Showing results by author "Louise Douglas" in All Categories

When Edie’s mother-in-law, Anna DeLuca, dies, she is relieved. Edie blames Anna for the accident that destroyed her family. So, when her will lures Edie to Sicily and the long-abandoned Villa della Madonna del Mare, she sees through Anna’s games. Suspecting Anna is meddling from beyond the grave to try to reunite her and her ex-husband Joe, Edie is determined to leave Italy as soon as possible.

The seamstress is found in the darkened docks, floating, silenced. Those who found her are sure it must be a tragic accident, probably the result of too many drinks in a nearby public house. But journalist Nelly Brooks recognises the dead woman immediately – Nelly has her emerald shawl in her bag. Because they had met just one day before, when the seamstress had begged Nelly to investigate the death of the woman who’d given her that same shawl – a wealthy man’s wife.

When a tragedy forces the family Amy works for as a nanny to retreat to a small lakeside cottage, she realises they desperately need her help and support, so she agrees to go with them. But Amy finds the cottage by the lake unsettling, even sinister. The house is where the children’s mother spent her childhood - and the place where her 17-year-old sister disappeared mysteriously. Before long, ominous truths begin rising to the surface, and Amy becomes bewitched by the missing sister’s story. Can Amy unlock the secrets of the past before they repeat themselves?

In 1903, fishermen find a wrecked boat containing a woman, who has been badly beaten, and a young girl. In 1993, All Hallows is now a boarding school. Following his mother’s death and his father’s hasty remarriage, Lewis Tyler is banished to Dartmoor, stripped of his fashionable clothes, shorn of his long hair and left feeling more alone than ever. There he meets Isak, another lost soul, and whilst refurbishment of the dormitories is taking place, the boys are marooned up in the attic, in an old wing of the school.

When Elisabeth Quemener dies she leaves a small parcel with the instructions that it must only be opened by Astrid Oake. The trouble is, no one knows who Astrid Oake is… Elisabeth’s family turn to Touissants detective agency for help but, when Mila Shepherd and Carter Jackson try to track Astrid down, their frustration soon mounts. Their only clue is a photo of two young women holding the hands of a tiny child. The women are smiling but Mila is haunted by the sadness in their eyes. Is this Astrid and Elisabeth and if so, who is the child?

It’s summer and holidaymakers are flocking to the idyllic Brittany coast. But when first an old traveller woman dies in suspicious circumstances, and then a campaign of hate seemingly drives another victim to take his own life, events take a very dark turn. Mila Shepherd has come to France to look after her niece, Ani, following the accident in which both Ani’s parents were lost at sea. Mila has moved into their family holiday home, as well as taken her sister Sophie’s place in an agency which specialises in tracking down missing people, until new recruit Carter Jackson starts.

As wild fires creep a devastating path towards the idyllic town of Morranez, a vulnerable girl goes missing. But was she taken - or was she escaping. The summer is the hottest yet in the Brittany coastal town of Morranez, but when a new case lands on the desk of the Toussaints detective agency, there can be no time to relax. As wild fires bear down on the town, the alert goes out for a missing girl. Nineteen-year-old Briony Moorcroft has seemingly been taken from her sleepy Welsh village and brought to France.

In the long, hot summer of 1995, 22-year-old Alice Lang rents a caravan on a holiday park on the outskirts of the lively holiday resort of Severn Sands. She befriends Marnie, a shy, damaged little girl whose father is the park's caretaker and whose mother died a few months earlier. Will, whose mother runs the bar, falls in love with Alice and is unbearably jealous of anyone else she sees. Tensions rise until one evening Alice disappears from her caravan. She's never seen again, and only her scarlet dress is found washed up on the shore.

1968, Sicily. Just months after an earthquake has destroyed the mountain town of Gibellina, Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are making their way back to the family home, Villa Alba. When their car breaks down, Enzo leaves his young wife to go and get help, but when he returns there is no trace of Irene. 2003. TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter asks her friend for help to prove her father’s innocence.

