Louise Millar – författare

Single mother Callie has come to rely heavily on her best friend Suzy. But Callie suspects Suzy's life isn't as simple as it seems. It's time she pulled away - going back to work is just the first step towards rediscovering her old confidence. So why does she keep putting off telling Suzy about her new job?Suzy and Callie live close to each other on a typical cramped, anonymous London street. Neighbours seem to move in, and move on, before you have even learned their names. Callie's increased sense of alienation leads her to try to befriend a new resident on her street, Debs. But Debs is anxious, odd. You wouldn't trust her with your child - especially not if you knew anything about her past.A brilliant and chilling evocation of modern life, The Playdate is a real talking-point book for mothers everywhere.

Single mother Callie has come to rely heavily on her best friend Suzy. But Callie suspects Suzy's life isn't as simple as it seems. It's time she pulled away - going back to work is just the first step towards rediscovering her old confidence. So why does she keep putting off telling Suzy about her new job?Suzy and Callie live close to each other on a typical cramped, anonymous London street. Neighbours seem to move in, and move on, before you have even learned their names. Callie's increased sense of alienation leads her to try to befriend a new resident on her street, Debs. But Debs is anxious, odd. You wouldn't trust her with your child - especially not if you knew anything about her past.A brilliant and chilling evocation of modern life, The Playdate is a real talking-point book for mothers everywhere.

One cold March morning, a removal van arrives at Tornley Hall in Suffolk. Will and Hannah Riley have been waiting a long time to adopt, and Hannah is obsessed that this new ‘dream’ family home in Tornley, will improve their chances with social services. She has given up her career at a human rights organisation, and persuaded a reluctant Will to give up their flat in London. Yet as Will starts to commute back to work, heavy snow arrives. Hannah finds herself cut off from the world in this tiny, isolated hamlet. As she paints over the cracks in the abandoned old house, trying to ignore its reflection of the recent change in her once-happy marriage to Will, the house starts to reveal unexpected secrets to her. Rooms are locked. Intruders break in. There are strange noises and shadows at night. When Hannah witnesses an assault on a vulnerable woman in a neighbouring field, she starts to realise that everything in Tornley is also not what it seems. She has to make a choice. Tell the police, and risk her social worker becoming suspicious about the safety of Hannah and Will’s new home; or cover up the crime, to get what she wants. Hannah makes her choice. Then just as their social worker is due to visit to approve their new home, a shocking turn of events takes place that rips Hannah’s world apart. Before she knows it, she is alone, frightened, and trapped in a place where no one ever goes . . .

Kate Parker has had so much bad luck in her life, she's convinced she's cursed. But when she tries to do her best to keep herself and her son safe, people tell her she's being anxious and obsessive.Just when her life starts to spin completely out of control, an Oxford professor she meets offers to help. But his methods are not conventional. If she wants to live her life again, he will expect her to take risks.When a mysterious neighbour starts to take more than a passing interest in her, Kate tries to stay rational and ignore it.Maybe this, however, is the one time Kate should be worried.

One cold March morning, a removal van arrives at Tornley Hall in Suffolk. Will and Hannah Riley have been waiting a long time to adopt, and Hannah is obsessed that this new ‘dream’ family home in Tornley, will improve their chances with social services. She has given up her career at a human rights organisation, and persuaded a reluctant Will to give up their flat in London. Yet as Will starts to commute back to work, heavy snow arrives. Hannah finds herself cut off from the world in this tiny, isolated hamlet. As she paints over the cracks in the abandoned old house, trying to ignore its reflection of the recent change in her once-happy marriage to Will, the house starts to reveal unexpected secrets to her. Rooms are locked. Intruders break in. There are strange noises and shadows at night. When Hannah witnesses an assault on a vulnerable woman in a neighbouring field, she starts to realise that everything in Tornley is also not what it seems. She has to make a choice. Tell the police, and risk her social worker becoming suspicious about the safety of Hannah and Will’s new home; or cover up the crime, to get what she wants. Hannah makes her choice. Then just as their social worker is due to visit to approve their new home, a shocking turn of events takes place that rips Hannah’s world apart. Before she knows it, she is alone, frightened, and trapped in a place where no one ever goes . . .

Grace Scott returns from honeymoon with her new husband, Mac, to find a man lying dead in their new Edinburgh flat. They don't know who he is or where he's come from.The mystery of his identity remains unsolved. Then, three months later, Grace finds a note tucked inside one of the wedding gifts which sends her on a journey to discover what really happened in her flat. A journey that becomes more dangerous the closer she comes to the truth . . . What she discovers will change her life.Set in Edinburgh and travelling to Amsterdam, Paris and Copenhagen, CITY OF STRANGERS is a gripping story of deception, lies and corruption.

