Books published by Hodder & Stoughton

Investigator and former Marine Wayne Weston is found at home, killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, the gun still lying in his right hand. There is no sign of his wife and six-year-old daughter.The police believe Wayne Weston killed his family before turning the gun on himself. Weston's father is convinced his son was murdered. He turns to Lincoln Perry, former cop, now private investigator, for help.All the evidence supports the police's conclusions, but as soon as he starts asking questions, Lincoln hears rumours of gambling, extortion, and links to Cleveland's Russian mob. When the FBI asks him to back off, followed by a second murder, Lincoln is more determined than ever to uncover the truth, even if that means putting himself in danger . . .

Lincoln Perry was once a rising star on the Cleveland police force, until he was kicked out after he got in a fight with Alex Jefferson, the millionaire his fianc e left him for. When Jefferson is tortured and murdered, it isn't long before the police are at Lincoln's door asking questions.Things go from bad to worse when Lincoln agrees to do a favour for Jefferson's widow - track down the dead man's son who has unknowingly inherited his millions. What should be a routine search for a missing person ends with the son's body lying in the morgue and Lincoln in jail.Lincoln realises that Jefferson's millions are the target of a thirst for revenge that hasn't been satisfied by blood. But soon Lincoln is being pursued by a pair of deadly assailants and under pressure from the police, who are determined to put him back behind bars, if he survives long enough to make it there . . .

Liverpool 1942. Seventeen-year-old Frankie Franconi falls in love with charismatic British officer Nick Harper as quickly and certainly as the bomb that falls on their shelter. He is impressed by her good looks and intelligence, and the fact that, like him, she speaks fluent Italian. When she insists on staying to help rescue others who have been trapped he realises that she has courage, too. He gives her a business card with a Baker Street address, and suggests she put her skills to good use. Within a month Frankie has joined the FANYs and started her training. Stationed first in England, then Africa and finally Italy, Frankie and her fellow recruits work tirelessly decoding messages from agents in the field by day, and enjoying the wartime parties at night. But when she signs the Official Secrets Act she has no idea of the danger, adventure and terrible choices that are in store.

It is 1942. The theatres of war are North Africa and Italy. All eyes follow the front, but behind the scenes a messier war continues, an improvised game of snatched triumphs, terrible mistakes and terrifying uncertainty.Cabaret singer by night, spy by day, Richard risks his life to help British servicemen escape occupied France and get back to England. Rose leads a group of dancers with mixed morals high-kicking to entertain the troops as Hitler's bombers roar in the skies above. Then she is given orders to join the forces in the field, destination unknown.Meanwhile a phantom pianist, who has lost the love of his life, is following Montys soldiers across the African desert, mocking the enemies guns by playing Beethoven between the lines.

An emotive and timeless collection of short stories by the much-loved Rosamunde Pilcher.Through thick mist and a cold east wind, Lavinia returns to Scotland. Up at the big house Mrs Farquhar is dying. Seeing Lachlan again, Lavinia remembers her childhood holidays there: swimming in the loch, the picnics, bottle-feeding the lambs down at the farm and the evenings when they danced reels. Most of all, she remembers Mrs Farquhar's grandson Rory.In the house, as the old lady lies serene and beautiful in the bed she has slept in since coming home to Lachlan as a bride, Lavinia meets Rory once again.Flowers in the Rain is one of sixteen stories, each giving another magical glimpse into Rosamunde Pilcher's world. The world in which most would prefer to live all the time.

Perfect novella for a cold winter day by the much-loved Rosamunde Pilcher.At her dying mother's bedside, Rebecca Bayliss is shattered to learn of a family she never knew existed. Determined to find them, Rebecca journeys to Boscarva, a beautiful mansion in Cornwall, to meet a family torn by passion and greed. From her grandfather Grenville Bayliss, who is hiding an explosive secret, to a handsome cousin, whose kisses are dangerously seductive . . . to sensual craftsman Joss Gardner, whose past hints of intrigue, Rebecca becomes entangled in a family mystery . . . and unravelling it holds the key to her future and her heart.

A brilliant, timeless novel by the much-loved Rosamunde Pilcher.Emma Litton can't get on with her life until she finds out just what place she has in her father's heart. She'd been at school in Europe since she was fourteen, then found a job in Paris, always wondering what her famous artist father was doing in Japan or America or at their cottage in Cornwall. Even after she meets Robert Morrow, the handsome gallery owner, and rediscovers her step-brother, Christo, she still feels compelled to probe into the truth about her past. But Emma might learn too late that it is the truth about herself she has to find and that letting go is the first step to keeping love.

