Molly Penelope Hardwick has been abandoned in Haisborough Orphanage. Desperate to discover her background, she befriends another orphan, Lenny Smith. Together they sneak out to roam the city of Liverpool, and hatch plans for their escape.But when Molly is forced to leave the orphanage, Lenny has no idea where she’s gone. And when war is declared, he soon forgets about his childhood best pal to focus on his posting with the RAF in Scrimpton. What Lenny doesn’t know is that Molly is desperate to join the war effort, and with her sights set on joining the WAAF, chances are they will see each other again. But will things ever be the same after all this time?

    Klinger, editor and compiler of all three volumes of the Annotated Sherlock Holmes, this collection of ten original stories brings light to one of the least examined periods in the life of the great detective--his time in the former colonies, the United States. This Holmes is a youthful one--a young man not yet set upon his course in life and in his famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street. In Richard Lupoff 's Inga Sigerson Weds, he's come to America to represent the family at his sister's wedding. In My Silk Umbrella, Mark Twain narrates his fateful encounter with Holmes at a baseball game in Hartford, Connecticut; Steve Hockensmith narrates the meeting of the young William Gillette and the object of his later, most famous turn upon the stage; and Peter Tremayne reveals the intersection of Holmes and the Irish in the 19th century American midwestern landscape. With further stories by Marta Randall, Rhys Bowen, Peter Beagle, and others, the legend, the mythology and even the history of the world's greatest detective is further enhanced by these charming, clever and mystifying tales.

    In order to inherit the farm and all that goes with it, Parker must live in the house for a year: a house with no electricity, running water or bathroom. While living there she can modernize it, but she can’t move out. Her great-aunt, Rosie, has already selected a handsome contractor, and has drawn up the plans, all Parker has to do is approve them. There is no explanation why Rosie left all this to her instead of her own brothers. Curious about the family she never knew, Parker decides to stay, at least temporarily, and is confronted with her hostile grandfather who would do anything to chase her away, and gain control over the land he considers his birthright. Just walking through the small town proves to be an obstacle course as people step off the sidewalk to avoid her, or run off the road as they stare at her. Rumor has it Rosie has come back to haunt them. While work continues on the house, Parker discovers the journals Rosie kept from the time she was a little girl, telling of her life with an overbearing father and four brothers. Rosie also left letters to Parker instructing her to trust Shep Baker, the contractor, and to find out what happened more than sixty years ago, deepening the mystery for Parker. Shep is a slow talking cowboy with a mystery of his own. His grandfather was adopted as an infant, and Shep is looking for his extended family. But why did Rosie take such a liking to him when she was so nasty to others? Just more questions for Parker to find the answers to. The answers to her questions are in the journals, but finding the answers could prove fatal.

    But the women are also hiding a shameful secret…Present Day: When journalist Ally Niven escapes to the remote Scottish island of Battersay after a failed love affair, all she is looking for is a quiet life and a catering job for the summer. But from the outset someone is trying to scare her off and Ally soon discovers that the beautiful surroundings mask tensions among the people who are harbouring 'Birdwoman' - a feral young woman found on rocky Kulah. Ally is increasingly attracted to reclusive artist, John Balmain, who has also taken refuge on Battersay, but is elusive about his past. From John, Ally learns of a sinister prophecy which predicted the shipwreck and how Flora, the Flame-haired leader of the Kulah women, would wreak her revenge. Increasingly isolated and intimidated by bizarre attacks on her house and sightings of a lone woman in a blue headscarf that she cannot explain, Ally sets out to discover the truth behind the Kulah story and the secrets the broodingly handsome John is determined to keep from her; as the two stories converge in a shocking climax. This is MacLeod Trotter's second enthralling mystery.

    The young military widow leaves dozens of messages for her father but receives no response. Looking for a copy of her mother’s obituary, Roxie reads an article in the newspaper and discovers her entire life is a web of lies, secrets, and deceit. The story sends her off in search of the truth about the man she idolized. She drives to her father’s birthplace—Manhattan, Kansas—and moves into her grandmother’s huge, three-story, hundred-and-fifty-year-old house. It’s been vacant for decades, but Roxie begins to believe she’s not the only occupant. She doesn’t know if there’s an intruder or if the spirit of her grandmother is watching over her. In only a matter of days, someone has made several attempts on her life. She calls in her best friend, Janice Tallchief—retired on a disability from the Kansas City Police Department—to act as her bodyguard. Can Jan and Roxie unravel the mystery before the killer succeeds?