Small Town & Rural

For years, rumors of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl....

 A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy best-selling author Richard Osman. Coming Autumn 2022! Pre-order your copy now....

Alaska, 1974. Untamed. Unpredictable. A story of a family in crisis struggling to survive at the edge of the world, it is also a story of young and enduring love....

If you leave the door half open, you will hear the whispers spoken.... Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son, Jake, move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start....

Beth loves her job working in a care home, looking after its elderly residents, but she doesn’t love the cramped and dirty house-share she currently lives in. So, when she gets the opportunity to move to Nightingale Square, sharing a house with the lovely Eli, she jumps at the chance....

Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds....

Helen is a retired teacher living on the Irish coast. She enjoys the peace and quiet—despite the burden of her unpleasant sister. One day, Helen sees a man struggling in the sea and decides to investigate. She doesn't quite know what it is, but something about it feels very strange....

I haven't killed anyone for three years, and I thought that when it happened again I'd feel bad. Like an alcoholic taking a sip of whisky. But no. Nothing. I had a blissful night's sleep....

Wedding Planner Ellie Moon is dreaming up the most beautiful bespoke wedding for Charlie and Daniel, owners of Cornwall’s favourite cream tea bus....

Cherry, Maggie and Rose are mother, daughter and granddaughter, each with their own hopes, dreams and even sorrows. They have always been close, so when, in a moment of impulse, Cherry buys a gorgeous but run-down pub in the village she grew up in, it soon becomes a family affair....

Shocking and controversial when it was first published, The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's Pultizer Prize-winning epic of the Joad family, forced to travel west from Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma in search of the promised land of California....

It is 1987, and a small Irish community is preparing for the wedding of two of its young inhabitants. They're barely adults, not so long out of school and still part of the same set of friends they've grown up with....

The mystery of Elizabeth Keane's father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh - not for lack of speculation....

Don’t miss the sweeping new summer audiobook from Fern Britton....

Eileen is sick of being 79. Leena's tired of life in her 20s. Maybe it's time they swapped places.... 

The Great War is over and Clara Carter has boarded a train bound for Cornwall – to meet a family that would once have been hers. But they must never discover her secret.... 

Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered....

Richard is a middle-aged Englishman who runs a B&B in the fictional Val de Follet in the Loire Valley. Nothing ever happens to Richard, and really that’s the way he likes it. One day, however, one of his older guests disappears, leaving behind a bloody handprint on the wallpaper....

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her twin. Too bad for Naomi, her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. Now, she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no home - and an 11-year-old to take care of....

Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. But when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down.... 

Beartown is a small town in a large Swedish forest. For most of the year it is under a thick blanket of snow, experiencing the kind of cold and dark that brings people closer together - or pulls them apart....

Mr Edgar Finchley, unmarried clerk, aged 45, is told to take a holiday for the first time in his life. He decides to go to the seaside. But Fate has other plans in store....

The first book in Bernard Cornwell's bestselling Grail Quest series....

Veronica McCreedy is about to have the journey of a lifetime....

Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife, Molly, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown....

A small town where pickup trucks rule, the farmer's market is bigger than the grocery store, and just about everyone goes to church on Sunday is the last place Henley Warren expects to find herself three months after her grandmother's death. But Gran left a list of things she needed Henley to do after she died, and fulfilling those wishes means spending a summer in the same place her mom fled from when she was only seventeen years old. With each task that is ticked off the list, events are set in motion that uncover secrets surrounding Henley's life.

As a successful book publicist, Imani Lewis works night and day to promote her authors. So when her grandmother invites her to stay for the summer as she recovers from surgery, Imani happily agrees. Zander Matthews wakes up every day determined to enjoy the present because he knows from his time in the Marines that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. But he’s never gotten over the beautiful woman who blew through town a year ago, then disappeared. So they agree to a deal: he’ll help Imani fix up her grandmother’s house as long as they stay firmly in the friend zone.

Eighty-two-year-old Mish Atkinson from Fair Valley, West Virginia, is determined she’s going to make something of the time she has left on this earth. When a text message on her new smart phone leads to an encounter with a woman she believes is Jesus, Mish is eager to obey the woman’s instructions to follow the love. She knows that Jeff, the gay pastor at her church, think she’s lost her marbles, but now that her husband is gone, she’s not going to let anyone put a damper on her sunshine.

When Avery Beckett is proposed to by Jude Masters, a widowed father and the man she loves, it should be a time of great joy. Instead, Avery is on edge. She’s wary of the idea of family, doubtful of happy endings, and too afraid to take the leap. It’s the kind of fear that comes from having secrets. Before Avery commits to a new life, she must reconcile with the one she left behind.

