Böcker av Sara Sheridan

*SELECTED AS THE WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022*'Compelling, fascinating . . . A cracking good read' Val McDermid'An evocative, enjoyable portrait of 1820s Edinburgh' Sunday Times'Lush, seductive' Daily Mail'Completely enchanting' Scotsman'A beautiful tale of scandal and intrigue' Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora***Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?It's the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event that only occurs once every few decades. When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which borders the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant's impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation. Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city . . . And when they are revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences . . .***'Dazzling, original, full of wonderful characters' Katie Fforde'An absolute treat for fans of historical fiction and rich storytelling' Red Magzine'Lively and generous-hearted, with an array of utterly engaging characters, this enchanting novel reads like a warm tonic for the soul' Mary Paulson-Ellis'As rare and lush as the Agave flower itself, The Fair Botanists is a richly realised, transportive delight' Rachel Rhys'Beautiful . . . Every sentence is a gift. If you love The Doll Factory or The Binding, you'll love this' Miranda Dickinson'Delightfully original, sensuous historical fiction, led by a charge of female characters as captivating and complex as the brightest of botanical flowers' Cari Thomas

First book in WWII-set series to be set in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is where the author lives, following the stylish sleuth, Mirabelle Bevan.

WWII is over but Mirabelle's time in the backrooms of Whitehall has made her the most stylish sleuth in Brighton.

Can you imagine a different Scotland, one where women are commemorated in statues and streets, hills and valleys? This is a guidebook to that alternative nation, where fictional streets, buildings and monuments are dedicated to real women, telling their often untold or unknown stories.

The new Mirabelle Bevan mystery

WWII is over but Mirabelle's time in the backrooms of Whitehall has made her the most stylish sleuth in Brighton. Perfect for fans of ITV's The Bletchley Circle.

1952, Brighton and London. When seventeen-year-old debutante Rose Bellamy Gore goes missing in a seedy Soho jazz club the prime suspect is black saxophone player, Lindon Claremont, the last person seen talking to her. Under suspicion, Lindon heads straight for Brighton and his childhood friend, Vesta Churchill who works with ex-Whitehall backroom girl Mirabelle Bevan, now in charge of McGuigan & McGuigan debt recovery. When Lindon is taken into custody the two women dive into London's underworld of smoky night clubs, smart cars and lethal cocktails to establish the truth.

1953, Brighton, London and Cambridge. Set during the summer heatwave of 1953, England Expects finds Mirabelle and Vesta investigating the seemingly unrelated murders of a racing journalist and a cleaning woman. Their searches lead them through Brighton Pavilion's crumbling passageways to the quad of a Cambridge college and, finally, into the shady underworld of freemasonry, where betraying secrets can cost you dearly. But this time has Mirabelle bitten off more than she can chew?

1954, Brighton, London and ParisWhen Mirabelle receives a bequest from a lately deceased wartime acquaintance she is mystified - she hardly knew the man but it is not long before she realises that he certainly knew her. She is drawn back to re-examine her memories of WWII and is shocked to find that other people's experiences do not chime with her own and more importantly, with what she knows of her erstwhile lover, Jack Duggan. Following the trail to the threads of what's left of the resistance movement in Paris, Mirabelle is forced to face secrets she didn't even know that she had.

'Feisty, intelligent and charming' James Runcie, author of the The Grantchester Mysteries1951, Brighton. With the war over and the Nazis brought to justice at Nuremberg, Mirabelle Bevan (retired Whitehall secretary) thinks her skills are no longer required. After her lover's death she retires to the seaside to put the past behind her and takes a job at a debt collection agency run by the charismatic Big Ben McGuigan. But when the case of Romana Laszlo - a pregnant Hungarian refugee - comes in, Mirabelle soon discovers that her specialist knowledge is vital. With enthusiastic assistance from insurance clerk Vesta Churchill, they follow a mysterious trail of gold sovereigns and corpses that only they can unravel.'Beneath that prim exterior lies a fearless, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal. One part Nancy Drew, two parts Jessica Fletcher, Mirabelle has a dogged tenacity to rival Poirot' Sunday Herald

1955. When Mirabelle Bevan is rescued from a fire at her home on the Brighton seafront she's lucky to escape unharmed - but the blaze takes the life of her neighbour, Dougie Beaumont, a dashing and successful racing driver living in the flat above. It soon becomes clear that this was arson, raising questions about the young man's death that Mirabelle can't resist investigating further. With her curiosity piqued and on the trail of a potential killer she finds herself taking on the mysterious world of Fleet Street with its long lunches and dodgy deals as well as the glamorous motor racing world at Goodwood. It gradually becomes clear to Mirabelle that Dougie Beaumont's life was not as above-board as it first seemed and that this talented man had many secrets, hidden when he was alive by his international lifestyle where he was constantly on the move. Then, when a second shocking murder takes place, Mirabelle's pursuit is frustrated first by Dougie's well-connected and suspicious family and then by the official investigation - led by her would-be lover Superintendent McGregor. With the help of her colleague at McGuigan & McGuigan Debt Recovery, Vesta, and some of her ex-intelligence service connections, Mirabelle discovers the dark secrets of the glamorous racing driver have ramifications far beyond the English coastline.

The official illustrated companion to ITV's Sanditon, Jane Austen's final incomplete novel

When Nessie finds an ancient map showing a network of Monster tunnels she decides to leave her life in Loch Ness and sets off on an adventure. She doesn't know if there are other monsters out there but she needn't worry,she discovers lots of new friends. The only trouble is that the tunnels are getting blocked with waste - so Nessie makes a plan.