Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life.

An abandoned carpet bag full of mysterious handwritten notes. A body in a marshy lagoon.

Matt is intrigued when his partner Liz brings home an old carpet bag she found dumped in the local library. It contains a pile of mysterious handwritten notes. Liz is convinced the bag belongs to Old Molly, a local woman who lives on the streets.

The following day, a body is discovered in a marshy lagoon. It’s Old Molly. Suffocated with an expensive men’s handkerchief.

Molly clearly knew something that got her killed. Liz believes she was trying to tell them something important. She calls on her nephew David to help decipher the carpet bag notes.

Meanwhile Matt is hired to find teenage runaway Liam Cooper. Liam has been missing for ten days now, and Matt has a very bad feeling about him.

A few days later, a second body is discovered in an old barn out on the fens.

Matt and Liz must piece together the cryptic clues Molly has left for them before more people die. The answers lead to the remote fenland village of Marshdyke-St-Mary — and a series of shocking secrets stretching back many years.

DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING MYSTERY.

This utterly gripping crime thriller is perfect for fans of L.J. Ross, J.D. Kirk, Angela Marsons, J.M. Dalgliesh, Elly Griffiths or Ann Cleeves.

READERS LOVE THE BAG OF SECRETS:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I love all of Joy Ellis’s books, but I do believe this is the best yet.’ Amanda P.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I love Matt and Liz. A fantastic book.’ Joanne N.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A stunningly captivating read. Wow, just wow!’ Misfits Farm

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A fascinating and intriguing read. Not to be missed.’ Carol S.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Suspense, intrigue, fantastic characters and some crazy twists and turns. Had me glued to my Kindle!’ Debbie B.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Matt and Liz are such great characters . . . Terrific.’ Louise G.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Another winner! So many twists and turns and red herrings, you won’t stop turning the pages.’ Bonita S.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I always read Joy with a cuppa and some chocolate . . . Loved it!’ Kelsey S.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An excellent read . . . Plenty of suspense.’ Martha B.

THE SETTING
England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.

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‘No one can plot or tell a story like she can’ Daily Express

A collection of atmospheric short stories from the international bestseller Val McDermid. The perfect festive gift for any book lover, featuring classic tales alongside exclusive, never-before-seen material

Buy Val McDermid’s most fiendishly clever thriller yet, PAST LYING, a Karen Pirie novel. The perfect Christmas gift for the crime lover in your life . . .
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Val McDermid is a master of the dark and sinister story, and these powers are in full force in Christmas is Murder, a festive collection of chilling tales.

From an irresponsible baron whose body is discovered beneath a silver birch tree, to a classic detective duo solving a historic case as the lights go out across Europe, and an exclusive Tony Hill and Carol Jordan story, the characters McDermid conjures are enigmatic and dangerous.

These evocative, atmospheric tales will shock and delight. This is the perfect book to curl up with as the frosty winter draws in and each night gets darker than the last, written by one of our greatest living crime writers.
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Praise for the Queen of Crime Val McDermid:

‘Brilliant . . . Sensational . . . Unforgettable’ Guardian

‘Compulsively readable’ Irish Times

‘One of today’s most accomplished crime writers’ Literary Review

‘As good a psychological thriller as it is possible to get’ Sunday Express

‘It grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go’ Daily Mail

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In this short thriller from bestselling author Ian Rankin, murder comes to London’s most exclusive high-rise—and every resident is a suspect.

The Rise is a gleaming residential tower, newly constructed from steel and blackened glass, that stands on some of London’s most prestigious real estate. Looming imposingly over Hyde Park, only multi-millionaires need apply for one of its sumptuous apartments. But when the young night concierge is found murdered in the building’s lobby, the elite residents quickly find their gilded lifestyles under unwelcome police scrutiny.

Investigating officer DS Gish has her work cut out. The only suspects, those who live in the building, aren’t accustomed to police interrogation. But it seems horribly certain that one of them must be the killer. Could it be the Russian oligarch? Or the lonely actress? Maybe it’s the family of the career criminal? Or perhaps it’s the building’s reclusive developer who lives alone in the penthouse?

