Recommendations based on "Ghost Girl"

Elena Weaver, in her skimpy dresses and bright jewellery, exuded intelligence and sexuality. A student at St Stephen's College, Cambridge, she lived a life of casual but intense physical and emotional relationships, with scores to settle and targets to achieve. Until someone, lying in wait on the bank of the River Cam, where Elena went running every morning, bludgeoned the young woman to death. Called into the rarefied world of academia, Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers find a tangled skein of love, obsession and desire -- a maelstrom of emotion that has claimed Elena Weaver's life.

A young writer, struggling for success, employs an elderly woman called Emerence to be her housekeeper.From their first encounter it is clear that Emerence is no ordinary maid.Although everyone in the neighbourhood knows and respects her, no one knows anything about her private life or has ever crossed her threshold. Only a great drama in the writer's life prompts Emerence to unveil glimpses of her traumatic past - a past which sheds light on her peculiar behaviour.The Door brilliantly evokes the development of the bond between these two very different women, and the tragic ending to their relationship.

The nightmare is just beginning... A short story and prequel featuring DCI Matilda Darke, star of Michael Wood’s darkly compelling crime series. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Patricia Gibney. She invited the killer into her home... The body of a young woman is found in an apartment block in a Sheffield suburb. She was attacked at home, in a sudden moment of violence that sends shockwaves through the community. DCI Matilda Darke has no choice but to work with her rival, DI Ben Hales, as the investigation takes them undercover into the dark world of a serial rapist targeting innocent women on the streets of the steel city. But can Matilda and Ben finally put their grievances aside and work together? Or will this case be their last?

Sixteen-year-old Pilbeam may have made a terrible mistake. Living with her large family at 5 Brocklehurst Grove is wonderful in many ways, but remaining isolated from the rest of the world has become too much to bear. So Pilbeam decides that, whatever the consequences, she will go to the theater, and the whole family is thrown into terrible danger. Pilbeam's encounter with a nosy neighbor threatens to expose the family's long-kept secret, and that could destroy them all. Sir Magnus, the family patriarch, declares a state of emergency, making all members of the family virtual prisoners in their own home. But it may be too late. Because now Pilbeam's sister Appleby is rebelling, and even living under siege may not prevent the worst possible disaster from befalling the Mennyms.

'One of the finest murder mystery series out there'When archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a long-buried mechanical figure in a Dartmoor field, he is determined to discover the truth behind the bizarre find.Soon, however, the sleepy village becomes the focus of press attention for another reason when two people with no apparent connection to each other are found shot dead in nearby Manor Field, seemingly victims of an execution-style double murder.DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate, but the two murders aren't his only problem. The daughter of a local MP has gone missing and the pressure is on to find her, especially when it's revealed that she has a connection to one of the murder victims. And Wesley's own life is thrown into turmoil when a woman he helped on a previous investigation finds herself subjected to a campaign of terror . . .Is there a link between the double murder and the accidental death of a young history student in Manor Field twenty years ago? And just what is the true identity of the Mechanical Devil?

Three gripping tales from No.1 Sunday Times bestseller S. J. Parris. The Secret DeadSummer 1556. A girl’s body is found in a Neapolitan monastery. Novice monk Giordano Bruno is determined to uncover what happened, but his investigation could deliver him into the hands of the Inquisition. The Academy of SecretsAutumn 1568. An invitation arrives for Giordano Bruno from a secret society of philosophers. Bruno is delighted, but keeping their heretical secrets soon becomes a matter of life or death. A Christmas RequiemWinter 1569. Giordano Bruno is summoned by the Pope, who is intrigued by his talent for memory games. But Rome is a den of iniquity, and Bruno will be lucky to escape the Eternal City alive. *Please note these three novellas are also published as individual stories in ebook.* ‘S. J. Parris gives us a glimpse into the younger years of Giordano Bruno, her 16th-century heretic and spy, in this collection of three beguiling novellas’ Observer What readers are saying about The Dead of Winter ‘Superb story-telling’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Such a treat’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Beautifully written’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gripping’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Compulsive reading’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Full of energy and excitement’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Superb’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Madeira Cutler loves her Vintage Magic boutique, but the 'visions' she gets from the garments can be hard to handle, especially when she knows the owner. At first she's thrilled to receive a package containing the beautifully bejeweled dress she designed for actress and old friend Dominique Delong while in fashion school. But the dress comes with a disturbing message from Dominique, who it seems took her last bow under very mysterious circumstances.

An island of secrets. A runaway. And a promise...A rebellious daughter1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer's job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.A sister with a secret1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.A rift over generationsBetrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence's only clue, the war an immovable barrier - and time is running out...Praise for The Hidden Palace"Completely swept me away to another place and time. Dinah is the queen of sumptuous settings, transporting the reader effortlessly from chocolate-box Devonshire to the cabaret clubs of 1920s Paris and war-torn Malta. A marvellous, multi-layered story, populated with characters to really care for"--HAZEL GAYNOR"Dinah Jefferies wields her storytelling magic on the island of Malta . . . It's engrossing and sensual, full of the heat of the Mediterranean sun"--GILL PAUL"Powerful, passionate and profoundly moving . . . this compelling mix of love and tragedy vibrates with warmth and pain, and captures the intense dislocation of war"--KATE FURNIVALL"Sweeping and sumptuous with a gorgeously described sense of place. A marvellous adventure"--TRACY REESPraise for Daughters of War"A wonderfully evocative and sensual writer"--SANTA MONTEFIORE"A warm and engrossing tale of passion and courage. I loved it"--RACHEL HORE"Love, grief, abandonment, betrayal and secrets ... I adored it"--LIZ NUGENT

She bought this house to save her marriage. Unearthing its secrets might just claim her life. Gwen McDaniel’s life is broken. But she knows the perfect place to fix it. Cold Harbor, Maine, an idyllic small town with views of Acadia National Park, is where she used to vacation with her parents as a child. Here, she and Steven can start over, renovating their cliff-side fixer-upper while patching up their marriage. Soon, everything will be better. Except from the moment they arrive, Gwen sees and hears things, and it’s more than just the drafts and shadows that are part of any old house. Steven downplays her fears, warning her not to fixate on problems as she has in the past. But Gwen spent years as a homicide detective, and her instincts don’t lie. Something happened here. Proof comes when she rips up the attic’s carpet to discover a chilling message carved into the wood underneath. As Gwen delves into the history of the house and the Cold Harbor community, she begins to piece the fragments together. And gradually, a terrifying picture emerges: A missing girl. A house of horrors. And a dark, decades-old nightmare that is more haunting than Gwen ever imagined…

* THE ELEVENTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING MODESTY BLAISE SERIES * 'The finest escapist thrillers ever written' THE TIMES 'Before Buffy, before Charlie's Angels, before Purdy and Emma Peel, there was Modesty Blaise' OBSERVERModesty Blaise is about to retire from her criminal empire, the Network, a crime syndicate specialising in art theft and industrial espionage. But there is one final, astounding mission before she can leave and the Network is disbanded. Years later, she faces the consequences of this final mission when she and her faithful lieutenant Willie Garvin find themselves drawn into conflict with the mysterious group known as The Watchmen. The Watchmen have big plans, not least to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge. Modesty and Willie will need all their cunning to foil a fiendish plot to bring down western civilisation and save their own lives.