As soon as Zack Walters walked into that sticky bar, I knew he couldn’t put a sentence together without effort. To my surprise, I’ve learned that he’s not a man of many words. His actions speak much louder. He didn’t know what he was getting into when he mixed with me. Truth is, I didn’t know, either. That’s been my life. A laundry list of troubles isn’t what anyone wants, especially when it comes to one pint-sized person. It isn’t what I signed up for. It isn’t what Zack signed up for, either. But most of all, it isn’t what a child should have to go through alone.

Getting divorced and fired from your job don’t usually happen on the same day. But that’s exactly what happened to Will Kraft, a 40-year-old nonconformist teacher and father of two young boys. Seeking to find solace in the wilderness and map out a new life for himself, Will drives off alone to Montana. Mechanical problems force him to leave the car behind and continue by hitchhiking. He finally arrives in Montana, only to fall into the hands of a shadowy cabal that seeks to use Will to carry out their villainous agenda.

Doug is troubled on the inside. He's not young enough to allow himself to believe that he just hasn't found his place in life, because he thinks he has. Doug would have you believe that he's just a waste of space. That isn't the case at all. There is a magical town in Arkansas called Eureka Springs. This mystical little town has so much to offer that one may never get to experience it all. Doug and his family got to experience this place and bathed in its healing nature; they went floating for the first time ever. While the trip did not save his marriage, it did save the man's soul.

Beth loves her job working in a care home, looking after its elderly residents, but she doesn’t love the cramped and dirty house-share she currently lives in. So, when she gets the opportunity to move to Nightingale Square, sharing a house with the lovely Eli, she jumps at the chance. The community at Nightingale Square welcomes Beth with open arms, and when she needs help to organise a fundraiser for the care home they rally round. Then she discovers The Arches, a local creative arts centre, has closed and the venture to replace it needs their help, too.

I know two things with absolute certainty. Second chances don’t come easy. And I’m going to marry Emma Parker. Ten years ago, I was troubled and angry, looking for an outlet for my rage. To protect the people I love, I made the choice to join the Marines—and leave the love of my life behind. Emma moved on. But now we’re both back in our hometown, and I’m determined to earn her forgiveness. To show her we belong together. I’ve made loving her my mission, and I’m determined not to fail.  

Spurred to action after an evening of tequila-induced chatter among her girlfriends, Rose Fields decides it’s time to take a walk on the wild side. When she meets a sinfully sexy stranger with an Irish accent and learns he’s traveling through Heart Falls on a work trip, she knows he’s perfect in every way for a one-night stand. Except artist and entrepreneur Chance Gabrielle is planning a big move in a couple of months to be closer to his brother Cody, who works at the Red Boot ranch. Chance is ready to trade his life in Ireland for a fresh start in the town of Heart Falls. 

Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the 1910s was no longer a rough Western town. Electric lights, fancy hotels, new theaters, trolleys, and automobiles were changing how people traveled, did business, worshiped, and enjoyed themselves. Citizens viewed it as a modern city where life was "worth living". Until the night of March 23, 1912, when violence overtook Garrison Avenue—beginning with the shooting of a popular lawman, Andy Carr, and ending with the lynching of an innocent young Black man, Sanford Lewis.

In a broken-down Middle American town, the disintegration of a struggling family—its ambitions and emotions worn thin—is laid bare through the cold eyes of its only son. While studying at the local community college to finish his degree, he works what his divorced parents deem to be menial jobs and tries to stay out of their way, keeping his pitiless observations about their lives to himself. 

Ever since my very public divorce, I avoid men where I can. Until I find myself in a surprise shifter attack and a hot wolf rescues me. He says it’s safer for me to stay at his place for a while. It’s a crazy offer from a stranger, but he feels so safe and warm. But staying at his place turns out to be more challenging than I thought. There’s this chemistry crackling in the air, this barely contained passion. Is it just because I haven’t been with anyone for a while? Or is it the work of the magic that has affected the pack for so long? 

As a successful doctor in Los Angeles, Tucker Madsen left his small-town roots behind long ago, trading his flannel shirts for a glossy lifestyle and a beautiful fiancée. But when his mother requests his help to sell the family farm, Tucker reluctantly returns to a place that holds more memories than he cares to admit. Normal, Missouri, was the site of the golden days of childhood—and the blush of first love. Tucker fell in love with Emma McAllister at seventeen, but when youthful promises of forever ended in heartbreak, he and Emma both moved on. Or so they thought.

In the New England beach town of Stony Point, everyone is waiting for something. Or someone. They're waiting for an answer. Waiting for something to believe in. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for a friend. Some are waiting to come home. Others are waiting to make a move. Then, there's that shabby coastal table at twilight, awaiting a secret dinner guest. And The Seaside Saga continues.