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Love can make you lose your head… Lily thought she was just sightseeing at Hampton Court, until a bump on the head lands her in the body of Catherine Howard. Yep, the Tudor queen who gets beheaded. Lily's PhD is in psychology, not history, but even she knows that being married to Henry VIII does not bode well for her life expectancy. But it’s not just Henry who complicates things: Simon Gainsford, the king’s golden-boy jouster with a heart of gold, smouldering courtier Francis Dereham, and the sinfully handsome groom, Thomas Culpeper. Every dark corridor brings intrigue, scandal, and white-hot temptation. Can Lily rewrite history, survive Henry’s court, and keep her head?

A celebration of international book-loving cats. Bookshop Cats is a beautiful photographic collection of cats who have made the wise decision to live in bookshops across the world. In these pages you will find moggies curled up amongst the memoirs, tabbies atop the shelves of the travel section, and kittens who can sniff out the next international bestsellers. Head to Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana, where you’ll find Kitty Meow, who starts her day by basking in a sunbeam in the romance section. Meet Bea, the stray Moggy who now calls Shrew Books in Cornwall home, and Hugo, the most photographed cat in Southern Alberta, Canada. This charming collection is a celebration of literature-loving cats, their doting colleagues and the havens they create together.

Explosive and timely, DEAR DARLING cuts to the heart of a conversation – and gives a woman her voice. An unforgettable novel for those who loved My Dark Vanessa and Half His Age. ‘A seriously impressive new talent’ CHRIS WHITAKER 'A deeply moving character study of a woman in flux’ LISA TADDEO 'Shimmers with nuance at every turn – absolutely brilliant' HEATHER DARWENT 'Comparisons to My Dark Vanessa are inevitable but I like this one better' ERIN KELLY *** Dear Darling, So begins the letter from Daniel Prior. The man Lauren had sex with when she was fourteen years old. The man she fell in love with, long before conversations about power and consent and #MeToo. The man she locked away in the deepest part of her memory. Eighteen years later, the world is changed, and Lauren, a wife and mother, is changed too. But now, fresh out of prison, Daniel wants to meet. And Lauren must finally confront the electricity and devastation of the man who's loved and harmed her more deeply than anyone in her life… From bold new voice Ella King, Dear Darling cuts to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.

The gripping new Cristy Ward thriller from Sunday Times bestseller Susan Lewis! Book 4 in the Cristy Ward series A terrible crime. A shocking confession. Do you believe her? Twenty years ago, Nicole’s twins disappeared without a trace. No bodies. No witnesses. Despite her pleas of innocence, Nicole was convicted. Now she’s out. And she’s finally confessed. But for true crime podcast host Cristy Ward, the story doesn’t add up. Having worked on the case as a young reporter, Cristy can’t help but wonder whether Nicole is the villain everyone believes her to be. Why did Nicole confess after so many years … and is the truth still out there, waiting…? Praise for the Cristy Ward series: 'Plenty of twists to keep you guessing' Heat 'A gripping thriller' Woman & Home 'Fascinating detail of how podcasts are made' The Times

'Terrifying, gripping, all true. I couldn't put it down' Stephen King'Excellent... told with rare sensitivity. Hill is an extremely skilled writer, and his conscientious, measured reporting is a gift... The propulsive feel of a novel.' New York Times'Troubling, uplifting, heartbreaking... a masterwork.' Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Life, AnimatedOn a cool autumn night in 1999, twenty-six-year-old Sarah Green crept out of her house and ran for her life. She was escaping not just the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, a paramilitary religious cult operating out of the New Mexico desert, but also the cruelty of the cult's leader-her mother, Deborah. In The Oracle's Daughter, Harrison Hill traces the fascinating beginnings and violent end of ACMTC, from its early days as an outgrowth of the hippie movement, through the conspiracy-theorist 1990s and into the present day. It follows Deborah, the group's founder and self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, one of its first members; and Sarah, Deborah's daughter, among the cult's primary victims. With a propulsive, deeply researched narrative, The Oracle's Daughter illuminates the strange world of religious cults-and how more vulnerable we are to extremism than we might like to think.

