Lucy Ribchester – författare

In a place where everyone is keeping secrets all the time, how do you know who you can trust? A brilliant novel of lies and intrigue at Bletchley Park by the author of the bestselling debut The Hourglass Factory. Perfect for all fans of The Imitation Game.On a delayed train, deep in the English countryside, two strangers meet. It is 1942 and they are both men of fighting age, though neither is in uniform. As strangers do in these days of war, they pass the time by sharing their stories. But walls have ears and careless talk costs lives…At Bletchley Park, Honey Deschamps spends her days at a type-x machine in Hut 6, transcribing decrypted signals from the German Army. One winter’s night, as she walks home in the blackout, she meets a stranger in the shadows. He tells her his name is Felix, and he has a package for her.The parcel, containing a small piece of amber, postmarked from Russia and branded with two censor’s stamps, is just the first of several. Someone is trying to get a message to her, but who? As a dangerous web weaves ever tighter around her, can Honey uncover who is sending these mysterious packages and why before it’s too late…?

1912 and London is in turmoil…  The suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch but for broke Fleet Street tomboy Frankie George, just getting by in the cut-throat world of newspapers is hard enough. Sent to interview trapeze artist Ebony Diamond, Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly laced acrobat and follows her across London to a Mayfair corset shop that hides more than one dark secret.  Then Ebony Diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of a performance, and Frankie is drawn into a world of tricks, society columnists, corset fetishists, suffragettes and circus freaks. How did Ebony vanish, who was she afraid of, and what goes on behind the doors of the mysterious Hourglass Factory?  From the newsrooms of Fleet Street to the drawing rooms of high society, the missing Ebony Diamond leads Frankie to the trail of a murderous villain with a plot more deadly than anyone could have imagined…  A Val McDermid New Blood Pick, Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival An Alex Gray New Crimes Pick, Bloody Scotland  ‘Rollicking whodunit adventure…terrific’ IAN RANKIN  ‘[A] corking debut…full of information about the suffragettes and great fun’ SUNDAY EXPRESS  ‘Its energy, crackle and humour is infectious’ ELIZABETH BUCHAN, DAILY MAIL  ‘This whodunnit teems with larger-than-life characters…Yet this is also, in part, a historical novel, with landmark events (often not seen as being contemporaneous to one another)…all breathing life into Ribchester’s London’ GUARDIAN

In a place where everyone is keeping secrets all the time, how do you know who you can trust?A brilliant novel of lies and intrigue at Bletchley Park by the author of the bestselling debutThe Hourglass Factory. Perfect for all fans of The Imitation Game. On a delayed train, deep in the English countryside, two strangers meet. It is 1942 and they are both men of fighting age, though neither is in uniform. As strangers do in these days of war, they pass the time by sharing their stories. But walls have ears and careless talk costs lives At Bletchley Park, Honey Deschamps spends her days at a type-x machine in Hut 6, transcribing decrypted signals from the German Army. One winter''s night, as she walks home in the blackout, she meets a stranger in the shadows. He tells her his name is Felix, and he has a package for her. The parcel, containing a small piece of amber, postmarked from Russia and branded with two censor''s stamps, is just the first of several. Someone is trying to get a message to her, but who? As a dangerous web weaves ever tighter around her, can Honey uncover who is sending these mysterious packages and why before it''s too late?

