Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Genre Fiction

A powerful, lyrically told and unusual love story by the prize-winning author of The Land of Decoration. A poem wrapped in brown paper. A man, a woman, a city, and a past that must not be remembered. Elizabeth Stone, a respected academic, has a new lease on life.

This is the tale of three 14-year-old girls and a volatile combination of lies, jealousy and perversion that ends in tragedy. Except the tragedy is even darker and more tangled than their tight-knit community has been persuaded to believe. Blackly funny and with a surreal edge to its portrait of a northern English town, Jenn Ashworth's gripping novel captures the intensity of girls' friendships and the dangers they face in a predatory adult world they think they can handle.

"You're out of luck, brother," are the first words Gerry says when they meet in the crush of men competing for the few women at a dance in a seaside hotel, but when Gerry betrays his lover Moira, Adam's fortunes seem to have changed. For the next four years, Adam's life and Gerry's are intertwined like good luck and bad, love and loss, life and death, their paths crossing at various points on Adam's perilous journey from the ruins of Poland to the rolling English countryside, from Egypt to Occupied France.

Prepare to discover a fascinating country; a land buffeted for centuries by power-struggles and revolts, lorded over by Turks, carved up by its neighbours, and subsumed into the Soviet Union. Yet also a land of proud and resilient people, of crawfish hunters and bagpipe makers, shepherds and gypsies, in which daily life goes on.

Maggie is a husband watcher. A snooper, a marriage doctor, a destroyer of dreams, a killer of happy ever afters. She runs her own private detective agency specialising in catching those who cheat. Helene is a husband catcher. A beautiful wife, a doting stepmother, a perfect homemaker and a dazzling presence at parties. She has landed herself with one of the most eligible bachelors in town - handsome property developer Gabe Moreau. Alice is just a teenager. A perfect daughter to Gabe, a kind stepchild to Helene, a tragic girl to a dead mother.

Endland holds a broken mirror to England. In its garish but strangely familiar world of empty tower blocks, 24-hour cyber cafes, and bomb sites, a motley collection of misfits, wanderers and charmed drunks do their best to survive. Nothing is stable in Endland, and what's more, the gods have started drinking at lunchtime, which can lead only to trouble.

When Jenny's old therapist is murdered and she is implicated, she realises that someone else out there might know her deepest, darkest secret. Seven patients. One dark secret. Jennifer Nielsen has her life on track. Until she gets news that her former Psychiatrist, Phillip Walton, has been brutally murdered and that she is implicated. Philip knew her darkest secrets. And circumstances of his murder suggest that someone else out there knows them, too.

On the anniversary of her brother's death, Caroline hosts an intimate dinner party in her beautiful West London home. It's a chance for those who were closest to Daniel to come together over grilled oysters and champagne cocktails as they share fond memories of the man they all loved so dearly, who never came home from New Orleans.

Nuala knows nothing of her husband James' past. He made her swear that she would never contact his family and never, ever visit the place he was from. But now James is dead, and Nuala is alone. Grieving and desperate, she decides to ignore his warning. Nuala is about to find out that some secrets are better left buried - and that uncovering the truth about the man she married will have terrible consequences....

Philippa Taylor (Pepper to her friends) has big dreams. When she closes her eyes, she can picture exactly who she ought to be. The problem is, it's about as far away from her real life in a small coastal town in Suffolk as she can imagine. So when her elderly friend Josephine persuades Pepper to accompany her on a trip to Europe, she jumps at the chance to change her routine. And when Pepper bumps (literally) into the handsome Finn in Lisbon, it seems as though she might have finally found what she's been looking for.

When Fauzia's brother turns up with a dead body, her perfect life is shattered. She'll protect him to the ends of the earth, but who is he running from? Keisha knows all too well that family comes first. Reeling from rejection, she's determined to make Malton pay. And she'll hurt him in the worst way imaginable. Craig Malton is on the hunt for a violent drug lord who's wreaking havoc and destruction in Manchester. Little does he know what's coming for him.

When a late life love affair blooms between Mr. Forrest Payne, the owner of the Pink Slipper Gentleman's Club, and Miss Beatrice Jordan, famous for yelling warnings of eternal damnation at the Club's departing patrons, their wedding summons a legend to town. Mr El Walker, the great guitar bluesman, comes home to give a command performance in Plainview, Indiana, a place he'd sworn never to set foot in again.

Eoin is doing great. He's 27, gainfully employed and in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend Rich. Okay, so his best friend Jax is diving into yet another disastrously bad relationship and Eoin's going to be the one dealing with the fallout. And his boss at the café, Rebecca, seems to have vanished, so somehow Eoin's left managing the place. And to be honest, he's not got much else going on. But still, he's got his boyfriend Rich - steady, sensible and dependable Rich. That is, until Eoin's world is turned upside down when Rich announces that he wants an open relationship.

Jen is turning 30 and has spent her entire life jumping from man to man. So, when her latest relationship ends without warning, she decides to stop pleasing others and focus on herself. And where better to do that than the famously picturesque Canadian ski resort of Whistler? Okay, she can't ski and desperately needs to find a job fast, but it's nothing she can't handle. Her only rule is to stay single for the entire ski season. While Jen is throwing herself into Whistler life, Art is doing his best to keep his distance from the people who remind him of everything he once lost.

Eurovision is always the highlight of Millie's year. So when she and her best friend James get the chance to see the final live in Oslo, it's a dream come true - until they get swept up the excitement and try to break backstage, along with carefree German singer Ingrid and charismatic Australian backpacker, Noah. Getting thrown out of the stadium wasn't exactly the plan, but it might just spark the friendship - and the pact - of a lifetime. The four of them are going to reunite for every final, every year, every Eurovision.

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.

The festive season is in full swing - parties, champagne and Christmas crackers abound. You're having a breather at the hotel bar when a stunning young woman catches your eye. Could she really be interested in you? She flutters her eyelashes and takes your hand. Her Christmas party dress glitters with sequins. What you don't know is that your life is now in her hands - as she leads you up to her room there's only one thing that will determine whether you live or die. Are you a good person? Are you really?

Craig Malton rules Manchester, solving crimes for criminals and flying under the police's radar. When he's called to a murder scene before the cops can get their hands on it, he senses something is wrong. Someone is trying to make Zak Alquist's murder look like something it's not. Lesha's son was murdered years ago, so when a local boy goes missing, she feels the sting only a bereaved mother can. But this is more than just a teenage runaway. On the missing boy's phone is a photo of him - and murder victim Zak Alquist. Can Lesha and Malton uncover the rot at the heart of the city?