London, 1978: exiled Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is murdered on Waterloo Bridge with what appears to be a poison-tipped umbrella. It would become the most infamous unsolved killing of the Cold War.

Many years later, young journalist Ulrik Skotte is approached with explosive new information about a man alleged to be responsible for Markov’s death – a spy code-named Piccadilly who worked for the Bulgarian secret service. This meeting launched Skotte into a hunt for the killer lasting more than a quarter of a century, bringing him face to face with eccentric conspiracy theorists, a washed-up former dictator, ageing Danish spooks – and, ultimately, with Agent Piccadilly himself.

Drawing on an incredible cache of original documents, interviews and archive material, The Umbrella Murder provides jaw-dropping answers to questions that have persisted for nearly five decades: who killed Georgi Markov? And who has been protecting the assassin ever since?

‘Philippa Langley deserves huge credit for her discoveries.’ – THE SPECTATOR

History re-written: has the 540-year-old mystery been solved?

‘The totality of evidence revealed is astonishing. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in a car park in Leicester in 2012, The Missing Princes Project will again rewrite the history books, redrawing what we know about Richard III and Henry VII and pressing the reset button of history.’ – Philippa Langley

In the summer of 1483, two brothers were seen playing in the grounds of the Tower of London, where they’d been lodged by the King’s Council – their uncle, the future Richard III, its chief member. From there the boys seem to vanish from the historical record, and so one of the greatest and most intriguing mysteries of British history was born. Over the centuries, historians have debated tirelessly about the fate of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York: did they die in the Tower? Did they escape? Were they murdered?

After astonishing success in locating and laying to rest Richard III, Philippa Langley turns her forensic focus onto this enduring case, teaming up with criminal investigative experts, historians, archivists and researchers from around the world in her groundbreaking The Missing Princes Project. Following years of extensive research, investigation and formidable dedication, this landmark study has finally reached completion, with stunning conclusions.

In The Princes in the Tower: How History’s Greatest Case Was Solved, join Langley as she records the painstaking investigative work undertaken and lays out the evidence to reveal the remarkable untold story. Here she is able, finally, to address any injustice and solve the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower once and for all.

Compelling in breadth and detail, this book asks its readers to re-examine what they thought they knew about one of our greatest historical mysteries. Perfect for fans of the period and the likes of Dan Jones, Philippa Gregory and Janina Ramirez.

“The Agency for Scandal is glorious! Clever, funny, charming, and achingly romantic, it is a delight from start to finish. Laura Wood always writes about love and friendship with a deft hand, and this is her best work yet” Katherine Webber, author of Twin Crowns

An all-female detective agency righting wrongs at the end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery to unmask a villain.

Felicity Vane may be a mathematical genius, but getting her family to understand her academic ambition is proving difficult. As her first social season is fast approaching, it might be time to take matters into her own hands. Infiltrating the glamorous world of The Lucky Penny and winning her university fees over a game of cards could be the perfect plan. if only it weren’t for the interference of Ash, the piratical and frustratingly handsome owner who accuses her of cheating. Now, Felicity finds herself thrown into the latest investigation of the Aviary – a fearless, covert group of female investigators – and caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the worst villain they have faced yet. When the stakes are this high Felicity can’t afford to lose, but as she and Ash get drawn deeper into a world of criminal conspiracies is she also gambling with her heart?

‘Incredibly charming’ Sophie Irwin, author of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting

• Bridgerton meets Charlie’s Angels.
• A smart, charming, brilliantly plotted and swooningly romantic story about a collective of bold women changing their world.
• The most romantic, exciting, empowering YA of the year.

When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn’t already stripped. The military ousted the new nation’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country’s gold and hiding it overseas.

Into this story stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and ’80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon’s former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe.

In Anansi’s Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.

Nominated for a 2024 Legacy Award from the Hurston/Wright Foundation

London, September 1978: exiled Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is murdered in broad daylight on Waterloo Bridge with what appears to be a poison-tipped umbrella. It would become the most infamous unsolved killing of the Cold War.

Many years later, young journalist Ulrik Skotte is approached with explosive new information about a man alleged to be responsible for Markov’s death – a spy code-named Piccadilly who worked for the Bulgarian secret service. This meeting launched Skotte into a hunt for the killer lasting more than a quarter of a century, bringing him face to face with eccentric conspiracy theorists, a washed-up former dictator, ageing Danish spooks – and, ultimately, with Agent Piccadilly himself.

Drawing on an incredible cache of original documents, interviews and archive material, The Umbrella Murder provides jaw-dropping answers to questions that have persisted for nearly five decades: who killed Georgi Markov? And who has been protecting the assassin ever since?

NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION.

In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but desperate confessions and the grandest, most righteous human drama. Bookshops saw grisly stories of crime and death sell like hot cakes.

This history unfolds the true stories of murder, criminal investigation, early forensic techniques, high court trials and so much more.

In thrilling narrative, we follow a fugitive killer through the streets of London, citizen detectives clamouring to help officials close the net. We untangle the mystery of a suspected staged suicide through the newly emerging science of forensic pathology. We see a mother trying to clear her dead daughter’s name while other women faced the accusations – sometimes true and sometimes not – of murdering their own children.

These stories are pieced together from original research using coroner’s inquests, court records, parish archives, letters, diaries and the cheap street pamphlets that proliferated to satisfy a voracious public.

These intensely personal stories portray the lives of real people as they confronted the extraordinary crises of murder, infanticide, miscarriage and suicide. Many historical laws and attitudes concerning death and murder may strike us as exceptionally cruel, and yet many still remind us that some things never change: we are still fascinated by narratives of murder and true crime, murder trials today continue to be grand public spectacles, female killers are frequently cast as aberrant objects of public hatred and sexual desire, and suicide remains a sin within many religious organisations and was a crime in England until the 1960s.

Great and Horrible News! explores the strange history of death and murder in early modern England, yet the stories within may appear shockingly familiar.

‘Philippa Langley has done it again.’ – THE TIMES

A HISTORY HIT BOOK OF THE MONTH

History re-written: has the 540-year-old mystery been solved?

‘The totality of evidence revealed is astonishing. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in a car park in Leicester in 2012, The Missing Princes Project will again rewrite the history books, redrawing what we know about Richard III and Henry VII and pressing the reset button of history.’ – Philippa Langley

In the summer of 1483, two brothers were seen playing in the grounds of the Tower of London, where they’d been lodged by the King’s Council – their uncle, the future Richard III, its chief member. From there the boys seem to vanish from the historical record, and so one of the greatest and most intriguing mysteries of British history was born. Over the centuries, historians have debated tirelessly about the fate of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York: did they die in the Tower? Did they escape? Were they murdered?

After astonishing success in locating and laying to rest Richard III, Philippa Langley turns her forensic focus onto this enduring case, teaming up with criminal investigative experts, historians, archivists and researchers from around the world in her groundbreaking The Missing Princes Project. Following years of extensive research, investigation and formidable dedication, this landmark study has finally reached completion, with stunning conclusions.

In The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case, join Langley as she records the painstaking investigative work undertaken and lays out the evidence to reveal the remarkable untold story. Here she is able, finally, to address any injustice and solve the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower once and for all.

Compelling in breadth and detail, this book asks its readers to re-examine what they thought they knew about one of our greatest historical mysteries. Perfect for fans of the period and the likes of Dan Jones, Philippa Gregory and Janina Ramirez.

The real Line of Duty

‘To be an undercover officer, you must watch and wait. Before that, though, is the question of identity. Embarking on a covert operation you first must decide who you are. Who will you be today?’

Liam Thomas was an officer in the Met for over a decade, many of those years spent deep at the heart of Britain’s most dangerous criminal enterprises in the murky world of undercover surveillance. Before him, his father had also been a police officer, a pillar of their small community.

Fighting corruption was Liam’s life. But the murky world of undercover work teaches him that justice is far from black and white – and a family secret reveals that corruption is closer to home than he had ever expected. The revelations push him to the edge of his sanity – and then he discovers that his bosses are investigating him…

A thrilling memoir of a life lived amongst a world of corruption, justice and loyalties, this book tells the real story of the police’s line of duty.

When he became director of the FBI in 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was a dazzling wunderkind buzzing with big ideas for reform.

He transformed a failing law-enforcement backwater, riddled with scandal, into a modern machine. He believed in the power of the federal government to do great things for the nation and its citizens. He also believed that certain people – many of them communists or racial minorities – did not deserve to be included in that American project.
 
In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Beverly Gage charts Hoover’s rise to power, as he used the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivalled in U.S. history. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, and his conservative values ranged from white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. But he was more than a one-dimensional tyrant who strong-armed the country into submission. As FBI director for almost fifty years, he was a confidant, counsellor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans and four Democrats. His conservative values won him the admiration of millions of Americans. He stayed in office for so long because many people, from the highest reaches of government down to the grassroots, wanted him there. And he has done more to shape the political right today than many presidents.
 
G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood: at the centre of American political history. In telling his story, Gage shines a light on great social and political changes in 20th century America, from policing and civil rights to political culture and ideology.