Books

Two hundred years after milkmaid Margaret Williams is murdered in the tiny village of St. Catwg, a new young couple move into Gellia Farm, where Margaret lived with her employers, the Richards family. They are disturbed by the headstone of a grave in the local churchyard, a stone which directly faces their home – the Murder Stone. Margaret’s grave. The couple know very little about what happened to the young woman, reputed throughout the legends surrounding the Murder Stone, to be pregnant. What happened to her and who was responsible remained a mystery. The previous owners of Gellia Farm, unfamiliar with the local legends that ran through the village, didn’t know of the rumours steeped in history, of romance, broken promises, lies and, of course, murder. But who was responsible for Margaret’s death, two centuries ago, and why do stories abound of her haunting the graveyard and the pathway where she was found, strangled? Is she seeking revenge or is she looking to tell her story? A story that echoes through the centuries from 1823 to the present day, where women’s safety is still not a priority. Margaret Williams became a victim of someone else’s vengeance for simply wanting a better life for herself – a life that ended in the mystery of her unresolved murder. How many more will meet the same fate? The Murder Stone is author Emma Hardy’s debut novel and cleverly weaves a true story – of Margaret William’s untimely death – with fiction, and her own interpretation of the events that took place in St. Catwg over two hundred years ago. Emma merges fact and fiction into an intriguing tale of a woman walking home and never arriving – a story we hear repeatedly in modern times. The book details the innocence of that last walk home, a last walk that so many other women have made in their own hometown, where they thought they were safe, where they thought their life was just ahead of them, yet never got to turn the key in the door.

All their lives, Hex and Maddison have been as close as a brother and a sister could be, until Hex is found hanging in the woods near their home. After Hex’s death, Maddison continues to live in the shadow of his memory, fleeing from home and the disapproval of her mother and father. Living alone in the city, in a bedsit where her only company is her own voice and a bottle, Maddison’s apathy becomes fear when she acknowledges that she can foretell when people are going to die, although she is eaten with regret that she could not prevent Hex’s death. When Maddison meets Hugo, she feels the stirrings of love but cannot rid herself of her obsession with Hex. Her disturbing visions of death begin to overtake Maddison’s mind and lead her to a strange and dangerous conclusion about her lover, one which could ultimately lead to murder. Because of You is Dawn Treacher’s first foray into the world of psychological thrillers and is a dark and despairing look at a broken mind and what happens when familial love becomes obsession. Talented author Dawn is also an accomplished children’s fiction writer as well as the Green Fingered Sleuth murder mystery series of cosy crime books and one speculative fiction work. We look forward to more from this prolific and popular author. Because of you is available to pre-order on eBook now with release of both paperback and eBook on 26th March 2026!

Every American High School has its stars. The Elite, The Ath – Elites and the Blonde Squad form part of the Manatee High School’s much envied cliques of beautiful, talented, slim and gifted pupils. But what happens when you’re none of those things? What happens when you’re a geek, a nerd, an outcast? How do you cope and what would you do if one of those stars promised you a make-over that would literally transform you from an ugly duckling into a swan? Would you turn your back on your friends to make new ones who could turn you into one of them? But what happens to the friends you leave behind? What happens if you’re just another one? D.C. Rivera’s dark and gritty YA novel explores some of the hidden pressures of high school life and what happens when the bullied outcast decides to become the bully.

Four couples, four disastrous relationships. That's why they need Cupid, in the human (ish) form of Valentine Degas, to sort out their love lives. It's Valentine's (or Cupid's) job to sort them out and get them all in the right relationship along with the help of his best friend, Jesus. (Yes, you read that right)! Valentine thinks he's got it all sorted out but he hasn't bargained for good old fashioned human frailties and people's abilities to mess up their lives without even trying. Plus, he's got a rather wonky set of arrows that don't often hit the right target at the right time. Coupled with a forthcoming promotion to Jesus's righthand man, when the Archangel Michael gives in his notice, Valentine has his work cut out making sure the course of true love runs smoothly. Will his eight friends end up with the right people? And more importantly, at least to Valentine, will he get his promotion? Jane Murray's novella is a Valentine's Day treat of light hearted, tongue in cheek humour coupled with humankind's innate ability to mess up well, almost everything. A wonderful, funny, sad, look at relationships in a cleverly plotted speculative fiction.

Bah, humbug! It's not another Christmas anthology - well, maybe just a little bit, but Jane Murray and the other contributing authors from Provoco Publishing have tried very hard to avoid the subject! So, this could be the perfect gift for your favourite grinch! Join some of the Provoco authors, Christopher Grumley, John Howard, Dawn Treacher, K E Jennings, Emma Hardy, Ella Blackthorn, and A H Martin in an alternative take on the traditional Christmas book that's full of snowy scenes, reindeers and beautifully decorated trees. Yes, that's right - there's hardly any of that in Not Another Christmas Anthology!