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2026A GOODREADS MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEL 2026‘Savage, witty, gory, heartfelt, utterly relatable rage fantasy and a helluva good time' Lauren Beukes, The Shining Girls'A modern feminist classic' Sunday Times Style ‘A cathartic, necessary read’ Catriona Silvey, Meet Me in Another Life ‘Rollicking, unexpected and utterly hilarious’ Observer ‘Witty, thrilling, and oh so righteously FERAL’ Nat Cassidy, When the Wolf Comes Home ‘I laughed, cried and felt vindicated. Superb’ Shubnum Khan, The Djinn Waits a Hundred YearsEVER FELT READY TO HOW? yper-competent start up CFO Ellie is 46-year-old and like most women, is already juggling too much. Daughter’s not talking to her, husband’s not listening to her, and she's got a promotion coming up at work. It's an inconvenient time to be beset by mid-life symptoms: coarse hair in new places, hot flushes, insomnia, losing time . . . finding bloodstains on all her clothing, howling at the moon. Her doctor diagnoses perimenopause. But it's another 28-day cycle that's taking hold. One involving fur, and teeth, and a not insignificant amount of rage. Suddenly the troubles in her life - hot flushes, thankless family, spiralling to-do list, oblivious husband, the w*nker promoted above her at work – seem almost . . . bite-size. A deeply gratifying, highly addictive and provocative read, Femme Feral is an exhilarating expression of feminine rage, with a warning: If you swallow your anger, it’s sure to come back with a bite.

A freezing Easter Monday in 1917. The Somerset Light Infantry is launched into the Battle of Arras. Three young friends fight for their lives and the chance to return home. Robert is twenty-three years old, a farmer’s boy from Somerset, who joins up against his father’s wishes. Robert forms fast friendships with Stanley, who lied about his age to go to war, and Ernest, whose own slippery account betrays a life on the streets. Their friendship is forged through gas attacks, trench warfare, freezing in trenches, hunting rats, and chasing down kidnapped regimental dogs. Their life is one of mud and mayhem but also love and laughs. This is the story of Robert’s journey to Arras and back, his dreams and memories drawing him home. His story is that of the working-class Tommy, the story of thousands of young men who were caught in the collision between old rural values and the relentlessness of a new kind of war. It is a story that connects the past with the present through land, love and blood.

In 1958 soon-to-be Northern Irish Prime Minister Terrence O’Neill proposed draining Lough Neagh, (the largest lake in the UK), in order to create a seventh county for the North. O’Neill was widely mocked for his ludicrous idea. In Few and Far Between, Belfast-based writer, Jan Carson’s fourth novel, she imagines an alternative history in which O’Neill’s drainage scheme proceeds, exposing an archipelago of tiny islands in the middle of Lough Neagh, (which really exist). The Neagh Archipelago provides sanctuary for dozens of individuals intimidated out of their homes during the “Troubles,” and at first becomes a kind of haven for people who want to love a different life, who don’t fit in on the mainland. One timeline tells of the growth of this community and the flamboyant social anthropologist, Robert John Connelly, who arrives in the 1970s to document the residents’ lives and becomes something of a guru figure who never leaves.The second timeline begins in 2017, when the new government proposes to release the dams, and flood the archipelago once more. Most of the families have now abandoned the islands and only a few remain, including Marion and Robert, the now-adult children of RJ Connelly. The island has also become home to ‘sleepers’ and ‘almost deads’, those caught in a hinterland between life and death. Before the dams are destroyed and the floods descend, a second anthropologist is sent to the islands. But there are secrets buried on these islands that no one remaining wants her to discover.

