All the Rage

Cara Hunter 

IF YOU thought Cara Hunter’s DI Fawley series couldn’t get any better after last year’s pulsating No Way Out, then get your hands on All the Rage and enjoy a writer at the peak of her powers. From a leafy corner of Oxford, Hunter is fast finding a comfortable perch on the upper branches of the flourishing crime-writing tree, penning chilling, thrilling and gripping novels set in the city that spawned the unforgettable Inspector Morse.

Steeped in gritty reality, spine-tingling tension and clever, complex detective work, rendered so authentic that you feel like you are tagging along with the murder squad, Hunter’s crime series has won widespread acclaim for its artful plotting and an original narrative device which features news reports, social media posts, police interviews and scene-of-crime reports, allowing readers intriguing insights into a police investigation.

The result is superbly crafted, fast-paced mysteries starring a cast of compelling characters from all walks of life, contemporary issues that are often hard-hitting and deeply emotive, and stories with more twists and turns than a snakes-and-ladders board.

In this new outing for DI Adam Fawley, a taxi driver finds a dazed and distressed teenage girl wandering down a road on the outskirts of Oxford. The story she tells is terrifying… she was dragged off the street, a plastic bag pulled over her face and her wrists tied, and then driven to an isolated location where she was subjected to what sounds like a serious assault.   

DEVILISH TWISTS: Cara Hunter

The victim is 18-year-old fashion student Faith Appleyard who, despite her ordeal, initially refused to report the incident to the police and, with her mother’s support, is now refusing to press charges, claiming it was just ‘a prank.’

Despite Faith’s reluctance to co-operate, Fawley and his detectives are doing their best to investigate, but is the teenager hiding something, and if so, what? And why does the inspector keep getting the uncomfortable feeling that this case has similarities to the 1999 conviction of a man called Gavin Parry, known as the Roadside Rapist, who Fawley was instrumental in putting behind bars on a life sentence, but who always vehemently claimed he was innocent.

When another teenager goes missing, Fawley knows his time is running out… because if he ignores the past any longer, this girl may not be coming back.

Reading Hunter’s new thriller is an electrifying, utterly engrossing experience. Information drip-feeds into the story like a constantly flowing stream, unloading explosive revelations like scatter-bombs, and turning all expectations on their head right up until the final, jaw-dropping page. As always the resourceful Fawley, and his eclectic team, including intriguing new face DC Anthony Asante, are at the beating heart of the investigation with their personal and professional lives perfectly balanced against the unfolding of a fascinating mystery which abounds with red herrings, devilish twists, and witnesses and suspects whose guilt or innocence seem to fluctuate at every turn.

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It’s a testing time for Fawley on every level as he and his wife Alex – still haunted by the death of their young son – discover that she is pregnant again, and he tackles a baffling crime that leads him into the dark recesses of social media, and throws up serious questions over his handling of a 20-year-old rape case. With its masterful plotting, superb police procedural, rich characterisation, tension that bristles like a coiled spring, and Hunter’s brand of leavening dark humour, All the Rage is about as good as crime writing gets.

(Penguin, paperback, £7.99)

The 24-Hour Café

Libby Page

HANDS UP if you’re a people watcher? If sitting back and watching the world go by floats your boat, then set sail for The 24-Hour Café and delve into the lives of a group of ordinary, but fascinating, people on a single day that will mark endings and new beginnings.

In 2018, Londoner Libby Page burst on to the book scene with her extraordinary debut novel, The Lido – an uplifting, contemporary tale about the fight to save a community swimming pool – which proved to be a runaway success and whose film rights have been sold to a global production company.

And now self-confessed passionate swimmer Page has surfaced again to bring us a quietly dramatic and powerfully emotional novel set in a cosy, friendly café which nestles enticingly on one of London’s busy, bustling streets, and which speaks loudly of friendship, belonging, and never giving up on your dreams

Stella’s Café is an oasis of calm in the city that never sleeps, a place that is open both night and day, and a source of refreshment and solace to an eclectic mix of characters… some grabbing happiness while they can, some suffering fear and loneliness, some frightened and harbouring painful secrets, and some lost souls in need of a friendly face.

SERVING UP A TREAT: Libby Page 

With its retro charm and calming ambience, the café opens its doors for both the morning people and the night owls. It is many things to many people but most of all it is a place where life can wait at the door, where anyone can be whoever they want, and where everyone is always welcome.

Behind the counter and the shiny coffee machine, which ‘administers caffeine to the sleepless,’ are close friends Hannah and Mona who share shifts at the café, a cramped ex-council flat, and dreams of becoming stage stars. Hannah, from a small village in Wales, longs to be a singer but is still looking for the big break, and Mona, who is half-Argentinian and half-German, has her sights set on being a professional dancer.

Both want to leave the café behind but for the past four years, their lives have been dominated by trying to balance their ambitions with the need to earn a living.

What one of them doesn’t yet know is that over the next 24 hours, their futures will be changed and their friendship tested. Today is just the start, but it is also marks a conclusion… In the space of 24 hours and 400 pages, Page introduces us to a compelling cross-section of society and allows us to share their hopes, dreams, fears, frustrations, loves, losses and friendships, and to discover that just the smallest acts of kindness can transform lives.

At the beating heart of the story are wannabe performers, housemates and waitresses Hannah and Mona whose close friendship and deep emotional attachment will be revealed and then change dramatically over the course of their two double shifts.

