Thursday, March 26th
It’s Always the Husband by C. L. Taylor
When newly divorced Jude arrives in the small town of Lowbridge, she is soon drawn to widower Will, the father of her young daughter’s best friend. But Will’s past is shrouded in tragedy, with questions that no one knows the answer to – and after two tragedies tore his life apart in just a few short years, gossip and rumours abound about what really happened to the women he loved.
As whispers of murder surround Will, Jude becomes determined to uncover the truth – and with her own father’s tragic fate haunting her, she refuses to let another innocent man suffer. Yet in Lowbridge the darkness runs deep, and nothing is as it seems. Can Jude protect Will from a community out for blood? Or will she become the next victim in this web of deceit?
The Hiding Season by Ava Glass
Maya Landry is in desperate need of a fresh start. Alone and heartbroken, she finds work as a caretaker at an exclusive ski resort for the elite in the mountains of Montana. Quiet and empty in the summer months, it’s the perfect escape. All Maya wants is to be alone. But she’s not alone on the mountain. Someone else is there. A killer with his next victim in his sights.
After Maya finds a body, she must run for her life. One man tells her that he can save her. But can she trust him? Is he everything he claims to be? Only one thing is certain: the killer will stop at nothing. And Maya is the only witness to their crime . . .
The Mizzy Mysteries: The Shadow on the Wreck by Claire Hatcher-Smith
Mizzy is spending half-term with cousins in St Jude’s-on-Sea: a seaside town struggling to accommodate an influx of refugees. When she sees a spooky shadow on a wrecked old fishing boat on the shore, she thinks she’s found her next mystery. But her cousins seem determined to keep her in the dark about their comings and goings to the wreck, and she’s left alone to help their old Greek-Cypriot grandfather Papou sort out his papers.
Then an anonymous postcard arrives for Papou, featuring a picture of the old wreck and the words WHAT REALLY HAPPENS? Mizzy must solve the mystery of the postcard sender and prove once again that she is the best detective in town!
The Whisperwicks: The Impossible Trials by Jordan Lees
When Benjamiah discovers a strange fragment of witchstone, he find himself transported to the labyrinthine streets of Wreathenwold – a world of spectacular adventure and impossible magic.
Along with his friends Elizabella Cotton, Mea and Silas the mapmaker, Benjamiah embarks on a dangerous quest involving a strange collection of fairytales – The Book of Barely Believable Stories. The gang must undertake a series of magical trials to save the missing children of Wreathenwold, before Midsommer ends and they are lost forever . . .
The Portrait Artist by Dani Heywood – Lonsdale
One morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It’s clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, whose paintings were celebrated and debated not just for their beauty, but for the rumours behind them: they were believed to immortalise the souls of their subjects. But Ponden-Hall has been thought dead for the last 50 years. . .
In a bid to quiet the gossip and rumours that swirl around the streets of London, the gallery brings in renowned and reluctant art historian Solomon Oak to investigate. Oak is assisted by an unlikely aide: his daughter Alice. A passionate but sheltered student, Alice has worldly desires which eclipse the life she’s expected to lead. Together they discover that exposing Ponden-Hall’s legacy will prove more controversial than they could ever have imagined for their family, and for Victorian society.
