Books published by Hodder & Stoughton

Do you have an irresistible idea for a children's book with pictures? Are you inspired by writers like Julia Donaldson and Lauren Child? Get Started in Writing and Illustrating A Children's Book is designed for anyone who wants to write in this genre of fiction, whatever the category or age range. Designed to build confidence and help fire up creativity, it is also an essential guide to mastering the practicalities of working with illustrators and illustrated concepts, from creating ideas for toddler board books to writing high concept middle grade projects. It carries the distinctive learning features of the flagship Teach Yourself Creative Writing series, with Snapshots designed to get you writing quickly, Key Idea to help crystallize thought, and a wealth of supplementary material, including insights into the publishing world and the role of the agent.

Timothy Gandy has kept his lifetime's ambition secret for forty years.Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realize his dreams.He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the eighteenth century.He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships - and possibly even love - along the way. It seems that Mr Gandy has embarked on the journey of a lifetime ...

Number One New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with another suspenseful thrillerWhen Jordie Bennet and Shaw Kinnard lock eyes across a disreputable backwater bar, something sparks. Shaw's dangerous vibe makes men wary and women sit up and take notice... Jordie included. It's an unlikely meeting. She doesn't belong in a seedy dive on the banks of a bayou, but here she is...and Shaw Kinnard is there to kill her.Jordie's certain her time is up, but Shaw has other plans. He abducts her, hoping to get his hands on the thirty million dollars her brother has stolen. However, he's not the only one looking for the fortune. Now on the run from the feds and a notorious criminal, Jordie and Shaw must rely on their wits - and each other - to stay alive.Miles away from civilization, Jordie's only chance of survival is to outwit Shaw, but it soon becomes clear that neither is entirely trustworthy. Was she in on her brother's scam, or is she an innocent pawn? And just how valuable is her life to Shaw? Burning for answers - and for each other - this unlikely pair make a desperate move that could be their last. With nonstop plot twists and the tantalizing sexual tension that has made Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved authors, STING will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final pages. Praise for Sandra Brown 'Suspense that has teeth' Stephen King 'Lust, jealousy, and murder suffuse Brown's crisp thriller' Publishers Weekly 'An edge-of-the-seat thriller that's full of twists . . . Top stuff!' Star

The masterful Richard & Judy pick, from the Sunday Times bestselling author.Winner of the Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Book of the Year.'A TRULY GREAT WRITER' Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl'ONE OF THE BEST CRIME WRITERS WORKING TODAY' GuardianYou can beat one killer. Beating your own squad is a whole other thing. Being on the Dublin Murder squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed. Her working life is a stream of thankless cases and harassment. Antoinette is tough, but she's getting close to the breaking point. The new case looks like a regular lovers' quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty and lying dead next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There's nothing unusual about her - except that Antoinette has seen her somewhere before.And her death won't stay neat. Other detectives want her to arrest Aislinn's boyfriend, fast. There's a shadowy figure at the end of Antoinette's road. And everything they find out about Aislinn takes her further from the simple woman she seemed to be.Antoinette knows the harassment has turned her paranoid, but she can't tell just how far gone she is. Is this the case that will make her career - or break it? 'ONE OF THE BEST THRILLER WRITERS WE HAVE' Observer

Welcome to Walls of Water, North Carolina, a place where secrets run thicker than the town's famous fog. Once upon a time, Willa Jackson's family owned the beautiful house on the top of the ridge. Now it symbolises her family's ruin and a legacy Willa longs to escape from. Paxton Osgood also yearns to break free, especially from her parents' expectations, and the heartbreak of unrequited love. Desperate for a distraction, she decides to restore the empty mansion to its former glory. But the discovery of a long-buried secret, a friendship that defies time, and a touch of magic, will transform both women's lives in ways they would never have expected.

Fat people, Footballers, Flip-flops, Formula One, Wheelie luggage Cycle helmets, Processed ham, Skiing, Dogs,,, Are you all wound up? Boiling and ready to blow? Breathe deeply. Relax. Master of spleen Giles Coren, author of what The Guardian called 'The Maddest Email Ever', has an unbeatable technique for working through the anger: He does it for you.

