Shadows and Stories

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Shadows and Stories

Step into the enchanting world of autumn with these perennial favourites.

From misty mornings to cosy nights, there's no better time to curl up with a brew and escape into a great book.  We hope this month's selection of shadowy stories and atmospheric tales keeps you turning pages.

To help you build a substantial 'to read' pile for the darker nights ahead, we've collected together our top picks from 2024; the must-read books that you might've missed.

Autumnal reads

Standing in the shadows
Peter Robinson

A Detective Superintendent Alan Banks Crime novel.

November 1980

English student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police.

Nick's ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing.

With no convincing alibi, Nick quickly realises he's a suspect - but he has his own suspicions.

November 2019

An archaeological dig near Scotch Corner unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more recent than the Roman remains being searched for.

Things we hide from the light
Lucy Score

Good guys don't fall for bad girls.

Chief of police Nash Morgan was always known as the good Morgan brother, with a smile and a wink for all.

But since being shot, Nash's Southern charm has been overshadowed by panic attacks and nightmares. He feels like a broody shell of the man he once was.

Nash isn't about to let anyone in his life know he's struggling - but his new next-door neighbour, smart and sexy Lina, sees his shadows.

As a rule, Lina's not a fan of physical contact unless she initiates it, but for some reason Nash's touch is different. He feels it too. The physical connection between them is incendiary.

Too bad Lina's got secrets of her own.  If Nash finds out the real reason she's in town, he'll never forgive her.

Besides, Lina doesn't do relationships.  Ever.  But a hot, short-term fling with a local cop?

Absolutely.  Sign her up.

Upcoming release

"Think Jack Reacher fronting Line of Duty." - Ian Rankin

Ex-detective-turned-author Neil Lancaster delivers another unmissable thriller with The devil you know, the latest instalment in the DS Max Craigie series.

DS Max Craigie is a relentless Scottish detective who hunts down corruption in Scotland's darkest corners, and Neil Lancaster skilfully uses his insider knowledge of the police force to craft tense, realistic crime thrillers.

This series is packed with tension, and with its atmospheric setting and pulse-pounding action, it's perfect for fans of authentic, gritty, hard-hitting crime fiction.

The devil you know
Neil Lancaster

He's a deadly killer, but he's on your side...

Six years ago, Beata Dabrowski arranged to meet her lover in Glasgow and was never seen again. There were no leads - until now.

Imprisoned gang boss Davie Hardie wants to talk in exchange for his freedom. He knows exactly where Beata is buried, and he's prepared to take the police to her grave.

But when the mission to locate Beata's body is hijacked, DS Max Craigie is drafted on to the case. Someone must be selling secrets.

Max will stop at nothing to expose police corruption and uncover Beata's murderer - but can you ever really trust a killer to catch a killer?

The shadows of London
Andrew Taylor

London 1671.
Where secrets end in death.

The damage caused by the Great Fire still overshadows the capital, and when a man's brutally disfigured body is discovered in the ruins of an ancient almshouse, restoration work is ordered to stop.

The victim could be one of two local men who have vanished - the first, a feckless French tutor connected to the almshouse's owner; the second, a possibly treacherous employee of the Council of Foreign Plantations.

Whitehall secretary James Marwood is ordered to investigate the murder, and pressure mounts as Charles II's most influential courtiers, Lord Arlington and the Duke of Buckingham, show an interest in his activities.

Their behaviour leads Marwood to suspect the murder trail may lead right to the heart of government.

The forgotten tower
Lulu Taylor

Behind closed doors, secrets unfold...

1939

As war is declared, the Wakefield family open the castle to shelter unusual guests.

As the Wakefield children learn to cope with the loss of their missing parents and the presence of newcomers, the castle becomes a refuge and a keeper of secrets.

Present day

Georgie is reluctant to move when her husband inherits Wakefield Castle, but he is determined to restore its fortunes.

Exploring her new home, Georgie finds an old handwritten recipe book which leads her to suspect that the castle hides dark family secrets as troubling as her own.

When unravelling the mysteries of its past, Georgie realises that in order to be truly free, she must confront what she most dreads.

