1361. An unlucky thirteen years after the Black Death, plague returns to England. 'Fear and hysteria are portrayed with claustrophobic skill' THE TIMES 'Dark and enthralling... with an unexpected hero' JULIE COHEN From the bestselling author of Company of Liars, Karen Maitland, The Plague Charmer is a darkly compelling novel following a stranger who arrives in an isolated community in the grips of a medieval pandemic. When the sickness reaches the village of Porlock Weir, who stands to lose the most? And who will seize this moment for their own dark ends? The dwarf who talks in riddles? The mother who fears for her children? The wild woman from the sea? Or two lost boys, far away from home? PESTILENCE IS IN THE AIR. BUT SOMETHING DARKER LURKS IN THE DEPTHS. Why readers are gripped by The Plague Charmer 'Its horrors are vividly told but with an underlying sense of human resilience and hope' 'A real page turner' 'The best and worst of human behaviour in troubled times' 'Poignant, shocking and haunting' 'It was so easy to be drawn into this world...'

The year is 1348 and the first plague victim has reached English shores. Panic erupts around the country and a small band of travellers comes together to outrun the deadly disease, unaware that something far more deadly is -in fact - travelling with them. The ill-assorted company - a scarred trader in holy relics, a conjurer, two musicians, a healer and a deformed storyteller - are all concealing secrets and lies. And at their heart is the strange, cold child - Narigorm - who reads the runes. But as law and order breaks down across the country and the battle for survival becomes ever more fierce, Narigorm mercilessly compels each of her fellow travellers to reveal the truth ... and each in turn is driven to a cruel and unnatural death.

The Falcons of Fire and Ice by Karen Maitland, author of the hugely popular Company of Liars, is a powerful historical thriller which takes you right back to the darkest corners of the 16th century. Intelligently written and meticulously researched, it is a real treat for all fans of CJ Sansom and Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. 'A tour de force: dark and woven with the supernatural' Daily Mail 1564, Lisbon. The Inquisition displays its power and ruthlessly spreads fear. Heretics are tortured and burned. Any who oppose the Church's will realize that silence is preferable to a slow and agonizing death. Isabela, daughter of the Falconer at the Royal Court, is about to be caught in the Church's terrifying schemes. The slaughter of two of the King's precious white falcons sees her father arrested and imprisoned. As punishment he and his family will be killed unless the birds are replaced. Isabela, young and headstrong, decides that only she can save her father. These birds are impossibly rare, and she will have to travel far and into strange lands to find them to clear her father's name. It is a journey that will take her into a dark and dangerous world filled with menacing people driven by fearful beliefs. And, unfortunately for Isabela, the Church has sent a companion to ensure she never returns . . . Step back in time with Karen Maitland's Dark Tales and discover a world full of imagination in The Falcons of Fire and Ice - 'a thrilling horrible vision of the Dark Ages' Metro Karen Maitland travelled and worked in many parts of the United Kingdom before finally settling in the beautiful medieval city of Lincoln. She is the author of The White Room, Company of Liars, The Owl Killersand The Gallows Curse. The latter three titles are available as Penguin paperbacks.

"In this science fiction thriller, brothers are pitted against each other as a pandemic threatens to destabilize world governments by exerting a subtle mind control over survivors"--

From the New York Times bestselling author of Room, a young French burlesque dancer living in San Francisco is ready to risk anything in order to solve her friend’s murder—but only if the killer doesn’t get her first. Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to justice—if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers, and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women, and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts. In thrilling, cinematic style, Frog Music digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue's lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other. "Her greatest achievement yet . . . Emma Donoghue shows more than range with Frog Music—she shows genius." —Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life.

In 1321, the English town of Ulewic teeters between survival and destruction, faith and doubt, God and demons. Against this intense backdrop, a group of women have formed a beguinage, a self-sustaining community of women. Led by the strong-willed Servant Martha, these women are committed to a code of celibacy and prayer, hard work and charity that is unsanctioned by the all-powerful church. Still, the villagers have come to rely on this remarkable group of women for their very lives. And seeking shelter among them now is the youngest daughter of Ulewic’s lord, a man who holds power over them all. But when a series of natural calamities strikes, the beguinage’s enemies make their move, stirring the superstitious villagers with dark rumors of unspeakable depravities and unleashing upon the defiant all-female community the full force of their vengeance in the terrifying form of the Owl Killers. Men cloaked in masks and secrecy, ruling with violence and intimidation—the Owl Killers draw battle lines. In this village ravaged by flood and disease, the women of the beguinage must draw upon their deepest strength if they are to overcome the raging storm of long-held secrets and shattering lies.

Almost overnight a plague has wiped out the population of England. The only survivors seem to be three very different teenagers. Together they must come to terms with the man-made devastation around them. Fran, Harriet and Shahid have the power to rebuild society, but do they have the courage?