Billie Challinor's mother dies during an air raid, but the child grows up confident that in her jazz musician father Chas she has the best dad in the world. Seeking refuge from the London Blitz by moving to Leeds, kindly landlady Liz Morris befriends them: the scarred, wisecracking man, who isn't afraid to overstep the mark if the cause is a good one, and his clever and resilient little girl. Billie needs every ounce of courage she possesses when her father joins the Army just before the D-Day landings and fails to return. Though Liz is happy to raise the child as her own, Billie is claimed by her Uncle Cedric, an outwardly respectable and prosperous solicitor. But he is also a ruthless criminal mastermind who will stop at nothing to secure the fortune to which Billie is sole heiress. Confident of his superior strength and cunning, he foolishly overlooks the fact that she is her father's daughter: resourceful, quick-witted, and ready to seize any chance she can to escape his deadly clutches and return to her beloved Aunt Liz.

Almost a Hero

Literature & Fiction

McCoy, Ken

Contemporary

Piatkus Books

Eleven-year-old Billy Clegg and his big sister Peggy disappear from their home in Leeds after a suspicious fire in a local mill. The owner says the children caused it by lighting fireworks on Mischief Night. Their widowed mother Betty, badly injured in the incident, doesn't know if her children are alive or dead. She prefers to think of them as being elsewhere.Following a series of accidents and adventures, the resourceful duo find themselves a long way away from bleak post-war Britain, earning a living in an entirely unexpected way. They make a success of their new lives but both of them are haunted by memories of the fire and the possibility that they caused their own mother's death. It takes all the ingenuity of Betty's two determined suitors to reunite the family - and the complications don't end there.Fans of Jessica Blair and Dilly Court will enjoy the latest heart-warming nostalgic story from Ken McCoy.

Elsewhere

Genre Fiction

Piatkus

The Fabulous Fox Twins

Severn House

A new saga from a well-loved author - Beautiful Lola Lawless and young sister Evie are at the mercy of their violent father, policeman Ezra, until a terrible accident sees him gone from their lives for ever but at a terrible price. Ezras brother Seth is convinced that Lola and Evie know more about the brothers shady dealings than is safe, and is determined to cut them out of the picture once and for all . . .

Free as a Bird

Free as a Bird (Severn House Large Print)

Introducing Detective Inspector Sep Black in the first of a brand-new series of hard-hitting police procedurals, set in Leeds. Two children have been abducted on their way home from school. After several weeks, they are still missing – and no one knows whether they are alive or dead. The police are certain that ruthless local gangster Vince Formosa is behind the kidnapping, but without proof their hands are tied. Forced to resign following an accidental death in police custody, former Detective Inspector Sep Black knows he’s been set up. But how can he prove it – and stay alive in the process? Convinced that Formosa has a mole within the police, Black sets out to expose the traitor, clear his name and wreak revenge on the man who brought him down. In order to do so, he must go undercover and find the missing children. But even the best-laid plans can sometimes go awry . . .

Dead or Alive (A Sep Black Thriller, 1)

Detective Inspector Sep Black finds himself investigating two connected cold cases in the second of this exhilarating series of hard-hitting police procedurals. When a wealthy businessman suffers a fatal fall from his office window, the forensic evidence points to murder. But with no suspects, no clues and no apparent motive, the police investigation stalls. It’s passed over to the Cold Case Unit where it remains on file, inactive until further evidence emerges. Some months later, an attractive widow approaches DI Sep Black with a request that he look into the murder of her husband. Freelance journalist James Boswell had been working on a major story – and his widow Sandra believes it had something to do with his death. What did Boswell discover that got him killed? As he starts to ask questions, Black uncovers a possible connection between the two murders. But before he can find out more, an almost-successful attempt on his life reveals that someone is determined to stop him finding out the truth – whatever it takes.

A Long Way Down (A Sep Black Thriller, 2)

Hammerhead: A Sam Carew Mystery

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Allison and Busby

Kevin Kilpatrick has served nine years of a life sentence for two vicious murders he pleaded guilty to but didn’t commit―fearful of the threat to his family posed by the real killers. Excop turned builder Sam Carew helped to put him away, so when Kevin’s daughter appeals for his help in proving his innocence he can’t really say no. He doesn’t bargain on getting mixed up with one of the most ruthless and sadistic crime families in the country, however, nor with the spate of brutal killings in which the weapon of choice is a ball-peen hammer. Although Sam might be on the trail of the killer, his relationship with the superiors at Unsworth nick means that Sam will have to do some investigating of his own.

Hammerhead

Annie's Legacy

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Books by McCoy, Ken