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https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKCHESHEC/bulletins/3cf4841
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Yorkshire Pudding Day
It’s February and you might be fooled into thinking there’s not much to look forward to other than Valentine’s Day.
Did you know that 2nd February marks Yorkshire Pudding Day?
We’re celebrating our favourite roast dinner accompaniment this month with a selection of tasty Yorkshire or foodie-mentioned fiction that you may have missed.
Tuck in and enjoy!
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The Yorkshire Pudding Club
Milly Johnson
Three South Yorkshire friends, all on the cusp of 40, fall pregnant at the same time following a visit to an ancient fertility symbol.
For Helen, it's a dream come true, although her husband is not as thrilled about it as she had hoped. Not only wrestling with painful ghosts of the past, Helen has to deal with the fact that her outwardly perfect marriage is crumbling before her eyes.
For Janey, it is an unmitigated disaster as she has just been offered the career break of a life-time. And she has no idea either how it could possibly have happened, seeing as she and her ecstatic husband George were always so careful over contraception.
For Elizabeth, it is mind-numbing, because she knows people like her shouldn't have children. Damaged by her dysfunctional childhood and emotionally lost, she not only has to contend with carrying a child she doubts she can ever love, but she also has to deal with the return to her life of a man whose love she must deny herself.
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The proof in the pudding
Rosemary Shrager
Preparing a midwinter's feast for all hundred residents of the little Yorkshire village of Scrafton Busk is exactly the kind of challenge Prudence Bulstrode adores. A chance to show off her muffin-topped winter stew, lamb shank hotpot and Scarborough woof - and, of course, her famous figgy pudding - is just the thing to shake off the winter blues.
But on the night of the feast, local vagabond Terry Chandler is found dead - his body entombed in the pristine snowman standing pride of place on the village green.
Who could have wanted Chandler dead?
Why would they stow his body in such strange circumstances?
And what is the meaning of his last enigmatic message, directing his brother to Mystery Hills, a place of which no one has ever heard?
Crime and cookery continue to collide as Prudence and her granddaughter Suki get drawn into another mystifying murder...
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Molly the Maid is back!
Nita Prose's The Maid took the world by storm, becoming a New York Times No. 1 bestseller and a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller; winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for best Mystery/Thriller, the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, and the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year; as well as being a Good Morning America Book Club pick and a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime pick.
This brand new 2025 release is the third novel in the series. The Maid's Secret follows The Maid and The Mystery Guest. If Molly's unique outlook has charmed you, there's also a short Christmas novella available; The Mistletoe Mystery.
"The most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time." Stephen King
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The Maid's Secret
Nita Prose
Molly the maid is no stranger to secrets. She sees everything behind closed doors at the Regency Grand hotel: wiping away the dust and grime of guests passing through. But one secret lies much closer to home.
An old trinket - a faux Faberge egg - is revealed to be a precious antique during an appraisal at the hotel, making Molly a rags-to-riches sensation.
But no sooner has the egg shown its value than it's stolen: vanishing without a trace.
Determined to crack the case of the missing Faberge, Molly begins dusting for clues - uncovering a mystery that stretches deep into the past.
For in the pages of a long-forgotten diary, written by her late gran, lie the secrets that could unlock all others - and only Molly holds the key.
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A French affair
Susan Lewis
When Natalie Moore is killed in a freak accident in France her mother - the very poised and elegant Jessica - knows instinctively there is more to it.
However, Natalie's father - the glamorous, high-flying Charlie - is so paralysed by the horror of losing his daughter, that he refuses even to discuss his wife's suspicions.
In the end, when their marriage is rocked by yet another terrible shock, Jessica decides to go back to France alone in search of some answers.
When she gets to the idyllic vineyard in the heart of Burgundy she soon finds a great deal more than she was expecting in a love that is totally forbidden and a truth that will almost certainly devastate her life.
Set during one long hot summer in a sleepy world of wine, food and romance, A French Affair is a deeply sensual and passionate story of love, resistance, loyalty and betrayal.
