Troubador Publishing

Vagabond Soul tells the story of a young woman who came of age in the Swinging Sixties and spent the next decade fearlessly traversing the globe in search of romance and adventure. While Carrie Evans’ first memoir, The Fun We Had, traces her peripatetic childhood and teaching career in ten countries, this second volume offers a thoughtful and intimate look at her personal life.Embracing the era’s ethos of Free Love, Carrie launches into adult life with exuberance, fearlessness and a touch of naivety. After reading this book, some may wonder how Carrie is still here to tell her tale. Her youthful adventures are full of risk-taking—some might say recklessness—as she hitches her way across the Continent and embarks on expeditions further afield, entering into many a romantic liaison along the way.Vagabond Soul is a vivid portrait of a life lived boldly. It is a testament to resilience, curiosity and the enduring appeal and consequences of choosing adventure over convention. At times you may be shocked, but you will certainly be entertained and amused as Carrie finds herself in extraordinary situations, only to emerge unscathed and triumphant.

Detective Sergeant Jaswinder Singh — known on the streets as Jazz — is a born Sikh but an East Ender by choice. Blunt, relentless and unapologetically un-PC, he’s a constant thorn in the side of the Metropolitan Police hierarchy. But there’s one thing no one can deny: Jazz solves cases. And he knows it. For a while, things had been quiet around Ilford and Barking. Too quiet.Then the streets erupted.Murders. An elusive assassin. Cheap drugs flooding the borough.Riots, looted shops and a growing sense that something far bigger is unfolding beneath the chaos. As the violence spreads, the clues refuse to line up and nothing makes sense. Even for a seasoned detective who thrives on danger, this case is different. Because someone is pulling the strings. When MI6 suddenly steps in, Jazz realises the truth is far darker than anyone imagined. Lies, intrigue and betrayal lurk around every corner, and the mastermind behind it all remains hidden in the shadows.With London spiralling into mayhem, Jazz must uncover the unknown villain orchestrating the madness — before the city tears itself apart.A gripping thriller packed with twists, danger and a detective who refuses to play by the rules.

These fifteen short stories from Brooke Fieldhouse include six old favourites: the Warner Group prizewinning love story THE GIFT, the liquid nightmare of DROWNING BY NUMBERS and the petrifying tale of immuration RAW CONCRETE.The collection is in three parts: Love, Fear, and Love & Fear, and each story is headed with a colour image taken from original collages by the author.The nine previously unpublished pieces range from the bone chilling THE LILYWHITE BOY, through the heartbreaking story of Deidre’s attempt to achieve immortality by RUNNING WITH THE BULLS, the mysteriously philosophical MINDFULNESS COMPASSION & THE SECOND SEX, to the metaphysical surreal adult fairy tale THERE ISN’T AN OUNCE OF MALICE IN A MOOSE. The group also includes the reconciliatory IN PLAIN SIGHT which was shortlisted for the 2019 Fiction Factory Prize, and the mischievously morbid care home fable A PERFECT LIKENESS which was long-listed for the 2020 Fiction Factory Prize.Fieldhouse dedicates the book to his late parents and elaborates with a brief, thoroughly unsentimental and notably misery-free memoir and a haunting Afterword.

Alexandra Darcy Hebden-Dent – but she prefers Alex – is an ordinary teenage girl living an ordinary life. Until one day, everything changes. One of Alex’s favourite people is her Grandad, but he is an ailing old man. When he sets her off on a secret treasure hunt around the ancient city of York, Alex suddenly finds herself in a murky world of ancient organisations, where a battle between predators and protectors is unfolding. She must unravel the secret code and decipher the clues before it’s too late! But in a world of double-agents and power-hungry factions, even those people closest to her are not what they seem. Who can Alex trust? As she struggles to overcome her own challenges to fulfil the final goal of the quest, she unearths hidden family secrets. In the race to discover the most dangerous of secrets, who will be the victor? And, if Alex fails in her quest, will it be the end of it all? Follow Alex on a thrilling adventure through hidden historical sites where murder and mayhem rule!

Outlawed customs and raising the powers of The Ancestors are Tayo''s only hope for ending the widespread deaths among young people and pregnant women in her Caribbean home, Sanora.Whilst the Sanoran government wait for help from Western countries, Tayo’s determination to save her people grows. She is driven into a connection with the ancestral world, but this mystical alliance comes at a high price. She clashes with powerful forces who will stop at nothing to destroy her, but Sanora and the region must survive. So too, must the new life growing inside her.Tayo must lead her followers to the safety of Anse Island, but will she overcome the threats and perils that lie ahead?

