Andrew Taylor - Böcker

Final novel in Andrew Taylor’s powerful Roth Trilogy: ‘With all due deference to its heavenly virtues, this is a hellishly good novel’ – Frances Fyfield, Sunday Express Janet Byfield has everything Wendy Appleyard lacks: she’s beautiful; she has a handsome husband, a clergyman on the verge of promotion; and most of all she has an adorable little daughter, Rosie. So when Wendy’s life falls apart, it’s to her oldest friend, Janet, that she turns.At first it seems as to Wendy as though nothing can touch the Byfields’ perfect existence in 1950s Cathedral Close, Rosington, but old sins gradually come back to haunt the present, and new sins are bred in their place. The shadow of death seeps through the Close, and only Wendy, the outsider looking in, is able to glimpse the truth. But can she grasp it’s twisted logic in time to prevent a tragedy whose roots lie buried deep in the past?

The true story of Gerard Mercator, the greatest map-maker of all time, who was condemned to death as a heretic. ‘Geographie and Chronologie I may call the Sunne and the Moone, the right eye and the left, of all history.’ In ‘The World of Gerard Mercator’, Andrew Taylor chronicles both the story of a great astronomer and mathematician, who was condemned to death as a heretic, and the history of that most fascinating conjunction of science and art: the drawing of maps. Gerard Mercator was born in Flanders in 1512. In addition to creating accurate globes of the earth and the stars, he was the first person to use latitude and longitude for navigation and he created the most-used map of all time: Mercator’s Projection is still the standard view of the world, the one we all envisage when we think of a map of the globe. Simply finding the best solution to the impossible challenge of reproducing the spherical world on a flat sheet of paper was a considerable achievement in itself – something geographers and map-makers had been trying to do for centuries, but Mercator also created the map of the world that would form the basis of the modern age, an image of the continents for the common man.Until Mercator’s Projection, maps offered a pictorial encyclopaedia to an illiterate world, and that world stretched far beyond the knowledge and travels of most mapmakers. It is this evolution of mapmaking from art to science that forms the backdrop to the story of Mercator, from the days of Herodotus and Strabo when fabulous creatures were supposed to inhabit the fringes of the world to the great mappae mundi of Hereford and Ebsdorf. The Greek geographer Pytheas claimed to have visited the far north of Britain to establish the limits of the habitable world; but further north, he claimed that the earth, air and sea coalesced into a jellyfish-like gelatinous suspension that made life impossible.‘The World of Gerard Mercator’ is a brilliantly readable and absolutely fascinating history for the general reader, describing how our worldview came into being.

‘Complex, with lots of sinister implications… moves the traditional crime novel on to some deeper level of exploration’ Jane Jakeman, IndependentIt is 1970. David Byfield, a widowed parish priest with a dark past and a darker future, brings home a new wife to Roth. Throughout the summer, the consequences of the marriage reverberate through a village now submerged in a sprawling London suburb.Blinded by lust, Byfield is oblivious to the dangers that lie all about him: the menopausal churchwarden with a hopeless passion for her priest; his beautiful, neglected teenage daughter Rosemary; and the sinister presence of Frances Youlgreave – poet, opium addict and suicide – whose power stretches beyond the grave.Soon the murders and blasphemies begin. But does the responsibility lie in the present or the past? And can Byfield, a prisoner of his own passion, break through to the truth before the final tragedy destroys what he most cherishes?

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER AND AWARD-WINNING RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK An atmospheric and deeply absorbing literary historical crime classic – featured in The Times ‘Top Ten Crime Novels of the Decade’.England 1819: Thomas Shield, a new master at a school just outside London, is tutor to a young American boy and the child’s sensitive best friend, Charles Frant. Helplessly drawn to Frant’s beautiful, unhappy mother, Thomas becomes entwined in their family’s affairs.When a brutal murder takes place in London’s seedy backstreets, it is not certain who either the victim or the killer is. But all clues seem to lead back to the Frant household, and Shield is tangled in a web of lies, money, sex and death that threatens to tear his new life apart.And what of the strange American boy at the heart of these macabre events – what is the dark secret of young Edgar Allan Poe?

