A gripping crime novel inspired by the "Jack the Stripper" killings in 1960s London. Bad Penny Blues is the latest gripping crime fiction from Cathi Unsworth, London's undisputed queen of noir. Set in late 1950s and early 1960s London, it is loosely based on the West London "Jack the Stripper" killings that rocked the city. The narrative follows police officer Pete Bradley, who investigates the serial killings of a series of prostitutes, and, in a parallel story, Stella, part of the art and fashion worlds of 1960s "Swinging London," who is haunted by visions of the murdered women.

Cat Dupree would love nothing more than to settle down and build a life with fellow bounty hunter Wilson McKay.

Nothing good comes after the third date. Date three is the crucial point when things get real, which is exactly why I bounce out the door, twiddling my fingers at whatever poor boy I've left behind. Because if I stick around, one of three things will happen: he'll profess his undying love, he'll get weird and stalky, or I'll go crazy. Like, Sid and Nancy crazy. Like, chase-him-through-the-streets-begging-him-to-love-me crazy. Seriously, it's better for everyone this way. So when I meet Bodie, I figure it'll be the same as it ever was. It doesn't matter that he doesn't put a single string on me. Doesn't matter that he's funny and smart and jacked or that he can play my body like a grand piano. Because even though I'm built for love, love has only carved me up like a Christmas ham. Resistance is something I can only hang on to for so long, and he has persistence in spades. But my heart isn't as safe as I want to believe, and neither is his. And the second I ignore my cardinal rule is the second I stand to lose him forever. *Previously titled Bad Penny

One wild night midwife Patty Peel is called to attend a birth on the opposite side of Liverpool. She pedals off into the storm and delivers a baby girl in a filthy slum dwelling, just as the mother dies. The drunk and violent father tells Patty to get rid of it, so she takes the child away, meaning to deliver it to the nearest orphanage. But Patty had spent her entire childhood in an institution and cannot bear to hand the baby over. However, there are rough waters ahead. Patty has few friends, and fears and despises men, including her next door neighbour, Darky Knight, so how can she hope to bring up the child alone? She has no idea how the baby will affect the attitude of those around her, nor how her life will change as a result... The Bad Penny is a heartwarming tale of love and courage in hard times from the hugely popular storyteller Katie Flynn.