Hannah Brown thought she had put the past behind her. But now it's coming to find her.... Hannah never dreamed she'd have a best friend like Ellen Brecht. Ellen is everything Hannah wants to be - beautiful, daring, glamorous and powerful. Growing up together in windswept Cornwall, life seems perfect. But their idyllic childhood is shattered by obsession, betrayal and, ultimately, a terrible tragedy.

Having escaped to the south coast of Sicily to recover from a broken heart, Sarah is immediately drawn to charming and mysterious Alex. He too is looking for a fresh start after the end of his marriage, and Sarah can’t resist Alex’s offer of a new life together. But when Sarah joins Alex in a tiny Somerset village, something doesn't add up. Alex's beautiful wife, Genevieve, was adored by all who knew her. And by all accounts, she and Alex had a successful marriage complete with a gorgeous son, Jamie.

Olivia and Luca Felicone have known each other nearly all their lives, but when they fall in love as teenagers and elope, they break the hearts of those closest to them. Luca’s parents run Marinella’s restaurant, the colourful hub in the otherwise bleak seaside town of Watersford, and his mother, Angela, can never forgive Olivia for causing such a rift in her beloved family. On a freezing January night, Olivia’s life is shattered when she learns that Luca has been killed in a car accident.

Milly Johnson Fen is devoted to her young son, Connor, but she keeps herself to herself. Haunted by guilt and a terrible secret, Fen lives isolated from her family, far from home and too afraid of the past to risk becoming close to anyone. She is constantly looking over her shoulder, knowing that one day the truth will catch up with her. Sean is enjoying a seemingly perfect life. He has a successful career, lives in his dream home and adores his beautiful wife, Belle, and their six-year-old daughter, Amy. That is until the day Belle announces she wants Sean to move out.

Annie Howarth is living an anxious life in an anxious town. Her mining community in South Yorkshire is feeling the pinch, and tensions are running high. Then a murdered girl is found on the moors and the agitation in the community is pushed to a dangerous breaking point. As the wife of the chief of police, Annie should feel safe - her husband, William, can be secretive, but she’s sure whatever he's hiding is for her own good, isn’t it?

25 years ago, two-year-old Evie Albert disappeared without a trace from the Brittany seaside town of Morranez. So, when a stranger called Nicole Stevenson walks into the offices of Touissants Detective Agency declaring herself the missing girl, Mila Shepherd and her colleague Carter Jackson are suspicious. They are inclined to agree with Nicole’s sisters Imogen and Charlotte, that for whatever reason, Nicole is a fantasist looking for attention. But as Mila and Carter reopen the case of the missing toddler, a twisting tale of misdirection, a secret society and a forgotten mother slowly unfolds

Fen works in a bookshop and is devoted to her young son, Connor, but she keeps herself to herself. Haunted by guilt and a terrible secret, Fen lives a compromised life, isolated from her family, far from home and too afraid of the past to risk becoming close to anyone. She is constantly looking...

A Richard and Judy recommendation for the 2012 Summer Book Club, this is a brilliant Gothic novel in the vein of Daphne du Maurier. A chance encounter: When Sarah meets dark, brooding Alex, she grasps his offer of a new life miles away from her own. They've both recently escaped broken...

Before Ellen, things were easier and less complicated. They were either good or bad, right or wrong, black or white and I understood the difference. Since Ellen, everything has been coloured in shades of grey. From the author of THE SECRETS BETWEEN US, part of the 2012 Richard and Judy Summer...

Annie Howarth is living a restless life in a restless town. It's 1984 and for a mining community in South Yorkshire, the strikes mean tensions are running high. Then a murdered girl is found on the moors and the anxiety levels are pushed to a dangerous breaking point. Married to the Chief of...

‘I miss him with every breath and heartbeat. He should have been my happy ending. Instead, he is the sad beginning to my story.’ Olivia and Luca Felicone had known each other nearly all their lives, but when they fell in love as teenagers and eloped to London, they broke the hearts of those...