Charlotte Bingham
The Magic Hours

When Alexandra Stamford goes to stay with her wealthy cousins at Knighton Hall, she is made to feel the poor relation. In comparison to her, the daughters of the house have everything: beauty, status and wealth. She is not to meet the handsome stable lad, Tom O'Brien, until much later, by which time he has become rich and successful. Shortly after Alexandra returns home from Knighton Hall, her father remarries. No longer wanted, Alexandra is forced to become a maid-of-all-work for a Mrs Smithers, who lives in a grand Regency house in a seaside town. But when Alexandra starts to plan her future she discovers the awful circumstances of her birth.

Sarah Challis
Killing Helen

For some time I have been planning to murder Helen. It will be a traceless crime, that is the beauty of it. There will be absolutely nothing to link her to me. My name does not appear in her diary or address book. No neighbour will recall a woman of my description at her door. Helen, of course, does not know of my existence - and it is this that gives me my power over her and will make my crime possible. Starting an affair with Robert is easy. Bored with men her own age, Harriet believes a commitment-free fling is ideal, and the existence of a wife is a minor inconvenience. But then Harriet finds out about his other mistress. So Harriet begins to plan exactly how she is going to eliminate

As a girl, Nora waged war on her mother, Maisie. It was a childish campaign; revenge to ease the heartbreak she suffered when Maisie told her she preferred her older daughter, Cathryn. Who wouldn't, Nora thought. Cathryn was bright, beautiful, the apple of Maisie's eye. Nora was shy, awkward, prone to telling fibs and daydreaming. Even Nora herself privately admits, `I prefer her to me too.' Now, Nora lives in Edinburgh, far from the suburban London home and her volatile mother. She has a lover she adores, a circle of friends she can joke and banter with, and a job that befits a fibber and dreamer. Life is beautiful. But when Maisie's world falls apart, she and Cathryn think it obvious Nora be the one to pick up the pieces. Nora doesn't think so at all.