''A beautiful sensory overload . . . I didn''t want it to end.'' - Kirstin Innes, bestselling author of Scabby QueenThree women. A deadly score to settle.EDINBURGH, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend, the famous castrato Clessidro, are stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Despite her cavalier attitude towards holding a tune, Clessidro''s friendship and her own shocking murder ballads keep Isobel on stage and enjoying an opulent lifestyle in Auld Reekie.Yet one night a note arrives from the mysterious Mrs Abercorn, regarding Isobel''s most notorious song, The Fiddler''s Wrath. It''s the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued.But Mrs Abercorn''s curiosity is far more than a fickle interest and the truth is more complicated than anyone could have imagined. As Isobel recounts rising through the social classes, her role in this ill-fated tune is brought to light, awakening the chilling retribution of a once buried secret.A story of betrayal, mystery, and the secrets some would die to protect. Perfect for fans of Patrick Süskind Perfume and Kate Foster''s The Maiden.''This glorious romp through the filth, greed and duplicity of 18th century Edinburgh is a feminist delight. Highly recommended.'' - Mary Paulson-Ellis''A wildly original and alarmingly readable historical novel whose dark, blood-soaked narrative takes us by surprise at every turn.'' - Andrew Taylor''Tales of opera singers and murderers, of cobbled streets and Old Town tenements, of audacious women and what can befall them. The writing is sublime, I loved every word.'' - Elissa Soave

'A beautiful sensory overload . . . I didn't want it to end.' - Kirstin Innes, bestselling author of Scabby QueenThree women. A deadly score to settle.EDINBURGH, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend, the famous castrato Clessidro, are stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Despite her cavalier attitude towards holding a tune, Clessidro's friendship and her own shocking murder ballads keep Isobel on stage and enjoying an opulent lifestyle in Auld Reekie.Yet one night a note arrives from the mysterious Mrs Abercorn, regarding Isobel's most notorious song, The Fiddler's Wrath. It's the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued.But Mrs Abercorn's curiosity is far more than a fickle interest and the truth is more complicated than anyone could have imagined. As Isobel recounts rising through the social classes, her role in this ill-fated tune is brought to light, awakening the chilling retribution of a once buried secret.A story of betrayal, mystery, and the secrets some would die to protect. Perfect for fans of Patrick Süskind Perfume and Kate Foster's The Maiden.'This glorious romp through the filth, greed and duplicity of 18th century Edinburgh is a feminist delight. Highly recommended.' - Mary Paulson-Ellis'A wildly original and alarmingly readable historical novel whose dark, blood-soaked narrative takes us by surprise at every turn.' - Andrew Taylor'Tales of opera singers and murderers, of cobbled streets and Old Town tenements, of audacious women and what can befall them. The writing is sublime, I loved every word.' - Elissa Soave

'A rich, ripe, gorgeously seedy mystery.' - Kirstin Innes, bestselling author of Scabby QueenEDINBURGH, 1791. Ballad singer Isobel Duguid and her friend, the famous castrato Clessidro, are stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Despite Isobel's brash singing style, Clessidro's friendship and her own shocking murder ballads keep her on stage and enjoying an opulent lifestyle in Auld Reekie. Yet one night a note arrives from the mysterious Mrs Abercorn, regarding Isobel's most notorious song, The Fiddler's Wrath. It's the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows.But as Isobel will discover, Mrs Abercorn's curiosity is far more than just a fickle interest. As Isobel recounts rising through the social classes, her role in this ill-fated tune is brought to light, awakening the chilling retribution of a once-buried secret.A story of betrayal, mystery, and the secrets some would die to protect. Perfect for fans of Patrick Süskind Perfume and Kate Foster's The Maiden.'This glorious romp through the filth, greed and duplicity of 18th century Edinburgh is a feminist delight. Highly recommended.' - Mary Paulson-Ellis'A wildly original and alarmingly readable historical novel whose dark, blood-soaked narrative takes us by surprise at every turn.' - Andrew Taylor'I couldn't put it down. The writing oozes passion and guts, interlaced with a dark humour.' - Devika Ponnambalam'Tales of opera singers and murderers, of cobbled streets and Old Town tenements, of audacious women and what can befall them. The writing is sublime, I loved every word.' - Elissa Soave'A gripping and grisly tale of opera, art and ownership set in eighteenth-century Edinburgh' - Lynsey May

In Collaboration with Liars League. A celebration of the centenary of women in the UK getting the vote. Stories about women by women, which have been performed at one of Liars’ League’s events in London, Hong Kong, New York or Portland, Everything from fantasy and historical through magic realism to SF and humour.