CLARE FRANCIS

After five years, lawyer Hugh Gwynne's most difficult case has finally come to court. His client Tom Deacon is claiming damages for post-traumatic stress after a car accident in which he witnessed the death of his young daughter by fire. The case is going well, it seems certain Tom will win the compensation that will enable him to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Then Hugh receives an anonymous letter that throws him into an impossible dilemma. To stay on the case is unethical, to withdraw will threaten its success, and Tom Deacon, revealing himself in an entirely new light, makes it clear that such treachery will not be forgiven.For Hugh the dilemma is intensified by the contrast between their lives: Tom tormented by flashbacks, jobless, with a broken marriage and two children he hardly sees; Hugh with what he regards as a blessed existence, a rewarding life as a jobbing solicitor and an intensely happy marriage to Lizzie, with whom he has two adopted children, Lou away on her gap year, and fragile, sensitive Charlie who seems to have overcome his personal demons. Then one night Hugh's life changes for ever.His happiness is snatched away, and he, like Tom, must face a lifetime of troubling memories. '"Homeland" is a thoughtful, deeply atmospheric novel' - "Daily Mail".

It is 1946 and service men are returning from the war to a land beset by food and job shortages. As anti-Polish refugee propaganda reaches its height, Wladyslaw Malinowski attempts to start a new life on a wetland farm. When death occurs it seems Wladyslaw will be held responsible.

Catherine Galitza has been attacked by an intruder and thrown down a stairwell. As she struggles to come to terms with her injuries, two very different men seem anxious to uncover the truth of what has happened. The police find a suspect, but someone is trying to keep him from talking.

Joe, struggling to survive his job in a law firm, is faced with the challenge of finding his childhood friend Jenna, who's been missing for four years. But has she disappeared through choice? Or is s

Glen Ashard idyllic Scottish home of ex-rock star Nick Mackenzie and his exotic wife Alusha. A haven of peace and security after all the years on the road. Until the day a small plane with a deadly chemical cargo flies off course . . . In the tragic aftermath, Daisy Field, environmental campaigner, picks up the trail. Abrasive and idealistic, shes determined to fight the profits before safety attitude of the agrochemical industry. But to win she needs Nicks millions, and Nick is facing difficulties of his own . . . From the wilds of Scotland to the corridors of power in London and Chicago, from Madison Square Garden to a seedy security firm in south London, Requiem pulls Daisy into a struggle against apathy, sabotage and dirty tricks . . .She writes with passion . . . undoubtedly her most ambitious novel to dateSunday ExpressMoving . . . a great storyMail on SundayPacy . . . intriguingThe Times

Catherine Galitza has been badly injured by an intruder in her own home. In the months before, there had been a string of nuisance calls. Are the events connected? Has someone been stalking her? As Catherine begins her slow and painful recovery, two men seem intent on uncovering the truth: her husbands business partner, the intense, prickly Simon Jardine, who harbours an almost obsessive devotion to Catherine; and the self-made Irish hotelier Terry Devlin, once a benign figure in Catherines childhood, now with a reputation for ruthlessness. But which of these men has Catherines real interests at heart? Then the police arrest and charge a suspect. Yet Catherines watcher is with her. And she has no way of knowing who she can trust.Crime novels with action to keep you guessing until the very endDaily Mail Clare Francis has serious crime-writing talentMail on Sunday

In the chill of the Cold War, two Norwegians are shot dead after straying into Soviet wilderness, killings that will bind together three people in a web of treachery and passion:Halvard Starheim, veteran explorer, torn by the deaths of his friends and his love for a beautiful woman,Ragna Johansen, the exquisitely attractive widow of one of the dead men on a desperate search for love and fulfilment,Rolf Berg, brilliant Norwegian journalist whose secret other life holds the key to a deadly conspiracy. The mission for the truth will lead them to a final confrontation in the freezing wastes of an Arctic wolf winter . . .A magnificent read. Move over Frederick Forsyth and Hammond InnesSunday Telegraph The classically structured spy thriller has rarely been better doneNew York Times

Lawyer Hugh Gwynne is facing his most difficult court case. His client Tom Deacon is claiming damages for post-traumatic stress after a car accident in which he witnessed the death of his young daughter. It seems certain Tom will win, but then Hugh receives an anonymous letter which throws him into an impossible dilemma.For Hugh the dilemma is intensified by the contrast between their lives: Tom tormented by flashbacks, and a broken marriage; Hugh with what he sees as a blessed and rewarding existence.Then one night Hughs life changes for ever. His happiness is snatched away, and he, like Tom, must face a lifetime of troubling memories.An expertly rendered tale with psychological tension, pyrotechnics, courtroom drama, good old-fashioned detection and some well-deployed red herringsGuardian Francis draws you in and keeps you guessingWoman & Home The plot intricate and the solution ingenious. A very good readScotsman Devilishly clever . . . this one really was unputdownableDaily Mail

Out of the savagery of the Paris barricades there was born the most sinister of all the terrorist groups of the late 1960s. Secretly funded by Moscow, trained in subversion and assassination in Italy, the Crystal Faction came to England. To wage war . . . For Nick Ryder of Special Branch, finding and infiltrating the cell presented a daunting challenge. Hampered by the deviousness of his own superiors and lack of cooperation from MI5, he was drawn slowly but inexorably into a tangled web of sex, drugs, murder, intrigue and lost innocence. And at the centre, Gabrielle Schroeder, leader of the Crystal Faction. A tough, daring, utterly ruthless woman for whom killing had become a pleasure . . .The climax is agonizing, and made only too horribly likely by the authors careful groundwork and ability to maintain suspenseBooks and Bookmen