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In that time, their customers come and go and the stage is set for their lives and experiences, their private battles and their secret hopes and heartaches, all to be illuminated in the warm glow and friendly security of Stella’s Café.

From an older couple rediscovering love and a young woman struggling to cope with a new baby to a penniless student and a gay couple whose relationship is under threat, Page delivers a clever snapshot of not just the cosmopolitan nature of the big city but also a glimpse of universal emotions and social issues. Perfectly paced, psychologically astute, and with a conclusion that gives us the final pieces of the storytelling jigsaw, this is a tale of our times written straight from the heart.

(Orion, hardback, £12.99)

The Move

Felicity Everett

IT WAS supposed to be a fresh start away from the hustle, bustle and stresses of life in London… but her husband’s promise of a rural idyll is not what fragile, angst-ridden Karen thought it would be. In fact, the rolling hills and leafy lanes of a small isolated hamlet become the backdrop for a series of sinister events and dramas which expose not just Karen’s insecurities, but the perilous fault lines in her marriage.

Felicity Everett, author of the darkly satirical novel The People at Number 9, casts her sharp eye and analytical writing skills over a relationship in meltdown in this unsettling, compelling and psychologically astute tale of a rural dream gone horribly wrong.

Brimming with insight, menace and claustrophobic intensity, The Move draws readers into a web of secrets, lies and a slow drip of disturbing revelations as Karen and her husband Nick play out their domestic drama.

Karen is driving through a strange landscape into a new life. She has always been a city girl but now she is on her way to a beautiful country cottage, refurbished for her with impeccable taste by Nick, her husband of 19 years.

Moving away from London to the country had never been part of ‘alpha male’ Nick’s game plan but they are making a fresh start after four months of upheaval in which Karen has ‘barely been able to choose what clothes to wear, what meal to eat, what TV channels to watch.’

THOUGHT-PROVOKING TALE: Felicity Everett

However, something is out of kilter in the new house, which has been turned from shabby to chic and now looks more ‘like a photo-shoot for Ideal Home.’ And it’s not just the fact that Karen and Nick are ill at ease in one another’s company and that their recent history is far from picture perfect… it’s the whole vibe of the place.

The landscape, breathtaking by day, is eerie by night, and the longed-for peace and solitude is stifling. If the countryside is supposed to be a place of healing, far away from curtain-twitchers, who is the person watching them from the hill, and just who are their new neighbours?

With Karen only recently emerging from a dark place in her life, and cut off from her old friends and family, she can’t help wondering if her husband has plans of his own, and fears that history might be repeating itself… Everett plays a clever game in this exploration of a marriage breakdown, probing into the corners of the human psyche, and using the imagery of a rural landscape to capture all the uncertainties and artifices employed by a couple whose whole relationship grows more intriguing at the turn of every page.

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As Karen’s first-person narrative increasingly employs words like ‘chastened,’ ‘self-disgust,’ ‘panic’ and ‘anxious,’ and she struggles to ‘keep the upper hand’ and ‘stay in control,’ so too do our suspicions and doubts about what is really going on here. Lead players in this gripping piece of character-driven theatre are undoubtedly Karen and Nick but the supporting cast of friends, neighbours and troubled son Ethan provide an entertaining sideshow to the action, each one adding an extra layer of suspense and complexity to the plot. 

Clever, perfectly paced and subtly nuanced, The Move is a thought-provoking tale of deceit, desire… and unexpected redemption.

(HQ, hardback, £12.99)

Lily’s War

Shirley Mann

WHEN Shirley Mann set out to write an inspirational wartime tale of love, loss, hope and courage, her aim was to ‘rediscover’ her parents as young people. Born in the 1950s, the Derbyshire-based journalist and film-maker was too busy ‘inventing the teenager’ to take much interest in what the ‘oldies’ had actually done for us but, using her late mother and father’s wartime service and romance as her starting point, she aimed to fill the gap and recreate ‘ordinary everyday life in extraordinary times.’

The result is her moving and heartwarming debut saga, Lily’s War, which stars a young woman from Manchester who leaves behind her family and all she has ever known to become a wireless operator with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAFs), and discovers that the country’s biggest challenge could be her greatest chance to excel.

In Manchester in 1942, the Second World War is raging across Europe and beyond, and 19-year-old Lily Mullins is determined to do her bit for the war effort. Her friends and sweetheart Danny Jackson have all joined up and Lily is sure there must be a role for her that goes further than knitting socks for the troops and working in the office at Liners, a cargo and passenger shipping company.

All the security of her carefree childhood has been obliterated by the conflict and although she has seen the grief and tears of losing loved ones, she decides to sign up for service with the WAAFs because she is no longer frightened of what it might mean. As far as she is concerned, ‘the war was waiting to be won by a young woman from the north of England.’

UPLIFTING READ: Shirley Mann

And as Aircraftwoman Mullins, Lily finds opportunities open up that she could never before have envisaged and that she has a talent as a wireless operator. Helped all the way by a special gang of WAAF friends, Lily finds strengths she didn’t know she had and realises that the safety of the country might just be in her hands.

Meanwhile, handsome Danny, an Army tank transporter driver experiencing the heat, hazards and intense fighting of the North African campaign, feels ‘like a pawn in a big game of chess that someone else was controlling.’

But he is still determined to marry Lily and thinks longingly of the lovely, laughing girl with deep golden hair. As his letters home become more and more infrequent, and Lily declares she has no intention of ‘pining away,’ will the long separation mean the end of their love story? Using snippets gleaned from her mother, who was a wireless operator with Bomber Command, and her father, who served with the Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy, plus in-depth interviews with some remarkable former WAAFs, Mann sweeps us away to the danger, uncertainty and hardships of the war years.