*WINNER of the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award 2013*‘Andrew Taylor wrote superb historical fiction long before Hilary Mantel was popular’ Daily TelegraphFrom the No.1 bestselling author of THE AMERICAN BOY comes a new historical thriller set during the American War of Independence.August, 1778. British-controlled Manhattan is a melting pot of soldiers, traitors and refugees, surrounded by rebel forces as the American War of Independence rages on.Into this simmering tension sails Edward Savill, a London clerk tasked with assessing the claims of loyalists who have lost out during the war.Savill lodges with the ageing Judge Wintour, his ailing wife, and their enigmatic daughter-in-law Arabella. However, as Savill soon learns, what the Wintours have lost in wealth, they have gained in secrets.The murder of a gentleman in the slums pulls Savill into the city’s underbelly. But when life is so cheap, why does one death matter? Because making a nation is a lucrative business, and some people cannot afford to miss out, whatever the price…

From the No. 1 bestselling author of THE AMERICAN BOY comes a brilliant new historical thriller set during the French Revolution. Selected as Historical Novel of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times, and picked as one of Radio 4’s Crime Books of the Year. Paris, 1792. Terror reigns as the city writhes in the grip of revolution. The streets run with blood as thousands lose their heads to the guillotine. Edward Savill, working in London as agent for a wealthy American, receives word that his estranged wife Augusta has been killed in France. She leaves behind ten-year-old Charles, who is brought to England to Charnwood Court, a house in the country leased by a group of émigré refugees.Savill is sent to retrieve the boy, though it proves easier to reach Charnwood than to leave. And only when Savill arrives there does he discover that Charles is mute. The boy has witnessed horrors beyond his years, but what terrible secret haunts him so deeply that he is unable to utter a word?

The first book in the No. 1 Times bestselling series‘This is terrific stuff’ Daily Telegraph‘A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era’ Financial Times‘A masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot’ The TimesOver 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A CITY IN FLAMESLondon, 1666. As the Great Fire consumes everything in its path, the body of a man is found in the ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral – stabbed in the neck, thumbs tied behind his back.A WOMAN ON THE RUNThe son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city’s devastated streets. There he encounters a determined young woman, who will stop at nothing to secure her freedom.A KILLER SEEKING REVENGEWhen a second murder victim is discovered in the Fleet Ditch, Marwood is drawn into the political and religious intrigue of Westminster – and across the path of a killer with nothing to lose…

From No.1 bestselling author Andrew Taylor comes the sequel to the phenomenally successful The Ashes of LondonOver 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A time of terrible danger…The Great Fire has ravaged London. Now, guided by the Fire Court, the city is rebuilding, but times are volatile and danger is only ever a heartbeat away.Two mysterious deaths…James Marwood, a traitor’s son, is thrust into this treacherous environment when his father discovers a dead woman in the very place where the Fire Court sits. The next day his father is run down. Accident? Or another murder…?A race to stop a murderer…Determined to uncover the truth, Marwood turns to the one person he can trust – Cat Lovett, the daughter of a despised regicide. Then comes a third death… and Marwood and Cat are forced to confront a vicious killer who threatens the future of the city itself.

