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Last Plane Out by John Dudley Ball


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The Herb Gatherers


Elizabeth Harris - 1991
     The tormented spirit of mysterious Alienor, a once beautiful young woman abandoned by her Crusader lover centuries ago, relentlessly follows him. In ways that he has never understood, Rafe is cursed by her powerful and obsessive love, which has endured across the ages, taunting him and visiting him in his dreams... Who is Alienor? What does she want? And what lengths will she go to seek her revenge? Yet Rafe is not the only one who is still suffering at the hands of Alienor’s wrath and when he agrees to take part in a séance whilst on holiday in Crete, he receives a message that changes his life forever. It leads him on a trail to the quiet Kent countryside and there, as if waiting for him, is Nell Gurney. Her resemblance to Alienor is uncanny and he is instinctively drawn to her. Initially oblivious to any growing danger, Nell and Rafe quickly become close, driven by a strange sensation that they already know each other. But someone else intrudes upon them in a horrifyingly intimate manner and tries to hint that identity is no longer a matter of personal choice... Beneath the cosy exterior of the cottage Nell shares with her father, there is a dark secret that has shaped the lives of the Gurney family for centuries. As the forgotten story of a scorned woman comes to life, Nell and Rafe are mirrors for a force that has the power to destroy them. When tragedy strikes, Rafe’s friend Stephen and a bewitching, chilling exploration into the practise of exorcism is their only hope... Praise for Elizabeth Harris ‘Enormously enjoyable … hard to put down. Elizabeth Harris writes with sensitivity and skill and a spine-chilling eye for the sinister’ - Barbara Erksine, author of Lady of Hay Elizabeth Harris was born in Cambridge and brought up in Kent, where she now lives. After graduation she hid a variety of jobs including driving a van, being a lifeguard and working in the Civil Service. She has travelled extensively in Europe and America, and lived for some years in the Far East. Elizabeth Harris was one of the finalists of the 1989 Ian St James Awards.

Year of the Dog: A Novel


Shelby Hearon - 2007
    She flees to Burlington, Vermont, home of Aunt May, her mother's only living relative. There she adopts Beulah, a Labrador puppy in training to become a companion dog for the blind. Not for a moment does Janey suspect that this "year of the dog" will change her life forever.Shelby Hearon is an acknowledged master at illuminating the nuances of relationships. In Year of the Dog, she explores the surprising ways that the heart heals after a betrayal. While Janey is training Beulah, Beulah leads Janey to a new love, James Maarten, a smart, "fidgety" teacher they meet at the dog park. As Janey soon discovers, James has suffered a betrayal of his own that makes it hard for him to open up and trust her with even the smallest details of his past. While Janey tries to help James, she also reaches out to her enigmatic Aunt May, a retired librarian reputed to be the friend, perhaps even the lover, of popular mystery writer Bert Greenwood. When Janey attempts to solve the twin mysteries of why her great aunt has distanced herself from the family—and what her true relationship is with Bert Greenwood—Beulah provides the clues that lead Janey to uncover the secrets of her aunt's life. By the time Beulah's stay with Janey comes to an end, the people whose lives she's linked will discover that healing and reconciliation can come in the most unexpected ways.