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Along the way, we encounter the everyday realities and challenges of living and working on the Home Front, witness the perils facing WAAFs serving in the nation’s hotspots, and observe the highs and lows of a wartime romance. With drama, intrigue, friendship and a cast of vibrant characters all playing supporting roles, this is a compelling and entertaining debut novel, and the perfect uplifting read for long winter nights.

(Zaffre, paperback, £7.99)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: A cute Cookie, bloodthirsty Vikings and rampaging robots

Meet the chaotic new kid on the block, step back in time with ancient warriors, enjoy

out-of-control robots, and get up close and personal with Abraham Lincoln in a dazzling collection of new children’s books

Age 7 plus:

Cookie!: Cookie and the Most Annoying Boy in the World

Konnie Huq

GET ready for chaos, comedy and a cast of quirky characters as much-loved BBC Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq launches her hilarious new children’s series. Written and illustrated by Huq, Cookie! stars adorable science-obsessed girl Cookie Haque, from a Bangladeshi family, who is ready to take on the world… and won’t take no for an answer!

With her chaotic family life, drama queen attitude and her love for madcap school science projects, geeky Cookie also has an uncanny ability to get herself into almost constant scrapes, and her riotous adventures are set to win the hearts of mischievous youngsters.

Cookie’s life is basically over. Her best friend is moving to Solihull because one of her dads has a new job there. Solihull… Cookie doesn’t even know where that is! Cookie begs her parents for a pet to fill the void but they have given her an absolute NO. It would be way too expensive and way, way too messy. But Cookie has never been a fan of the word ‘no’ so she visits the pet shop anyway and sets her heart on the sweetest cutest kitten ever… Bluey. But then disaster happens! The most annoying boy she has ever met in her entire nine years goes into the pet shop, buys Bluey and renames her Nigel. Then he joins her year at school, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he moves in next door to her. Aaagh!

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But it’s not all bad because Cookie gets the chance to go on her favourite TV show, Brainbusters. It’s only a chance though… first she has to win the school science competition. It shouldn’t be too hard… all she has to do is keep her head down, and not get too over-excited. Unfortunately that’s not Cookie’s strong point!

Huq’s inspiration for this anarchic comedy series – illustrated throughout with her own doodle-style, black and white illustrations – was her own childhood, a lingering feeling that she ‘didn’t quite fit in,’ and her own propensity for embarrassing disasters. With a fresh, funny and joyful warmth permeating the story throughout, subtle lessons about negotiating friendships, an enchanting lead player who is both clever and playful, and fascinating facts about science, this is the perfect all-round adventure for middle grade readers.

This book is published on February 6.

(Piccadilly Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 9 plus:

Viking Voyagers

Jack Tite

THE Vikings’ fearsome reputation as bloodthirsty warriors lives on today, and it is easy to forget their remarkable accomplishments. So step back in time to around 1,200 years ago – when the legendary, voyaging Norsemen set sail to raid and trade – and discover fascinating facts and figures about the Viking way of life in this brilliant new book brimming with amazing history and a gallery of rich and detailed illustrations.

Written and illustrated by motion designer Jack Tite, Viking Voyagers tells how the Viking Age began, and how those early explorers from Norway, Sweden and Denmark left their mark on their world. Discover how they travelled, where they traded and their rich mythology, come face to face with a fearsome berserker, explore inside a Viking longhouse, and learn how these expert boat builders made their fleet of ships.

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Bold, graphic illustrations of vibrant Viking characters, incredible artefacts and stunningly detailed scenes showcase the Viking Age in full brilliant colour while Tite’s lively, engaging text is informative and easy to read. Add on large size, fold-out pages which allow youngsters to discover the Vikings in exciting detail, maps which put the facts in context, and illustrations of some of the amazing Viking animals, and you have the perfect educational reading book to make history both fun and accessible.

(Big Picture Press, hardback, £16.99)

Age 9 plus:

Runaway Robot

Frank Cottrell-Boyce 

and Steven Lenton

AWARD-WINNING writer extraordinaire and comic genius Frank Cottrell-Boyce is at his storytelling best in this full-throttle, rip-roaring adventure starring a boy whose best friend is… an irrepressibly rambunctious robot!

The inventive funny man behind the 21^st century return of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and one of the masterminds behind the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, has exhilarated and entertained thousands of youngsters with his series of laugh-out-loud books which began with the perennial favourite The Astounding Broccoli Boy and has included Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth and Cosmic. 

Full of heart and humour, this standalone novel – featuring the glorious illustrations of Cottrell-Boyce’s talented illustration team-mate Steven Lenton – is set in a futuristic world and was inspired by the author’s trip to the robot exhibition at London’s Science Museum. After discovering Eric, the first ‘robot’ ever created, and how one day Eric miraculously escaped and never returned, Frank’s imagination ran away with the story!

Alfie has had a terrible accident in which he lost both his hands and his confidence and now he hides himself away at the Limb Lab where they teach you New Limb, New Life lessons which encourage you not to think too much about how your accident happened. But he also likes going to the airport where he can enjoy imagining himself flying off to exciting destinations instead of going to lessons at the Limb Lab, and it’s on the shelves at the airport Lost Property counter that Alfie finds Eric, a giant, one-legged robot who is desperate for a friend.

