unhappy Penelope Lumley is trapped in unhappy Plinkst! Even the beets for which Plinkst is inexplicably famous fail to grow in this utterly miserable Russian village. Penelope anxiously counts the days and wonders how she will ever get back to England in time to save all the Ashtons—who, she now knows, include herself and the Incorrigible children, although their precise location on the family tree is still a mystery—from their accursèd fate. Her daring scheme to escape sends her on a wildly unexpected journey. But time is running out, and the not-really-dead Edward Ashton is still on the loose. His mad obsession with the wolfish curse on the Ashtons puts Penelope and the Incorrigibles in dire peril. As Penelope fights her way back to her beloved pupils, the three brave Incorrigibles endure their gloomy new tutor and worriedly prepare for the arrival of Lady Constance’s baby. Little do they know the danger they’re in! In this action-packed conclusion to the acclaimed series, mysteries are solved and long-lost answers are found. Only one question remains: Will Penelope and the Incorrigibles find a way to undo the family curse in time, or will the next full moon be their last?

A summer house holds dark secrets—and a terrifying evil—in the New York Times bestselling author’s “compelling gothic mystery” (Publishers Weekly). Lily Dale, New York, is a sleepy, summer resort. A population of psychics and mediums lives within its gates. It is also the place where Julia Garrity and Kristin Shuttleworth formed a fast friendship—one broken only by death. On Halloween night fifteen years ago, Kristin saw something in a house on Summer Street that would haunt her until the end of her days. Since then, Julia has watched both Kristin and her mother fall prey to whomever—or whatever—lurks there. Now Kristin’s blind six-year-old daughter, Dulcie, has come to live in Lily Dale—at that very house on Summer Street. Appointing herself protector, Julia is determined to coax the secrets of the house out into the light, to discover what the little girl “sees” roaming its halls . . . before the murderous force residing there claims them both.

Wire in the blood: "Young girls are disappearing around the country. Everyone assumes they are teenage runaways, headed for the city and bright lights. They vanish without trace - society's disposable children. There is nothing to connect them to each other, let alone the killer whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind. Nobody moves around inside the messy heads of serial killers like Dr. Tony Hill. Now heading up the recently founded National Profiling Task Force, he sets his team an exercise: they are given the details of thirty missing teenagers and ask to use their new techniques to discover whether there is a sinister link between any of the cases. Only one officer, Shaz Bowman, comes up with a concrete theory, but it is ridiculed by the rest of her group...until a killer murders and mutilates one of their number. Could Bowman's outrageous suspicion possibly be true?"

In Leaving Everything Most Loved by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs investigates the murder of Indian immigrants in London. The year is 1933. Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months ago. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's personal life. Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series.

Three gripping tales from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller S. J. Parris. The Secret DeadSummer 1556. A girl’s body is found in a Neapolitan monastery. Novice monk Giordano Bruno is determined to uncover what happened, but his investigation could deliver him into the hands of the Inquisition. The Academy of SecretsAutumn 1568. An invitation arrives for Giordano Bruno from a secret society of philosophers. Bruno is delighted, but keeping their heretical secrets soon becomes a matter of life or death. A Christmas RequiemWinter 1569. Giordano Bruno is summoned by the Pope, who is intrigued by his talent for memory games. But Rome is a den of iniquity, and Bruno will be lucky to escape the Eternal City alive. *Please note these three novellas are also published as individual stories in ebook.* ‘S. J. Parris gives us a glimpse into the younger years of Giordano Bruno, her 16th-century heretic and spy, in this collection of three beguiling novellas’ Observer What readers are saying about The Dead of Winter ‘Superb story-telling’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Such a treat’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Beautifully written’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gripping’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Compulsive reading’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Full of energy and excitement’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Superb’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This tale of power, mystery, suspense and intrigue that delves into the uses of psychic talents, revealing both the light and the shadow sight, is written by Patricia Windsor who won the 1986 Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

An island of secrets. A runaway. And a promise...A rebellious daughter1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer's job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.A sister with a secret1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.A rift over generationsBetrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence's only clue, the war an immovable barrier - and time is running out...Praise for The Hidden Palace"Completely swept me away to another place and time. Dinah is the queen of sumptuous settings, transporting the reader effortlessly from chocolate-box Devonshire to the cabaret clubs of 1920s Paris and war-torn Malta. A marvellous, multi-layered story, populated with characters to really care for"--HAZEL GAYNOR"Dinah Jefferies wields her storytelling magic on the island of Malta . . . It's engrossing and sensual, full of the heat of the Mediterranean sun"--GILL PAUL"Powerful, passionate and profoundly moving . . . this compelling mix of love and tragedy vibrates with warmth and pain, and captures the intense dislocation of war"--KATE FURNIVALL"Sweeping and sumptuous with a gorgeously described sense of place. A marvellous adventure"--TRACY REESPraise for Daughters of War"A wonderfully evocative and sensual writer"--SANTA MONTEFIORE"A warm and engrossing tale of passion and courage. I loved it"--RACHEL HORE"Love, grief, abandonment, betrayal and secrets ... I adored it"--LIZ NUGENT