Of Unicorns and Pegasuses by G.R.H. Wagner

Of Unicorns and Pegasuses by G.R.H. Wagner - Available on Amazon

Years ago, David Phillips was captivated by a temptress named Desiré. It was not a forever affair and as a parting gift, he asked her to draw for him a Pegasus, never realizing how the drawing would forever bind him to her. Even years after her funeral, he is compelled to answer an invitation to return to her hometown, and in the company of others who had known her for decades, David is taken to the place where Desiré was born and raised and made aware of her unusual upbringing. When he is taken to a castle that Desiré had dreamed of, where other drawings of hers are prominently displayed, he learns that someone else desires possession of his Pegasus, and things aren’t as he was led to believe, prompting questions, the most consuming of which are who was the father of the child Desiré birthed the night she was shot four years before, and why was David there.

Missing by Declan Conner

Missing by Declan Conner - Available at Amazon

Missing: The Body of Evidence, is a gripping crime thriller. A story of secrets and deceptions, and one woman’s determination to discover the truth.

When rookie LAPD detective Nancy Roberts is called to the scene of a fire and the remnants of a body are discovered, CSI can’t be sure if it is the result of a suicide, accident, murder, or.... Well... kind of something else.
The CIA declare an interest and point everyone on the investigation in the direction of a freak accident. Nancy doesn’t buy the theory of spontaneous combustion put forward. Her own unconventional investigations point her in a different direction, but they are curtailed when she is framed for being on the take. This brings her into conflict with her fellow detective and boyfriend, Kyle.Suspended and under orders not to continue with the search for answers, threats to her life and those she holds dear force her in a race against time to clear her name. But will she avoid death long enough to prove her innocence and to uncover the truth behind the strange events?

Broomsticks, Walking Sticks and Zimmer Frames by Sue Moorhouse

Broomsticks, Walking Sticks and Zimmer Frames by Sue Moorhouse - Available at Amazon

Fairy Tales for the Mature.
'Why is it always the young and glamorous - the beautiful princesses and handsome princes - who dominate fairy tales? These fun, adult, fairy tales are written from the viewpoint of the older characters: Red Riding Hood's grandma, a fairy godmother with a touch of Alzheimer's, the matron of Rapunzel's boarding school, a very stressed planning officer, the troll in the tower block and many more.'

Conquering Babel by Claire Handscombe

Conquering Babel by Claire Handscombe - Available on Amazon

A practical guide to learning a language

So, this time you're really going to do it. You're really going to learn a language.
But where do you even start?
Conquering Babel offers hints, tips and recommendations from an experienced language tutor and answers questions such as:

How do I stay motivated?
Do I really need to learn grammar?
How do I get the locals to speak to me in their language?
Why bother learning anyway when they all speak English?- what are the best resources available for self-study?
How can I find a good language tutor?

Catnip by Valerie Tate

Catnip by Valerie Tate - Available on Amazon

‘Finally, what you'll all have gathered to hear, I give, devise, bequeath and appoint  my entire estate, including all financial assets, properties and personal possessions to my only true friend and companion, my cat, Marmalade.’

With those words, Amanda Dunbar sets in motion a series of events that will lead her family and Christopher Mallory, the young attorney who finds himself trustee to the cat, into mischief, misadventure and murder!
Set in the picturesque town of Dunbarton, Ontario, Catnip is the story of what befalls the dysfunctional Dunbar family, and the chaos that ensues, when the matriarch of the clan leaves the family fortune to her cat.  That formidable feline proves to be more than a match for the humans in his life until one fateful night when, caught unawares, he is stuffed in a sack and  carried away.  When a murder occurs Christopher and Alicia Dunbar  finds themselves confronting a ruthless killer who would do anything, including kill again, to conceal his/her identity.

The Hard Swim by Keith Dixon

The Hard Swim by Keith Dixon - Available on Amazon

February 1942: The Struma, a broken-down steamer, explodes and sinks in the Black Sea, drowning 768 Rumanian Jews fleeing the Nazis and heading for Palestine, and safety.

June 1944: Thirty-one SAS soldiers are captured behind enemy lines and are forced to dig their own graves before being shot and buried in a forest in the heart of France.

Seventy Years Later: A young woman is attacked in the grounds of Edinburgh Zoo - the attacker seeking the document that might link these two wartime events.

Private Investigator Sam Dyke rescues the woman, Chantal Bressette, and embarks on a quest to find out why the document she carries is being sought by a high-ranking Government official and his team of ex-Army thugs.

Chimaera by Tina Rath

Chimaera by Tina Rath - Available on Amazon

A collection of short fantasy stories for the 21st century, told by a gentle little monster with a penchant for happy endings. 

