Margaret Yorke – författare

Bicklebury is a small village of some three hundred inhabitants, a church and a pub, but no shop, no school, and certainly no crime - until two ex-cons decide it is the ideal location to pull a robbery. Derek Jarvis and his daughter Hannah are home when the two armed men break in, and Derek, fearing for their safety, urges Hannah not to resist. The tactic backfires as one of the men brutally attacks her, leaving her broken and revolted. Derek''s marriage and his daughter are never the same again. As his family falls apart, he finds his wife and daughter blame him for what happened, refusing to forgive him even after the men are caught. And so Derek Jarvis, a mild-mannered accountant, conceives a plan to avenge his family. But Derek has never truly looked at himself or anticipated the terrifying twist his quest for revenge may take, as it leads him down the darkest back alleys of the psyche, strips away his controls and confronts his soul with a shocking choice . . .

The watcher spies late into the night on the enviably cosy domesticity of the Titmuss household. The seemingly happy couple, the loving children, the ordered normality of it all strikes a deep chord in Lorna Gibson, so different is it from the emotional emptiness of her own existence.But over a period of time, the watcher realises the Mrs Titmuss is no longer playing by the rules, and that her behaviour, if allowed to go unchecked, threatens to shatter the harmony of husband Cecil''s life. And Cecil is a decent man, as Lorna well knows. He doesn''t deserve such an ignominous fate.So the watcher decides to turn observation into action, and save the Titmuss family from inevitable heartbreak. But how far is she prepared to go?

''She went on making sounds in her throat, her eyes rolling frantically. Breathing heavily, he held her down...She freed a hand and pounded at him, but her didn''t feel her blows; then she scratched his face and he released her mouth for a moment. Sandra screamed very loudly, and went on screaming. He had to stop the noise.''It has been the result of a chance encounter, Gary had never intended to kill the girl. But as his initial panic subsided he realised that there had been a witness, someone whose death he would now have to plan - in a premeditated, cold-blooded way . . .

Major Johnson''s army career was undistinguished. He rose slowly through the ranks, conforming to the rules, and, on retirement, settled in the quiet village of Wiveldown, where he planned to become a respected member of the community. But Wiveldown is to belie its placid image, for soon the paths of a disparate group of people are about to cross with devastating consequences. An elderly woman, a pair of young louts, an innocent girl . . . when their lives suddenly connect, a chain of events is initiated which will begin in coincidence and end in tragedy.And for the Major, life is to be irrevocably changed . . .

Something murderous is about to happen in Middle Bardolph. The sunny village seems as neat and proper as the orderly life of Mrs Newton, the grey-haired widow in an impeccably kept house. Yet a trifle more scrutiny will soon reveal a darker picture of this picture-postcard existence . . . one where acts of greed and obsession are about to turn Mrs Newton''s prim life upside-down.Unknown to Mrs Newton, an ex-convict and some unsavoury associates are as near as next door, her recently jilted grown daughter is going murderously mad with grief, and her middle-aged son is so desperate for his inheritance he just may try to collect it prematurely. Any of the above could endanger an elderly lady''s life, but there is something more. A most sinister secret belongs to Mrs Newton herself - and the truth will come out with perhaps deadly results . . .

After serving ten years of a life sentence for murder, Stephen Dawes was released on licence to start a new life. But Stephen could not let the past bury itself - he alone knew he had not killed his wife Marcia.As Stephen set out to reconstruct Marcia''s last hours - the time she must have spent plotting a suicide meant to look like a murder - he gradually began to realise that nothing was as it had seemed . . . And that he was chasing a murderer himself - and putting his own life in jeopardy.INTIMATE KILL is a superlative crime mystery full of twists and turns - with new surprises around every bend.

Carrie Foster was still young when she started breaking the law. Gordon Matthews had transgressed only once, but his crime was far more serious. A pity Carrie didn''t suspect anything when he proposed to her. But then, why should she? Gordon looked presentable now - and prison had given him time to invent a new past. Nicholas was different - a shy young man, eager to please - and to Carrie their affair began as an amusing diversion. A bit of harmless fun, and Nicholas need never know about her other life with Gordon. But there was something Carrie didn''t know either . . .

