I am obsessed with the new historical series by Karen Swan. I recommend you read the first book, The Last Summer, before you sit down to devour The Stolen Hours, set on the remote island of St Kilda.
Set in 1929, Mhairi MacKinnon needs a husband so she reluctantly agrees to travel to another island, but things don’t go to plan when Mhairi returns engaged, but she has lost her heart to another. But then word comes that St Kilda will be evacuated, and when a dead body is found left behind, Mhairi and her friends are under a shadow of suspicion.
There is everything to love about these novels that are based on an intriguing real-life event in history – the evacuation of an entire Scottish island.
'A gripping new series . . . beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers' - Santa Montefiore on The Last Summer
A reluctant bride. A forbidden romance. An island full of secrets . . .
It's the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear he can't support her past the coming winter. On the small, Scottish island of St Kilda, her options are limited. But the MacKinnons' neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on distant Harris also in…
Lou is a ‘scorned dreamer’ chewed up and spat out from an acting career in L.A. But when he shares a drink with a stranger wearing a fedora hat; this seemingly chance encounter sets Lou on the adventure of a lifetime. Mistaken for a rogue assassin known as ‘El Flamingo’, he is swept into a dangerous world of Latin-American espionage, where he only has his wits to survive.
El Flamingo is a perfectly crafted sunset-noir novel that engages from the opening page to the satisfying conclusion. Lour Galloway is an unforgettable character full of self-deprecating wit, and the plot is the perfect blend of action, intrigue, and romance, all with an exotic Latin-American vibe.
This is the story of a dreamer reaching for the impossible, and it’s a tale infused with heart and soul.
With no role in sight and nothing to lose, actor Lou Galloway leaves Los Angeles and heads to Mexico to drown his sorrows in cheap mezcal. But, after a round too many, he soon ends up at a grandiose wedding in the mansion of internationally wanted crime lord, Diego Flores, where Lou is mistaken for a rogue assassin known simply as El Flamingo. Before he can escape, he meets Maria-Carla, an enigmatic beauty with incredible perfume, and he inconveniently falls in love at first sight. When it becomes too late to turn back, Lou is swept into the dangerous world…
Set in 1914 in Fiji, 25-year-old Akal Singh, would rather be anywhere else in the world than in this far-flung colony. But then an indentured Indian woman goes missing from a sugarcane plantation, and Akal is assigned the case.
Those in the plantation say she has run off with the overseer, the newspaper headlines scream it is a kidnapping. Akal is keen to prove himself, but he quickly finds himself invested in the case for many more reasons as the cruelties of the indenture system are revealed in shocking clarity.
A Disappearance in Fiji is charming and full of warmth and wit. The characters are created with a great deal of heart and empathy, and this page-turning mystery also shows the impact of colonialism in Fiji with care and nuanced historical detail.
1914, Fiji: Sergeant Akal Singh would rather be anywhere than this tropical paradise - or, as he calls it, 'this godforsaken island'. After a promising start to his police career in Hong Kong, Akal has been sent to the far-flung colony of Fiji as punishment for a humiliating professional mistake. Lonely and embarrassed, he dreams of…
Warsaw, 1939. Four friends picnic on a summer’s day, aware of the rumbles of war, but hopeful that in any conflict Poland will have the upper hand. But only months later Poland surrenders and pilot Rafael is ordered to flee the country. The other three remain in Nazi-occupied Warsaw – Rafael’s spirited wife, Celina, his brooding brother Marek, and their plucky friend Anna. Danger lurks on every corner of occupied Warsaw…
A page-turning story that spans the period of the Second World War, this is a dramatic historical adventure that goes from Warsaw to Lublin, from Bucharest to Paris, from London to the Concentration Camp at Ravensbruck – but always at the heart of this novel is the mesmerising city of Warsaw – ‘The Paris of the East.’