Winner of The HWA Gold Crown 2020 From the No.1 bestselling author of The Ashes of London and The Fire Court comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood at the time of King Charles II.Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A royal scandal… In the Court of Charles II, it’s a dangerous time to be alive – a wrong move may lead to disgrace, exile or death. The discovery of a body at the home of one of the highest courtiers in the land could therefore have catastrophic consequences.A shocking murder… James Marwood, a traitor’s son, is ordered to cover up the killing. But the dead man is known to Marwood – as is the most likely culprit, Cat Lovett.The stakes have never been higher…Marwood is sure Cat is innocent so determines to discover the true murderer. But time is running out. If he makes a mistake, it could threaten the King himself…Praise for Andrew Taylor‘One of the best historical crime writers today’ The Times‘If you like C. J. Sansom, or Hilary Mantel, you’ll love Andrew Taylor’ Peter James‘Effortlessly authentic…gripping…moving and believable. An excellent work’ C. J. Sansom‘This is historical crime fiction at its dazzling best’ Guardian‘One of the best historical novelists around’ Sunday Times‘A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era’ Financial Times‘A masterclass in writing for the genre’ Ann Cleeves‘Andrew Taylor is one of our finest storytellers' Antonia Hodgson‘Vivid and compelling’ Observer‘A novel filled with intrigue, duplicity, scandal and betrayal, whose author now vies with another master of the genre, C. J. Sansom’ Spectator‘Taylor brings the 17th century to life so vividly that one can almost smell it’ Guardian‘A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill’ Daily Telegraph

From the No.1 bestselling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a collection of three gothic novellas – Broken Voices, The Leper House and The Scratch – perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley. Three dark tales to read by the fireside in the cold winter months BROKEN VOICES It’s Christmas before the Great War and two lonely schoolboys have been left in the care of an elderly teacher. There is little to do but listen to his eerie tales about the nearby Cathedral. The boys concoct a plan to discover if the stories are true. But curiosity can prove fatal. THE LEPER HOUSE One stormy night, a man’s car breaks down. The only light comes from a remote cottage by the sea. The mysterious woman who lives there begs him to leave, yet the next day he feels compelled to return. But, the woman is nowhere to be seen. And neither is the cottage. THE SCRATCH Clare and Gerald live in the Forest of Dean with their cat, Cannop. Gerald’s young nephew, back from service in Afghanistan, comes to stay, with a scratch that won’t heal. Jack and Cannop don't like each other. Clare and Jack like each other too much. The scratch begins to fester.

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER AND AWARD-WINNING RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK Murder, lies and betrayal in Regency England England 1819. Thomas Shield, a master at a school just outside London, is tutor to a young American boy and the child’s sensitive best friend, Charles Frant. Helplessly drawn to Frant’s beautiful, unhappy mother, Shield becomes entwined in their family’s affairs.When a brutal murder takes place in London’s seedy backstreets, all clues lead to the Frant family, and Shield is tangled in a web of lies, money, sex and death that threatens to tear his new life apart.Soon, it emerges that at the heart of these macabre events lies the strange American boy. What secrets is the young Edgar Allan Poe hiding?

From the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett.Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold! A dangerous secret lies beneath Whitehall Palace… Brother against brother. Father against son. Friends turned into enemies. No one in England wants a return to the bloody days of the Civil War. But Oliver Cromwell’s son, Richard, has abandoned his exile and slipped back into England. The consequences could be catastrophic.James Marwood, a traitor’s son turned government agent, is tasked with uncovering Cromwell’s motives. But his assignment is complicated by his friend – the regicide’s daughter, Cat Lovett – who knew the Cromwells as a child, and who now seems to be hiding a secret of her own about the family.Both Marwood and Cat know they are putting themselves in great danger. And when they find themselves on a top secret mission in the Palace of Whitehall, they realize they are risking their lives…and could even be sent to the block for treason.Praise for Andrew Taylor‘One of the best historical crime writers today’ The Times‘If you like C. J. Sansom, or Hilary Mantel, you’ll love Andrew Taylor’ Peter James‘Effortlessly authentic…gripping…moving and believable. An excellent work’ C. J. Sansom‘This is historical crime fiction at its dazzling best’ Guardian‘One of the best historical novelists around’ Sunday Times‘A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era’ Financial Times‘A masterclass in writing for the genre’ Ann Cleeves‘Andrew Taylor is one of our finest storytellers' Antonia Hodgson‘Vivid and compelling’ Observer‘A novel filled with intrigue, duplicity, scandal and betrayal, whose author now vies with another master of the genre, C. J. Sansom’ Spectator‘Taylor brings the 17th century to life so vividly that one can almost smell it’ Guardian‘A most artful and delightful book, that will both amuse and chill’ Daily Telegraph