January, 1941. Dark days for Britain, standing alone against the menace of Nazi Germany, and for four friends fighting their own personal battles . . .When Rose Taylor receives two proposals on New Year's Eve she has to face an agonising choice that threatens to separate her from all those she loves. Meanwhile, Richard Stephens has to come to terms with his shattered dream - the only thing that sustained him through the chaos of Dunkirk and the long months on the run as an escaped prisoner of war. For beautiful Felix, badly burned when his Spitfire was shot down in flames, there is the prospect of weeks of painful surgery, watched by his anguished lover. But as the months go by each of them finds the courage to face danger. For it lurks on every side . . .

In an empty theatre at the end of the pier the cast of the Fairbourne Follies gathers round the radio to hear Neville Chamberlain declare war on Germany. Four firm friends are forced to part. Rose, the beautiful dancer, must return to her family in London and the blitz, leaving singer Richard to enlist in the army with their relationship still unresolved. Gay, asthmatic Merry, the musical director, is destined for the army too, while the object of his unrequited love, charismatic magician, Felix, chooses the RAF. Before long, Rose joins a group entertaining the troops in France. The Nazi war machine however is fast and merciless on the land and in the air and soon all of them find themselves in terrible danger. And as they are struck by the brutality of war they realise exactly who is most important to them and despite the odds, and in terrible circumstances, they determine to find each other again. With the threat of capture, injury and death ever present, the four of them will have to find reserves of courage, love and endurance that they did not know they possessed.

She was wearing red shoes! With silver heels! Elisabeth Devine causes quite a stir on her arrival in the village. No one can understand why the head of a big inner city school would want to come to sleepy little Barton-in-the-Dale, to a primary with more problems than school dinners. And that's not even counting the challenges the mysterious Elisabeth herself will face: a bitter former head teacher, a grumpy caretaker and a duplicitous chair of governors, to name but a few. Then there's the gossip. After all, a woman who would wear red shoes to an interview is obviously capable of anything . . . Warm, funny and poignant, Gervase Phinn's first novel for adults creates a fictional world that's as real as can be. It will delight all his fans, and win him many more.

Winnie Monks has never forgotten - or forgiven - the death of a young agent on her team at the hands of a former Russian Army Major turned gangster. Now, years later, she hears the Major is travelling to a villa on the Costa del Sol and she asks permission to send in a surveillance unit.They find an empty property near the Major's. The Villa Paraiso. It's perfect to spy from - and as a base for Winnie's darker, less official, plans.But it turns out that the property isn't deserted. The owners have invited a young British couple to 'house sit' while they are away.For Jonno and Posie, just embarking on a relationship, this is supposed to be a carefree break in the sun. But when the Secret Service team arrives in paradise, everything changes.

The course of Frank Mackey's life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He's cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie's suitcase has been found. Frank embarks on a journey into his past that demands he reevaluate everything he believes to be true.

A hilarious and touching romantic comedy about three clueless, charming brothers and the women in their lives from number one bestselling author Mike Gayle.Despite the example of their own parents' enduring marriage, the three Bachelor brothers show no sign of settling down.Adam has a string of glamorous girlfriends, but they aren't suitable wife material.Luke has just proposed to Cassie but his refusal to consider having children looks like an insurmountable barrier.And baby of the family Russell is in love with the one woman he can't have.Then their father announces he has been thrown out of the family home and this forces all three brothers to examine their own priorities.Are all three Bachelor brothers totally hopeless cases or just late starters?

A cunning collection of short stories from the master of misdirection with tales featuring the hugely popular series characters Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance.TENSION . . . An aging actor attempts to revive his career by entering a celebrity poker game for a reality TV show. Can he outwit his devious opponents, or is his fate doomed from the outset?CONSPIRACY . . . A successful crime writer dies under seemingly natural circumstances, but for one cop, doubts are lingering. There's certainly motive for murder - or is there more to the case than meets the eye? MURDER . . . Lincoln Rhyme is announced dead, shot by one of his suspects in cold blood. Is this the end of the line for the criminalist, or just another twist in the tale?