When a small chimaera appears in her wardrobe the narrator  is only mildly surprised. She agrees to let him stay and in return he tells her stories featuring such characters as Sergeant Prendergast, an ordinary policeman with some rather unusual friends including the Queen of Elphame and a sexy young gorgon; a hob with a grievance; an avatar of the Moon goddess; a stage-struck devil, and fairy tales telling what really happened to the Frog Prince, and Rumplestiltskin. All end happily – more or less. But readers must wait for the end of the book to find out if the narrator ever does finish writing her novel, if her true love does come home, and what ultimately happens to the chimaera.

Monsoon Season by Katie O'Rourke

Monsoon Season by Katie O'Rourke - Available on Amazon

The story of a girl growing up and learning to let people love her. Riley graduates from college with a degree in philosophy and no idea where she's headed.  On a whim, she moves to Tucson from the east coast and quickly loses herself in a dysfunctional relationship. When things in Tucson fall apart, Riley returns home and is forced to confront the same dynamics in her family and other relationships that she thought she had escaped.

With alternating narrative, we see what Riley has learned about love from the people closest to her, how she has grown into the person she is, and how she struggles to change. Monsoon Season explores how well we know the people we love and how much every person we choose to let into our lives shapes who we become.

The Night Watch by Eric Laing

The Night Watch by Eric Laing - Available on Amazon

Murder, sex, magic, and ancient Rome.

A serial killer preys upon those who are truly the most dangerous game…the gladiators. As the killer collects macabre trophies, it falls to the Prefect of the Night Watch to end the madness.

But this is Rome, where blood spills like wine, and dreams…they are all too often nightmares.

Head Count by Russell Cruse

Head Count by Russell Cruse - Available on Amazon

When fifteen- year-old Carly Elliot parts company with an Alp, David Benedict, the teacher in charge of the ski-party is suspended from his job pending charges of negligence and possibly even manslaughter. His only ally is journalist Rebecca Daley and even she's trying to connect him to two teenage suicides. Polizeikommissar Kurz thinks David may be a murderer, D.S. Sands thinks he's an idiot and the others down the nick reckon he's a paedophile but it won't be until he finds himself tied to a chair in a run-down church, an automatic pistol in his face and trying desperately, through broken teeth, to speak German with a Swiss accent that he'll begin to suspect he may be in over his head. Could things get any worse? Of course they can; this is David Benedict we're talking about. Daley wants a story, Benedict wants his old life back; if either gets what they want, the other will be seriously disappointed. In the event, each of them is going to get a bloody sight more than they bargained for.

The Mobius Construct by Spilota

 The Mobius Construct by Spilota  -  Free pdf available from the author

The Möbius Construct is a space station near a Star Jump which can take travellers to other galaxies and star systems. But it shouldn’t exist…

After an attack by the aggressive Heebies, survivors abandon ship and head for safety in the nearest star system. A malfunction sends their life craft into a dangerous uncharted area of space. They finally make a landing on the massive space station known as the Möbius Construct. But this cannot be possible.

Five hundred years previously, the Heebies destroyed the Möbius Construct. The AI in charge of their life craft is unable to explain what has happened. The threat from the Heebies is still very real and something they must face. And then there’s Kyri, the Caretaker of the space station. Just who is she? What is her connection with one of their number?

Charlie and Pearl by Tammy Robinson

Charlie and Pearl by Tammy Robinson - Available on Amazon  

Charlie still lives in the same quaint New Zealand coastal town he was born in, and where he passed his teenage years on the beach yearning to make out with girls, if only they'd let him. He lives with his mum and works in the local bookshop. Nothing much in Charlie's life ever changes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as he's not sure he'd know what to do with himself if it did.
Pearl has come to the bay to escape the memories of a love affair that ended badly, leaving her with a lingering melancholy that she just can't shake. She hides up in her Grandmothers old Beach house, where she indulges her dark mood with walks on the beach, showers under the night sky and wine. Lots of it.
They meet and Charlie is captivated by Pearl. She has a secret though, one that she knows will prevent them from having any kind of happy ever after. Question is: can she resist his charms knowing there's no hope for them?

Maniac by Patrick Whittaker

Maniac by Patrick Whittaker - Available at Amazon

The seaside town of Chadham prides itself on being sleepy. Until Maniac turns it into the murder capital of Britain.

Detective Inspector Harry Nyman is the world's most reluctant policeman. He'd much rather be playing jazz than investigating crime. Unfortunately, murder sets its own agenda.
As the body count rises, it becomes clear the murderer has an ultimate goal: to destroy Harry Nyman

The Grave by Diane M Dickson

 The Grave by Diane M Dickson - Available at Amazon

                                                          

Samuel is reclusive, He visits town rarely and mixes with no-one until the day he buys Sylvie a drink. The results of the encounter are tragic, life changing and dreadful. Samuel knows that he must get away from his present situation and Sylvie is swept along with him. As the relationship between them deepens Samuel's shadowy past is the biggest threat to any sort of future.