Emma Widnes might have died at any moment, or she could have lived for years. Her husband, Norman, was certainly the kindest nurse his invalid wife could wish for. But then Norman was so pleasant to everyone - a blameless shopkeeper in a quiet town.The murdered body of Emma Widnes shocked the most experienced of CID detectives, and soon Bidbury was alive with all manner of dark rumours and idle conjecture. And skeletons could be heard, rattling in the most unlikely cupboards . . .

The daughter of a well-to-do family and recovering from a hopeless love affair, Louise Vaughan vanishes one night while returning home from a choir practice. Her car is discovered, together with her handbag, but no trace of Louise is found. Her family are forced to accept that she is dead. Twelve years later David Marsh, who worked on the original investigation, returns to the area as its Chief Superintendent. He''d never forgotten the case and decides to have a fresh look at the facts and the people involved. He learns that Louise''s parents and their adopted son are still in the area - the former surviving in a blanket of grief, the latter wheeling and dealing while teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Her parents are physically supported by Norah, who''d come into their lives as an evacuee during the war and who has another, more binding tie to the family. And there is Louise''s ex-lover, now a sleekly prosperous businessman. Marsh knows they all have secrets to reveal, but can he persuade the really guilty one to admit to murder?

With her customary skill, Margaret Yorke weaves an enthralling web of suspense and tension out of seemingly ordinary and unrelated events. Denis is living on the edge of society: neglected and unwanted, he scrapes by on his earnings as an odd-jobber. His is the sort of desperation that will tip into lawlessness at the drop of a monkey-wrench. A chance encounter with Len, inmate of the local open prison, enables Denis to prove himself as the accessory to a cunningly contrived crime . . . which ends in murder and has Denis running for his life.

On the evening that Lydia Cunningham drives to the train station to meet her daughter Thelma, the pretty little coastal town of Milton St Gabriel is sleeping quietly. The town''s utter normality is reflected in Lydia, a respectable widow of advanced years. But Thelma''s arrival will shatter the peace of Milton St Gabriel forever. Thelma brings with her Edward, a young and not altogether appealing casual pick-up with a penchant for arson, and the two of them unleash events that reveal a sordid and long-hidden tale of illegitimacy and death. But this is only the groundwork for what lies ahead as Lydia, encountering her past, falls over the edge of sanity into a nightmarish world of revenge and murder.

On an otherwise unremarkable afternoon, two boys who had spent most of the day paddling about on the dark waters of the old gravel pit pulled in to the side to refresh themselves with Mars Bars and crisps. They made landfall at a slightly different spot from where they had put their canoe into the water that morning, which explained why they had missed it then. They saw the pale white hand of a dead man, partially screened by a bush that overhung the black water of the artificial lake, breaking the surface.Before then Terry Brett, a personable con-man, has ''befriended'' Alice Armitage, an elderly and lonely widow, knowing he is on to a good thing. But when he joins forces with Alice''s scheming neighbour, his greed takes him further than he had planned - and he finds himself accused of a murder he did not commit ...

A chance encounter with a stranger, Priscilla Blunt, seems to offer Nina Crowther an escape from her problems. Middle-aged, struggling to recover from the shock of her husband divorcing her to marry a younger (and pregnant) woman, Nina happily falls in with Priscilla''s idea to house-sit for her while she and her husband visit South Africa. When the phone rings on her first night in the Blunts'' Berkshire manor house she expects it to be one of her daughters, but when she lifts the receiver no one speaks. All Nina hears is a shuddering sigh. As the calls persist Nina fears she has attracted an unwelcome suitor - or is it the man who is brutally murdering women in a nearby village? Or could it be one and the same person?

Philip Winter has no other option but to fake his own death - his life as he knows it is over. A mild, sweet-tempered salesman at an elite department store, he never suspects a nicely dressed woman will make a pass at him . . . and then accuse him of rape when he turns down her advances. Even though he is acquitted, he loses everything including his job and his wife''s trust. He just wants to disappear, and finds himself joining the lost world of the homeless.When Philip drifts into the village of Chingbury, his life intersects with a group of animal-rights activists led by a rather frightening young woman named Tessa. Tessa has her own obsessions, which are taking those around her in a terrifying direction. Philip''s world will soon be shaken, or ended, by emotions exploding in very unexpected ways.