When the disgraced Lord Byron is associated with the deaths of women in Venice, he turns detective to unveil the killer and clear his name. A dazzling, riveting historical mystery by the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, The Fascination.   ‘Brooding and brilliant’ A.J. West   ‘What could so easily have been a risible premise for a novel becomes, in Fox’s expert hands, the starting point for an atmospheric thriller’ Sunday Times   ‘As mesmerising and charismatic as Byron himself can ever have been … a magnificent gothic tale of scandal, secrets and murder’ Janice Hallett   ‘Evokes all the grimy charisma of eighteenth-century Venice … a mystery as sinuous as the city's alleys and canals. I was enthralled’ Elizabeth Fremantle   ‘A dark treat … splendidly gothic and impressively researched’ Andrew Taylor  ‘Essie Fox breathes new life into the “mad, bad and dangerous to know” Lord Byron as the notorious poet turns detective … Rich with decadent imagery and dark, gothic atmosphere, Dangerous intricately blends historical fact and fiction’ Culturefly   –––––––  Fiction can be fatal…   Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city.  SCANDAL   But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…  MURDER   As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…  MYSTERY   Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron's life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…   _________   ‘A plot as labyrinthine as the Venice backstreets, told in dazzling prose; suspenseful, seductive stuff’ Erin Kelly   ‘Brilliant, daring writing … a darkly delicious Venetian tale of murder and mystery’ Anna Mazzola   ‘Essie Fox expertly weaves fact and fiction in this gloriously gothic thriller … Venice becomes the atmospheric backdrop to Byron's daring attempt to catch a killer’ Anita Frank   ‘Sumptuous, entertaining and glorious’ C.S. Green   ‘Fox is the queen of darkly glittering gothic fiction … a tale so compelling I devoured it in one sitting’ Louisa Treger   ‘Many writers have tried and failed to capture the Byronic quintessence, but the brilliant Essie Fox has succeeded admirably. She proves that the poet and rake remains fascinating because he is, indeed, mad, bad and Dangerous’ Alex Larman   ‘A heady and intoxicating brew … scandalously scintillating’ Kate Griffin   ‘A gorgeously clever thriller’ Amanda Craig   ‘A ravishing tale of murder, lust and thwarted ambition … a sumptuous, decadent delight’ Emma Carroll   ‘A deliciously gothic and beautifully written historical thriller starring the ultimate bad boy hero, Lord Byron’ Frances Quinn   ‘An incredibly evocative and atmospheric book that captures the Byronic soul in all its beauty and madness’ Victoria Dowd   ‘Deliciously dark and everything I hoped it would be’ Paul Burston   ‘An engaging historical mystery tale in which the dissolute poet turns sleuth to clear his own name’ Julie Anderson, Time & Leisure Magazine   ‘A dark, disturbing treat, impeccably researched and compellingly told’ Bridget Walsh   ‘What a ride! Gripping and atmospheric’ Caroline Lea   ‘A delicious dish of decadence … fastidiously researched, richly imagined, full of wonderful descriptions of Venice’ Michael Stewart

In the Skin of a Lion is Michael Ondaatje’s sparkling predecessor to his Booker Prize-winning The English Patient. ‘A magical book. Michael Ondaatje defies the normal distinction between poet and novelist. His writing is consistently tuned to a visionary pitch’ – Graham SwiftIt is the 1920s, and Patrick Lewis has arrived in the bustling city of Toronto, leaving behind his Canadian wilderness home. He immerses himself in the lives of the people who surround him, learning, from their stories, the history of the city itself. And he has his own adventures: searching for a missing millionaire, tunnelling beneath Lake Ontario, falling in love. Here, we encounter, for the first time, Hana the orphaned girl and Caravaggio the thief, among a large cast of characters who are all lovingly and intimately portrayed. It is an exquisite and musical novel, a romance that challenges the boundary between history and myth. ‘Ondaatje writes in curves, in time-lapses, a sort of verbal cinema whose narrative is unfaltering’ – The Times‘A triumph . . . a powerful and revelatory accomplishment’ – The Times Literary SupplementNow part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.