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But has Alfie taken on more than he bargained for? Eric has lost half his memory as well as a leg and he’s super strong, but super clumsy. And Eric is convinced that he is the very latest technology when he is actually nearly one hundred years old and ready for the scrapheap. What’s worse is that a ban on humanoid robots has just been passed which means Alfie is breaking the law by sheltering Eric. Can he find a way to save Eric from destruction… before Eric destroys everything around him?

This funny and heartwarming adventure starring two unlikely best friends, who help put themselves back together again in more ways than one, is full of Cottrell-Boyce’s wisdom, compassion and understanding of what it means to be outside what is viewed as the ‘norm.’

The world he imagines is cleverly conceived and the spirit of fun and adventure is pure Cottrell-Boyce, but there are also messages about acceptance and diversity, tucked away between the madcap antics, which will resonate with readers of every age. Expect plenty of laughs, some unexpected twists and turns, and a big smile as the last page turns.

This book is published on February 6.

(Macmillan, paperback, £6.99)

Age 8 plus:

First Names: Abraham Lincoln

Jonathan Weil and John Aggs

THE world is – and has been – home to some amazing people… so what fun it would be to get up close and personal with them!

This exhilarating and quirky non-fiction series from David Fickling Books invites young readers to get on first name terms with some of our planet’s cleverest and most inspirational personalities through the lens of fun, lively and highly illustrated biographies. The spotlight in First Names focuses on famous people from history like Emmeline Pankhurst, Amelia Earhart and Harry Houdini as well as more modern names like Elon Musk, the billionaire, mega-brain entrepreneur, that some readers may not know.

The aim is to let children discover who, for example, Albert Einstein really was and not just what he achieved, and to see these famous names as ordinary people who grew up to do extraordinary things. In the latest book in the series, we meet Abraham Lincoln, the power-speaking president of the USA who helped free millions of people from slavery. Written by Jonathan Weil and illustrated by John Aggs, we learn about Lincoln’s legendary rags to riches tale and find out how he came up with one of the best speeches ever given, how he got the nickname ‘Spotty Lincoln’ and how wrestling and crowd-surfing helped him to win votes.

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All the titles in this brilliant series aim to be entertaining and factually accurate, and are designed to educate and inspire. Lively black and white illustrations, provided by a range of excellent comic artists throughout each book, help to tell the story, with each personality featured chipping in to add their own comments.

So forget all those stuffy, dull history books and find out about the people who made (and, in some cases, are still making) things happen. High energy, informative and entertaining, these books make learning fun and are the perfect addition to every inquisitive child’s shelf.

This book is published on February 6.

(David Fickling Books, paperback, £6.99 each)

Age 7 plus:

Is My Teacher a Robot?

Dave Cousins and Catalina Echeverri

THERE'S a robot on the rampage and it’s making life a nightmare for a pair of terrible twins! Is My Teacher a Robot? is the second book in a fully illustrated, laugh-out-loud series from Dave Cousins, the master of slapstick comedy, and talented children’s books illustrator Catalina Echeverri.

It’s a series packed with chaos, outlandish fun, a cast of brilliant characters, and a (too often!) out-of-control robot babysitter who has been programmed by their inventor Grandma to look after Jake and Jess while their Mum and Dad are at work.

In this hilarious new adventure, Robin the robot babysitter loses his memory in an accident and starts thinking he’s a teacher at Jake and Jess’s school. Although Robin is probably Grandma’s most successful invention and has unlimited knowledge to share with the students, Robin is definitely not your average teacher, people are getting suspicious and might take him away forever. Not only that, but Jake and Jess want their OLD madcap but well-meaning robot back. How can they restore the Robin they know and love?

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Echeverri’s vibrant illustrations add extra energy to a story perfectly pitched for reluctant young readers and with the multi-talented Cousins conducting all the action, this fun-packed series is taking Artificial Intelligence to exhilarating (and now explosive) new heights of anarchy.

Expect mishaps, mischief, mayhem… and some hilarious malfunctions!

This book is published on February 6.

(Stripes, paperback, £5.99)

Age 6 plus:

Cinderella: Disney Animated Classics

Adapted by Lily Murray

ENJOY a classic fairy tale as you have never before seen it!

Cinderella is the stunning new title in Disney Animated Classics, a sparkling series from Studio Press with each book presenting an enchanting retelling of Walt Disney’s eternally popular films as seen through the animator’s eye.

These beautiful hardback books with their premium cloth binding, ribbon marker to match the cover, gold foil stamping and illustrated endpapers, make the perfect gifts for all those who have been spellbound by the magic of Disney’s famous animated classic films.

The series includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Aladdin and now Cinderella, some of the best-loved films of all time and family favourites for over eighty years. Relive the star-dusted magic through Lily Murray’s retelling of the classic animated film, accompanied by paintings, story sketches and concept art from the original Disney Studio artists. Also featured is a foreword by Mark Henn, a supervising animator and director at the Walt Disney Animation Studios.

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And when the story is finished, youngsters can turn to the back of the book to learn more about the artists who worked on the memorable animated film. These sumptuous books, full of atmospheric retellings and fascinating illustrations, are perfect gifts for young collectors, and anyone enchanted by the magic of Disney.

This book is published on February 6.

(Studio Press, hardback, £12.99)

Age 6 plus:

The Adventures of 
Harry Stevenson: Guinea Pig Superstar
Ali Pye

SOME people might think that guinea pigs just like to sleep lots and eat lots… but they obviously haven’t met the fur-raising Harry Stevenson!

