Chris Ewan

Charlie Howard travels the globe writing suspense novels for a living. To supplement his income--and keep his hand in--Charlie has a small side business: stealing for a very discreet clientele on commission. When a mysterious American offers Charlie 20,000 euros to steal two small monkey figurines to match the one he already has, Charlie is suspicious; the job seems too good to be true, and of course, it is: He soon finds the American beaten nearly...

After a bad streak of luck in Vegas, gentleman thief Charlie retreats to Venice, vowing to give up a life of crime to write crime fiction full-time. But inspiration has yet to strike. And to make matters worse, Charlie's agent Victoria shows up at his door just as his prized first edition of "The Maltese Falcon" flies out the window with a femme-fatale burglar.

"When Claire Cooper was eight years old her mother mysteriously vanished during Hop-tu-naa, Halloween on the Isle of Man. At fourteen, Claire is still struggling to come to terms with her disappearance when she's befriended by a group of five teenagers who mark every Halloween by performing dares. But Claire's arrival begins to alter the group's dynamic until one year a prank goes terribly wrong, changing all their futures and tearing the friends...

When a new student arrives at school, Word Bird does his best to help her feel at home.