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The brewery murders
J. R. Ellis
Steeped in a history of award-winning Yorkshire ale, the town of Markham boasts not one but two breweries. Richard Foster runs one; his sister, Emily, along with her partner, Janice, runs the other. And not without some resentment.
The unwelcome return of the town's former bad boy, Brendan Scholes, threatens to ignite the sibling rivalry further. Scholes claims to have found the long-lost secret recipe to the beer that made Richard and Emily's father famous, and he wants money.
But it isn't long before Scholes' body is found floating in a fermentation tank at one of the breweries, his head caved in by a hammer.
DCI Oldroyd and Andy Carter are called in to investigate the murder, and there's no shortage of suspects.
As rumours of the possible existence of a recipe for the famous beer spread against a backdrop of growing homophobia and misogyny, tempers run high.
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The miseducation of Evie Epworth
Matson Taylor
July, 1962.
16-year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become?
The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds).
The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall ('brooding Adam' and 'sophisticated Adam') offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire.
Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen.
But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.
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The invisible dead
Lesley McEvoy
People are dying in the West Yorkshire city of Fordley, from the kind of random, everyday accidents that happen in a busy city.
Or are they?
Forensic Pathologist Elle Richardson, doesn't think so. She believes there's a serial killer, stalking the streets. But with no hard evidence to go on, West Yorkshire police are treating them as unfortunate deaths.
Convinced she's right, Elle turns to her good friend, Forensic Psychologist Doctor Jo McCready. Working as a police consultant, Jo's methods have proved successful in the past. But this time, she'll have to go it alone, with none of the resources or backup of a major enquiry team.
If this is murder, Jo McCready must work out the link between these seemingly unrelated deaths - then get inside the mind of a killer.
As the body count rises, the clock is ticking down and Jo's profile leads her to one shocking and deadly conclusion.
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Piglet
Lottie Hazell
Piglet is judging the contents of your shopping trolley. She is listening to what you order for lunch and is observing whether the dessert you serve is homemade or snatched from a packet.
There isn't another 31-year-old that takes food more seriously. And who could blame her, with a childhood nickname like that?
In just over a fortnight, she is marrying Kit. Kit and his tasteful family present an opportunity for reinvention - when she had been growing up in Derby, this life, this man had been beyond her imagination. Together they are the picture of domestic bliss - effortless hosts in their new house and planning an immaculate, covetable wedding.
Everything is coming together for Piglet - tied as tightly and perfectly as her apron strings. But, if a life looks too good to be true, it probably is!
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The waiter
Ajay Chowdhury
Disgraced detective Kamil Rahman moves from Kolkata to London to start afresh as a waiter in an Indian restaurant.
But the day he caters a birthday party for his boss's friend on Millionaire's Row, his simple new life becomes rather complicated.
The event is a success, the food is delicious, but later that evening the host, Rakesh, is found dead in his swimming pool.
Suspicion falls on Rakesh's new wife, Neha, and Kamil is called to investigate for the family, with the help of his boss's daughter Anjoli.
Kamil and Anjoli prove a capable team - but as the investigation progresses, Kamil struggles to keep memories of the case that destroyed his career in Kolkata at bay, and his past will soon catch up with him in some rather unexpected ways.
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The Pudding Lane plot
Susanna Gregory
The people and businesses of London are quickly recovering from the ravages of the plague, none faster than the Court of Charles II where excess, corruption and debauchery has rebounded at a frenetic pace.
In Westminster, in the haphazard corridors of White Hall Palace, plans are afoot for a grandiose ball in honour of a long-dead but English-born Pope.
Meanwhile, mysterious killings at both ends of the capital have been caused by the use of an unusually long, slender blade, and Thomas Chaloner is ordered to investigate.
The only common thread is the victims' connection to the Worshipful Company of Poulters, whose members are struggling to keep ahead of London's enormous demand for eggs.
As the date of the great ball looms closer, Chaloner fears that there is a dangerously credible conspiracy against the throne, and he has very little time to prevent history from repeating itself.
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New Books Coming Soon
Take a scroll through our upcoming releases and bestsellers - all available to order.
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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
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We hope to see you soon
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