Books published by Allison & Busby

Rose Trevelyan is not concerned when her friend Etta does not turn up at the opening of her exhibition. When she hears the following day that a young man fell of a cliff in suspicious circumstances, Rose starts to makes connections and things start to go terribly wrong.

Bracewell befriends a young beggar who is trying to eke out a living as a counterfeit crank, pretending to have epileptic fits in order to get money from gullible bystanders. When the beggar is murdered, Nicholas has to pose as a beggar himself in order to get inside the institution and solve the crime. Counterfeiting of all kinds is exposed.

'I hoped that we might be safe but we have not seen the last of them, after all. They want more blood.'During a performance of their new play, A Trick to Catch a Chaste Lady, Westfield's Men are sabotaged, and they find themselves in the throngs of an audience-player melee. In the midst of the rotten-vegetable battlefield, one of the audience members is found stabbed, and their masterful clown, Barnaby Gill, is discovered with a broken leg.With the company clown-less, they must find a replacement before they embark on their tour of Kent. Enter Gideon Mussett, a ruffian, scallywag and all around drunk. Thinking the victim in the theatre was an accident. Nicholas Bracewell and his fellows soon learn that there is more to this death than a drunken brawl. With a murderer still on the loose, it appears further deaths are on the cards, but who will be the second victim?

A delicious mystery in which murder invades polite society and romance springs in unexpected places.

Hannah Scarlett's cold case team are looking into the three-year-old mystery of the disappearance of Lily Elstone. Their investigation coincides with the disappearance of another teenage girl, Shona Whiteley, whose father Nigel lives in the Dungeon House, despite its tragic history - twenty years earlier, his uncle Malcolm Whiteley shot his wife and apparently killed his daughter before shooting himself. But as Hannah's team dig down into the past, doubts arise about what exactly happened at the Dungeon House twenty years ago...

Westfield's Men are out of work. When their widowed patron chooses a Danish bride and plans a wedding in Elsinore, the troupe is invited to perform, as guests of King Christian IV. But the play they select will prove a disastrous choice. Westfield's Men soon find themselves embroiled in political intrigue and religious dissension.

Lord Westfield's men are in dire straights when the company is offered a new play which could drag them out of their rut. However, during the play's first performance, a cast members is struck down, making it his first and last appearance on stage. Suspicion is rife and trusty book keeper Nicolas Bracewell refuses to let the crime go unpunished.

In 1942 Paris, gifted architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him a great deal of money - and maybe get him killed. If he's clever enough, he'll avoid any trouble. But when one of his hiding spaces fails horribly, and the problem of where to hide a Jew becomes terribly personal, Lucien can no longer ignore what's at stake.

1916. As thousands of Brits are fighting on the Front Line, a new breed of women emerges to hold the Home Front together. Fiercely independent and fiery-spirited, the munitionettes, or 'canaries', are easily recognisable with their chemically-stained yellow faces. Among the raucous group of women is Florrie Duncan, who plans to celebrate her birthday in style at the Golden Goose pub. But the celebrations are cut short when all but one are killed in a brutal explosion.Scotland Yard suggests it's the work of a German spy but Detective Inspector Harvey Marnion and Sergeant Joe Keedy remain unconvinced, believing something more complex and sinister to be at work. With five times the victims there are five times the motives for murder. As the pair begins to piece together the lives of the women, they unearth a tension simmering between many of the locals and the canaries.The dark days of the war has left everyone on edge and suspicion is rife. From marital dysfunction to a failed bomb plot, it seems everyone in the small town of Hayes has a motive, so Marmion and Keedy must work fast to uncover the murderer. Before more canaries are turned to dust.

Bracewell s loyalty to a new actor drives a wedge between the players. Meanwhile, Quilter s father is on trial for murder, but denies the charge. Bracewell sets about proving his innocence."

When a lead actor succumbs to a series of illnesses identical to those afflicting his character in the play, members of Westfield's Men fear there is a witch among them.

Allison & Busby is proud to reissue titles in this popular early series from Edward Marston. Nicolas Bracewell is the book holder for a leading theatre company in Elizabethan London. He saves his actors time and again as they are threatened by rivals, assassins and political interference...

Arriving on a summer weekend at any stretch of water without one's own craft behind the car or swaying proudly at its moorings is like attending a dance with a broken leg - not to mention the damage to one's social status. This is a humorous manual of instruction for sailors anywhere.

Spring, 1858. The route of the Caledonian Railway through the southern uplands of the Scottish countryside is disrupted by a fatal crash. Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming are called from the crime of London to investigate, and must contend with old enemy Superintendent Rory McTurk to uncover the criminals behind the disaster. The motive for the crash is unclear, with suspects including the North British Railway, a group of sabbatarians and those with personal vendettas to enact. Colbeck and Leeming face further obstacles when the Railway announces a reward of GBP400 for information - soon they are pitched against criminals, the public and their own colleagues in their attempts to solve the case.Meanwhile, with the investigation stalling, the newly married Madeleine Colbeck and her father race to reach Inspector Colbeck with important information. Will they be in time to save the royal family before their train journey to Balmoral?

WWI. Greyladies - an ancient Wiltshire manor house - is requisitioned for a hospital. Its mistress, Harriet, Joseph and their sons are allowed to stay in part of the house, but when tragedy strikes Joseph's brothers, his future at Greyladies is at risk. Latimer family legend says a new mistress of the house will be found, yet how does this happen?