From the No.1 bestselling author of The Last Protector and The Ashes of London comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett during the time of King Charles II. Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A Times Best Paperback of 2022Two young girls plot a murder by witchcraft. Soon afterwards a government clerk dies painfully in mysterious circumstances. His colleague James Marwood is asked to investigate – but the task brings unexpected dangers.Meanwhile, architect Cat Hakesby is working for a merchant who lives on Slaughter Street, where the air smells of blood and a captive Barbary lion prowls the stables. Then a prestigious new commission arrives. Cat must design a Poultry House for the woman that the King loves most in all the world.Unbeknownst to all, at the heart of this lies a royal secret so explosive that it could not only rip apart England but change the entire face of Europe…

From the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author comes a World War Two tale of one boy’s fight for survival in Nazi EuropeA secret mission…1939. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Alfred Kendall is tasked with carrying out a minor mission for the British Intelligence Service. Travelling to Prague, he takes his troubled young son, Hugh, as cover.A terrible choice…When Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, Alfred is given an ultimatum by the Czech Resistance. They will arrange for him to return to England, but only if he leaves his son Hugh behind as collateral.A young boy stranded in Nazi terrain…Hugh is soon taken under the wing of a Nazi colonel – Helmuth Scholl. But even though Scholl treats Hugh well, his son, Heinz, is suspicious of this foreigner. And as the war across the continent intensifies, they are set on a path that will ultimately lead towards destruction…

Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A Times Historical Crime Novel of the year‘An absolute delight in a series that goes from strength to strength’ S. G. McLean, prize-winning author of the Seeker series‘This is Taylor at his unassailable best’ Financial Times London 1671 The damage caused by the Great Fire still overshadows the capital. The disfigured body of a man is unearthed in the ruins of the old almshouse, forcing architect Cat Hakesby to stop restoration work. It is clear he has been murdered, and Whitehall secretary James Marwood is ordered to investigate.When the man’s identity is revealed, it’s clear that there are larger forces at play, and Marwood comes under serious pressure to solve the case. But an old adversary is attempting to stop him.As Cat and Marwood follow the threads of corruption into the heart of government, the king himself is being distracted from affairs of state. A young, impoverished Frenchwoman has caught his eye – a quiet affair that will have monumental consequences.

*A Times Best Book of the Year*From the author of The Ashes of London, comes a new historical mystery set in the last days of WWII 'Ten out of ten' The Times ‘A grand piece of work – a triumph and one of Taylor’s best’ MICK HERRON 'A wonderfully unique novel from the master of historical crime fiction. Beautiful, haunting, and quite brilliant' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON ‘As good as I’d expect from a master of the craft’ VAL MCDERMID 'A wonderful, subtle novel, set in a strange, enclosed world. Beautiful writing and a gloriously satisfying ending' ANN CLEEVES __________ England, May 1945 In the last days of World War II, Monkshill Park School for Girls stands far apart from the violence in Europe. Yet a woman has been murdered in its grounds.Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, has disappeared. The teachers and girls whisper that she’s run away, but in fact she has met a violent end.Replacement tutor and amateur crime writer Alec Shaw arrives to find a school riven with bitter rivalries and dangerous tensions. He begins to suspect there is a real-life mystery waiting to be solved… and these echoing halls hide a killer.

