Peter Maxwell is the History teacher you wish you’d had. If you meet anyone (and you will) who says ‘I hate History. It’s boring,’ they weren’t taught by Mad Max. Many of you will know him as the crime-solving sleuth (along with his police-person wife, Jacquie) in the Maxwell series by M.J. Trow (along with his non-policeperson wife, Carol, aka Maryanne Coleman – uncredited!) but what he is paid to do is teach History. And to that end has brought – and continues to bring – culture to thousands. In his ‘blog’ (Dinosaur Maxwell doesn’t really know what that is) written in 2012, the year in which the world was supposed to end, but mysteriously didn’t, you will find all sorts of fascinating factoids about the only important subject on the school curriculum. So, if you weren’t lucky enough to be taught by Max, or you’ve forgotten all the History you ever knew, here is your chance to play catch-up. The ‘blog’ has been edited by Maxwell’s friend, the crime writer M.J. Trow, who writes almost as though he knows what the Great Man was thinking. As Maxwell himself has been known to say – Spooky!

Book two in the Fyre & Stone series. Sebastian Fyre and John Stone are reluctantly reunited when they are hired by an aristocrat who believes he is going to be the victim of a murder. Deep in the heart of rural Ireland, where a thin veneer of the modern world covers centuries of superstition, Fyre and Stone find themselves embroiled in a set of mysterious murders and disappearances. Dark forces are at work, and have set in motion a dangerous and deadly chain reaction…

Always in the Dark: One Woman's Search for Answers from a Family Shrouded in Secrets is a deeply moving memoir that tells of secrets, scandal and survival. After her parents emigrated post war, Diane spends her idyllic and cosy childhood in Cape Town, which is ruined at the age of three after the arrival of a visitor. Her roller coaster existence and mother’s mental breakdown when she is eight adds to her confusion. Her father works for Cadbury’s and after securing a transfer with the company, the family move back to England when she is fourteen. With each new move, of which there are many, Diane prays that happiness will return to her parents’ marriage. It is obvious her home life is a weird one and it is only after her mother’s death that she rummages through her secret box and unearths a wealth of staggering information she does not know exists. But Diane is a young child when it all begins and the fact she has lived her life to the point of naivety is beyond baffling. And because of the hurt and embarrassment her shocking revelation is not something she wants to share with her husband. The search for the truth sends Diane on numerous missions to talk to many people only to discover that she is the last to know about her dysfunctional family. Her goal is to hear an apology for her ruined childhood.

Two got together when they both had another. One took out their anger from the loss of a lover. The last one tried to hang on to what was losing ground, and when it couldn’t be stopped? He decided to tear it down. All their lives they’ve heard of the horrors of the old Doris House. Nine years ago, best friends; Derek, Ellie, Whitney, and Jackson decided to finally go inside, to find out if the haunting tales were true. Nine years ago, they emerged from the house with their secrets intact, but their friendship forever fractured. They’ve moved on with their lives; but now that Ellie has returned, so have their secrets. Revenge is coming to collect for their past misdeeds, but how can they save themselves if they can’t trust each other? Maybe the stories they grew up with are true, and the house really is home to something sinister, or maybe there is someone out there who knows everything.

No one can teach anyone else to write; you either can, or you can't do it. But it is possible to help someone to write better, and this is what this book is about. It is full of handy hints, written in an accessible way which will also, hopefully, make you smile. What it isn't full of is tables, rules and 'do it this way or else'! Written anonymously by an author of dozens of books and editor of hundreds more, Let's Write Right will show you how to set out a document, how not to annoy publishers and agents and how to make your book, whatever its genre, just the very best it can possibly be.

What do you do when a maniac with a gun is threatening your life? Simple, you chase after him! Danny is angry, frustrated and hurt. One moment he’s looking forward to spending the day having fun, the next he’s watching in horror as his dad is shot and killed by a guy in a blue coat. In a single devastating moment his life is torn to pieces. Now all he wants is justice, but to get that he has to catch the guy, and that means chasing him all over the countryside, stealing a combine harvester, a touch of breaking and entering and a near death experience. Chasing the Beast is a story of love and loss and strange men in pin-striped suits. Will Dan catch the beast or will the beast catch him?

The Winds of Change: Making Peace with Asperger's is the ultimate feel good story of living with a condition that affects one in a hundred people. This fictionalised account, mirroring aspects of the author's own experiences, shines a light on life with Asperger's and how it affects those diagnosed with it, their co-workers, their friends and their family. Rhys, who struggles with his condition, will discover that 2018 becomes the defining year of his life and, with the love and support of his family, finds that his world is changing for the better and that it really is possible to make peace with Asperger's.

One hospital. Two missing infants. Three decades apart. When a newborn is snatched from the Maternity Unit at St Catherine’s Hospital, a desperate police hunt ensues. Only a small window of opportunity exists in which to identify a suspect and bring the baby back safely. Detective Sergeant Meg Wiley, close to retirement and panicking about what she’ll do with her empty days, reluctantly joins the search, but she’s haunted by her memories. Feeling estranged from her partner Emma, she struggles to concentrate on the job. She soon discovers, however, that the past is a key. Her history will unlock the mystery that surrounds the disappearance of not one, but two babies. ★★★★★ - 'Beautifully written, a page-turner to the very end.' - Bethan White, author of Fade

Book one in the Fyre & Stone series. Two men from the same city, but very different worlds. Sebastian Fyre is a wealthy young Lord with an unshakable belief that he can communicate with the dead. John Stone is a tough policeman who grew up in the Victorian slum tenements of the city he now patrols. A series of brutal murders across the city throw these two men into a reluctant and volatile partnership. Fyre and Stone attempt to hunt down a conspiracy of killers, while trying to avoid becoming prey themselves.

Thirteen-year-old Maddie knows about loss. Still coping with the death of her father, her world starts to go horribly wrong in more ways than she could have imagined. The adults who have always defined her are acting strange and then… are simply not there at all. Now living with her older sister and a small group of friends, they must work together to find depths of resilience as their community battle to survive. There must be an answer to the chaos that is erupting around them – it is just a matter of finding it.