Bøger af Jess Armstrong

The Curse of Penryth Hall was the winner of the Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel prize. Jess Armstrong follows in the tradition of global bestseller Jacqueline Winspear in bringing a fresh take on the interwar period.

"After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and housemate in Exeter. She's always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it seems to have a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she'd never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall. A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby's once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It's an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth's bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn't believe in curses -- or Pellars -- but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn. To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night."--

Monsters exist. She's stared into their eyes, the crimson voids where humanity once lived. Vicious and feral, they roam the edges of civilization, walking in the forms of men. Their strength is unmatched and their source of power unknown. Until now. Ava was taken by the red-eyed men and, through sheer determination and the help of strangers, survived. That's how Kallan found her. He's seen the monsters too, and his people have fought them for decades. But Ava is a princess of Minore, the nation that abuses and steals from Kallan's tribe. As the red-eyed men press closer, Ava and Kallan work together to solve the mystery of their power. Little by little their prejudices fall away. She could live forever with him in the wild, free of the whims of an oppressive king and the betrothal he forced on her. But monsters exist, and they're going to kill the man she loves. Unless she stops them. To do that, she'll have to break his heart.

An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall. After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She's always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she'd never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby's once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It's an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth's bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn't believe in curses-or Pellars-but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night.