Fourteen wartime Christmas tales for you to enjoy this holiday season. This collection of short stories is our gift to bring you something positive and joyful with which to end the year.Soldiers stumbling upon mercy and miracles; children sharing gifts of friendship and love; Romance finding its way into lonely, war-weary hearts; resistance fighters, spies, families on the home front—all bringing their own ray of hope in the darkest of time.For this holiday...

June 1910. Fighting her corner in a man’s world, Dr Margaret Demeray works as a pathologist in a London hospital for the poor. Suppressing her worry that she’s breaching confidentiality, Margaret gives a stranger called Fox information about a dead down-and-out, in the hope he’ll use it to raise awareness of bad working conditions. But when a second man appears to die the same way, Margaret starts to wonder why the enigmatic Fox keeps turning up to ask ever more complex questions. She deci...

Does the camera ever lie? 1911: After the violent murder of three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. Can Margaret Demeray and Fox find out which potential enemy is behind a threat to the capital before it’s too late? In the shadow of violence in the East End, just as Dr Margaret Demeray starts to gain recognitio...

1895 England - when you can't hide from your past, how can you face the future?Shy Charlotte Addison is only twenty-four but it feels as if life is already over. When her cruel husband Edmund is murdered, she assumes she'll remain stuck with her bitter mother-in-law and village gossip forever.So given the chance to escape into obscurity with her children, Charlotte jumps at the chance.But her relief is short-lived and Charlotte is horrified...

190 AD Pecunia: an insignificant town in west Britain. Romano-Briton Lucretia is determined that her get-rich-quick scheme will not be undermined by minor things like her husband’s death, dubious imposters or her married daughter’s fascination with a celebrity gladiator. But when the bodies start to mount up, wise-woman Tryssa starts to ask questions. Certain that a forgotten goddess cannot be blamed, Tryssa needs to uncover the truth before another life is lost.

Would you betray a friend to save a country? Would you betray a country to avenge a friend?London May 1913.Angry about the treatment of suffragettes, and a supporter’s murder, Dr Margaret Demeray’s friend Maude urges their suffrage group towards violent militancy.But Margaret is conflicted when a parcel bomb brings casualties to her hospital. And what is the risk to a fragile peace treaty which is about to be signed, and to Fox who’s tracking down stolen diplomatic doc...

December AD 192 The oldest bonds are the hardest severed.When Fabio’s aunt Lucretia flexes her match-making muscles, he seeks escape from a marriage to shy, bored Adriane. Luckily, his friend Petros needs help investigating a possible rebellion in Vademlutra. All Fabio has to do is pretend to be poor and keep his wits about him.Certain there’s nothing to investigate, Fabio settles down for a week in the tavern until a lost young woman in the woods captivates him. Where is s...

When millions are about to go to war, what does one small life matter?Summer 1914. A young man’s murder in a rough London street seems nothing more than a robbery gone wrong. But Inspector Silvermann has his suspicions and hands the case over to Fox.When a healthy man dies close to where the young man was murdered, Margaret's sure the two cases are linked. But getting evidence proves a challenge when Margaret is battling to keep her job, Fox is trying to stop arms smuggling...

November 1913: Staff wanted. Prospects excellent. Death - or worse - a certainty.London 1913. One foggy November evening, fourteen-year-old Rosie is knocked down by a car and admitted to Dorcas Free Hospital.Dr Margaret Demeray suspects she's escaped kidnappers masquerading as an employment agency. But the police are more interested in the cold-blooded murder of a respectable man than Rosie, and Rosie won’t talk, other than to beg Margaret and Fox to stop her friend Violet ...

AD 191. An ancient grove, broken promises, a lost keepsake. Rich Lucretia is on the way to the town of Durnovaria. The last time she saw it she’d just rejected an arranged teenage marriage, but now she's back to claim an inheritance, taking the local wise-woman Tryssa as a companion. Unknown to anyone, two hapless grave-robbers have been seeking ancient treasures in a stone circle nearby, without any idea that what they've found will open up old wounds from a more recent past. With Lucreti...

How can a long dead traitor destroy the man who uncovered his crimes?London Summer 1912. Busy with the pressures of work and new motherhood, Margaret Demeray wonders if she will ever be free to help Fox again. When she hears of an unlikely spy plot, she expects Fox to be incredulous, but something reminds him of a case from 1902, and he decides to investigate.Just as they decide the allegation is nonsense, a young woman is found dead and evidence at the scene links Fox to her...

In this anthology, you will find Dorset myths and legends, disgruntled cats, dark deeds and hopeful reflection. Something for everyone. This is a collection of short stories, flash fiction, verse, prose and a short script written by members of the Cedar Tree Writers' Group based in Blandford Forum, Dorset, UK.The contributors are: David Bamber, Steve Bewers, Finola Brennan, Helen Hakimzedeh, Paula Harmon, Marian Matthews, Richard Pearson, Matthew Ryan-East, Sim Alec Sansford, There...