***BONUS CHAPTER FROM KADRA'S POV INCLUDED***She knows the taste of death. He'll stoke her hunger for it. Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn't know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land - and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai's attempted murder. Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there's something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city's corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra - because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant... The first book in a dazzling and addictive romantic fantasy duology, the #1 Sunday Times bestselling This Monster of Mine is a bloodbath of manipulation, deception, and forbidden love. Tropes Enemies to lovers Slow Burn Romance Morally grey FMC and MMC Magical world Political intrigue Vengeance High Stakes !!SPICE ALERT!!Join the legions of readers who have fallen hard for This Monster of Mine:?'Six stars if I could! This Monster of Mine is a masterclass in fantasy storytelling - combining political intrigue, betrayal, and a rigid class system with a slow-burn romance that keeps you on edge.'?'This book was absolutely phenomenal and exactly what I've been craving . . . I already want to reread this!!'?'This book swept me away . . . absolutely fire'?'OMG this book is absolutely incredible and interesting, I loved it so much. This Monster of Mine must be one of the most fascinating and unique books I've ever read . . . I couldn't put it down.'?'This Monster of Mine is an incredible romantasy book that I really can't recommend enough'?'I AM FREAKING OUT BY HOW DELICIOUS AND AWESOME AND AMAZING THIS IS!!!!! I am obsessed, I am Kadra's wine glass and Sarai's glower, THIS BOOK IS PHENOMENAL AND I HAVE OFFICIALLY LOST ALL BRAIN CELLS AND COHERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dark romantasy perfection, people!!! YOU NEEEEEEEEEEED TO READ THIS!!!#1 Sunday Times bestseller, 15/04/2025

'I absolutely loved it'Marian KeyesFROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SNOWFLAKE - AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF TWO FAMILIES RIVEN BY ONE GREAT SECRET. For Niamh Ryan, the Foleys are family. Her childhood flew by on their farm, playing with her best friend Peter and his sister Kate - all the while being doted on by their mother Helen and coached by their father Liam, a legendary former hurling player. Now, following a distressing series of events, the family ties are strained. Niamh receives drunken phone calls and messages from Peter who can't understand what derailed their burgeoning relationship three years ago. Meanwhile, Helen Foley is trying her best to escape her life by checking into guesthouses under the names of women she went to school with. In her life in Belfast, Kate is attempting to hold down a job and a relationship while carrying the weight of the family's secrets, and feeling like she is the one to blame. As a family wedding looms, and the women find themselves face to face, the knotty love that still binds Niamh, Helen and Kate might just bring them back together again. Told through the perspectives of three very different women, Everything That Is Beautiful unfolds the story of one complicated family in startlingly honest prose. By turns funny and deeply moving, and with unmatched emotional intelligence, this is an unforgettable story of love and family, heartbreak and hope - and who we might become after we pick up the pieces. Praise for Everything That Is Beautiful'Vivid and compelling. A big-hearted, immersive novel' Roisin O'Donnell, award-winning author of NESTING'I truly loved it. Bittersweet, wise, full of humour and heart' Grainne O'Hare, author of THIRST TRAP'A book you'll read and love, then immediately buy for those you love' Colin Walsh, number 1 bestselling author of KALA'Beautifully written, funny, emotionally complex and always quietly hopeful. I loved it' Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, award-winning author of ORDINARY SAINTS'Fresh and engaging . . . Her characters are alive and real' Claire Gleeson, author of SHOW ME WHERE IT HURTS'I BLOODY LOVED IT. Complicated families, gorgeous fully-realised characters, heartbreak and laughter' Jennie Godfrey, bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS'The Foleys will inhabit your heart long after the last page' Charleen Hurtubise, author of SAOIRSE-------------------------------------------------------From the acclaimed author of SNOWFLAKE*A number one international bestseller*Winner of Newcomer of the Year at the AN Post Irish Book Awards*A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime pick*Chosen as the official read of the One Dublin One Book campaign'Wonderful and mad' Roddy Doyle'Sparks with tender charm and humour . . . Fresh, bleakly funny' Sunday Times'Tender, laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving' Louise O'Neill

