Margaret Yorke Libri

Mick Harvey liked to frighten people and after a spell in prison for stealing, he is determined not to end up inside again. It was just by chance that Laura and Marion encountered Mick on the road and reported him for dangerous driving. Now, Mick has only one thought on his mind - revenge.

Two tales that demonstrate Margaret Yorke's ability to see what can lurk beneath the most unremarkable facades.

Louise Widdows has never been happy in her marriage. Of a generation where the woman's role was assumed to be one of support and supplication, she provided both in exchange for a secure roof over her head. But her facade of genteel acceptance disguises two secrets - a child born in adultery and given away at birth, and a small inheritance she has kept hidden from her husband. Then two events align to free her from her miserable existence: the father of her son dies allowing her the luxury of attempting to find him, and her husband abruptly leaves her. Abandoning the shabby matrimonial home, she moves into the cottage left to her by her mother and begins to blossom in her independence. But other events have collided - the discovery of a body near her old home and another close to a former residence of theirs, and the realisation that her husband has absconded with a charity's funds as well as the contents of their bank account. Suddenly her new life doesn't seem so secure, and she begins to doubt that she will have time to enjoy it, never mind locate her unknown son.

Carrie Foster was still young when she started breaking the law. And she took to it like a duck to water. 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...

A sweet-tempered man, Philip Winter never suspects that a nicely dressed woman would come into the department store where he works, make a pass at him, then accuse him of rape when he turns down her advances. Though he's been acquitted, he's lost his job and his wife's trust. What's left for him to do but fake his own death? And as Philip drifts into non-entity, he falls in with some people whose worlds are about to be shaken in explosive ways . . .

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?

William Adams is a killer who has never been convicted. He's served time for rape and assault but has not been sentenced for murder. When he takes on a new identity, his dream world becomes a nightmare when, in a rural guesthouse, he meets someone from his past. By the author of Serious Intent.

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.

A CASE TO ANSWER