Bernard Cornwell
Gallows Thief

It is 1817 and Charles Corday, a portrait painter, has only seven days to live. He has been found guilty of murdering a Countess whom he was in the process of painting. He had been sentenced to hang, and political pressures make it expedient for the Home Office to confirm his guilt. The man appointed to investigate is Rider Sandman, whose qualifications for the job are non-existent and who is currently down on his luck. But Sandman's investigations reveal much that does not fit the verdict, and too many people determined to halt his activities

Josephine Cox
The Woman Who Left

Louise and Ben Hunter have a happy, loving marriage, marred only by their unfulfilled longing for a child. Living and working with Ben's father, Ronnie, they quietly accept their uneventful but contented lives. But when Ronnie dies, their whole world changes. News of his father's passing brings Ben's lazy brother, Jacob, back on the scene, in the mistaken belief that he stands to inherit Ronnie's small fortune. Added to which he means to have his brother's wife....

Nicholas Evans
The Smoke Jumper

The fire that was to change so many lives started with a single shaft of lightning. It struck on a still and moonless night and cocooned for a while in the heart of an ancient pine. The woman camped nearby with her group of troubled teenagers slept on, hearing nothing. But one among them would be lost for ever. For soon the pupa of fire would hatch and engulf the entire mountain. Into this inferno will come the Smoke Jumper. His name is Connor Ford and he braves the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have.