A charming story by the much-loved Rosamunde Pilcher.Sitting on a California beach at summer's end, Jane Marsh thinks back to her childhood at the estate called Elvie in a remote corner of Scotland. She remembers not only the heather-covered hills and the lonesome loch, but her grandmother . . . and, of course, Sinclair. She has secretly dreamed of marrying rakishly handsome Sinclair and settling at Elvie forever. Then an urgent visit from her grandmother's lawyer becomes the catalyst for her return to Scotland . . . Where waiting for her is passion, not gentle love, and the chilling realisation that she may be ready to wed the wrong man.

SHE CAN SEE THE KILLER, BUT CAN SHE STOP HIM?A psychological thriller that will give chills to fans of Nora Roberts and Karin Slaughter.Olivia Bechet has a terrifying vision of a murder from her bed - a woman's slashed, incinerated corpse in a seedy New Orleans apartment. Weeks later, after another vision and even after the second body turns up, Detective Rick Bentz doesn't believe her. Soon her dreams are becoming more vivid and when she sees the murderer's face as well as the victim's, she realises the danger is even closer than she first imagined...

At first Kacey Lambert thinks it's a sad, strange coincidence that two women with an amazing resemblance to her have died suddenly. But detective Selena Alvarez suspects otherwise. An autopsy confirms that one of the women had traces of poison in her blood...And Kacey has started to notice ties between the dead women's lives and her own. They were all close in age. They were born within a few miles of each other. And they all have ties with Trace O'Halleran, the single father Kacey is dating.Soon more lookalikes are dying and as the body count rises, the killer gets bolder and more brutal. All Kacey knows is that it's only a matter of time before hers is the next name on a list of those who were born to die.

NOWHERE IS SACRED. NOWHERE IS SAFE. Fans of Karen Rose and Nora Roberts will love Lisa Jackson's chilling new novel about a killer striking in the holiest of places.Sister Camille, a troubled novice, is found garrotted in St Marguerite's cathedral. Bentz and Montoya discover this case is close to home - Montoya knew Camille previously as his brother's girlfriend and they even know the prime suspect: the priest Frank O'Toole, father of Camille's unborn child. When more nuns are brutally slaughtered by someone who seems to know their darkest secrets, Bentz is sure Father O'Toole is their man. But the truth is even more twisted and terrifying than they first imagined ...

Fifteen years ago in Boston, Kate Summers made a bargain: she became the mother of a perfect, beautiful newborn baby, and she promised she would never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone. Now Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in a small town in Oregon. She has almost forgotten her fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. Daegan has his own past to hide - one with shocking ties to hers. Someone is searching for Kate and her son and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon, the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery and a fury powerful enough to kill.

Dom Coleman-Cappabianca is the divinely handsome owner of Dominic's, the hottest restaurant in town. But he's about to find out things are even steamier out of the kitchen. For starters, his blonde PR exec girlfriend Tanya seems hell bent on promoting her own interests, whatever the expense.Carla Berlusconi, the beautiful Italian American waitress, keeps her New York past to herself in Dominic's. But who is she? And what is her real story?Sexy doctor P.J. O'Sullivan is one of Dom's best customers. Five years on he still struggles to cope with the death of his beloved wife. Will he find true love again?Charlotte Keating is the perfect daughter, the perfect mother and now, the perfectly behaved divorcee. But her daughter Candy is about to change all that. And then Dom's glamorous Italian mother Cici is getting herself into some very hot water.From Dublin to Rome and New York, family fidelity is tested to its limits as the cast of Dominic's discover when love is the dish of the day, it's a recipe for trouble.

For all fans of Thursdays in the Park, Quartet or Amour.Can love survive long-term in the twenty-first century? Julie is beginning to doubt it. When her husband of twenty years announces that he is chucking his job to embark on an adult gap year leaving his salary and Julie behind, she puts her marriage under the microscope. Turning to her friends for comfort and advice, Julie finds that their relationships are falling apart too. Surely they can't all be innocent victims? Or all bad wives? Is there no such thing as an enduring marriage? Does that twenty-year itch just have to be scratched? While this emotional maelstrom rages around her, meeting someone new is the last thing on Julie's mind. Until a chance encounter propels her onto a sexual collision course with a man who spells danger . . .

