{"title":"Celia Dale","description":"\u003cp\u003eCelia Dale’s novels deftly weave suspense with insightful character studies, offering readers intricate mysteries grounded in everyday life. Her stories often explore trust and deception, inviting a close look at the delicate interplay between appearance and reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet against richly drawn settings, her works blend elements of \u003cem\u003ecrime and thriller\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003egeneral fiction\u003c\/em\u003e, creating narratives that balance tension with nuanced emotional depth. Fans of subtle psychological intrigue will find much to savour in her compelling tales.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-helping-hand-by-celia-dale-9781914198335","title":"A Helping Hand","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMiddle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead an unremarkable, unassuming life. When Auntie Flo, who has lived with them for years, dies and leaves them her estate, they head to Italy on holiday to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. It's there they meet Mrs Fingal. A wealthy widow, she lives with her grown-up niece Lena, and it's pretty clear that neither is happy with the situation. So when Josh and Maisie bond with Mrs Fingal, over ice-cream and gentle toddles, it's only natural that they all decide she should move in with them once home. It suits everyone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath the suburban respectability of cups of tea and genteel chitchat, however, emerges a different tale: one of ruthless greed and exploitation, and suffocating, skin-crawling terror.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Shirley Jackson, Roald Dahl and Muriel Spark, \u003ci\u003eA Helping Hand\u003c\/i\u003e is a sharp and nasty slice of darkness, and a reminder that the real horrors of this world can all too often be found behind discreet net curtains and the quietly nondescript.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Celia Dale's writing is \u003cb\u003equiet, clever, subtle - and terrifying. I can't think of anyone whose stories of suspense I appreciate more\u003c\/b\u003e.' - \u003cb\u003eRuth Rendell\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46541798932716,"sku":"9781914198335","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14651843482869.jpg?v=1749689645"},{"product_id":"sheeps-clothing-by-celia-dale-9781914198601","title":"Sheep's Clothing","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrace Bradby meets Janice in Holloway Prison. Grace is doing six months for larceny and Janice, three for the most recent of a series of clumsy shopliftings. Once both women are released, the more hapless Janice very quickly becomes accomplice to a scheme conniving Grace devised during her last weeks in prison: posing as representatives of the Social Services Agency, the two women begin visiting elderly people, falsely promising increased pensions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe scheme proves watertight, and the women frequent betting shops, libraries, Bingo halls, supermarkets, jumble sales, the Post Office (on pension days) and park benches (in fine weather), as they mark out their next target.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut it's not long before one victim, Miss Frimwell, is found dead of an overdose, launching a detective investigation. What ensues is a sinister tale of greed and misplaced trust, further complicated by a romantic entanglement gone awry. Dale masterfully dissects the little cruelties of life as her characters roam the streets of London, forcing us to consider the question: what harm can it do to have a chat and a cup of tea?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSheep's Clothing\u003c\/em\u003e by Celia Dale invites readers into a world of deception and unintended consequences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46551741235436,"sku":"9781914198601","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14654503482869.jpg?v=1750008170"},{"product_id":"a-spring-of-love-by-celia-dale-9781914198946","title":"A Spring of Love","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Spring of Love\u003c\/em\u003e by Celia Dale introduces us to Esther Williams, who is thirty and single. Her life is one of routine and order; she lives with her grandmother in a small house, takes a seaside holiday each year, and every Thursday, she goes to the cinema alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEsther is uncertain if she is happy or unhappy; her life follows the same unchanging pattern. This changes one Thursday night when she meets Raymond Banks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRaymond becomes everything to Esther. For the first time, she feels truly alive. Raymond transforms her awareness of the world, and she quickly falls deeply in love with him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, Esther is horrified when she discovers something about Raymond that threatens to ruin their happiness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis beautifully observed novel explores love in all its guises. It is a gripping and unforgettable story of tension, betrayal, and ultimately, the realisation that we can never truly know anyone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46800301719788,"sku":"9781914198946","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/34a86094ba4d57443b36d5e4f3f84a0c.jpg?v=1757286849"},{"product_id":"other-people-by-celia-dale-9781917092166","title":"Other People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJune and her father stared for a moment into each other's minds. He looked away first; and with a stab of joy June knew he was afraid of her and that she hated him.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is summer in small town Havenport. Protected from the world by her devoted mother, fifteen-year-old June is content and completely self-absorbed. Her biggest concern is where she will be holidaying this year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen June's father reappears after twelve years in Australia, she is thrust abruptly into a different life: new house, town, school. She soon suspects that she does not know the full story about her father, and when she meets Tony Townsend, he and his London life suddenly promise a glamorous and alluring alternative...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOther People\u003c\/em\u003e is a compelling coming-of-age novel, told with Dale's trademark wit, observation, and canny dissection of relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47071452889324,"sku":"9781917092166","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/22a3f67ebc17df8de9f33b5f4b8a9a09.jpg?v=1765053271"},{"product_id":"the-innocent-party-by-celia-dale-9781917092784","title":"The Innocent Party","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShe was happy, safe in the joy of being now the only one for Dad, absorbed in caring for him.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwelve-year-old Linda Dalton is besotted with her father, Dennis, who can do no wrong. Everyone and everything else pales in comparison, including Linda's sharp mother, Vera.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen cracks suddenly begin to show in the family, Linda weaves a web of chaos and confusion that leads to a dramatic crisis. Each character falls victim to the demands and pitfalls of city life, manipulating one another as London roars in the background.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn intensely human and surprising story, this is perhaps Dale's darkest novel, as we see Linda exposed to an adult world of death, desire and destruction and we begin to wonder: is there such thing as an innocent party?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67798191014124,"sku":"9781917092784","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781917092784-the-innocent-party-1.jpg?v=1792472897"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/celia-dale.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}