An Instant New York Times Bestseller! An Instant Indies Bestseller! A scrappy former maid and jewel thief must outwit gods, injustice, and her own past in this sequel to the Indie Next Pick, Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. Let's get one thing straight - Vanja Schmidt wasn't trying to start a cult. After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous junior prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family . . . and whether they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now that lie is growing out of control—especially when Emeric arrives to investigate and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice. For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine if Vanja is guilty of serious fraud or if the Scarlet Maiden—and her claim to him—is genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that could be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but also the ties of her past. And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads, he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price? From the indie bestselling author Margaret Owen comes the thrilling next installment in the Little Thieves trilogy with all new interior illustrations from the author.

Like any small community, Linchester has its intrigues: love affairs, money problems, unhappy marriages. But the gossip is elevated to new heights when young Patrick Selby dies on the very night of his beautiful wife's birthday party. The whole neighbourhood was there, witness to the horrible attack of wasp stings Patrick suffered at the end of the evening. But did Patrick die of a wasp sting? Dr. Greenleaf thinks not. Heart failure, more likely. Still, Greenleaf isn't at peace about his death. After all, everyone in Linchester hated Patrick. With the help of a certain naturalist, Dr. Greenleaf begins to think about murder.

This is a unique and enlightened insight into mental illness. This book has taken the author over two decades to write. A must-read for all interested in not just the working of the human brain but also its breakdown. This is an exciting new work that uses the latest ideas of the functioning of the human brain to tell a dark but true story of its dysfunction. This is his first novel,his first work of fiction.

In the sequel to A Darker Magic, a grown-up Emily and her niece, Alice, return to Caledon to confront the dark forces of an evil magic. Facing pressures at home and the expectations of her pregnant mom, Alice can’t accept a summer job staging a Punch-and-Judy show at the library fast enough. As the show draws nearer, mysterious and frightening events take place and Alice’s strange Aunt Emily suspects that the truth might lie buried in the past. Will she and Alice be able to discover the dreadful secret that is sabotaging the puppet show in enough time to save themselves?

TALES OF HORROR FROM ENGLAND.