Showing results by publisher "Embla Books" in All Categories

Verity and Linden Lockwood vowed to spend the rest of their lives together, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do they part. Five years later they've kept their promise to never let their love die, to never slip into becoming one of those couples....But a year after Linden is brutally and inexplicably murdered in their picture-perfect home, Verity's world shatters again. They're not the golden couple she thought they were. Linden betrayed her: he had been having an affair.

On the night when Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party both girls are full of excitement about being old enough to stay home alone. What they don't see is the figure watching them through the open window. Who, after the girls have fallen asleep, will turn the handle of the unlocked back door. When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now. But is the woman who claims to be Olivia really all she seems? And is everything Caitlin said she saw that night really the whole truth?

DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast? As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.

Rosie had the perfect evening lined up: she'd come home early, slip into a sexy dress and surprise her boyfriend with date night. What she was not expecting was to find his bags packed and herself unceremoniously dumped. But she can't even dwell on her heartbreak when she faces the more pressing matter of making rent this month. And in desperate times, she somehow agrees to let out her spare room to the upstairs neighbour. Aled needs a place to stay while his place is being renovated, and she gets to keep her home. It's a win-win situation for both - if only it was that easy.

DC Alex McKenna is meant to be resting following her last case, so she lets her boyfriend to take her to the Isle of Skye for the weekend. But what's meant to be a getaway to see the aurora borealis soon turns into a nightmare when they discover that their hotel has double booked. In desperation, they check into the only hotel with rooms available nearby - The Loch House. But from the moment they step foot in the guest house Alex knows something is very wrong. And as snow starts to fall, and night closes in, she begins to wonder if they will ever leave here alive.

Zara has always felt a little ordinary next to her spirited best friend Ivy. Even her dreams seem mundane: a boyfriend, marriage, children. Besides, who would pick her when they could choose Ivy? So when Zara meets Henry and there's an instant spark, she can't believe her luck. A wealthy CEO who wants to settle down? He's perfect...until Ivy insists he's too good to be true.

1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible Duke (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right. But the world isn't ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she's a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library. Until her estranged Uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency, and laboratory, in his will.

In the sleepy village of Cookingdean, Dr Nell Ward is busy working in the grounds of a local manor house. Whilst inspecting an old tunnel, she did not expect to overhear a murder. As the only person with any clues as to what happened, Nell soon finds herself in the middle of the investigation. Desperate to clear her name Nell, along with her colleague Adam, set out solving the murder using their skills as ecologists to uncover details no one else would notice. But it soon becomes clear that playing Agatha Christie is much harder than it might, at first appear.

It's been over thirty years since Billy last called Northern Ireland home. Back then, his secret love for schoolfriend Conor was the only shining light that kept him going during troubled times. That is, until their romance was tragically cut short when Conor disappeared without a trace. Now a phone call draws Billy back home when his mother falls into a coma. While sorting through old belongings, he stumbles upon an envelope bearing his name. Inside, he finds a mysterious note and a mixtape left by Conor - dated the very day he disappeared in 1989.

Catherine is frantic. It's her husband Simon's turn to take their son to nursery and he's nowhere to be seen. He promised he'd be here. So, where is he? And why isn't he taking her calls? Her worst fears are soon realised when the police arrive at her door to tell her that Simon is missing, presumed dead. Refusing to accept that he's gone, Catherine spends her days retracing his last steps, and her nights searching the streets in desperation. She will not rest, she will not sleep, until she's put her family back together.

Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'. She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was 'vanished' to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.

When hundreds of birds fall from the sky into Slayton's lake in a terrifying freak event, the waters are dredged - revealing a dark, long-held secret. An old pram is pulled from the depths, with the bones of a baby still strapped inside. It's the moment that new mother, Cora, has been dreading since she moved to Slayton - because someone knows, and is going to make her pay.

Elodie Fray wants to be more like her perfect sister, Ada, the one her parents are actually proud of. When she decided to quit her job and pursue her dream of becoming an author, she thought it would be her time to shine, but a year on nothing has happened. And she's getting desperate. When Elodie makes one small mistake on a drunken night with a friend, things quickly spiral and suddenly everyone believes she has a book deal. Unable to find a way back from her little lie, her perfect dream becomes a perfect nightmare - and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Blackhall Manor has witnessed many dark crimes, long before five teenage girls break in to play the Midnight Game. It was supposed to be a game, but only four girls come home. Detective Sarah Noble has just returned to the force, and no one knows more about Blackhall Manor than her. Except perhaps Elliott Carter, who is only seven but has seen things in his dreams most adults could never imagine. It's a case that will bring them together and shake Sarah to her core. Will she be ready to meet the Midnight Man?

Every day, Mary wakes up before dawn to make breakfast from scratch. She tends the garden and feeds the animals. Every night, Mary makes sure she has dinner on the table for when her husband Cal gets home from work. She puts on his favourite lipstick and greets him with a smile. 'I've missed you.' It's not true and he knows it. But he likes to hear it all the same. Their cabin is hidden deep in the woods in the Scottish Highlands, and Mary doesn't remember the last time she saw another living soul. She tries not to think about her life before too much.

For successful estate agent Freya Henderson, life is all work and no play. But, when she crosses paths with carefree young surfer, Luke Stevenson, there's no denying the attraction between them. When Luke invites her to join him on a working holiday in France, it's a real dilemma. Is it time to throw caution to the wind? Perhaps an enchanting summer fling with no strings attached would be a great way to de-stress and finally allow herself some fun.

1930: Miss Clara Vale, chemistry major turned detective, is taking a night off from sleuthing to attend the launch party of a new exhibition at the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. But when the piece de resistance, a rare ornate sarcophagus, is finally opened and it turns out the mummy inside it is a fake it looks like there is no rest for Clara after all... Later that night, she is summoned back to the museum and asked to investigate a series of stolen Egyptian artefacts.

Able to cherry pick her gardening projects after all her recent success, Steph Williams arrives at a luxury hotel in the Yorkshire moors with her beloved dog Mouse. She has been tasked with bringing the outdated gardens into line with the hotel's sleek and glassy new guise, and can't wait to dig in. But, before Steph can enjoy the fruits of her labour, she makes a shocking discovery in the hotel's pool: a body, fanned by a beautiful evening dress, floating beneath the stars. As she rushes into the scene, Steph realises this is no common-or-garden accident.

Jodie Evelyn can't think of a better place for a fresh start than the exclusive gated community of The Grove. But from the moment she passes through the wrought iron gates, she starts to suspect she's made a mistake. Despite her vow to keep apart from the other residents, Jodie can't help but feel drawn to her unnerving neighbour Norah Williams and terminally ill daughter, Lacey. Jodie knows she should stay away, but something draws her in.When a murder shocks The Grove, Jodie vows to do everything in her power to save Lacey from her mother.

Dr Nell Ward is in the lush, emerald hills of Ireland, to attend the wedding of two dear friends at a picture-perfect farmhouse. But family tensions are running high in the days before the happy couple tie the knot. And when Nell sees a fox kill a hare in the early morning light, it sends shivers down her spine. Almost like it is a sign of something to come... Then one of the locals makes a gruesome discovery in a nearby peat bog. Famous for the ancient bodies these habitats preserve, what has been found instead is a woman who died much more recently...