Margaret Mayhew

1940's England. The Battle of Britain. And the present day. Once a hardened reporter on a Fleet Street newspaper, Frank Carter's battle with alcohol cost him his job, and his adored wife, Jan. Now making a meagre living writing up weddings and local council meetings for the Milton Weekly Courier, he needs to sniff out a newsworthy story if he is to keep his job. His curiosity is aroused by rumours of a buried World War II Spitfire in a wood near the idyllic Sussex village of Fairfield. Despite bitter opposition from the locals, Carter decides to investigate, not least because he hopes this will enable him to see more of Sir Philip Dalrymple's lovely young wife. In this enthralling romance-cum-detective story, Carter's enquiries take him back into the recent, never-to-be-forgotten past, to 1940s England, when the Battle of Britain was raging in the skies.

The Colonel has been living in peaceful Dorset village Frogs End for nearly a year, and is well respected for his role in solving the murder of the late Lady Swynford. Out collecting for a ‘Save the Donkeys’ campaign, the Colonel discovers the ageing acting legend Lois Delaney dead in her flat. She lies naked and lifeless in her bath. Her eyes are wide with surprise, her mouth a little open. It appears to be suicide, but those closest to her know that she was looking forward to a grand comeback on the London stage. So why would she kill herself? The Colonel is haunted by the look frozen on Lois's face and must find out what really happened to one of his favourite actresses. He won’t rest till he discovers the truth.

Miss Kate Spencer's brother, the late Sir Harry, had been known to gamble to excess on occasion. But this was beyond the pale: he had wagered away Kielder Castle to the notorious gamester Richard Drew - with the spirited Kate still living there! Happily, Drew did not immediately turn Kate out onto the outlying moors. But he did proceed to ensconce himself at Kielder with every indication that he would stay. He hadn't yet reckoned with Kate or her campaign of collapsing ceilings and nocturnal ghosts, all created to discourage Drew from getting too settled - especially when Kate realized she could keep Drew out of sight, but not out of mind...

In his time living in the peaceful village of Frog’s End, the Colonel has learned that although the place looks as lively as a stagnant pond, there is plenty going on. When he receives a letter from an old friend of his late wife, telling him that ‘something horrible has happened’ and asking for his help, he is intrigued and happy to assist her. But when he travels up to see Cornelia, he is shocked by what he uncovers, and soon realizes that he must take the investigation into his own hands

Kirby England, a blunt and rugged nineteenth-century Yorkshireman, was born to poverty in the Dales, but climbed with ruthless ambition to become the rich and famous Railway King. He was surprised when a dying Quaker woman asked him to become guardian to her daughter until she came of age. Hester Gurney didn’t have what normally appealed to Kirby in a woman, though she did have a considerable fortune, which could further his grand schemes of building railways across England. But Hester proved full of spirit and contradictions, and in the end surprised herself and Kirby in ways that changed them both forever. A marvelously romantic tale of the building of the railroads in England in the 1830s and 40s.

Vigorous, self-reliant, amazingly resourceful, and moral, Natty Bumppo is the prototype of the Western hero. A faultless arbiter of wilderness justice, he hates middle-class hypocrisy. But he finds his love divided between the woman he has pledged to protect on a treacherous journey and the untouched forest that sustains him in his beliefs. A fast-paced narrative full of adventure and majestic descriptions of early frontier life, Indian raiders, and defenseless outposts, The Pathfinder set the standard for epic action literature.

"She lived only for pleasure ... until war forced her to find courage she did not know she had, and love where she least expected it. It is 1941, and while Britain is in the grip of war, life in the Far East is one of wealth and privilege. In Singapore Susan Roper, secure in the supremacy of the British Empire, enjoys dancing, clothes and fast cars, tennis and light flirtations with visiting naval officers - her life is devoted solely to pleasure. When she meets an Australian doctor who warns her of the danger that they all face she dismisses him as an ignorant colonial. Singapore goes on partying, oblivious to the threat of invasion. The British flag will, they believe, protect them from all enemies. But when Japan invades, Susan finds herself in grave danger. She become an ambulance driver and is taken prisoner by the Japanese. Gradually and reluctantly she realizes that she has fallen in love with the tough, arrogant and totally unsuitable doctor, but she has to face many hardships and witness terrible events before she can acknowledge the truth."--Jacket.

Set largely on the Essex coast before the war, Matt, Guy, and their cousin Lizzie meet up for holidays and bum around in an old boat. These are idyllic days of sun, and sea, the golden era of the thirties. Soon they were joined by two more -- Anna, a young Jewish refugee from Vienna, and Otto, sent from Berlin to an English public school in order to spy for his Nazi father. As time passed, the tensions between them grew. Otto and Guy became rivals at school, and despite his ingrained hatred of her race, Otto found himself fascinated by the beautiful Anna who despised him for his beliefs as much as she mocked Guy's conceit. Matt struggled to overcome his secret terror of the sea, while Lizzie battled her jealousy of Anna. But there was one perfect summer's day when they sailed together on the sunny blue water and, in unaccustomed amity, carved their initials on the port bow of the Rose of England. Then the war exploded all around them. It was May 1940 when their paths crossed again, on the desperate retreat from Dunkirk, when the little ship, against all the odds, sailed to the rescue.