Leaving the valley of horses with Jondalar, the handsome man she has nursed back to health and come to love, Ayla embarks on a journey that will lead her to the Mamutoi; the Mammoth Hunters. But as she settles into this new life among a people at first strange and disturbingly different, Ayla finds herself irresistibly drawn to Ranec, their master-carver. Ultimately, she is compelled to make a fateful choice between the two men. Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life, rich in detail of language, culture, myth and ritual, has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world.

Sophie Sturgeon can't wait for her annual summer holiday. Not only will it be a week away from work, it will be a chance to reconnect with her boyfriend Callum.'Manby's novels are made for holidays - light enough to pick up and put down, but entertaining enough to keep you happy by the pool.' - GlamourSo this upcoming trip to Majorca is a big deal. Sophie's spent a lot of time getting ready. She's bought a new wardrobe. She's been waxed to within an inch of her life. She's determined she and Callum will have the best time ever.Then Callum dumps her, the night before they're due to leave. In a show of bravery, Sophie says she'll go to Majorca alone - but in fact, she hides in her London flat. But when her friends, family, and even Callum seem so surprised and delighted at her independence, Sophie decides to go all out and recreate the ultimate 'fake break' . . . with hilarious results.'Smart and entertaining, beach reading doesn't get much better than this!' **** - Closer

The darkest secret of the U.S. Presidency is about to be revealed.Beecher White, a young archivist for the US government, has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself . . . Until now.While Beecher is showing Clementine Kaye, his first childhood crush, around the National Archives, they accidentally uncover a priceless artefact - a two-hundred-year-old dictionary once belonging to George Washington. Suddenly Beecher and Clementine are entangled in a web of conspiracy and murder.Beecher's race to learn the truth behind this mysterious treasure will lead to a code that conceals a disturbing secret from the nation's founding. A secret that some believe is worth killing for.

The sixth instalment of Number One bestselling author Jasper Fforde's sensational Thursday Next series. 'Fforde's books are more than just an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted. They have empathetic heroes and heroines who nearly make terrible mistakes and suitably dastardly villains who do. They also have more twists and turns than Christie, and are embellished with the rich details of Dickens or Pratchett' - IndependentIt is a time of unrest in the BookWorld. Only the diplomatic skills of ace literary detective Thursday Next can avert a devastating genre war. But a week before the peace talks, Thursday vanishes. Has she simply returned home to the RealWorld or is this something more sinister?All is not yet lost. Living at the quiet end of speculative fiction is the written Thursday Next, eager to prove herself worth of her illustrious namesake. The written Thursday is soon hot on the trail of her factual alter-ego, and quickly stumbles upon a plot so fiendish that it threatens the very BookWorld itself.

She's hit rock bottom - but she's going to fight back . . . Amy's marriage to Mark isn't the best - he can't resist the girls, he can't hold down a job. But she doesn't want to know just how bad things are until his gambling habit brings the debt collector to her door. He makes it brutally clear how she can pay off Mark's debts . . . And Amy's troubles are only beginning. Someone else wants Mark for herself, and she is ready to steal Amy's man, her self-respect and even her children. As the stakes rise, Amy will either lose everything, or she'll have to learn how to be as hard and ruthless as her enemies . . .

It's a world where crime is almost respectable - until passion ignites a disaster.Things start going wrong the day Johnny Conroy meets Ruth Hynes. He just wants to show his mates that he can pull hard-man Frankie Hynes' daughter, but before he knows it he is part of the Hynes family. And the Hynes family business, which is stealing cars. And there is no way he is ever going to get out of the marriage or the business alive . . . The only good thing in their hellhole of a marriage is his daughter Angel, as nice as her name is and as innocent. And the only thing keeping Johnny sane is his secret life.But then Angel grows up and meets Johnny's new employee Ryan. He loves Angel - but the family secrets involve him, too. And they are about to explode.

When you play with fire, everyone gets burned . . .Joe Weeks is new to the Grange Estate. Tolerant, doesn't mind a bit of weed, doesn't try to pull other men's women. Live and let live is his motto . . .Eddie Quinn is the hardest man on the estate. Everyone knows that it's a bad idea to cross him, or his pit bull. But everyone also knows he's honest, as drug dealers go. Joe's pleased when Eddie offers him a job.But then he meets Katya. A prostitute. A slave. And desperate to escape from Eddie.

Jenna Hughes left Hollywood for a farm in Oregon to get away from fame. But someone has followed the former movie star - an obsessed fan whose letters are personal and deeply disturbing. And while Jenna's already shaken up by what she's seen on paper, she'd be terrified if she knew what Sheriff Shane Carter is investigating. It's a shocking case that started with the discovery of a dead woman in the woods. Now two more women are missing, and one of them looks just like Jenna. As a blizzard bears down on their small town, the merciless killer's grisly work has only just begun. Jenna is getting close to meeting her biggest fan - the one who wants to own her forever.