Emma Johnson has been shortlisted for the post of Southwest Young Poet Laureate for 2026/2027Family memories, growing up, getting old, the Troubles, quirky personalities, Covid, cancer, 9/11, Mr Trump, friendship, loss, love, the pangolin, a toad and even the humble potato find a place in this grandfather–granddaughter collaboration of prose and poetry. Sixty-five years between them but a special bond brought about by a shared passion for writing. Emma’s award-winning successes have given her the confidence and desire to continue her writing. Despite her other school commitments, rarely a day goes by without her putting words on a page. She is currently working on a fantasy novel.

She has to find her kidnapped sister. To survive hell, she must walk into it with the devil at her side.Teresa, scarred and with nothing left to lose, teams up with a criminal genius – a prisoner who agrees to help for a price: his freedom.But he has one condition. Teresa must stay by his side.Along this deadly path, Teresa is forced to confront secrets from her own past. The deeper they dig, the darker the truth becomes, and Teresa chooses the most dangerous man alive as the hero of her story.Because to find the sun of her life, she must walk beside the shadow.

Frederic Vimont was a self-made billionaire, or so it seemed until his death reveals the extent of his genius and duplicity.Probate researcher Jean-Pierre Couran, himself struggling with a chaotic private life, is sent by his Paris law firm to find and secure Vimont’s assets. Sweeping from Paris, through Normandy, Brittany, The Vendee, Bordeaux and Cote D’Azur, his investigations reveal that Vimont had as many enemies as he had secrets and lovers. There are hints that Vimont had a special power that kept his friends on a leash and his enemies at bay.Couran soon realises that he isn’t alone in uncovering Vimont’s hidden past – and that he himself is being manipulated and hunted at the same time. Spirals of deceit lead to trust becoming a de-based commodity.Fast-paced action, tense encounters, victories and defeats surround Couran as he untangles secrets, finds hidden assets and reveals Vimont’s special power.

1066 is one of the most famous dates in English history, with the Norman Conquest highlighted in the Bayeux Tapestry (due in England for the first time in 2026). But how much do we really know about what is a far more complex story? This book represents a fresh approach to such issues as:? How Athelstan’s England slipped into the disasters of Aethelred and the Danish Conquest of 1016. ? How England and Normandy were linked long before and after Hastings. ? How Edward the Confessor contributed to the Norman Conquest, and what defeat really meant to the English. ? How the Norman inheritance led to Anarchy before Henry II expanded his territory through to the south of France. ? How Henry’s legacy was comprehensively lost by his sons, with England given to the pope and nearly taken over by the French. ? How, out of all this adversity, Magna Carta and an effective parliament emerged, proving England and its people remarkably resilient.

In fourteenth-century Central Asia, Karia is a young woman living under the yoke of Mongol occupation. But she’s different. She’s a fighter with supernatural powers. She could use them to keep the Black Plague at bay and solve the mystery of the purple skies at dawn – if only she could overcome her self-doubt. Travelling in caravans on the Silk Road, she faces dangers seen and unseen – from sandstorms and slave traders to the desert djinn and folk who believe she’s a witch. She fears losing Abi, her little cousin, who’s fascinated by roses and the dance of the Whirling Dervishes of Bukhara.When Karia falls in love with an English sailor fleeing the Knights Hospitaller, they sail to England with Abi to unravel the meaning of the purple skies, a dance, a posy tree, and a ring of roses.The Spirit of the Times is part history, part fiction and part speculation: on the origin of disease; the power of innocence; the unfortunate aspects of custom and dogma; and humanity’s ability to respond to the governing influence or spirit of the times.

In Cornwall the tradition of storytelling goes back a long way… Years ago “drolling”, telling stories around the fire on the long nights, was a natural part of life there, and to this day out-of-the-way country pubs still hold “storytelling nights”. This book is a collection of such stories, all but one set in Cornwall.Some of them, of course, involve the sea and all that flows from it. Others have a background in the mining days of two hundred years ago, but Cornwall is far more than its history. ‘The Short Order Chef’ is a story about the very modern dilemma of working in a county where most employers shut down for half the year, and one man’s very innovative solution to this situation. ‘The Kronek’ is a story about the conflict between the incomer community and the established locals.‘Moonlight on the Water’ is a tale of ancient belief meeting modern life, and ‘The Man Engine’ is about the miner’s legend about the little people. And of course, there is the tradition of piracy and smuggling. ‘Captain Avery’s Emerald’ is a sideways look at time and history that refuses to lie down and die peacefully.All the stories stand alone, and they all have a very dark heart.If you like your stories with a dark twist, this one is for you.