Ali Pye, author and illustrator of a number of picture books, brings us two more captivating, action-packed adventures in her brilliant young fiction series inspired by a real-life guinea pig called Harry Stevenson… who had to be renamed Harriet Stevenson when it was discovered that he was actually a girl.
And Harry certainly is a guinea pig who can gobble up the most dangerous dilemmas as he finds himself plunged into some unexpected dramas which take him far away from the cosy, hay-filled, creature comforts of his cage. He might be small but he has some very BIG adventures.

Harry’s home is in a flat with seven-year-old Billy Smith and his mum and dad. And at first glance, Harry doesn’t seem any different from your average guinea pig. But don’t be fooled! Harry may just want to sleep and eat (and then eat some more) but somehow he always manages to get swept up in adventures… and that’s usually because his greedy tummy always lead to trouble.

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Harry is VERY excited. He’s off to school with Billy! Billy can’t wait to show Harry off in Show and Tell but when another classmate brings in his pet snake, chaos ensues. Can this small guinea pig survive his first day at school? And in the second riotous story, when a thief – dressed up as a chicken – steals Sparky FC’s championship cup, Harry finds himself caught up in a real-life robbery! Can Harry stop the thief and save the day?

Join Harry in this brilliant two-stories-in-one book which is filled with fun, giggles, guinea pig derring-do, and lots of action, all brought to life by a very large and delicious helping of two-tone neon-orange illustrations. Perfect fur-flying young fiction for newly confident readers…

This book is published on February 6.

(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £5.99)

Age 3 plus:

William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines
William Bee

BEEP, beep! William Bee is just buzzing with excitement… the man who loves vehicles has his foot on the pedal and is raring to show us his amazing collection of tractors and farm vehicles.

Brimming with pages of eye-catching tractors in all their wonderful detail, this marvellous mix of fun and facts is irresistible to little transport enthusiasts who have plenty to spot as they make an exciting whistle-stop tour of William’s collection of tractors and farm machines.

William Bee’s Wonderful World of Tractors and Farm Machines is the third title in this bright and bold series – now available in a new paperback format – and features motor-mad William showing off his trucks, trains, planes, boats, tractors and more. Each double-page spread in is packed with beautiful, graphic full-colour illustrations and there is plenty of humorous detail to spot along the journey as we explore the jobs that farm machines do to bring food to our tables.

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There’s his teeny tiny tractor for picking fruit, the widest tractor in the world that can cover acre after acre, tractors for pulling ploughs or for pushing smelly loads of manure, his combine harvester and not forgetting his animals, including cows, Daisy and Buttercup, plus Brian the horse. The Cone Family are back to help – or maybe hinder! – o­n the farm, along with Sparky the dog. Perfect for every child who is fascinated by farms and tractors large and small, this fun, fact-filled, engine-powered picture book puts your own little dynamos well and truly in the driving seat.

This book is published on February 6.

(Pavilion Books, paperback, £6.99)

Hitler’s Secret

Rory Clements

MAVERICK professor Tom Wilde has taken on some dangerous missions since he started spying for wartime Britain… but a cat-and-mouse chase through Nazi Germany is by far his deadliest yet.

Former national newspaper journalist Rory Clements is giving the likes of Robert Harris and C.J Sansom a run for their money with his thrilling ‘what if’ historical novels starring a half-American, half-Irish Cambridge history don determined to do his bit for ‘peace and freedom.’ 

Best known for his gripping John Shakespeare Tudor espionage series, currently in development as a TV series, Clements is a consummate historical novelist. 

His work is underpinned by extensive research and rich period detail, and this wartime series has won an army of fans with its fast-paced international mysteries, full of menace and intrigue, and starring a stunning mix of real and fictional characters. Hitler’s Secret is the fourth book in this outstanding series, which includes the brilliant Corpus, Nucleus and Nemesis, and has moved from the febrile atmosphere of pre-war Europe into the autumn of 1941 when the Nazi war machine is devouring Russia, and Britain and its allies are struggling to contain it.

OUTSTANDING SERIES: Rory Clements

Lead player is Tom Wilde, an unconventional professor whose speciality is Sir Francis Walsingham and the Elizabethan secret service, and whose loves include motorbiking, boxing, bird-watching … and 20^th century espionage.

In the autumn of 1941, the world is on a knife-edge and the Germans are sweeping through the Soviet Union. If Hitler is to be stopped, a new weapon is desperately needed.

In Cambridge, Professor Tom Wilde is approached by an American intelligence officer who claims to know of such a weapon… one so secret even Hitler himself isn’t aware of its existence. If Wilde, who has been learning German for the past two years, can smuggle a package out of Germany, the Third Reich will surely fall.

But it is only when he is deep behind enemy lines that Wilde discovers why the Nazis are so desperate to prevent the 'package' falling into Allied hands. And as ruthless killers hunt him through Europe, a treacherous question hangs over the mission: if Hitler's secret will win them the war, why is Wilde convinced it must remain hidden?

Although reluctant to leave his beloved partner Lydia Morris and their baby son Johnny, Wilde agrees to pose as Tomas Esser, an American industrialist of German heritage, who is sympathetic to the Nazis, and travel to Berlin to sell Hitler’s regime a fuel technology innovation that could transform the Nazi war effort.

But after what seems to be a successful meeting with Hitler’s all-powerful private secretary, Martin Bormann, Wilde discovers the shocking truth that the ‘package’ is actually a person, and the real reason why the Nazis will stop at nothing to prevent this person leaving Germany.