Peaceful Mickleburgh is the perfect English market town - or so it seems. In fact, it is a perfectly constructed façade, having successfully hidden the secrets of its inhabitants for generations. But the casual murder of a man trying to prevent an act of vandalism shatters the genteel appearance. Parents are forced to consider whether their children could be involved, friends avoid each other''s eyes, and partners word their conversations carefully. Somebody in the community is close to the murderer - someone with a past that threatens to resurface, bringing damage and devastation to a whole community.

When Isabel''s god-daughter, Emily, turns up after years of no contact and in need of help, she feels duty-bound to take her under her wing. To her surprise, Emily is determined to be independent and takes a job as nanny. Emily''s charge turns out to be the illegitimate child of the naïve daughter of a well-to-do couple and a ne''er-do-well conman who disappeared before the baby was born. And now he is back, intent on exploiting his parental status in return for cash.Before she knows it, Emily is caught up in his botched attempts at blackmail, trying desperately to protect her charge from harm, while also shielding Isabel from becoming entangled in the drama. But when events beyond her control force her to act instinctively, with horrendous effect, all their lives are put terribly at risk.

Louise Widdows has never been happy in her marriage. From a generation where the woman''s role was one of support and supplication, she provided both in exchange for a secure roof over her head. But her facade of gentility disguises two secrets: a child born in adultery and given away at birth, and a small inheritance she has always kept hidden. But then events align in her favour: her husband abruptly leaves her, and the father of her illegitimate son dies, allowing her the possibility of finding him after all these years.Abandoning the shabby matrimonial home, she moves into a cottage and begins to blossom in her independence. But things are not destined to run smoothly. Two bodies are discovered near her old home, and she discovers that her husband has absconded with a charity''s funds, as well as the contents of their bank account. Suddenly her new life seems very precarious indeed, putting in doubt that she will ever locate her unknown son.

Jerry and Peter have been successfully conning vulnerable householders for years. But then Jerry decides to try the straight and narrow, getting an honest job in a chip shop. Once there he meets Imogen, pregnant and temporarily living with her step-grandmother, Charlotte Frost. In his new role as a good citizen - and hopeful suitor - Jerry agrees to tackle Charlotte''s neglected garden.But Charlotte has her own troubled past. Recently widowed, her departed husband''s family are deeply suspicious. And as her life becomes entangled with Jerry''s, lies and deceits from their pasts begin to surface, until on a night none of them will ever forget, Charlotte disappears, and Jerry is the number one suspect.A novel of subtle suspense and creeping tension, A Case to Answer is effortlessly crafted crime fiction, in which human weakness and vulnerability lead to secrets, lies and tragedy.

What secret could be so terrible that a mother would endure years of abuse to keep it concealed?Susan Trent is in her sixties, living in a house she loves, in a prosperous village. She has a nice job in the local estate agents which keeps her active, and she very much enjoys her garden: she ought to be well-satisfied with her lot. Instead she lives in constant terror of her semi-employed, abusive, middle-aged son. Her friends suspects that the cuts and bruises she explains away as her own clumsiness are really caused by his fists, but no-one steps in, unsure of why she puts up with it.Then a stranger comes to lodge in the village, triggering a series of events which will eventually bring to light why Susan has really been so protective of her son. But not until much more of her blood has been spilled.

It should have been her sanctuary - until things got murderous...''Few authors are better than Margaret Yorke in generating a real sense of fear'' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH''The mistress of unease'' DAILY TELEGRAPHRuth Castle - alone, proud, defiant - is determined to rescue some personal happiness from the wreckage of her life. In Haverbury village, she makes friends with Marjorie and Robert Bretherton, and is soon involved in the affairs of other relatives who come to stay for Christmas.Family conflicts emerge, and one night, turning to Ruth for support in a sudden crisis, Marjorie realises that things are not as straightforward as she thought - and that her very life is threatened ...