New British Books This Week + Prolific British Author/Aviation Pioneer

August 10, 2025

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Though many know her as one of the queens of British romance, Dame Barbara Cartland also made history in the skies. Best known for her trademark pink outfits and for selling an estimated 500 million to 1 billion copies of her 723 books, she also helped pioneer the world’s first airmail delivery by glider in 1931.

Cartland co-designed the aircraft, oversaw a record-breaking 200-mile flight, and even set a British women’s gliding altitude record of over 8,000 feet—proving she could deliver both love stories and love letters in truly lofty style.

Curious about the woman who’s estimated to have out-sold JK Rowling (so far, anyway)? Some of her most recommended titles include A Hazard of Hearts, A Ghost in Monte Carlo, and The Lady and the Highwayman (which was adapted into a film Hugh Grant told James Corden he’d erase from his IMDb page if he could).

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New British Books This Week

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen

In 1938 Surrey, Ellie Endicott’s marriage ends in betrayal, sending her, her housekeeper, and an elderly friend on an impulsive road trip to the South of France. When their Bentley breaks down in the fishing village of Saint Benet, Ellie finds friendship, a new home, and an unexpected romance—until the looming war threatens her hard-won peace.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

In 18th-century London, widowed confectioner Hannah Cole battles ruin, gossip, and danger after her husband’s murder while pursuing the truth and a daring new iced cream venture.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Deadly Remains by Kate Ellis

DI Wesley Peterson investigates the murder of a celebrity ghostwriter, uncovering links to WWII secrets and multiple deaths on Dartmoor.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Dead Come to Stay by Brandy Schillace

In the Yorkshire hills, autistic amateur sleuth Jo Jones and detective James MacAdams investigate a murder that draws them into the glittering but dangerous world of rare artifacts, uncovering links to missing refugee teens and a shadowy architectural firm.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Which Witch by Simon R Green

In a remote Scottish theatre plagued by the infamous Macbeth curse, actress Diana Hunt and young bishop Alistair Kincaid—dubbed the Holy Terrors—investigate sinister sabotage steeped in black magic before it claims their lives.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne

During a summer by the sea in Sidmouth, Devon, Jane Austen faces family upheaval, aids a friend’s granddaughter from the West Indies, and finds herself torn between two very different suitors, raising the question of whether the famed author might at last be experiencing a romance of her own.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce

In July 1944, wartime advice columnist Emmy Lake swaps bombed London for the English countryside, balancing magazine work, village life, and the chance to become a war correspondent—until sudden tragedy forces her to draw on the strength of friends, community, and readers to carry on.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

A Scottish Lighthouse Escape by Julie Shackman

After heartbreak, romance author Rosie Winters retreats to her late grandmother’s cottage on the Scottish Highlands coast, where a lighthouse, dolphins, and the enigmatic new keeper, Mitch, may offer her a chance at a new chapter.

Get it: Amazon

The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas

When Tasha’s sister Alice is brutally attacked in her Bristol home—an attack meant for Tasha—buried family secrets surface, revealing that the danger is far closer than she ever imagined.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Beth Moran

Fleeing a troubled past and hiding deep in the forest, a pregnant Mary is unexpectedly drawn into a warm village community—thanks to a kind taxi driver who may change her life forever.

Get it: Amazon | Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops)

“Yesterday he was a genius,” put in the inspector, “and today he’s a lunatic. Well, there’s not all that amount of difference, is there?”

Margery Allingham, Death of a Ghost

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