Obstructed continually by locked doors, governments both foreign and domestic, and an apparent absence of motive, can DS Gish solve this impenetrable mystery and apprehend the murderer—before they slip away forever?

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– THE RECORD-BREAKING, MULTIMILLION COPY GLOBAL BESTSELLER AND TIKTOK SENSATION –
Discover the #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling thriller with a jaw-dropping twist that everyone is talking about – as seen on TikTok. Soon to be a major film.

Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago.

When she shot her husband in the head five times.

Since then she hasn’t spoken a single word.

It’s time to find out why.

READERS LOVE THE SILENT PATIENT

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Everything you need from a psychological thriller with a killer twist that is impossible to see coming!’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Fiendishly clever … believe the hype.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Grabs your afternoon from the start and never lets go’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A fantastic thriller with an incredible plot twist that I really didn’t see coming. I highly recommend.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘OMG, my heart is still pounding from the final chapters of this amazing thriller.’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I’m honestly speechless, best book I have read for a very long time’

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The twists when they come, wow oh wow!’

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED

‘The perfect thriller’ AJ FINN
‘Terrific’ – THE TIMES Crime Book of the Month
‘Smart, sophisticated suspense’ – LEE CHILD
‘Compelling’ – OBSERVER
‘Absolutely brilliant’ – STEPHEN FRY
‘A totally original psychological mystery’ – DAVID BALDACCI
‘One of the best thrillers I’ve read this year’ – CARA HUNTER
‘The pace and finesse of a master’ – BBC CULTURE

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When Detective Lottie Parker receives news that a child’s body has been found in the frozen grounds of the cathedral, a shiver runs down her spine. She’s terrified it will be eight-year-old Willow Devine, reported missing that morning.

But when she arrives at the cathedral, holding a photo of Willow with her blonde ponytail and gap-toothed smile, she gets a terrible shock. The body is a young girl, wrapped in a white shroud, a rosary clutched in her frozen fingers. But her hair is dark, not fair. This girl isn’t Willow but another eight-year-old, Naomi.

Desperate to find a connection between the two girls and to find Willow before it is too late, Lottie speaks to the girls’ families and discovers that both girls were altar servers at the cathedral. The charismatic priest Father Maguire has a watertight alibi for the time the girls went missing, but Lottie suspects the confused old lady traumatised by the discovery of Naomi’s body is hiding something…

A day later, Willow’s little body is found wrapped in a white robe in the snowy grounds of a church across town. Lottie is devastated, convinced now that she can’t trust anyone, least of all the girls’ parents. Why did Willow’s mother claim the girls didn’t know each other? And why are there no photos of Naomi in her mother’s shabby house?

But when a little boy from the choir goes missing too, Lottie realises she must spread her net wider. Can she stop this twisted killer before another precious life is stolen?

A completely compelling page-turner from bestselling author Patricia Gibney. If you like Rachel Caine, Kendra Elliott and Robert Dugoni, The Altar Girls will have you hooked.

What everyone is saying about The Altar Girls:

‘Oh yes!!! What an absolute roller coaster of an investigation!… This novel runs a mile a minute, there is always action, and the plot and sub plots run beautifully together, keeping the reader in high suspense. I could hardly bear to put this book down, Patricia Gibney definitely knows how to keep her readers rapt… I absolutely recommend this series if you are looking for well-planned and well thought out police thrillers that have twists and turns that will leave you breathless.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Will keep you on your toes, red herrings galore, plenty of interesting characters and a fabulous storyline. ‘ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This is another fantastic Lottie Parker book. Patricia Gibney is a prolific writer who takes the reader on a fast, twisty roller coaster ride in this book. It’s a heartbreaking story with a lot of twists and turns… I was glued to the pages.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Loved this. So many twists and turns… A great read!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I absolutely LOVE Lottie Parker! Excellent police murder enquiry book full of twists and turns with who you thought “did it” actually didn’t. Had me guessing and doubting until the end. Definitely recommend this book from Patricia Gibney!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I have read and loved all the previous books but this one was by far my favourite so far… This was a read that had everything so many twists and turns I was never sure of who was guilty and so many I thought I had it only to be floored by yet another twist! So a fabulous 5 star read… it was a blast.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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