*A Times Best Book of the Year*From the author of The Ashes of London, comes a new historical mystery set in the last days of WWII 'Ten out of ten' The Times ‘A grand piece of work – a triumph and one of Taylor’s best’ MICK HERRON 'A wonderfully unique novel from the master of historical crime fiction. Beautiful, haunting, and quite brilliant' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON ‘As good as I’d expect from a master of the craft’ VAL MCDERMID 'A wonderful, subtle novel, set in a strange, enclosed world. Beautiful writing and a gloriously satisfying ending' ANN CLEEVES __________ England, May 1945 In the last days of World War II, Monkshill Park School for Girls stands far apart from the violence in Europe. Yet a woman has been murdered in its grounds.Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, has disappeared. The teachers and girls whisper that she’s run away, but in fact she has met a violent end.Replacement tutor and amateur crime writer Alec Shaw arrives to find a school riven with bitter rivalries and dangerous tensions. He begins to suspect there is a real-life mystery waiting to be solved… and these echoing halls hide a killer.

*A Times Best Book of the Year*From the author of The Ashes of London, comes a new historical mystery set in the last days of WWII 'Ten out of ten' The Times ‘A grand piece of work – a triumph and one of Taylor’s best’ MICK HERRON 'A wonderfully unique novel from the master of historical crime fiction. Beautiful, haunting, and quite brilliant' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON ‘As good as I’d expect from a master of the craft’ VAL MCDERMID 'A wonderful, subtle novel, set in a strange, enclosed world. Beautiful writing and a gloriously satisfying ending' ANN CLEEVES __________ England, May 1945 In the last days of World War II, Monkshill Park School for Girls stands far apart from the violence in Europe. Yet a woman has been murdered in its grounds.Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, has disappeared. The teachers and girls whisper that she’s run away, but in fact she has met a violent end.Replacement tutor and amateur crime writer Alec Shaw arrives to find a school riven with bitter rivalries and dangerous tensions. He begins to suspect there is a real-life mystery waiting to be solved… and these echoing halls hide a killer.

‘The master of historical crime fiction’ LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON Don't miss the gripping new historical thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London, perfect for fans of CJ Sansom, Robert Harris and Hilary Mantel England, 1688 King James II finally has an heir – but not all are rejoicing. Protestant bishops have been sent to the tower, strange symbols are appearing on the streets of London and rumblings of dissent are whispered throughout the city.Amidst the turmoil, Secretary James Marwood has been living a quiet life. But his peace is broken when a figure from the past emerges with a dangerous proposition. Change is coming, and Marwood needs an ally if he is to retain his position at Whitehall. So, reluctantly, he agrees to investigate an apparent suicide.The man’s death is soon revealed to be a murder, and his past yields suspicious connections. Violence begins to erupt around the city, protestants raging against a Catholic king, and the atmosphere at court grows tense. Marwood’s investigation leads him to uncover a deadly and treasonous conspiracy, one that threatens the crown and the stability of the nation.Praise for Andrew Taylor ‘A grand piece of work – a triumph and one of Taylor’s best’ MICK HERRON 'A wonderful, subtle novel, set in a strange, enclosed world. Beautiful writing and a gloriously satisfying ending' ANN CLEEVES 'A Schooling in Murder turns the country house mystery inside out with wit and wisdom. Ten out of ten' THE TIMES 'Taylor's position at the apex of historical crime writers is reinforced' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Taylor’s ability to conjure time past is second to none' GUARDIAN

FEATURED IN THE TIMES TOP 100 CRIME & THRILLERS SINCE 1945 Bleeding Heart Square is a tense historical thriller from the bestselling author of The Ashes of London1934, LondonInto the decaying cul-de-sac of Bleeding Heart Square steps aristocratic Lydia Langstone fleeing an abusive marriage. However, unknown to Lydia, a dark mystery haunts Bleeding Heart Square. What happened to Miss Penhow, the middle-aged spinster who owns the house and who vanished four years earlier? Why is a seedy plain-clothes policeman obsessively watching the square? What is making struggling journalist Rory Wentwood so desperate to contact Miss Penhow?And why are parcels of rotting hearts being sent to Joseph Serridge, the last person to see Miss Penhow alive?