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Meanwhile, Bormann has sent his ruthless assassin Otto Kalt to hunt down not just the ‘package’ but anyone who might have knowledge of it. With Kalt – a man who ‘can shed blood with no more flicker or emotion than if he were killing a pig’ – on his trail, Wilde makes a desperate gamble on an unlikely escape route.

But even if he reaches England alive, that will not be the end of his ordeal. Wilde is now convinced that the truth he has discovered must remain hidden, even if it means betraying the country he loves…

Cool-hand academic Tom has to be one of historical fiction’s most charismatic adventurers… as intrepid as he is intellectually gifted, the unorthodox, US-born professor has thankfully acquired an engaging insouciance and British stiff upper lip stoicism which stand him in good stead as he encounters some of Hitler’s most ruthless henchmen.

And in this gripping, white-knuckle escape bid across Germany – with a secret ‘package’ that could change the course of the war – Tom must use both his brains and his brawn to outsmart lethal villains and a nation whose collective mind has been warped by propaganda.

Entertaining, eye-opening, and featuring the bitter internal rivalries of leading Nazi figures like Heinrich Himmler, Herman Goering and Martin Bormann, Clements’ gripping new Tom Wilde adventure paints a breathtakingly authentic portrait of country at the mercy of unbridled power, bone-chilling terror and widespread paranoia. And with an ingenious twist in the tail, this is fact and fiction, history and mystery, action and humanity at its heart-thumping best.

(Zaffre, hardback, £12.99)

SHE

H C Warner

STILL reeling from a painful break-up with his long-term girlfriend, Ben Gordon can’t believe his luck when the drop-dead gorgeous Bella breezes into his life. Sexy and clever, she’s about as close to perfect as he could have hoped for, and it’s love at first sight for both of them. But Bella isn’t what she seems to be… and Ben is walking headlong into a terrifying nightmare.

If you like a story with a bad girl lead player – and bad girls don’t come more spine-chilling than the malevolent Bella – then you won’t want to miss H C Warner’s wonderfully dark and devilishly entertaining tale of a family that is destroyed by one young man’s catastrophic mistake.

Helen Warner, a former Head of Daytime at both ITV and Channel 4, is on her very best form in this gripping psychological thriller which will have you hooked from first page to last, and gasping for breath when you discover the final killer twist.

It’s only a matter of months since Charlotte, his girlfriend since their university days together, walked out on him and 30-year-old Ben, an advertising executive, is still bruised and vulnerable, and struggling to come to terms with the big gap in his life.

DARK TALE: Helen Warner

But as he shares a drink with best pal Matt in a London bar, Ben locks eyes with the ‘breathtakingly, head-turningly perfect’ Bella and has a ‘lightning bolt moment.’ And the feeling is mutual… Bella goes home with Ben that night and now she has never really left.

Sexy, impulsive and utterly captivating, Bella arrived in his life just when he needed her most. Soon, she is being introduced to Ben’s wealthy parents, Peter and Jo, who live in a grand house tucked away in the Suffolk countryside. Jo is delighted for Ben, but Peter is suspicious. ‘She’s like a ghost that just appeared out of nowhere.’

And before long, Ben’s family and friends have serious fears that Bella isn’t quite the ideal partner that Ben believes her to be. Bella wants him all to herself – because Bella has decided that everything is better when it is just the two of them.

The truth is that Bella’s manipulative, aggressive and increasingly violent behaviour is making it harder and harder for Ben to stay in touch with his loved ones and when a sudden death triggers a chain of disturbing events, there might be no way back for him....

SHE is a triumph of characterisation and suspense as Warner tells a tale of two halves (almost literally) as the dual narrative of first Ben, and then Bella, involves flipping over the book to read their different accounts, and the final, haunting legacy of their ill-fated relationship.

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The too-good-to-be-true Bella turns out to be just that as Warner ratchets up the tension, exploring the cruel realities of emotional, verbal and physical abuse within the context of a searingly graphic story full of anger, menace and anguish.

Villainous and scheming, Bella is a truly nasty – but undoubtedly memorable ­– anti-heroine whose malign antics draw you into an intriguing, unsettling, twisting, turning story until that last shocking revelation hits all your expectations for six. Addictive and arresting, this is Fatal Attraction for a new generation of readers.

(HQ, paperback, £7.99)

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: A final flying visit, a legend retold and a woodland spy

Enjoy the thrilling last chapter in the fantastic Cogheart series, marvel at a superb retelling of the epic tale of Beowulf, and laugh out loud at the madcap adventures of the hilarious Agent Weasel in a magical selection of new children’s books

Age 9 plus:

Shadowsea

Peter Bunzl

IT'S an adventure series which began with Cogheart, an extraordinary debut novel that won wide critical acclaim… and the hearts and minds of thousands of youngsters.

With its charismatic cast of humans and mechanimals, the powerful Victorian steampunk thriller was the perfect opener to an outstanding reading odyssey which has taken us on an amazing journey to worlds far beyond our wildest dreams.

The seeds of the stories grew from a non-fiction book called Living Dolls by Gaby Wood, a popular history of automatons, and Peter Bunzl reveals that these fictional Frankenstein-style tales of early androids – full of lies, mysteries and what-ifs – were the key to his remarkable world-building. 

And after Moonlocket and Skycircus – two more gripping books which conjured up the same heady mix of non-stop action, pulsating mystery, heart-stopping danger and mind-boggling fantasy –inventive author and BAFTA-award-winning animator Bunzl is bowing out with his final Cogheart adventure. Shadowsea plunges us back into the perilous lives of inventor Professor John Hartman’s daughter Lily (who has a mechanical heart of cogs and springs beating in her chest), her cantankerous mechanimal fox Malkin, and her best friend, co-conspirator and first-class clockmaker Robert Townsend.