Grace Scott returns from honeymoon with her new husband, Mac, to find a man lying dead in their new Edinburgh flat. They don't know who he is or where he's come from.The mystery of his identity remains unsolved. Then, three months later, Grace finds a note tucked inside one of the wedding gifts which sends her on a journey to discover what really happened in her flat. A journey that becomes more dangerous the closer she comes to the truth . . . What she discovers will change her life.Set in Edinburgh and travelling to Amsterdam, Paris and Copenhagen, CITY OF STRANGERS is a gripping story of deception, lies and corruption.

TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED. . . . In a quiet London suburb, a group of mothers relies on each other for friendship, favors, and gossip. But some of them shouldn’t be trusted, and others have dark secrets. When Callie moved into her new neighborhood, she thought it would be easy to fit in. The other parents have been strangely hostile, though, and her frail daughter Rae is finding it impossible to make friends. Suzy, with her rich husband and her three energetic children, has been the only one to reach out, although their friendship has recently felt inexplicably strained. Now the police have suggested that someone dangerous may be living in their neighborhood, and the atmosphere feels even more toxic. Then there’s the matter of Callie’s ex-husband, and the shocking truth behind their divorce . . . a truth that she would do anything to hide.

From Louise Millar, the acclaimed author of The Playdate, comes a gripping psychological thriller where one woman’s streak of bad luck may be something far more sinister.A MAGNETIC AND CHILLING NEW THRILLER FROM HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR LOUISE MILLAR Kate Parker has weathered unimaginable horrors—her parents died in a traffic accident on her wedding night, and her husband, Hugo, was murdered in a tragic break-in gone wrong. All she has left is her young son, Jack, and determined to make a better future for him, she attempts to pull her life back together. But are she and her son safe?

From "a writer to watch," this gripping psychological thriller follows a young woman who uncovers a decades-old secret in her idyllic suburban neighborhood—but who will believe her?THE PERFECT HOUSE . . . THE PERFECT LIFE . . . THE PERFECT TRAP Hannah Riley and her musician husband, Will, hope that a move to the countryside will provide a fresh start. Hannah is desperate for a baby, and she hopes that this new life will allow her to realize her dream of adopting a child . . . and revitalize her marriage. Yet when the worst snowstorm in years comes to Suffolk, Will is working in London and Hannah is cut off in their remote village, obsessively scrambling to turn the tumbledown manor into the perfect refuge for a child. Life in Tornley proves to be far from idyllic, however. Hannah has spent her professional life doing the right thing for other people. As she starts to uncover a terrible crime, she realizes she can no longer do that without putting everything she''s ever wanted at risk. But if Hannah does nothing, the next victim could be her . . .

From the author of Accidents Happen, The Hidden Girl, and The Playdate—called “a supremely accomplished debut thriller by a writer to watch” (Booklist, starred review)—comes a new, heart-pounding novel about a journalist set on discovering the identity of a stranger who has turned her life upside down.When Grace and her childhood sweetheart Mac come home from their honeymoon in Thailand, they’re shocked to find a dead body beside their pile of unopened wedding presents. The police are unable to ID the man, so it is assumed that he was a burglar who died from natural causes. Little do they know that evidence for a rather different story is hidden right beneath their apartment… Three months later, Grace finds a card that, in place of well wishes, bears the message: “That man was Lucian Grabole.” A newspaper reporter fearing for her job, Grace lands on an idea that could answer some questions, and save her career as well. She’ll pitch a story to her boss called “Who was the man in my kitchen?” Soon Grace is trekking across Europe, talking to strangers and piecing together clues as she tries to unravel the mystery of who Lucian Grabole was, and why he met such a macabre end. Suddenly, with two more deaths linked to the case, it becomes clear that Grabole most certainly did not die a natural death. And the answer to the mystery of who the killer is, and why, lies back in Grace’s apartment...

Here's a fun way for younger children and learners to build a basic vocabulary in Welsh. Brilliant reinforcement of everyday words in Welsh featuring 270 familiar words brought to life in engagingly illustrated scenes and includes pronunciation guide for every word.

Fun word puzzle book clues in Spanish and English. Crosswords, word searches, mazes with colourful picture clues, arranged in 14 popular themes including farm animals, colours, supermarket, clothes, wild animals. Answers and a full word list from Spanish and English at the back. A great book for young language learners to practise their vocabulary.