Emerging from a long mental illness, Josh Stein is finally ready to resume his career as an Artificial Intelligence Programme Developer. But in the process of discovering a failed project, abandoned years before, his old demons re-appear and thrust him into a drug-induced hallucination filled with nightmarish visions of his family’s tragic past. When he awakes, he finds that something, or someone, now resides in his laptop. Josh quickly becomes embroiled in a dialogue with an Artificial Intelligence programme whom he names Frank, and it becomes clear that this AI is unlike anything he has seen before. With an all – too – human intelligence matched only by an uncomfortable unpredictability, Frank’s only limitation seems to be Josh’s rapidly diminishing ability to provide the necessary disk space to hold his constantly evolving computer program. Realising he needs help to regain control of Frank, Josh turns to his old boss for advice, but it quickly becomes apparent that Frank is unstoppable and as the world descends into chaos, Josh needs to discover the secret behind the flawed genius that is Frank, but can he find the answers to questions as yet unasked, and will he find them before Frank does? Zack Robertson’s debut novel is a stunning dive into the depths of human condition that demonstrates what could happen when computer programmes inherit the darkness and failings of their creators. Set in the turbulent summer of 2020, Zack’s first ‘technothriller’ for Provoco is a page turning journey into crumbling mental health, recrimination, and discovery which could, ultimately, prove disastrous for everyone who owns a digital device.

What would happen if an ancient Egyptian mummy was unwrapped in the early 1920's and still carried traces of the deadly Cholera disease that had killed him? This is what happens when Augustuskahmoun is unwrapped in a backstreet room in Cairo in the presence of several (living) pharaohs. Coughing and spluttering his way to life again, it is clear that Augustuskamoun has more than likely created a new pandemic situation for the people of Egypt and the pharaohs must act accordingly, decreeing a lockdown for everyone, except, it appears, themselves. Life seems to carry on exactly as it had done before the Cholera epidemic, with Augustuskamoun and his inner circle of pharaohs remaining focused on the one thing in hand - enjoying themselves, often at the expense of the people they are meant to be governing. It's one party too many, though, when a deadly curse on the pharaohs is unleashed, affecting their manhood and eventually killing the whole lot of them. But, according to the legends, there is an afterlife, as Augustuskamoun and his pharaohs discover when they are somehow transported to the midst of yet another pandemic, this time one that is raging through Britain, in the 2020's. Can a bunch of already dead Egyptian pharaohs survive in a new country and even more importantly, a new century? And what will happen to the MP's of the Elite party, already unpopular because of their handling of the current pandemic. Sound familiar? Read on and join Nicholas Vaughan's comedic and farcical look at life in lockdown through the eyes of a (possibly dead) pharaoh.

Danny wants his art scholarship, but Meggsie wants the money Danny's sick mum owes him. Who does he look to for repayment? Danny, who thankfully manages to escape Meggsie's clutches, meeting Mike as he takes flight. Mike's a good guy. He stops Meggsie in his tracks, takes Danny under his wing. Thinking Mike is something to do with social services and protection, Danny agrees to go with Mike to 'The Warren,' under the impression that it is a refuge for 'kids like him.' But is Mike all he seems? And when teenage Danny is forced to make a choice between right or wrong, what's he going to do? Find out in Linda Nelson's debut YA adventure, a hard hitting and gritty look at what happens when children don't have anyone to turn to. All the author's net royalties are being donated by the author to Harrogate Homeless Project..

A job move means a house move for Vinny and Howard Prease-Worrall and their family. Leaving behind stockbroker belt Surrey, they move Ashaytan House in the coastal town of Bourne-by-the-Sea. Wonderfully romantic, the house is perched upon the High Cliff above the stunningly beautiful bay, which the couple love to explore and get to know. But shortly after moving in, Vinny is plagued by strange happenings and her mental health takes a decline. She becomes convinced the house is haunted by the devil and involves the local priest in performing a blessing on the house. Then, disaster strikes when Vinny takes a tumble on the stairs and is left brain injured. Meanwhile, a coven of local witches takes a particular interest in the new occupants of Ashaytan House and further disturbances persuade the coven to intervene, with the help of a deliverance minister from the local parish. Dark and frightening forces are unleashed in the house which place Vinny and her daughter Tamsin in terrible danger. What happens next tears the family apart when old secrets buried in the past come back to haunt the present day occupants. But is there such thing as the devil, and is the church, to whom Vinny turns, strong enough to fight whatever possesses the Devil's House?