Compelled by his ageing Aunt Augusta to take a wife or risk losing his inheritance, Lord Nicholas Strickland is in a quandary. He has no wish to marry at present, particularly not his aunt's favoured candidate, Miss Charlotte Craven. But he cannot endure the prospect of giving up his family home. Meanwhile, Charlotte is no more enamoured of Nicholas than he is of her. Intelligent and high-spirited, she is a young woman of determined character. With the help of her friend Amelia -- herself rather taken with Lord Nicholas's friend -- she sets out to confound Aunt Augusta's plans.

Set on the wild hills and moors of Yorkshire, The Master of Aysgarth is a story of passionate loves and feudal hatreds. The story of Alice Chell, who travels north to seek her fortune, is intertwined with the dark destinies and family secrets of the ancient, crumbling house of Aysgarth, and the lost jewelled cross that belonged to the ruined abbey there. As the twists and turns of passion and greed move toward an explosive crescendo, she finds herself inextricably involved in the tragic mysteries that surround her arrogant guardian – the Master of Aysgarth.

The Colonel is pleased when his old friend Geoffrey Cheetham invites him up to the village of Buckby for the weekend, to coincide with a RAF reunion event. His fellow guests at the Cheethams' B&B include a reunited Lancaster bomber crew. But the Colonel finds himself taking on the reluctant role of sleuth once more when tragedy strikes

A Lancaster bomber required a crew of seven men, flying nightly missions into the exploding skies over Germany: Piers the navigator, Van the pilot and Charlie the 17-year-old poetry-reading rear gunner, among them. And on the ground were the women who waited for them – praying each night for their safe return. An emotive, gripping, heart-wrenching novel of men and women at their best.

It was August 1943 - and the inhabitants of King's Thorpe had lived with the idea of invasion for some time – but by the Germans, not the Americans. The village had never seen anything like them before – certainly they were different with their wealth, their glamour, and their louche but romantic uniforms. Some of the older villagers, like the Brigadier, resented them on sight, others welcomed them with weak tea and fish paste sandwiches. But in some lives they were to make a long-lasting and emotional impact – most especially young Sally Barnet from the bakery, Agnes Dawe, the Rector's daughter, and newly-widowed Lady Beauchamp from the Manor.

The Colonel is busier than ever. The Frog End Players have enlisted his woodwork skills to build a set for their annual Christmas pantomime. This year, it's Hans Christian Andersen's dark fairytale The Snow Queen. Local busybody Marjorie Cuthbertson is on the hunt for her leading lady — and who better to play the icy queen than beautiful new resident Joan Dryden. But as interested as they are in their new neighbours, the residents of Frog End remain wary of the Dryden family, considering them snooty Londoners. Then tragedy strikes at the village party. One moment, a guest is enjoying a festive mince pie. The next, they are on the floor, clawing at their throat. A tragic allergic reaction, or bitter revenge?

It is 1943, and three very different girls are longing to do their bit for the war effort. For Frances, her life of seeming privilege has been a lonely one. Brave and strong, stifled by her traditional upbringing, she falls for a most unsuitable man. Prudence - timid and conventional, her horizons have never strayed beyond her job as a bank clerk in Croydon until the war brings her new experiences. Rosalind - a beautiful, flame-haired actress - catches the eye of Frances's stuffy elder brother, the heir to an ancestral mansion. The three become friends when they join the band of women working the canal boats, delivering goods and doing a man's job while the men are away fighting. A tough, unglamorous task - but one which brings them all unexpected rewards.

A romantic period novel set on a lonely, eerie English marsh, in the great days of smuggling. The most shocking thing that Tamazine had heard in her life was uttered by her father on his deathbed: "Blackmanstone..not yours when I'm gone." The only home she had ever know had been entailed to a stranger. When Joslan Penrose arrived to claim his inheritance..Tamazine felt the dark cold of the Romney Marsh grip her.

A thrilling Second World War saga - In the summer of 1936, a teenage German boy, Reinhard Richter, is sailing in his father’s yacht, Sturmwind, off Scotland. Moored in an island cove, he meets Stroma Mackay and is captivated by her. He persuades her to write to him in Hamburg, and their correspondence continues until war is declared. Reinhard joins the elite U-boat service, while Stroma serves as a plotter in the WRNS, helping fight the desperate battle against marauding U-boats - the wolf packs. It seems impossible that they will ever meet again.