The ear is the organ of fear. It is a door to that which is not of this world. Leaving behind the dread and decay of the city, Noa and her best friend, Nicole, travel up into the Andes, heading for Solar Noise: an eight-day festival that takes place on the side of a volcano, in the infinite expanse of the páramo. A world of mysticism and underground music, in tune with the thunder of the earth and the bellows of the mountains. Noa has been drawn there in search of her father, who, wrestling with the violence of Ecuador, abandoned her as a child. But soon after their arrival at the festival, Noa appears possessed, speaking in a voice that is not her own. Believing Noa to be in danger, Nicole struggles to care for her friend. Until, as the party spills into Inti Raymi - the Incan festival of the sun - the girls' desire for belonging burns, incandescent, collapsing the thin membrane separating life from death, and trauma from transcendence. Wild and incantatory, Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun is both an hallucinogenic trip of a novel, and a heartfelt meditation on love, family and kinship - one that announces the arrival of a major writer.

'Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale' Irish TimesWinner of the Akutagawa PrizeTsugami, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in war-scarred Osaka, agrees to sponsor a bullfight. For months this great gamble consumes him, makes him as wary and combative as if he was in a ring himself. And, as he becomes ever more distant, his lover Sakiko is unsure if she would like to see him succeed or be destroyed.As much a story of post-war Japan as it is about the country's special brand of bullfighting, this novella is a masterly exploration of hope, ambition and despair. Yasushi Inoue's novella won him the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and established him as one of Japan's most acclaimed authors. From the planning of a bullfight, through Tsugami's struggle, his focus and his solitude - he crafts something intensely memorable, a profound and compelling existential tale.Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.Translated by Michael Emmerich.Born in 1907, Yasushi Inoue worked as a journalist and literary editor for many years, only beginning his prolific career as an author in 1949 with Bullfight. He went on to publish 50 novels and 150 short stories, both historical and contemporary, his work making him one of Japan's major literary figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with the Order of Culture, the highest honour granted for artistic merit in Japan. He died in 1991. Pushkin Press also publishes Inoue's novella The Hunting Gun, and a collection of short stories titled Life of a Counterfeiter.Michael Emmerich is a translator, editor and an professor in the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UCLA. His many translations include work by Yasunari Kawabata, Genichiro Takahashi and Banana Yoshimoto.

Prepare to be hooked by James Patterson's newest thriller in which an art student must orchestrate the heist of a lifetime to save her father... 'A dizzying switchback thriller... Halston is a brilliant heroine' - The Times'The Picasso Heist is a thrilling, engaging, funny, at times moving, scintillating read' - Felicity Jones, Oscar-nominated actress and audiobook narrator'Patterson is in a class by himself' Guardian_________________________________A rare masterpiece by Picasso is about to go to auction, and the whole world is watching. But bright art student Halston Graham sees an opportunity. One that could secure millions for her future – and freedom for her wrongly imprisoned father…To pull off the crime of the century, she must assemble an unlikely crack team: an expert in forgery, a ruthless mob boss, and an eccentric fashion designer. In a game where trust is a luxury and failure is not an option, will Halston’s brilliance be enough to outsmart her enemies?_________________________________PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON'It's no mystery why James Patterson is the world's most popular thriller writer ... Simply put: nobody does it better.' JEFFERY DEAVER'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD'Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind.' MICHAEL CONNELLY'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN'Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried ... there's no stopping his imagination' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'Patterson is in a class by himself' GUARDIAN'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL

