Beverley Bowry – författare

Twelve-year-old Symphony Strange has had enough. Enough of the ‘gruesome twosome’ Phyllida and Suzette’s mean ‘tricks’ because they don't see her as being posh enough, enough of St Bartholomew’s School for Girls and most of all, enough of having no friends. With headteacher Mrs Grabbit and all the other pupils in the twosome's menacing grip, Symphony can’t see things ever changing. So she’s mega happy when she gets a new neighbour and best friend in the shape of Annabatya de Vole, who is also joining their year. Okay, she may seem a bit odd and is batty about bats, but Symphony thinks Annabatya is amazing and she totally is, at absolutely everything, which sends ‘the gruesome twosome’ into a meltdown. Promising trouble with a capital T, they threaten to snoop into Annabatya’s father’s top-secret work. Desperate to protect her new BFF, Symphony decides to play Phyllida and Suzette at their own game, but has she done more harm than good?

1828, Suffolk.Twenty-four-year-old Jane Groom is left devastated when her world collapses after being dismissed from her respectable post as housekeeper at Worthley Rectory. With few prospects and her family circumstances increasingly precarious, Jane must navigate the dangers faced by an unprotected young woman seeking employment.She accepts a position at Worthley Hall, home of the affable yet troubled Squire Jonathan Bartlett, and soon finds herself drawn into the tangled affairs of the influential Bartletts and the formidable Bacon family of nearby Redgrove. As whispers of scandal and betrayal circulate, Jane becomes both confidante and pawn, in the path of the calculating Philip Bacon.When secrets from her mother’s past resurface and Jane’s safety is threatened, she is forced to question whom she can trust and where she truly belongs. With her reputation and future at stake, Jane must decide whether to flee Worthley forever, or claim the life she was never meant to have.

Ten-year-old Nathan Clark is stunned when he dashes outside on Christmas Day to use his new metal detector and finds himself faced with a ghost called Charlie Palmer. But he soon promises to do all he can to help Charlie when he discovers that his near neighbours, the Kimbles, were Charlie’s killers and are about to carry out an armed raid.When Nathan’s parents go away for the weekend leaving his no-nonsense big sister in charge, the family jewels are stolen and Charlie instantly gets the blame. The police are decidedly sceptical when Nathan tells them the truth that Charlie revealed to him. The only person listening is French scientist Monsieur Dupont, the one hundred and twenty-eight year old former owner of Nathan’s house.Will Nathan be able to save the day or will he end up the same way as Charlie?