CAPTIVATING FINALE: Peter Bunzl 

We find Lily and Robert aboard an airship called Firefly in the winter of 1897 as they head across the ocean to the bright hustle and bustle of New York where they plan to visit Robert’s family while Professor Hartman speaks at a conference.

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But they quickly discover that there are chilling goings-on in their hotel and that danger lies beneath the city’s surface.

Dane, a strange boy who has a white mouse peeping out of his pocket, is haunted by an undersea mystery and is being held captive by his mechanical nursemaid Miss Buckle and the shadowy Professor Matilda Milksop. With the boy pleading for their help and a vengeful villain hatching a treacherous plan, Robert and Lily are soon searching for clues and finding themselves in deep water. Can they reveal the deadly truth before the secrets submerge them?

Lily, Robert and Malkin’s voyage of murder and mayhem, terror and triumph is a captivating finale to this fantastic series and for those already mourning the loss of the Cogheart experience, Bunzl assures us that he is embarking on another adventure in a world filled with pirates, princesses and wild boys. Watch this space!

(Usborne, paperback, £7.99)

Age 8 plus:

Monster Slayer: A Beowulf Tale

Brian Patten and Chris Riddell

THE epic Old English poem Beowulf, which scholars believe dates back to some time between the 8th and 11th centuries, is one of the most important works of ancient literature. The story – set in Scandinavia several hundred years earlier, and written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet – stars Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, who helps the king of the Danes when his hall comes under attack from a fearsome monster known as Grendel.

It’s a thrilling tale of heroes and a terrifying villain, and good and evil, which has fascinated students for years, and now the dream team of artist, author and former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and award-winning Liverpool author and poet Brian Patten work their magic on this stunning retelling written in prose.

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One dark night, the sound of music and singing rouses a monster from his sleep in a foul swamp. The dreaded monster Grendel has awoken and the townspeople are terrified. Even the king has abandoned his great hall. Warrior after warrior comes to slay the monster, but no one can outwit Grendel. Only the great hero Beowulf stands a chance. But when Beowulf finally triumphs, an even greater horror awakens. Grendel’s mother, the Hag, wants revenge on the slayer of her son.

Monster Slayer: A Beowulf Tale has been specially created in a super readable format for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers. Printed on publisher Barrington Stoke’s heavy quality cream paper and with a special easy-to-read font, the book is a smooth read for everyone. And with a dazzling cover, Riddell’s spectacular and atmospheric black-and-white illustrations, and Patten’s highly accessible and exciting retelling, this is an inspirational introduction to one of the world’s most famous poems.

(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £6.99)

Age 9 plus:

Jane Eyre: A Retelling

Tanya Landman

READING classic novels can seem daunting to youngsters so Barrington Stoke has harnessed the storytelling talents of prize-winning author Tanya Landman for this poignant and powerful retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s eternally popular Jane Eyre.

Landman, who won the Carnegie Medal in 2015 with Buffalo Soldier – a young adult novel featuring an African-American slave from the Deep South at the end of the American Civil War – is renowned for her thought-provoking novels set in nineteenth-century America.

And she brings her observant eye and writing skills to this beautifully realised and accessible retelling of one of the greatest novels in the English language. Whilst honouring Brontë’s classic tale of a spirited heroine’s search for love, independence and belonging, Landman accentuates the key themes and scenes from the original text in a more concise format without compromising on the impact and importance of the original.

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Orphaned as a child, tormented by her guardian and cast out to a harsh boarding school, Jane Eyre has been raised in the shadow of cruelty and isolation. But when she takes a job as governess at remote Thornfield Hall, where secrets lurk in the attic and strange laughter echoes through the night, Jane meets the brooding, elusive Mr Rochester… and her life is irrevocably transformed. But for better, or for worse?

Renowned for her own precise, powerful and emotional storytelling focus on strong female characters, Landman proves to be the perfect voice to bring new life to this timeless story and give young readers the impetus to go on and read the original Jane Eyre for themselves.

(Barrington Stoke, paperback, £7.99)

Age 7 plus:

Agent Weasel and the Abominable Dr Snow

Nick East

BANISH the January blues with another madcap adventure alongside Agent Weasel, the wonderfully wacky woodland super-spy. Author and illustrator Nick East is on his rib-ticklingly best form in this second, laugh-out-loud book in the Agent Weasel series in which our clueless but brave and lovable sleuth is on a slippery mission to save the Big Freeze winter games from disaster.

It’s the opening night of the Winter Whopper Games, but all is not well in the United Woodlands. Top animal athletes are disappearing, and there are whispers of a silent snow beast on the prowl. It’s time to call Agent Weasel but can he and his trusty dormouse friend Doorkins find out the secrets of Blanche, their mysterious team-mate?

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Will Weasel be able to compete for a golden fir cone without falling over his own feet? Will there be enough marshmallows and sprinkles for another hot chocolate? Who knows? But rest assured… even on the darkest and snowiest of nights, Agent Weasel always gets his animal.

Full of East’s wit, vibrant storytelling, and high-octane illustrations, this funny, frantic series is perfectly pitched for reading alone or to share giggles with all the family!

(Hodder Children's Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

The Big Angry Roar

Jonny Lambert

GET ready to have your heartstrings tugged as author and illustrator Jonny Lambert brings us a playful lesson in how to manage your anger.

