Have you ever wanted to bury a secret so deeply that no one will find out about it?
With private security firms supplying bodyguards in every theatre of war, who will notice the emergence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries?
Reuters correspondent Connie Burns is no stranger to the world's troublespots, including the vicious civil unrest in Sierra Leone and the war in Iraq. But as she begins to suspect that a foreigner is using the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasies against women, her efforts to bring him to justice leave her devastated. Degraded and terrified, she goes into hiding in England and strikes up a friendship with Jess Derbyshire, a loner whose reclusive nature may well be masking secrets of her own. Connie draws from the other woman's strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer . . .Knowing he will come looking for her . . .
Buried secrets and gritty bravery, The Devil's Feather is the psychological thriller from crime queen Minette Walters.
Winner of the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award for best first novel, The Ice House is the mystery thriller from crime queen Minette Walters.
It was evident, if there were no other entrance to the ice house, that the body had at some point traversed this thorny barrier... The big question was, how long ago? How long had that nightmare been there? The people of Streech village had never trusted the three women living up at the Grange - not since Phoebe Maybury's husband suddenly, inexplicably, vanished. Ten years later a corpse is discovered in the grounds and Phoebe's nightmare begins. For once they have identified the body the police are determined to charge her with murder...
In 1970, Harold Stamp, a retarded twenty-year-old was convicted on disputed evidence and a retracted confession of brutally murdering his grandmother. Less than three years later he is dead, driven to suicide by isolation and despair. Thirty years on, Jonathan Hughes, an anthropologist specializing in social stereotyping, comes across the case by accident. He finds alarming disparities in the evidence and has little doubt that Stamp's conviction was a terrible miscarriage of justice. But how far is Hughes prepared to go in the search for justice? Is the forgotten story of one friendless young man compelling enough to make him leave his books and face his own demons? And with what result? If Stamp didn't murder Grace Jeffries then somebody else did...
"A powerful, acute and vivid work from a staggeringly talented writer." OBSERVER
'It was a slaughterhouse, the most horrific scene I have ever witnessed... Olive Martin is a dangerous woman. I advise you to be extremely wary in your dealings with her.'
The facts of the case were simple: Olive Martin had pleaded guilty to killing and dismembering her sister and mother, earning herself the chilling nickname 'The Sculptress'. This much journalist Rosalind Leigh knew before her first meeting with Olive, currently serving a life sentence. How could Roz have foreseen that the encounter was destined to change her life - for ever?
"This is one of my books of the year." SUNDAY TIMES
"Awesomely accomplished. The plot twists and grips, like an octopus." DAILY TELEGRAPH
As the year 1349 approaches, the Black Death continues its devastating course across England. In Dorseteshire, the quarantined people of Develish question whether they are the only survivors. Guided by their beloved young mistress, Lady Anne, they wait, knowing that when their dwindling stores are finally gone they will have no choice but to leave. But where will they find safety in the desolate wasteland outside? One man has the courage to find out. Thaddeus Thurkell, a free-thinking, educated serf, strikes out in search of supplies and news. A compelling leader, he and his companions quickly throw off the shackles of serfdom and set their minds to ensuring Develish's future - and freedom for its people. But what use is freedom that cannot be gained lawfully? When Lady Anne and Thaddeus conceive an audacious plan to secure her people's independence, neither foresees the life-threatening struggle over power, money and religion that follows...
When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is—or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.
But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.
Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?
Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish—leader, savior, heretic—Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.
1348: The Black Death enters England through the port of Melcombe; the people of the county start to die in their thousands. In the demesne of Develish, Lady Anne takes control of her people's future, she chooses a bastard slave, Thaddeus Thurkell, to act as her steward, and together they decide to quarantine Develish by bringing the serfs inside the walls. With this sudden overturning of the accepted social order, where serfs exist only to serve their lords, conflicts soon arise...
Muna's fortunes changed for the better on the day that Mr. and Mrs. Songoli's younger son failed to come home from school. Before then her bedroom was a dark windowless cellar, her activities confined to cooking and cleaning. She'd grown used to being maltreated by the Songoli family; to being a slave. She's never been outside, doesn't know how to read or write, and cannot speak English. At least that's what the Songoli's believe. But Muna is farmore clever- and her plans more terrifying - than the Songolis, or anyone else, can ever imagine…
The terrifying new Hammer novella by Minette Walters, bestselling author of The Sculptress and The Scold's Bridle
'Muna's fortunes changed for the better on the day that Mr and Mrs Songoli's younger son failed to come home from school.'
Before then her bedroom was a dark windowless cellar, her activities confined to cooking and cleaning. She'd grown used to being maltreated by the Songoli family; to being a slave.
She's never been outside, doesn't know how to read or write, and cannot speak English.
At least that's what the Songolis believe.
But Muna is far cleverer - and her plans more terrifying - than the Songolis, or anyone else, can ever imagine ...
A body is found in the woods . . .
Based on the true story of the shocking murder of Mrs Caroline Luard, which took place in Kent in August 1908.
Caroline Luard is shot dead in broad daylight in the grounds of a large country estate. With few clues available, her husband soon becomes the suspect . . . But is he guilty?
Bringing to life the people involved in this terrible crime, in A Dreadful Murder bestselling author Minette Walters uses modern detective skills to attempt to solve a 100-year-old crime.
In December, 1924, a murder took place on a chicken farm in East Sussex, England. Although Norman Thorne never confessed to killing his girlfriend, Elsie, he was tried and hanged for the crime. In Chickenfeed, Walters burrows deep into an English legend, creating a suspenseful tale of fiction based in fact. Was Thorne guilty? If so, what was his motive?
Set in the small village of Sowerbridge, The Tinder Box is a tale of chilling ambition. Patrick O'Riordan has been arrested for the brutal murder of elderly Lavinia Fanshaw and her live-in nurse, Dorothy Jenkins. As the village unites against the O'Riordan family, Siobhan Lavenham is convinced that Patrick is the victim of a prejudiced investigation. But when terrible secrets come to light, she is forced to question her loyalties.
Everyone knows Olive Martin, the huge and menacing woman who was found five years ago with the carved-up bodies of her mother and younger sister. Everyone knows how she pleaded guilty to murder at her trial. And everyone knows not to anger the Sculptress even now that she is safely locked in prison for a minimum of twenty-five years. When Rosalind Leigh accepts a commission to write a book about Olive, she finds herself wondering what lies behind all of these facts that everyone knows. When Roz first visits her in prison, she finds that Olive is not quite what she expected. And if - as Roz is repeatedly warned - Olive lies about almost everything, then why did she confess so readily to two hideous murders? The deeper she is drawn into the shadowy world of the Sculptress, the more firmly she is convinced that Olive is hiding something - perhaps even her innocence. But whom could Olive be protecting - and why?