Mystery continues to surround the disappearance of Theo Salter, the unscrupulous estate agent whose car crashed into a Fenland canal while he was on the run as a multiple murder suspect. Several years later, his younger brother arrives in the East Anglian town of Camford to seek the truth. Leo, who until recently knew nothing about Theo, wants to know whether his brother is still alive… and, if possible, meet him. He takes up a job at a local newspaper and encounters a variety of unusual characters, making enquiries about his brother that finds him in several dangerous situations. Will Leo ever meet his brother and discover the truth?

Two women, two dangerous obsessions, one tangled web of love, longing, and lies. When newly retired teacher Taryn stumbles into the seductive world of the Argentine tango, the unexpected reappearance of her charismatic ex, Marc, threatens to unravel the stable life she’s built with steady, dependable Neil. As she spirals between exhilaration and self-destructive temptation, Taryn risks repeating the very mistakes she once swore she’d left behind. Down the road, Rachel – clever, impulsive, and half Taryn’s age – is trapped in an affair with a married man she calls “Sam”. She knows he’s wrong for her. She knows the relationship is doomed, but Rachel can’t tear herself away. When Taryn, determined to save her from heartbreak, draws her into the tango scene, a truth erupts that leaves both of them reeling. With their lives suddenly entwined, Taryn and Rachel must confront the illusions that have kept them captive: illusions about love, about themselves and about the people they’ve placed on pedestals.

In 2016, Nigel Bruce, passionate cycle tourist and enthusiastic student of history, cycled along the Western Front of the Great War exploring the countless battlefields and poignant memorials, war museums, and the cities, towns and villages devastated by four years of industrial warfare. This was also a personal journey, with an author sensitive to loss immersing himself in the inescapable evidence of destruction of young lives on an unimaginable scale. Family memoirs and correspondence of a French artillery officer bring authentic first-hand experiences, at turns tragic, terrifying, and poetic. The many colour photos and drawings by the author convey the rich heritage available to today’s visitors, while archive images, and the work of war artists, writers and poets provide insights from those directly involved. Detailed maps show Nigel’s route and sites of interest to orientate the reader and inform those planning their own trips. Documenting the evolution of his own reactions, Nigel recounts how cycling the Western Front brought its share of sorrow, not least through unsettling echoes in contemporary populist rhetoric. But this is also a story of hope, with many moving examples of remembrance for those on both sides of the conflict, and of reconciliation between former enemies.

The characters in this book – their lives, circumstances, and surprising connections – are as wide-ranging as could be imagined. Woven throughout are threads linking Laugharne, coalminers, music, railways, Church Gresley and more. The book reflects on the Theophilus family but it is not a growing of family trees: scattered twigs can be found but establishing genetic lines is not the focus. George Orwell was not related to ‘Uncle Bill’, and whether Dylan Thomas had familial links does not lessen the influence his work had on the family. Elsewhere, the book explores how complementary occupations shaped lives, from the shipbuilding Garlicks to the ceramic-manufacturing Poulsons. Richly researched, it offers surprising new facts, fresh angles on familiar stories, and glimpses into the context that makes history come alive. Illustrations are as varied as are the glimpses into social, economic and cultural history.

It is the 1640s and the turbulent times of the English Civil War can be felt across England. Gideon is a frustrated woodturner and would-be actor, who believes nothing is more important than the theatre. Unfortunately, Puritans have recently closed all the theatres in London. The chief instigators of these actions are his father, Eli, and brother, Matthew. Gideon's ultimate goal is to restore the Globe Theatre to its former glory. Having left his previous work, he now acts on "the stage of life", assuming various characters as he travels between Parliamentarian London and Royalist Oxford to act before the King, who has set up his headquarters there. Each adventure will be a different act in the play Gideon intends to write and perform once the Globe is restored. On the road to Oxford, Gideon is waylaid by Parliament's most feared soldier, Colonel Mordet, who promises him that if he assassinates a main funder to the King, Mordet will have the Globe restored. Things become more complicated still when he meets Molly, a political radical, with whom he falls in love, but who will use him for her own ends. Theatrecy is a hilarious black comedy set in the dark days of the English Civil War. It is a cocktail of romance, unrequited love, murder and espionage, all heavily laced with dark humour, and a vivid and original portrayal of an extraordinary time.