Recommendations based on "The Darker Arts"

“Read this in about two sittings—absolutely loved it. Dazzlingly clever and beautifully twisty. Don’t miss it!!”—Emilia Hart, author of Weyward The gripping follow up to the “smart, stylish, and savage” (People) New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick The Club—a twisty mystery involving a cursed wealthy family and a Surrealist painting which holds the key to three suspicious deaths over the course of a century. Some women won't be painted out of history . . . Everybody knows that in 1938, runaway heiress artist Juliette Willoughby perished in an accidental studio fire in Paris, alongside her masterpiece Self Portrait As Sphinx. Fifty years later, two Cambridge art history students are confounded when they stumble across proof that the fire was no accident but something more sinister. What they uncover threatens the very foundation of Juliette’s aristocratic family and revives rumors of the infamous curse that has haunted the Willoughbys for generations. But what does their discovery mean? And how is it connected to a brutal murder in present-day Dubai? A tale of love and madness, obsession and revenge, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby unravels the riddle posed by a Sphinx who refuses to reveal her secrets . . .

The start of a thrilling new Second World War mystery series from the number-one-bestselling and multi-award-winning author of Murder Most Unladylike .'Superb' Observer'Meticulous and sharp' Guardian'Engaging . . . You will make the journey with a spring in your step' The Times'Robin Stevens is Agatha Christie for children' Katherine Rundell on the Murder Most Unladylike series1940. Britain is at war, and a secret arm of the British government called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up spies.Enter May Wong : courageous, stubborn, and desperate to help end the war so that she can go home to Hong Kong (and leave her annoying school, Deepdean, behind forever). May knows that she would make the perfect spy. After all, grown-ups always underestimate children like her.When May and her friend Eric are turned away by the Ministry, they take matters into their own hands. Masquerading as evacuees, they travel to Elysium Hall, home to the wealthy Verey family - including snobby, dramatic Nuala . They suspect that one of the Vereys is passing information to Germany. If they can prove it, the Ministry will have to take them on.But there are more secrets at Elysium Hall than May or Eric could ever have imagined.And then someone is murdered...'Spirited and fun . . . A must for young murder mystery fans' Bookseller

“Quinn evocatively balances the outward cheerfulness of the 1950s with historical observations exploring racism, misogyny, homophobia and political persecution in this sharply drawn, gripping novel.” - People Magazine The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst? Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test. A beautiful, foil cover, first edition.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst?Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test.

Sweetpea soon to be a major TV series starring Ella Purnell Readers LOVE C J Skuse 'Perfect for fans of a snarky narrative' NetGalley reviewer 'I absolutely loved it' NetGalley reviewer [Bokinfo].

The big new novel by the bestselling author of WHISPERS IN THE SAND: a gripping tale of witchcraft and romance, past and present, as her modern-day characters are caught up in a battle that has been raging for hundreds of years. Across the peninsular the mist rolled in, its icy fingers curling up the cliffs. Inside their houses people stirred in their sleep and children cried in the dark. The parish of Manningtree and Mistley has a dark history. In 1644, with England in the grip of a Puritan government, Matthew Hopkins, Cromwell's Witchfinder General, tortured scores of women there, including Liza, the herbalist, whose cottage still stands in Mistley, and Sarah Paxman, the daughter of the manor. And today the spirits of Hopkins and his victims haunt the old shop in the High Street, they say. Emma Dickson has given up her high-flying career to live in Liza's cottage, but now she is being driven half-mad by visions of the past; of Sarah's battle to save herself and Liza from the Witchfinder. In despair, Emma turns to the local rector for help, but he, too, is in the grip of something inexplicable -- something which threatens Emma. And, as the feast of Halloween approaches, Emma is caught up in a struggle that has been raging for centuries, as old enemies reach out across the years for their revenge. Can she stop the forces unleashed from the past wreaking their devastation in the present?

The Brand-new, Gripping Historical Novel From The Sunday Times Bestselling Author Of Lady Of Hay! ‘warmth, Depth, Mystery, Magic And The Supernatural ... Such A Beautiful Book!’ Bestselling Author Santa Montefiore

The Start Of A Thrilling New Second World War Mystery Series From The Number-one-bestselling And Multi-award-winning Author Of Murder Most Unladylike. 1940. Britain Is At War, And A Secret Arm Of The British Government Called The Ministry Of Unladylike Activity Is Training Up Spies. Enter May Wong: Courageous, Stubborn, And Desperate To Help End The War So That She Can Go Home To Hong Kong (and Leave Her Annoying School, Deepdean, Behind Forever). May Knows That She Would Make The Perfect Spy. After All, Grown-ups Always Underestimate Children Like Her. When May And Her Friend Eric Are Turned Away By The Ministry, They Take Matters Into Their Own Hands. Masquerading As Evacuees, They Travel To Elysium Hall, Home To The Wealthy Verey Family - Including Snobby, Dramatic Nuala. They Suspect That One Of The Vereys Is Passing Information To Germany. If They Can Prove It, The Ministry Will Have To Take Them On. But There Are More Secrets At Elysium Hall Than May Or Eric Could Ever Have Imagined. And Then Someone Is Murdered...

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.

Radcliffe Emerson, the irascible husband of fellow archaeologist and Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, has earned the nickname "Father of Curses" -- and at Mazghunah he demonstrates why. Denied permission to dig at the pyramids of Dahshoor, he and Amelia are resigned to excavating mounds of rubble in the middle of nowhere. And there is nothing in this barren area worthy of their interest -- until an antiquities dealer is murdered in his own shop. A second sighting of a sinister stranger from the crime scene, a mysterious scrap of papyrus, and a missing mummy case have all whetted Amelia's curiosity. But when the Emersons start digging for answers in an ancient tomb, events take a darker and deadlier turn -- and there may be no surviving the very modern terrors their efforts reveal.