Nobody expected aristocratic Isabelle to fall for John Gabriel, a ruthless war hero. For Isabella, love would mean abandoning her dreams of privilege. For Gabriel, it would ruin his chance of a career and all his ambitions. This novel was written by Agatha Christie under the name Mary Westmacott.

A collection of three love stories written by Agatha Christie under the name Mary Westmacott between the years 1930 and 1956.

As some of the oldest living organisms to be found in Europe, yew trees have become inextricably bound up in some of the oldest enduring institutions of European culture. In The Immortal Yew, Tony Hall explores the biological, cultural, and mythic significance of these imposing evergreens. Supporting a range of animals and plants, yew trees foster new life by contributing to biodiversity in their surroundings. But their common occurrence in churchyards and their evergreen leaves have given them a separate folk status as symbols of life--in the British isles, they have come to represent the resurrection and eternal life central to the Christian faith. Their enduring significance to British culture extends beyond the church, however--even the founding political document of British government, the Magna Carta, is believed to have been sealed beneath a yew tree. Despite the enduring presence and significance of the yew tree across a millennium of British history, this seemingly immortal stalwart faces new threats in the twenty-first century as elderly trees near the end of their lives and global climate change threatens the next generation. Perhaps by spending time in the generous shade of one of the yew trees Hall documents in this beautifully illustrated book, a new generation might begin to learn the importance of protecting its legacy and invest in its future.

NOW A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor. At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting-- he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

A little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor - the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets. From the internationally bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE LETTER. __________ It all began with a midwife's secret, long buried but if uncovered could save two families from the bitter tragedy that binds them. And prove the key that will free them all... 1969 On New Year's Eve, while the Hiltons of Yew Tree Manor prepare to host the party of the season, their little girl disappears. Suspicion falls on Bobby James, a young farmhand and the last person to see Alice before she vanished. Bobby protests his innocence, but he is sent away. Alice is never found. Present day Architect Willow James is working on a development at Yew Tree when she discovers the land holds a secret. As she begins to dig deep into the past, she uncovers a web of injustice. And when another child goes missing, Willow knows the only way to stop history repeating itself is to right a terrible wrong... ** EMILY GUNNIS'S NEW NOVEL THE GIRLS LEFT BEHIND IS AVAILABLE NOW ** ARE YOU READY TO DISCOVER THE MIDWIFE'S SECRET? READERS ARE SPELLBOUND: 'I can highly recommend this beautiful tale which is heartbreaking, emotional, gripping, suspenseful and will keep you on the edge of your seat' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'The Midwife's Secret is an unputdownable book that grips you from the beginning. Be prepared for plenty of tears throughout, right to the end' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'Wow! What a powerful book. This had me hooked from the start. The story spans generations and tells of lies, grief and secrets. It was extremely well written and had you guessing right to the end. Loved the characters and couldn't put this book down' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'This story grabbed a hold of me and sucked me in. It was highly captivating, dramatic and emotional . . . I literally could not turn the pages fast enough' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'A real heart-pounder! It had intrigue, suspense and lots of twists and turns!! Definitely some jaw-dropping moments! I highly recommend reading this book!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'The story was stunning and heartbreaking. I went to bed at 2am! Can't wait for the next book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review 'Spellbindingly good! Heartbreak, intrigue, mystery' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Real reader review

A classic Agatha Christie short story, available individually for the first time as an ebook.

The definitive account of one of Britain’s most notorious killer couples, who loved, tortured, and slayed together as husband and wife. Updated with a new afterword from the author on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the arrests From the outside, 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester, England, looked as commonplace as the married couple who lived there. But in 1994, Fred and Rose West’s home would become infamous as a “house of horrors” when the remains of nine young women—many of them decapitated, dismembered, and showing evidence of sexual torture—were found interred under its cellar, bathroom floor, and garden. And this wasn’t the only burial ground: Fred’s first wife and nanny were unearthed miles away in a field, while his eight-year-old stepdaughter was found entombed under the Wests’ former residence. Yet, for more than twenty years, the twosome maintained a façade of normalcy while abusing and murdering female boarders, hitchhikers, and members of their own family. Howard Sounes, who first broke the story about the Wests as a journalist and covered the murder trial, has written a comprehensive account of the case. Beginning with Fred and Rose’s bizarre childhoods, Sounes charts their lives and crimes in forensic detail, constructing a fascinating and frightening tale of a marriage soaked in blood. Indeed, the total number of the Wests’ victims may never be known. A case reminiscent of the “Moors Murders” committed in the 1960s in Manchester by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady—as if Hindley and Brady had married and kept on killing for decades—Fred & Rose “is a story of obsessive love as well as obsessive murder” (The Times, London).

A comprehensive and richly illustrated history, Yew will appeal to botanists and other readers interested in the history and symbolism of the natural world, now in paperback. The yew is the oldest and most common tree in the world, but it is a plant of puzzling contradictions: it is a conifer with juicy scarlet berries, but no cones; deer can feast on its poisonous foliage, but it is lethal to farm animals, and it thrives where other plants cannot because of its extraordinarily low rate of photosynthesis. Exploring this paradoxical plant in Yew, Fred Hageneder surveys its position in religious and cultural history, its role in the creation of the British Empire, and its place in modern medicine. Hageneder explains the way the yew is able to renew itself from the inside by producing interior roots and how early humans, fascinated with its regenerative powers, began to associate the tree with concepts of life and death, the afterlife, and eternity. As such, it can be found at the sacred sites of Native Americans, Buddhists, and Shinto shrines in Japan, and it has become a living symbol of the resurrection for the Christian faith. He describes how churchyards saved many yews during the Middle Ages when the trees were used for the mass production of the longbow, which laid the foundation for the British Empire. Finally, he discusses the latest scientific discoveries about the yew, including its use in cancer treatments.

“Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best.” --Agatha Christie Described by the queen of mystery herself as one of her favorites of her published work, Crooked House is a classic Agatha Christie thriller revolving around a devastating family mystery. The Leonides are one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection. Suspicion naturally falls on the old man’s young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancé of the late millionaire’s granddaughter.