It was not long after Halloween when Stephen King received a telephone call from his editor. 'Why don't you do a book about the entire horror phenomenon as you see it? Books, movies, radio, TV, the whole thing.'The result is this unique combination of fantasy and autobiography, of classic horror writing honed to an unforgettable edge by the bestselling master of the genre.DANSE MACABRE ranges across the whole spectrum of horror in popular culture from the seminal classics of Dracula and Frankenstein. It is a charming and fascinating book, replete with pertinent anecdote and observation, in which Stephen King describes his ideas on how horror works on many levels and how he brings it to bear on his own inimitable novels.There is a reason why Stephen King is one of the bestselling writers in the world, ever. Described in the Guardian as an author who 'knows how to engage the deepest sympathies of his readers', Stephen King writes books that draw you in and are impossible to put down.

DEAVER. DANGEROUSLY GOOD.Henry Loving is a 'lifter', hired to extract information from his victims. He is very, very good at it.His next target is a Washington, D.C. detective, whose family are immediately put under government protection. The man assigned to their case is protection officer Corte: uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care and a brilliant game strategist. He knows just how brutal the lifter can be - six years earlier, Loving killed someone close to him.As tension increases inside the family, the situation escalates into a deadly contest between the hunter and his prey. As the lifter closes in, Corte must decide whether to protect his charges, or use them as bait in the name of personal revenge...'The twists and turns from devilish Deaver will have you burning the midnight oil, then using it to set fire to the candle you'll be burning at both ends until you finish this.' Sun

A brilliant, timeless collection of short stories by the much-loved Rosamunde Pilcher.The big bedroom was lovely: all pale blue and white, satin and muslin, cool and airy, the windows looking out over the garden to the creek. But to fourteen-year-old Emily, beautiful though it was, it was all wrong. Her stepmother's bedroom now: everything changed since her own mother had died.And stretched out on the bed: Stephanie, very white and pained. The new baby on its way, a month early. All of a sudden, with her father away on business, Emily had to take charge, keep calm, ring for the doctor and the ambulance. The time for looking back had gone.The Blue Bedroom is just one of Rosamunde Pilcher's magical collection of stories. Stories that will enchant everyone who has read and loved The Shell Seekers.

The Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller celebrating 400 years of the King James Bible.The King James Bible has often been called the Book of Books both in itself and in what it stands for. Since its publication in 1611 it has been the best selling book in the world, and many believe, had the greatest impact. The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature. It has been the Bible of wars from the British Civil War in the seventeenth century to the American Civil War two centuries later and it has been carried into battle in innumerable conflicts since then. Its influence on social movements - particularly involving women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and politics was profound. It was crucial to the growth of democracy. It was integral to the abolition of slavery and it defined attitudes to modern science, education and sex. As THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH explored the history of our language, so THE BOOK OF BOOKS reveals the extraordinary and still-felt impact of a work created over 400 years ago.

A disgraced college lecturer is found murdered with 5,000 in his pocket on a disused railway line near his home. Since being dismissed from his job for sexual misconduct four years previously, he has been living a poverty-stricken and hermit-like existence in this isolated spot.The suspects range from several individuals at the college where he used to teach to a woman who knew the victim back in the early '70s at Essex University, then a hotbed of political activism. When Banks receives a warning to step away from the case, he realises there is much more to the mystery than meets the eye - for there are plenty more skeletons to come out of the closet . . .

The Number One bestseller and winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best NovelAfter years of Hollywood success composer Chris Lowndes wanted only one thing: to take his beloved wife home to the Yorkshire Dales.But Laura is gone, and Chris is on his own.He welcomes the isolation of Kilnsgate House, and the beauty of the dale. And it doesn't surprise him that a man died there, sixty years ago.That his wife was convicted of murder.That something is pulling him deeper and deeper into the story of Grace Elizabeth Fox, who was hanged by the neck until she was dead . . .