He's been waiting for this very moment. With every kill he can feel her getting closer. Very soon - just a few more victims to go. All he needed was the girl, Dani, and now that he has her, his plan is in motion and no one can stop it.The police don't believe Shannon Flannery when she says someone is out there, watching her, trying to kill her. The only person on her side is Travis Settler. The former Special Forces agent is convinced Shannon's dark past has something to do with the disappearance of his daughter, Dani - a child whose connection to Shannon is just the beginning of the nightmare.Secrets have been kept from Shannon. Dark, dangerous, fatal secrets. Now, with no one to trust but a man who has every reason to doubt her, Shannon is determined to discover the shocking truth, even if it brings her face to face with a serial killer whose slow burn for vengeance will not be denied...

Combining the Washington-insider excitement of a Baldacci with the feet-on-the-ground authenticity of a McNab, THE APOSTLE is Brad Thor's debut publication for Hodder. bestseller Brad Thor.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL DAGGER 2013.Florence, 1965. A man is found murdered, a pair of scissors stuck through his throat. Only one thing is known about him - he was a loan shark, who ruined and blackmailed the vulnerable men and women who would come to him for help.Inspector Bordelli prepares to launch a murder investigation. But the case will be a tough one for him, arousing mixed emotions: the desire for justice conflicting with a deep hostility for the victim. And he is missing his young police sidekick, Piras, who is convalescing at his parents' home in Sardinia.But Piras hasn't been recuperating for long before he too has a mysterious death to deal with . . .

April 1964, but spring hasn't quite sprung. The bad weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. And bad news is coming to the police station.

Florence, summer 1963. Inspector Bordelli is one of the few policemen left in the deserted city. He spends his days on routine work, and his nights tormented by the heat and mosquitoes. Suddenly one night, a telephone call gives him a new sense of purpose: the suspected death of a wealthy Signora. Bordelli rushes to her hilltop villa, and picks the locks. The old woman is lying on her bed - apparently killed by an asthma attack, though her medicine has been left untouched. With the help of his young protege, the victim's eccentric brother, and a semi-retired petty thief, the inspector begins a murder investigation. Each suspect has a solid alibi, but there is something that doesn't quite add up ...

How far would you go for love?When new boyfriend Jack stands her up at the airport, Ruby Miller dries her tears, jumps on the Eurostar and heads to Paris. She thinks she's going there to visit an old friend and have a total break from romance. But the City of Love has other ideas.A locked apartment where time has stood still, a bundle of long-lost love letters and a flirtatious French lawyer sweep Ruby into a mystery that spans over seventy years. Who is the author of the letters? Why did the owner of the apartment close up the shutters and flee Paris before the war, never to return? And what secret was she hiding?As the mystery deepens, Ruby turns love detective but it's not long before the ghosts of the past throw her own love affair into jeopardy.From the bestselling author of Me and Mr Darcy, this magical romantic comedy is for every girl who has ever dreamed of the glittering lights of Paris and of a love that last a lifetime . . .

A compelling glimpse into a captivatingly exotic world of myth and magic.Beguiled by promises of wealth, fourteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her native Ceylon for Malaya and marriage to a man many years her senior. But Ayah has lied to her and her family about his circumstances and in fact he lives in poverty. A woman of formidable energy and intelligence, Lakshmi provides security, if not luxury, for her family, though at a considerable emotional cost. Then the Japanese army invades during WWII.The family bears deep scars and inflicts those wounds on the next generation. But in Nisha, Lakshmi's great-granddaughter, it is as if Fate has come full circle . . .

'In a way, I'm a bit of a love detective. Because what's a greater mystery than love?'Meet Ruby Miller. A writer who makes happy-ever-afters happen. Until she discovers her fiance is a lying cheat and loses her faith in love. So when her sister invites her on a beach holiday to Goa to forget about him, Ruby jumps on a plane . . . and into an extraordinary adventure.Stolen bags, a runaway sister and a handsome American stranger sweep Ruby into a magical mystery tour across India. Amid fortresses and fortune tellers, and a whirlwind of weddings, she uncovers fascinating stories of love, lost and found.But as the mysteries deepen, secrets are revealed that turn Ruby's life upside down. And what started as a journey to find her sister, becomes a journey to find herself - and love - again.