A little lion cub with big feelings is the adorable star of a beautifully imaginative picture book brimming with fun, humour and emotional intelligence as the ever-inventive Lambert gently teaches youngsters how to control those all too familiar tantrums.

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Lion cub is quarrelling with his little sister and when he is told to behave, he angrily stomps off. His animal friends tell him to let his anger out but smashing and roaring, tramping and stamping only makes him feel worse. Finally, a clever old baboon gives cub the best advice… and it starts with taking a deep, deep breath!

The Big Angry Roar – filled with Lambert’s distinctive and superbly stylish illustrations – is tailor-made for little ones learning to cope with complex feelings of frustration and anger. The warm and wise tale teaches patience and thoughtfulness through gentle comedy and sensitive but recognisable experiences. Picture book magic with a heartwarming message.

(Little Tiger Press, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Shhh! I’m Reading

John Kelly and Elina Ellis

QUIET please! Bella is reading and doesn’t want to be disturbed…

Author John Kelly and illustrator Elina Ellis celebrate the joy of reading in this busy and beautiful picture book which captures the hilarious chaos of a little girl’s quiet reading session when it is rudely interrupted by her imaginary friends.

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It’s a wet and windy Sunday afternoon but Bella doesn’t care. She is busy reading the best book ever. And the story had just reached the amazing bit, right near the end where… Oh no, her playmates have come calling! Captain Bluebottom and his Windy Pirates, Maurice Penguin and his dancers, and madcap Emperor Flabulon the Wobbulous can’t understand why she doesn’t want to join in the fun. They will just have to come back when she has finished this utterly amazing and totally incredible book!

Shhh! I’m Reading might be a tale about the sedentary pleasures of reading but this is a book full of life, colour and action as the cast of tap-dancing flapper penguins, adventure-seeking pirates, and Earth-defending aliens strut their stuff across the pages. Kelly’s clever story underlines the pleasure of books as a means of escape and quiet pleasure but also pays tribute to their power to stimulate inspire a child’s imagination, while Ellis’s illustrations put the words into colourful action.

(Little Tiger Press, paperback, £6.99)

The Velvet Ribbon

Nadine Dorries

A TERRIBLE tragedy will force Mary Kate Malone to leave Liverpool and return to her home on the remote west coast of Ireland but instead of solace, she will find only bitterness and division.

Welcome to the final, heartbreaking novel in Nadine Dorries’ enthralling Tarabeg trilogy, which includes Shadows in Heaven and Mary Kate, and has gripped readers with its emotional account of a young woman’s rollercoaster journey through love, loss and disaster.

Born and raised on a council estate in Liverpool in the 1950s and 60s, politician Dorries is fulfilling a childhood dream in her ‘second’ career as a successful novelist. The MP for
Mid-Bedfordshire now combines her high-profile job with writing nostalgic sagas set amongst Liverpool’s tight-knit communities in the city where she grew up and trained as a nurse before founding a successful childcare business, Company Kids, and entering politics.

This last book in an immensely popular series, set during a time of change in the 1960s, sees Dorries at her storytelling best as she explores the contrast between the busy, vibrant, metropolitan atmosphere of Liverpool with the rural, and very traditional, way of life in a small Irish community.

CAPTIVATING TRILOGY: Nadine Dorries

Mary Kate Malone came to Liverpool from Ireland three years ago to escape unhappiness at home and to seek her fortune, but from the very beginning things have gone wrong.

Now she is living secretly in the city with her great love, Dr Nicholas Marcus, a GP who is still married to his bitter wife Lavinia who refuses to grant him a divorce even though she was the first to break up their marriage, and has a lover of her own.

Lavinia allows Nicholas little contact with their two sons and is plotting her revenge on Mary Kate, the girl who she wilfully and mistakenly blames for destroying her marriage.

When disaster strikes unexpectedly, Mary Kate must return to the only people she can trust, in the only place she feels safe – her Irish family and friends in the west coast village of Tarabeg – even though she knows that her adulterous relationship with Nicholas would scandalise the priest and the locals. But back in Ireland, everything has changed. Home help Peggy has taken over Mary Kate’s old bedroom above her father Michael’s shop and her grandparents Seamus and Nola, who live up at the big farm, seem to be in thrall to a distant, wealthy American relative called Joe Malone.

Mary Kate hates Joe on sight and when he reveals plans to turn Seamus and Nola’s old manor house into a hotel, she decides to fight him. But the village, where she once felt so loved, has bitterly divided loyalties in a battle which can only have one winner.

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To add to her problems, Dr Gaskell and Matron from St Angelus Hospital in Liverpool, where Nicholas was a visiting doctor, have come to Tarabeg to recruit nurses… and Mary Kate’s past life is about to come back to haunt her with a vengeance.

Love, laughter, tears and heartbreak are never far away in Dorries’ sagas and she certainly ratchets up the tension as Mary Kate encounters both triumph and disaster on either side of the Irish Sea.

Written with the author’s natural warmth, charm and insight, The Velvet Ribbon introduces readers to a beautifully drawn cast of characters – including new and familiar names – and several unexpected twists and turns as the kind-hearted but determined Mary Kate encounters hatred, despair, love and friendship. Expect family feuds, strong community bonds, Irish folklore, romance, high drama, and difficult themes tackled with compassion, as we say a final fond farewell to a memorable ensemble and a captivating series. 

(Head of Zeus, hardback, £18.99)