'Lesley Thomson gets better and better' Ian Rankin When Freddy Power was eighteen, her father threw her out. Her sin had been to fall in love with a woman. Freddy waited for two decades to be invited back into the family. The summons never came. But now, in the wake of her parents' death, Freddy feels the call of home like a siren's song. The trawlers emerging out of the mist. Fishermen unloading their catch down at the harbour. Her best friend, Mags, exploring the cliffs at sunset. But when she arrives at Newhaven, after twenty-two years of silence, her brothers and her friends act like strangers. Then Mags goes missing, and old secrets – and old passions – are reignited. Freddy is determined to lead the hunt for Mags – even if it means confronting her past, and facing the truth about her family... Reviews for Death of a Mermaid: 'Catholic guilt, monstrous hypocrisy and all kinds of fishy business are explored in an atmosphere of creeping dread' The Times 'A truly brilliant book, full of atmosphere and a creeping sense of menace. Lesley Thomson lures you in with meticulously drawn characters and a matchless sense of place, and then you are caught in the jaws of a remorseless thriller' Elly Griffiths 'A strong sense of place, wonderfully woven with a cast of memorable characters' Mari Hannah 'Death of a Mermaid is a tense, beautifully written novel, with characters so well-crafted you expect them to walk off the page' Rachael Blok 'A powerful tale of dark secrets that fester in a small seaside town' William Shaw

"Freddy left her childhood home in Newhaven twenty-two years ago and swore never to return. But now her parents are dead, and she's back in her hometown to help her brothers manage the family fishmonger. Nothing here has changed: the stink of fish coming up from the marshes; the shopping trolleys half-buried by muddy tides; the neighbours sniffing for a new piece of gossip. It's not what Freddy would have chosen, but at least while she's here she'll get to see her childhood best friends, Toni and Pauline. At school, the three of them were inseparable. The teachers called them the Mermaids for their obsession with the sea, and with each other. Then Pauline goes missing, and Freddy must decide. Go back to her new life, or stay and find her friend?"--Publisher website.

Opportunity knocks on the humblest of doors. But it knocks only once. When an overheard conversation leads to a hunt for a long-forgotten pirate’s treasure in the sunny tropics, Herbert can’t believe his luck. With shipmates including the charming if somewhat feline-featured Katie, a suave and dapper captain, and a hyper-competent crew, such an opportunity seems too good to be true. And we all know how that usually turns out. He soon discovers that said adventure vacation of a lifetime comes with minor downsides, such as being hunted by giant sea monsters. Including an alluring—if somewhat bloodthirsty—mermaid. Additionally, the term ‘lifetime’ refers to a significantly shorter time-frame than he envisioned. Set sail on the high seas of Arvia! (Must supply own cutlass.) A stand-alone novella for adult or young adult readers.

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR ERIN HART DELIVERS A SEARING NEW NOVEL OF SUSPENSE, BRILLIANTLY MELDING MODERN FORENSICS AND IRISH MYTH AND MYSTERY IN THIS CHARGED THRILLER. American pathologist Nora Gavin fled to Ireland three years ago, hoping that distance from home would bring her peace. Though she threw herself into the study of bog bodies and the mysteries of their circumstances, she was ultimately led back to the one mystery she was unable to solve: the murder of her sister, Tríona. Nora can’t move forward until she goes back—back to her home, to the scene of the crime, to the source of her nightmares and her deepest regrets. Determined to put her sister’s case to rest and anxious about her eleven-year-old niece, Elizabeth, Nora returns to Saint Paul, Minnesota, to find that her brother-in-law, Peter Hallett, is about to remarry and has plans to leave the country with his new bride. Nora has long suspected Hallett in Tríona’s murder, though there has never been any proof of his involvement, and now she believes that his new wife and Elizabeth may both be in danger. Time is short, and as Nora begins reinvestigating her sister’s death, missed clues and ever-more disturbing details come to light. What is the significance of the "false mermaid" seeds found on Tríona’s body? Why was her behavior so erratic in the days before her murder? Is there a link between Tríona’s death and that of another young woman? Nora’s search for answers takes her from the banks of the Mississippi to the cliffs of Ireland, where the eerie story of a fisherman’s wife who vanished more than a century ago offers up uncanny parallels. As painful secrets come to light, Nora is drawn deeper into a past that still threatens to engulf her and must determine how much she is prepared to sacrifice to put one tragedy to rest . . . and to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself.

Death and Pixie Dust! Once upon a time, a mysterious plague beset a quiet village in the woods-a plague of the walking dead. Suddenly, beloved fairy tale characters are thrown into a world of stark violence and horror: Cinderella is worked to death before the ball, Pinocchio is made from children's corpses, and Little Red Riding Hood finds more than wolves in the forest. Surreal and full of black humor, Zombie Fairy Tales is a genre-bending narrative of a world on the brink of apocalypse, a world with no happily ever afters. Collected here are all 12 original Zombie Fairy Tales, plus a new 13th tale exclusive to this collection!

In an exuberant picture book, a glimpse of costumed mermaids leaves one boy flooded with wonder and ready to dazzle the world. While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes — and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself? Mesmerizing and full of heart, Jessica Love’s author-illustrator debut is a jubilant picture of self-love and a radiant celebration of individuality.

Even though she's terrified of the sea, a girl who believes her mum might have been a mermaid runs away to the ocean to solve the mystery of who she really is. Stella is the odd one out. She sleepwalks, is terrified of water, yet obsessed by the ocean. Her mum who died when Stella was eight remains the biggest mystery of all. Who was she and why did she give Stella a necklace called 'the word of the sea' before she died? Nobody can give her any answers. Her father is consumed by grief and her grandmother's memories are fading with dementia. When Stella's only friend in the world, Cam, moves house, Stella runs away. She's determined to find out who her mum was and who she is too. She ends up in the Crystal Cove, a run-down aquarium with a mermaid show. There she meets Pearl who reveals disturbing secrets. It's only by facing her fear of the ocean that Stella will truly uncover the truth. This is an exquisitely imagined story about a girl on an adventure above and below the waves.

The isolated Outer Banks provide Callie McKinley with the anonymity she needs to start her life over as a restaurant manager at the Holiday House Hotel. But, the serenity of Callie's new world is shattered when a skull is uncovered in a dune outside of the hotel. Then Callie's head waitress disappears and the police don't seem too concerned. As Callie searches for clues to her friend's whereabouts, she finds herself poking her nose into a police investigation that reveals more questions than answers.