Take his hand and follow him into the darkness . . . John Connolly, bestselling author of five brilliantly scary mystery novels, now turns his pen to the short story to give us a dozen chilling tales of the supernatural. In this macabre collection, echoing masters of the genre from M. R. James to Stephen King, Connolly delves into our darkest fears - lost lovers, missing children, subterranean creatures, and predatory demons.Framing the collection are two substantial novellas: The Cancer Cowboy Rides charts the fatal progress of a modern-day grim reaper, while The Reflecting Eye is a haunted house tale with a twist and marks the return of private detective Charlie Parker, the troubled hero of Connolly's crime novels.Nocturnes is a masterly volume to be read with the lights on - menace has never been so seductive . . .

This is the diary of an ordinary, insecure woman in her thirties, Jacqueline M. Pane. Like all women, Jackie knows life would be perfect if only she had a small bum, sticky-up bosoms and didn't grow a moustache once a month . . . Chart her progress as she perfects the art of feeling shitty about every little, and not so little, bit of herself. The potential for self-doubt lies in everything - and it's all her fault.

A girl with nothing left to lose . . .The Great War opened up an exciting new career for Vi in London. But that was yesterday. Now the war's over, her husband is dead and she needs to pick up the pieces of her life.On her way home from work she meets a man who is in huge need of her help. Recently demobbed, Joss Bentley has no job or home and, with his wife dead, there's a new baby to care for - and, what's more, it's not his. As he searches grimly for its real father, he runs up against people who will use any means necessary to conceal dark secrets, and Vi finds herself faced with conflicting loyalties. Whichever way she moves, it seems she'll hurt someone - or they'll hurt her . . .**********************What readers are saying about YESTERDAY'S GIRL'A delightful, thought provoking story' - 5 stars'Anna Jacobs is on top form, as usual' - 5 stars'Just couldn't put this book down!' - 5 stars'A brilliant read - I was engrossed from start to finish' - 5 stars'Such a moving story' - 5 stars'Absolutely fantastic story, I enjoyed it from the beginning to end and couldn't put it down as the story got more exciting by the chapter' - 5 stars'Another excellent book from Anna Jacobs - how does she do it?' - 5 stars

'As usual Anna Jacobs does not disappoint. This book was just like all her others: excellent, well written and full of surprises and emotions' - 5-star reader reviewEllen Dawson is glad when the Great War ends, but sad that Lady Bingram's aides are to be disbanded. She can't bear to go back into service again after working as a driver and mechanic in London. But she is forced by her mother's illness to accept her old position as housemaid in order to stay in the small Lancashire town, and her stepfather will stop at nothing to get her under his control again. Meanwhile, Seth Talbot is also facing difficulties when he takes over as local policeman in a town where the law has been flouted for years ...*******************What readers are saying about TOMORROW'S PROMISES'Gripping from the start to the end' - 5 stars'An absorbing story' - 5 stars'Excellent read, as usual' - 5 stars'One of her best' - 5 stars'A great book by a great author' - 5 stars

Louisiana is the setting for this riveting tale of a kidnapped child and the man on her trail - Sam Simoneaux, who feels honour-bound to help find her. Leaving his stalwart wife behind, he works his passage on a pleasure steamer up the Mississippi, entering a wild world of jazz, moonshine and lawlessness. It is a journey that will lead Sam to confront not only violent criminals but his own past, and to make some hard decisions about the value of vengeance.

Bognor Regis...Aberystwyth...Glasgow...Can you place them on a map? Most people can't these days. What kind of countryside do you pass through on your way to the Cairngorms, or the Fens, or Northumberland? What's north of the Pennines? And what's it like when you get there? Most folk wouldn't have a clue. Increasing numbers of us don't have a basic geographical notion of these islands. Blame it on a decline in formal geography teaching, or Sat-Nav and other 'A to Z and nothing in between' devices that make us lazy -- we are becoming the best travelled and least well orientated Britons ever seen. Now Christopher Somerville, bestselling author of Coast and many other books of UK exploration, presents the basics of what belongs where, which counties border one another, and what lies beyond the Watford Gap. He reminds us of the watery bits, the lumpy bits and the flat bits, and gets to grips with the smaller islands surrounding Britain -- and much more. Never Eat Shredded Wheat is a reminder of all the fascinating British geography once learned at school - geography that brings our islands vividly to life - geography which we have forgotten, or never even knew.

A bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club title, The Conjuror's Bird is a dazzling debut novel, spanning three centuries of secrets and surprises.It seems a long time ago that Fitz and Gabby were together, with his work on extinct species about to make him world-famous. Now, it's his career that is almost extinct.Suddenly, though, the beautiful Gabby reappears in his life. She wants his help in tracing the history of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, a creature once owned by the great 18th Century naturalist Joseph Banks.It soon becomes clear that Fitz is getting involved in something more complicated and dangerous than the search for a stuffed bird.To solve the puzzle, he must uncover the identity of the amazing woman Banks loved a woman who has disappeared from history as effectively as the specimen he is hunting.A mixture of detection, romance and history, The Conjuror's Bird has all the makings of a word-of-mouth bestseller.

Alastair Cook forced his way into the record books in 2006, becoming one of the few England players to score a hundred on debut. By going on to become the only Englishman to hit seven Test centuries before his twenty-third birthday, Alastair found himself in the company of the greatest players in cricketing history.STARTING OUT is Alastair s personal account of this speedy climb to stardom. Equally gifted at music, he opted for cricket as a schoolboy and the young left-hander broke record after record as he progressed to become the first-choice opener for Essex.Now an integral part of the England team with over forty caps, Alastair is perfectly placed to describe the highs and lows of life within the England cricket camp during one of the most exciting and turbulent periods of their history, both on and off the field.Updated to include the full story of the 2009 Ashes series, STARTING OUT amounts to a fascinating insight into life as one of the rising stars of English cricket.

In the enthralling third volume of Empire, Anthony Riches takes the legions deep into north Britannia, where the survivors of the rebellion still hope for revenge.'A master of the genre' The TimesThe Romans have vanquished the rebel alliance, leaving Calgus, Lord of the Northern Tribes, the prisoner of the chieftains he once led. But the new Roman leader will not let them rest. He forms an audacious plan to capture Dinpaladyr, the Selgovaes' fortress of spears, and return it to the hands of a trusted ally. Marcus Aquila - burning for revenge on an enemy army that has killed one of his best friends - is part of the select group of infantry chosen to go north with the Petriana cavalry and take the fort before the rebel army can reach it. He believes his disguise as Centurion Corvus of the 2nd Tungrians is still holding. But he is just a few days ahead of two of the emperor's agents, sent from Rome to kill him. Pitiless assassins who know his real name, and too much about his friends.

The Battle of the Lost Eagle saved Hadrian's Wall , but the new Roman governor of Britannia must stamp out the rebellion of the northern tribes or risk losing the province.Rampaging south with sword and flame under the command of their murderous chieftain Calgus, they have stretched his forces to the limit...'A master of the genre' The TimesFor Marcus - now simply Centurion Corvus of the 1st Tungrian cohort - the campaign has become doubly dangerous. As reinforcements flood into Britannia he is surrounded by new officers with no reason to protect him from the emperor's henchmen. Death could result from a careless word as easily as from an enemy spearWorse, one of them is close on his heels. While Marcus is training two centuries of Syrian archers to survive a barbarian charge and then take the fight back to their enemy, the new prefect of the 2nd Tungrians has discovered his secret. Only a miracle can save Marcus and the men who protect him from disgrace and death . . . Anthony Riches once again brings meticulous research together with brilliant storytelling to capture the authentic feel of what life was like for the Roman Army in a brutal war with a remorseless enemy.

Mia and Michelle couldn't look more alike - or act more differently. Mia's always been the glamorous one, the one everyone wants to get close to. And now she's a model, on the edge of fame.But Mia can't resist the illegal thrills that come with fame. When disaster strikes, her mousy look-alike sister has to pretend to be Mia. Michelle saves her career, and turns out to have star quality too. She's even got someone to fall in love with her - a man Mia wants almost as much as she wants to be a supermodel. That's something Mia will never, ever forgive . . .