Books published by Allison & Busby

Iris Origo was one of the twentieth century's most attractive and intriguing women, a brilliantly perceptive historian and biographer whose works remain widely admired. Iris grew up in Italy with her Irish mother after the death of her wealthy American father. They settled in the Villa Medici in Florence, where they became part of the colourful and privileged Anglo-Florentine set that included Edith Wharton, Harold Acton and the Berensons.When Iris married Antonio Origo, they bought and revived La Foce, a derelict stretch of the beautiful Val d'Orcia valley in Tuscany and created an estate that thrives to this day. During World War II they sided firmly with the Allies, taking considerable risks in protecting children and sheltering partisans and Iris's diary from that time, War in Val d'Orcia, is now considered a modern classic.Caroline Moorehead has drawn on many previously unpublished letters, diaries, and papers to write the definitive biography of a very remarkable woman.

'The question that haunts us all. Just what is it that drives someone to kill?'In Ravenbank, a remote community in the Lake District, Hallowe'en is particularly chilling. It is a time for telling the story of the Faceless Woman, a young housemaid brutally murdered in a nearby lane, her corpse discovered with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. And five years ago, the tale became even more unsettling when another woman was murdered in exactly the same grisly manner.Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases, and begins to wonder whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. While Daniel attends a Hallowe'en party in Ravenbank, death returns for a third time to the beautiful but eerily isolated spot. Once more, the victim is a woman - and once more her damaged face is shrouded from view.The latest horrifying murder presents DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cold Case Review Team, with the toughest challenge of her career. Is the case linked to the two earlier killings - and if so, how? Hannah and Daniel join forces in an attempt to solve the puzzling mystery. But in doing so, both may be forced to confront ghosts from their own pasts . . .

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP AND DARK IN THE LAKE DISTRICTSummer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown owns a florist shop. But business is hardly booming, so Simmy jumps at the chance of a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in nearby Hawkshead. However, the association with the hotel turns sinister when a body is found in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend Ben is now missing and thought to be kidnapped. Caught up in both a murder and kidnapping investigation, Simmy begins chasing clues, watching suspicious characters and grappling with her own personal challenges, compelled to uncover the truth.A cracking good read' Mystery People

A humorous look at golf by the author of Compleat Tangler, Angels on Horseback, Up the Garden Path and The Effluent Society.

Gabriel Hughenfort died during the Great War, amidst scandalous rumors that have haunted the family ever since. But it's not until Holmes and Russell arrive at Justice Hall, a home of unearthly perfection, that they fully understand the irony echoed in the family motto, Justicia fortitudo mea est: "Righteousness is my strength."

IIn the eerie wasteland of Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes summons his devoted wife and partner, Mary Russell, from her studies at Oxford to aid the investigation of a death and some disturbing phenomena of a decidedly supernatural origin.Through the mists of the moor there have been sightings of a spectral coach made of bones carrying a woman long ago accused of murdering her husband - and of a hound with a single glowing eye. Returning to the scene of one of his most celebrated cases, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell investigate a mystery darker and more unforgiving than the moors themselves.

After a calamitous performance and the death of one of their own, Lord Westfield's Men are more than despondent. So when Nicholas Bracewell is offered a new play, anonymously penned, his proposal seems too good to refuse. It is the story of a simple death used to conceal a greater treachery, perhaps even treason.

Murder turns the journey of a lifetime into a deadly nightmareThe plague has struck London once again but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield's Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company's bookholder Nicholas Bracewell and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield's secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them. Treacherous seas become the least of Nicholas' worries when one of their actors is savagely killed. To make matters worse, when they finally arrive in Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II proves to be an eccentric and bewildering host and Nicholas' beloved Anne Hendrik is kidnapped...

Jack Carter is home for his brother Frank's funeral. Frank's car was found at the bottom of a cliff, with Frank inside. He was not only dead drunk but dead as well. Why would sensible Frank down a bottle of whisky and get behind the wheel? For Jack, his death doesn't add up. So he decides to talk to a few people, but he is soon told to stop.

1905. Rosie Belsfield feels as if her life has ended when she is rejected from Ellis Island and put on the next boat back to England, leaving her family behind. But fate gives her a second chance when she befriends Lady Rosalind, a pregnant widow on her way to the home of her late husband's father, the wealthy Sir Ralph Tregowan. Having boarded the ship with one identity, fate decrees that Rosie leave it with another . . . As Rosie arrives in Cornwall as 'Rosalind', she must fend for herself amongst a new and bitterly resentful family. Rosie becomes increasingly trapped by her deception and the cruelty of those around her - the only light at the end of the tunnel seems to be the enigmatic Bryce Tregowan. With him the promise of a new life beckons, one of riches and even a title in beautiful Cornwall, but it is also one fraught with danger should her deceit be discovered.As she falls deeper into love and lies, can Rosie keep up the act, or will her secrets reveal themselves? And to what consequences?

Guy Fawkes Night, 1857. Joel Heygate is the popular stationmaster at Exeter St David's railway station - an impressive figure of a man replete with frock coat and top hat, bushy eyebrows and walrus moustache. But when the charred remains of a body are discovered in the embers of the town's annual Bonfire Night celebration, everyone is horrified when it becomes clear that they belong to Mr Heygate.The South Devon Railway contacts Scotland Yard for their assistance, and Superintendant Edward Tallis sends the Railway Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant Victor Leeming to Exeter with all due haste. They quickly unearth three suspects, but are they missing something? It is only when Heygate's diary turns up unexpectedly that the truth becomes clear and a fourth suspect emerges. As Colbeck closes in on the killer, he finds himself in mortal danger - can justice prevail? Or will his beloved Madeleine be robbed of a husband on the very eve of their marriage?

When fire destroys their London theatre, Lord Westfield's players must seek out humbler venues in the countryside. But stage manager Nicholas Bracewell is distracted by a shocking tragedy - a mysterious messenger from his native Devon, murdered by poison. Though the messenger is silenced, Nicholas understands what he must do: return to his birthplace and conclude some unfinished business from his past.The rest of Westfield's Men, penniless and dejected, ride forth with him on a tour that will perhaps become their valedictory, dogged as they are by plague, poverty, rogues and thieves. And among the sinister shadows that glide silently with them towards Devon is one who means Nicholas never to arrive . . .

While rumours are rife of Queen Elizabeth's declining health, celebrated theatre company Lord Westfield's Men suffer their own bitter blows. Stage manager Nicholas Bracewell can keep the company afloat, but as the Queen sinks towards death, he discerns connections between the company's misfortunes and a larger shadow over England...