Her 25-year-old marriage to Phil has lost its sparkle.Carla is widowed. She understands life is short so she lives it to the full. But is her new romance all that it seems?When the two women meet in the beauty salon, they soon find they have more in common than the colour of their nails. The discovery that they are sharing the same man is shocking. How will Phil be taught a lesson or two he won't forget?

    She thinks she ought to be happy, but he isn't. Instead she feels that she has vanished, that she is like something lost down the back of the sofa. Because Alice has a secret that is never spoken of in the family: she can't read. Now timid, quiet Alice must start out on her own brave journey, and for it she chooses the strangest companion. For the first time in her life, she knows what she wants and she is going to get it. With the help of the book boy.

    Perfect for fans of Mandasue Heller and Kimberley Chambers. 'Dreda Say Mitchell is right up there at the forefront of British crime fiction' Simon Kernick Hayley swore when she got out of prison that she would turn her life around. But living on the Devil's Estate doesn't make that easy. She spends her days looking after her daughter, and her nights collecting cash from people who can't get loans any other way. But someone has just robbed her. And she has twenty-four hours to get the money back, or her boss will come for her. Her criminal ex-boyfriend says he can help. Hayley wants nothing to do with him. But time is running out, and she has to choose - save herself, or save her soul?If she makes one false move, her life will be over...

    From wronged wives to nosy neighbours, from distant dads to new-found family, from secrets to lies, fresh starts to false endings - and everything in between... A collection of brilliant short stories from the best writers around.This collections contains original stories from Fanny Blake, Louise Candlish, Mike Gayle, Mari Hannah, Sophie Kinsella, Jojo Moyes, Adele Parks, Ian Rankin, Mahsuda Snaith and Keith Stuart.

    A woman reports a crime to the police, with unexpected resultsThe grieving widow who finds that she's about to lose more than just her husband When a man attempts the perfect murder, it's not quite as easy as he thinksTwo men in prison play a deadly game of ScrabbleA young woman tries to trick an old man and gets more than she bargained forSometimes crimes are solved in ways you can't explain A murderer about to be hanged finds that's not the worst thing that can happenYou never know who's going to turn up at your door Original stories from Mark Billingham, Clare Mackintosh, James Oswald, Jane Casey, Angela Marsons, Harry Bingham, Antonia Hodgson and CL Taylor - specially written for Quick Reads.

    The only thing that the high-flying career girl is missing is love. When she spots a gorgeous man who seems to be following her everywhere she goes, she wonders if fate is trying to throw them together. But with her job on the line can she afford to make time for this handsome, mysterious stranger?

    He's seen a murder, and the gang on his estate are after him.Hurt, hungry and afraid, he comes to an abandoned house in a different part of the city. Behind its high fences is a place of safety. Here, he can hide like a wounded beast. He can find food, and healing - and learn how to do more than survive.But when Will meets Padma, he must choose between his good side and his bad one. For the gang he left behind is still there. How can he live without becoming a killer? How can he love without being a thief?Exciting, fast-paced and different, this is a story that keeps you reading until the last line.

    Lonely, unable to forget the things he has seen, and haunted by the ghost of his dead Captain, all that Rob has left is a picture of the Captain's family. Rob sets out to find them, hoping that by bringing them the picture, he can bring peace to the Captain's ghost - and to his own troubled heart.

    He is, however, confused . . .In Russia, businessman Richard plots the ideal way to murder his wife. He begins to have a clever idea when his hotel warns him: Don't Drink the Water from the taps.And as Diana, a busy single mother, drives to have dinner with friends, she realises that a black van is following her. Soon terrified for her life, she does whatever it takes to stick to the warning given to drivers: Never Stop on the Motorway . . .Every reader will have their favourite story – some will make you laugh, others will bring you to tears. And, as always, every one of them will keep you spellbound.Quick Reads is a World Book Day initiative.

    Desperate for a scoop, she finds instead a terrified woman living alone in a creepy manor house. Little by little, actress Margaret's haunting story of broken promises is revealed, and Barbara is left with a chilling discovery.

    A student house party means quick easy cash, but it also means breaking his own rules. But desperate times lead him there - and Jay finds himself in the middle of a crime scene

    

    His team is facing government cuts, tensions are building between Bradford’s two rival drugs gangs and his wife Saima is due to give birth any day now.So when bodies start turning up in the old industrial district, the pressure is on to get the case wrapped up as quickly as possible, or risk a full-scale gang war.But the man behind the murders is ruthless and pushy. And things are getting personal. Harry must think fast and bend the rules if he wants to keep his city, and his family, safe . . .

    They are gold miners and counterfeiters, attorneys and slaves. They cross other borders too: those of race, law, sex, and sanity. They travel for love or money, incognito or under duress.With rich historical detail, the celebrated author of Room takes us from puritan Massachusetts to revolutionary New Jersey, antebellum Louisiana to the Toronto highway, lighting up four centuries of wanderings that have profound echoes in the present. Astray offers us a surprising and moving history for restless times."The Hunt" was short-listed for the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.

    They’ve had word of a planned attack. That’s why he’s back here, opposite some suit who’s trying to tell him what he needs to do. But he knows exactly what’s required.Four men. Plain clothes. Eyes peeled.Three targets. Two cases. One car.Gibraltar isn’t an ideal location. Too many people. Too many blind alleys. But then again, he’s not the terrorist. Who knows what goes through their minds? Well, he will soon. If everything goes to plan.