Coming Soon: 'A Scandal Has Wings' by Graham Donnelly

 
Published The Book Guild Ltd
28 February 2025

In the mid-1970s, a rapidly growing college becomes a playground where young lecturers, barely older than their students, balance ambition with maturity. The competitive atmosphere, marked by jealousy and corruption, blurs the lines between innocent play and darker rivalries.

Lecturers, seen as professionals with full control over their classrooms, usually uphold their responsibilities. However, one day, indulgence and recklessness lead to a situation spiralling out of control, putting two lives at risk. The identities of those in danger and those who have endangered them remain a mystery, until two lecturers, the eager Gillian and the hesitant Roger, embark on solving it, leading to a scandal that will affect the futures of both lecturers and students, guilty and innocent alike.

Graham Donnelly was born in Homerton, London. He holds an Economics degree from the University of London and has a professional background in government service, banking, and lecturing in economics, politics, and management. While lecturing, he published several economics books. His novels reflect his deep interest in political and socio-economic history, a passion shaped by his varied career and academic pursuits. He now lives with his wife in Essex

Coming Soon: 'The East Ham Golem' by Barbara Nadel

Published by Allison & Busby,
20 February 2025. 

Book 9 in the Hakim & Arnold series 

The streets of East London are alive with different languages, cultures and religions. Private investigators Lee Arnold and Mumtaz Hakim are well-versed in the community’s tensions, the sad day-to-day reality that includes the desecration of graves at Plashet Jewish cemetery in East Ham. 

The vandalism of these final resting places leads to a disturbing discovery: one of the damaged coffins does not contain human remains but instead a sculpture of a man made of clay. This so-called ‘golem’, a term from Jewish myth given to a figure brought to life by supernatural means, proves intriguing to Arnold and Hakim, even more so when it is stolen from a police storage facility in an armed raid. 

The case leads the pair deep into London’s past and its connections to wartime Prague, and onto the trail of a priceless jewel worth killing for.

Barbara Nadel was born and brought up in the East End of London. She has a degree in psychology and, prior to becoming a full-time author, she worked in psychiatric institutions and in the community with people experiencing mental health problems. She is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikmen series and received the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger for the seventh novel in the series Deadly Web. There are now 24 books in the series. She is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikem series now adapted by the BBC as The Turkish Detective.
Barbara now lives in Essex.

Coming Soon: 'The First Husband' by Elisabeth Carpenter

Published by Bookouture, 31st January 2025.

I thought he was dead. I thought I was safe. Was I wrong?
In two days’ time, I’m getting married again. It’s bittersweet, after everything that happened. But when I look at my cheeky son and his loving, handsome father, I know I’m doing the right thing in moving on.
Then a card comes through the letterbox:
Two days to go. I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much. All my love, Callum.
Callum was my first husband. He disappeared eight years ago, leaving only secrets and pain behind. He’s dead.
But as my friends and family gather for my big day – all the same people who were there the night Callum vanished – my fear grows. Things go horribly wrong with the wedding plans. And then an anonymous note threatens my son.
Is someone playing a cruel joke, or is Callum really back? I have two days to find out who’s doing this to me… and learn the truth about what happened all those years ago.
Because I will do anything to protect my son. Even if it means destroying my life…

 

Elisabeth Carpenter lives in Preston with her family. She completed a BA in English Literature and Language with the Open University in 2008. Elisabeth was awarded a Northern Writers’ New Fiction award and was longlisted for Yeovil Literary Prize (2015 and 2016) and the MsLexia Women’s Novel award (2015). She loves living in the north of England and sets most of her stories in the area, including the novel she is writing at the moment. She currently works as a bookkeeper. 

https://elisabethcarpenter.co.uk