On Bee's Bookshelf

Hotel Beresford is a grand, old building, just outside the city. And any soul is welcome. Danielle Ortega works nights, singing at whatever dive bar will offer her a gig. She gets by, keeping to herself. Sam Walker gambles and drinks, and can't keep his hands to himself. Now he's tied up in a shoe closet with a dent in his head that matches Danielle's broken ashtray. The man in 731 has been dead for two days and his dog has not stopped barking. Two doors down, the couple who always smokes on the window ledge will mysteriously fall. Upstairs, in the penthouse, Mr Balliol sees it all. He can peer into every crevice of every floor of the hotel from his screen-filled suite. He witnesses humanity and inhumanity in all its loneliness, passion and desperation in equal measure. All the ingredients he needs to make a deal. When Danielle returns home one night to find Sam gone, a series of sinister events begins to unfold. But strange things often occur at Hotel Beresford, and many a...

It is 5:30 am on Clio's forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him... When single mum  Clio ’s ex  Gary  turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her. What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends  Amber  and  Jeanie . Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late? "On the many occasions Clio had imagined murdering her husband, ...

Acacia Pines, small town USA. Sheriff Cohen's life is falling apart – his father accidentally burned down the retirement home, his wife has moved out, and his son is bullying other kids at school. When high-school student, Lucas Connor, is abducted, Cohen sees a chance to get his life back on track – to win back his wife and scoop the reward money offered for Lucas's safe return. But as the body count rises, it becomes clear that Logan's going to have to make the kind of decision from which there's no coming back ... a decision with deadly consequences... I can’t tell you what, but there is just something about Paul Cleaves’ writing that makes it an auto-read for me and I just have to read it in one sitting. We find ourselves in a small, seemingly unassuming town — but soon find that very town has a dark, hidden side full of danger and deceit. From the moment we step foot in Acacia Pines there’s an overwhelming fog of isolation and suspicion in the air, taking the petty...

Every December,  Holly  writes to a stranger who is spending Christmas alone. And every year she receives a letter from another lonely person. Being a part of the Dear Stranger club is a tradition she has come to treasure. Because ever since the accident three years ago, Holly has spent Christmas alone. Usually, the letters go unanswered. But when Holly reads this year's Christmas letter, from an older woman called  Emma , she feels compelled to find her, as Emma mentions a place Holly knows all too well. Holly offers to help Emma reconnect with her estranged grandson. But when Holly tracks down handsome, dark-eyed  Jack , she realises she's met him once before, and the connection was electric. Suddenly helping a stranger is about to get a lot more complicated... "There. Now you've got to call me - this is what all those romcom movies start with, right? Next thing you know we'll be caught in the middle of a montage." T here is one guarantee with an Emily Stone...

It’s Christmas Eve eve, and the holidays are not off to a good start for, er, Eve. After the surprise and shock of catching her boyfriend cheating, Eve – totally devastated – reacts by throwing the gifts she’s selflessly bought and wrapped for HIS family out of the window. But while doing so she discovers her own present from Chris under the Christmas tree: an engagement ring, bought at the jeweller’s where she works. What the jingle bells is going on? And what was he thinking? Confused and with her Christmas plans in tatters, Eve rocks up at the jeweller's for some tea and sympathy with her lovely employers, Mr and Mrs Caspar, who quietly put in a distress call to her colleague, Joe. Eve doesn’t know that Joe is secretly in love with her, but her bosses do, and they know he’s just the person Eve needs to comfort her in a crisis. Joe gets the call while moonlighting as a buff butler at a Christmas-themed hen do and races across town to help console Eve. But as he learns about her h...

  The moment Eva locked eyes with James over a library bookshelf, she knew she’d found her soulmate. Over ten years, they fell in love, got married and made plans to start a family. Until everything changed one Christmas three years ago, and they’ve been drifting apart ever since. Eva hopes a friend’s Christmas party at an old manor house in Cornwall will give them the chance to reconnect… but the last thing she expects is to wake up on Christmas morning in the body of a different guest. As Eva’s forced to keep reliving Christmas Day from the perspectives of those closest to her, she realises just how much her life has fallen off track. But can Eva break the cycle and save her future with James, before it’s too late?  A festive romance but with a body-switching, time-bending twist. In a Groundhog Day meets Freaky Friday but with so much heart and love, this tale sparkles with Christmas joy but also gives us a full range of beautiful emotions from the heartbreaking to the uplif...

Grab some mulled wine and a warm blanket, and get ready for a night in with some of your favourite modern gothic and horror authors. This collection of 12 Christmas stories all take place at Yuletide, or advent, but with such a uniquely dark flair that makes something absolutely captivating. It's both deliriously  spooky and oddly cosy at the same time; with familiar themes but wrapped up totally differently as we explore remote highlands, dark rooms and seemingly stately homes.  Desperate parents turn to the occult longing to be reignited with their lost child, the ghost of a woman scorned is calling out the truth, a writer takes a break to focus on rewriting her novel but finds more than inspiration- each story has a dazzling voice but all share that same chilling, haunting feeling that makes you think of ghost stories in front of the fireplace. It’s spooky, but playful and witty with their reimaginings of classic festive tales - this is an absolute perfect read for any book...

Romee's winter break was planned out months ahead. A week at a cabin in the woods sounded romantic, and maybe it was just what her boyfriend of two years needed to pop the question. Instead, he proposed they break up, a week before they were destined to wake up Christmas morning, happier than ever. Heartbroken but undaunted, Romee embarks on a solitary journey to the remote cabin, yearning for peace and closure in the tranquil snowscape. Six nights of isolation, wine, and TV shows seemed like the perfect remedy for a breakup. Yet, from the moment she arrives, an ominous presence clings to her. The house is old, creaking and shifting, as if harbouring  another occupant. Bizarre occurrences escalate as each day passes, blurring the line between reality and a nightmare, making her question everything.  She is alone, right? When Romee decides it’s time to leave the vacation rental early, it’s already too late. Snowed in and unable to escape, she has to survive the frigid condition...

Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a holiday: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter. But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? "You demanded answers, but the universe refused. Comfort and safety were just an illusion. Money meant nothing. All that meant anythin...

The Future  – as the richest people on the planet have discovered – is where the money is. The Future  is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction while safeguarding their own survival with secret lavish bunkers. The Future  is private weather, technological prophecy and highly deniable weapons. The Future  is a handful of friends—the daughter of a cult leader, a non-binary hacker, an ousted Silicon Valley visionary, the concerned wife of a dangerous CEO, and an internet-famous survivalist—hatching a daring plan. It could be the greatest heist ever. Or the cataclysmic end of civilization. The Future  is what you see if you don’t look behind you. The Future  is the only reason to do anything, the only object of desire. The Future is here. The latest novel from Alderman is a high-energy, cinematic speculative sci-fi that explores the possibilities of the future. From the more cutting-edge technological advances and scientific breakthroughs, to the ...