A taut psychological exploration of obsession, betrayal and the dangerous relationship between a patient and therapist in 1960s London… The Model Patient is a historical psychological suspense book club novel perfect for fans of Abigail Dean, Clare Chambers, Florence Knapp and Miranda Cowley Heller. ‘Beautifully written and deeply unsettling’ ABIGAIL DEAN, Girl A'Dark, humane and utterly absorbing. I could not put it down' JOANNA MILLER, The Eights‘A truly captivating novel’ MATTHEW BLAKE, Anna O‘Nothing is as it seems in this absorbing psychological thriller’ FIONA DAVIS, The Stolen Queen‘Full of deep, dark surprises’ LYNDA COHEN LOIGMAN, The Matchmaker's GiftIn the quiet hush of her therapist’s office, Evelyn Westbrook finds herself revealing secrets she’d prefer to keep hidden. Abandoning her successful modelling career to become a model wife for her husband, Henry, has left her days feeling empty. Her mother-in-law is pressing for a child that Evelyn doesn’t want. And her nights are haunted by a recurring nightmare in which she becomes a snake devouring its own tail. As Evelyn’s sessions with the enigmatic Dr. Daley unearth more questions than answers, her interest in him turns into obsession. But is her therapist finally providing the care she needs, or is she being manipulated? A compelling novel about identity, power, and the cost of playing the roles we never chose. More praise for The Model Patient…‘A gripping historical psychological thriller’ Amita Parikh‘An extraordinary achievement of narrative and psychology’ Alis Hawkins‘Begins as an elegant domestic drama and builds, quietly and inexorably, into a darkly devastating psychological thriller’ Brian Platzer'Riveting, disturbing, compulsive - Ashe has crafted her finest novel yet' Bonnie-Burke-Patel‘An unsettling, addictive read of obsession, anger, and the serpent that coils inside us all’ Sarah Clegg‘A true original’ Cailean Stead'Brilliantly observed, painfully awkward, and deeply unsettling’ Seth Insua

The extraordinary new novel by the author of Untraceable. A sealed shaft in a Donbas coal mine contains unimaginable horror: layer upon layer of human bodies, the victims of Red and White terror during the Revolution, of Stalin’s purges, of the Einsatzgruppen in the Holocaust. Around this infamous pit, in a polluted region convulsed once again by war and cruelty when Russia invades Ukraine, the fates of four characters intertwine: a mysterious and powerful laundress whose dedication to cleaning the filth created by the mine attracts the suspicion of the secret police; her innocent daughter Zhanna, left alone by her mother’s death; a brutal Russian militia man, who targets Zhanna; and his boss, a former KGB man turned ruthless servant of Putin. The voice of The Engineer, a murdered Jew who designed and constructed the mine, is a witness to the bloody history of the region and the terrible secret at its heart. A haunting, lyrical meditation on the legacy of dictatorship and atrocity.

What do we owe to the past? What do we owe ourselve? rances Wingate has it all, not least a flourishing career as an archaeologist and a razor-sharp mind. But when an old affair resurfaces - after years of on-again, off-again romance - she finds herself questioning everything she ever wanted out of life. In The Realms of Gold, Drabble crafts a luminous story of love, purpose and regret, and captures the essence of what it means to be a woman at a crossroads.

A gripping account of the murders committed by Dr William Palmer, the 'Prince of Poisoners', and his dramatic trial in 1855. In 1856, a baying crowd of over 30,000 people gathered outside Stafford prison to watch the execution of a village doctor from Staffordshire. One of the last people to be publicly hanged, 'the greatest villain who ever stood trial at the Old Bailey,' as Charles Dickens described him, Dr William Palmer was convicted in 1855 of murdering his best friend, but was suspected of poisoning more than a dozen other people, including his wife, children, brother and mother-in-law - cashing in on their life insurance to fund his crippling gambling habit. Highlighting Palmer's particularly gruesome penchant for strychnine, his trial made news across Europe; he was a new kind of murderer - respectable, middle class, personable, and consequently more terrifying - and he became Britain's most infamous figure until the emergence of Jack the Ripper. The first widely available account of one of the most notorious, yet lesser-known, mass-murderers in British history, The Poisoner takes a fresh look at Palmer's life and disputed crimes, ultimately asking 'just how evil was this man?' With previously undiscovered letters from Palmer and new forensic examination of his victims, Stephen Bates presents not only an astonishing and controversial revision of Palmer's entire story, but takes us into the very psyche of a killer.