The lost lights of St Kilda
Elisabeth Gifford

A world at war.
Two lovers separated.
Can they find their way back?

1927

When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St Kilda, little does he realise that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island.

Only three years later, St Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near-dead from starvation.

But for Fred, that summer - and the island woman, Chrissie, whom he falls in love with - becomes the very thing that sustains him in the years ahead.

1940

Fred has been captured behind enemy lines in France and finds himself in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Beaten and exhausted, his thoughts return to the island of his youth and the woman he loved and lost.

When Fred makes his daring escape, prompting a desperate journey across occupied territory, he is sustained by one thought only: finding his way back to her.

The disappearing act
Catherine Steadman

A woman has gone missing.
But did she ever really exist?

Mia Eliot has travelled from London to LA; this is her big chance to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and she is ready to do whatever it takes.

At an audition she meets Emily, and what starts as a simple favour takes a dark turn when Emily goes missing and Mia is the last person to see her.

Then a woman turns up, claiming to be Emily, but she is nothing like Mia remembers.

Why would someone pretend to be Emily?

Starting to question her own sanity, Mia goes on a desperate and dangerous search for answers, knowing something is very, very wrong.

In an industry where everything is about creating illusions, how do you know what is real?

And how much would you risk to find out?

The affairs of Ashmore Castle
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Behind the castle walls, secrets come to light...

England, 1903.

Giles, the new Earl of Stainton, is struggling to bring his family's estate back to order after the death of his father, and he has little time to spare for his young pregnant wife Kitty.

Kitty lives in fear of her mother-in-law, who won't give up the reins of the household.  Will she ever truly be mistress of Ashmore Castle?  Perhaps if her coming child is a boy, that will change the balance of power.

Meanwhile, the Earl's younger sisters are having their first taste of romance, but not necessarily with the right people.

Richard is pursuing his forbidden relationship with Molly, while Nina makes a lively new friend who leads her straight into trouble and pushes her relationship with her husband to the limit.

Queen Macbeth
Val McDermid

She is no lady:  she is the first queen of Scotland.

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as power-hungry murderous conspirators, but now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.

A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three bosom companions - a healer, a weaver and a seer.

If the men hunting her find them, they will kill her because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition; her marriage to a king called Macbeth, means she is the first queen of Scotland.

As the net closes in on the queen, we discover a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland.

At the heart of it, one strong charismatic woman who survived loss and jeopardy to finally outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and ambitious men.

Her struggle won her a country.

But now it could cost her life.

73 Dove Street
Julie Owen Moylan

"Written with heart." - Liz Ryder

West London, 1958. 

73 Dove Street is a shabby boarding house in a shabby street, but the attic room suits newcomer Edie Budd just fine: it's somewhere to hide.

Second floor resident, Tommie, is drawn to the seedy nightlife of Soho.  She has an addiction - to a man she just can't quit, whether he wants her attention or not.  

Landlady Phyllis has thrown out her cheating husband, and burned his belongings in the street.  Sometimes there's no going back.  

Three survivors under one roof, each with secret hurts - and hopes - living in a world where opening your heart could save or destroy you.  

Top picks from 2024: our must-read books

Take a scroll through the biggest bestsellers and releases that came into libraries over the last 12 months - all available to order.

Everything you need to know about holds:
how to reserve a book

When you're looking for a specific book, it can be disappointing when it's not on the shelf at your local library.  Not to worry - our easy-to-use holds system has you covered.

• When you place a hold on a book, if we have a copy on the shelf at another of our libraries, we'll send it over to your local library for you to collect.
• If all of our copies are on loan, you will join a queue and when it's your turn, we'll send a copy over to your local library for you to collect.
• You'll receive an e-mail when your hold is ready to collect, and you have 13 days after the hold arrives to collect it.
• Holds are free for children, and a small charge is made for adults.  
• You can place up to 20 holds on your library account.
• You can place holds online - all you need is your library card number and password.
• Alternatively, our friendly staff are always happy to place holds for you.
  You can ask in the library, or e-mail us with your request at: libraries@cheshiresharedservices.gov.uk

We hope to see you soon

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