The second round of the Vitality County Championship saw some heavy scoring, as the batters made the most of facing the Kookaburra ball. Sadly, on the final day, the weather turned and some intriguingly balanced matches petered out in draws. Essex were the only side to win in the first round of fixtures, and they welcomed Kent to Chelmsford and chose to bat. Dean Elgar made his maiden century for his new county before Matt Critchley produced a career-best 151 not out as the hosts piled up a hefty 530 for seven declared in just 112 overs. Making his debut, Jaydn Denly (nephew of Joe) took the ..read more

After one of the wettest winters on record, it was no surprise that four of the nine Vitality County Championship fixtures failed to yield any play on the first day, but at least the competition could welcome a new sponsor, replacing London Victoria. One game that did get underway soon enough was at Trent Bridge, where Essex were put in to bat. Dane Paterson picked up the first five-wicket haul of the season as the visitors were dismissed for 253, despite a solid 80 from new signing Dean Elgar and 84 from another of the club’s new recruits, Jordan Cox. If only the established players had been ..read more

Terms & Conditions This is a prize draw to win a Liberty London Hera Scented Candle To enter, please upload your proof of purchase of Jennifer Saint’s Hera, publishing 23rd May, 2024, together with your name and contact details and from a retailer of your choice. The winner will be selected at random from the entries received in accordance with these terms and conditions by a member of the Headline Publishing Group Limited marketing team, whose decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into. A purchase is necessary to enter: please purchase a copy of Hera by Jennifer Sa ..read more

It's a brutal winter in Des Moines, Iowa, and the city is gripped by fear. A serial attacker known as the Sin Eater is stalking women and has just struck again. It's a tough time and a tough place for Riley Fisher, a former small-town sergeant, to be reporting for duty as an FBI agent on her first assignment. Teamed with a man she's not sure she can trust and struggling to prove herself - while fighting the pull of her old life and family dramas - Riley is tasked with investigating a vicious death threat against the newly elected female state governor. Gradually, she traces a disturbing conne ..read more

For me, Christmas officially begins at home on Christmas Eve. All preparations such as gift wrapping, delivery drop-offs to friends, food shopping or last-minute bulk buying of big bottles of Baileys liqueur has to be completed by the 23rd. If it hasn’t crossed our doorstep by that date. . .we can live without it! Such measures came into play after ‘lockdown’, when I admitted that my love of Christmas was being ruined by the corporate marketing teams and their seasonal guilt-tripping. I refused to buy into their reinvention of my Christmas. I was happy with our tried and trusted family traditi ..read more

Gemma Guillory has lived in Rainier her entire life. She knows the tiny town's ins and outs like the back of her hand, the people like they are her family, their quirks as if they were her own. She knows her once charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper's trail of deaths fifteen years ago was her innocuous little tea shop. She knows that the consequences of catching the Ripper still haunt her policeman husband and their marriage to this day and that some of her neighbours are desperate - desp ..read more

2009 During a summer heatwave, teenagers are going missing. Junior officer Alex Finn takes the case and fears that the disappearances are linked. In a race against the clock to find and rescue the children alive, Finn and his team are only partially successful. Two of the children are saved, but they were too late for Oliver. And the killer got away. 2023 DI Alex Finn is still tormented by the cases of his youth - none more than so than the 2009 kidnappings. And it seems someone else has not forgotten either. They want answers after all this time, and with a gun in their pocket and their sigh ..read more

Liverpool: a suburban crime family grips a whole city with fear. And their ambition reaches further still. Galicia: an entire community waits on the windswept edge of Europe for the delivery of four tonnes of cocaine, brought across the ocean in an almost unbelievable craft. London: Jonas Merrick, grey and quiet, alone in a small office, seems an unlikely character to be tasked with bringing down an international drug network. But while Jonas's colleagues regard him as scratchy, fastidious, old, he is also ruthless, cunning and brutally pragmatic. And he has a man on the inside: a would ..read more

    'A thick bowl of chowder is spot on in winter. The New England versions, studded with corn or based on tomatoes, seem better for late summer and early autumn eating, but this recipe, from Qu.bec, can be downed when there is two feet of snow on the ground.' - Diana Henry, author of Roast Figs, Sugar Snow     serves 4 as a main course   1kg (2lb 4oz) mussels 500ml (18fl oz) dry cider 30g (1oz) butter 2 leeks, cut in fine rings 400g (14oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks 100ml (3.fl oz) double cream 400g (14oz) skinless cod fillet, cut into 4cm chunks ..read more

YOU WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HER. BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW HER? Rani has always felt like an outsider. First growing up among her white, wealthy peers. And now next to her successful, child-free friends. From the tiny rented flat she lives in with her family, she imagines being the kind of woman who owns the beautiful house across the street. Then Natalie moves in. With her expensive clothes, adoring husband and high-powered job, she has everything Rani wants, and Rani can't help but be drawn to her new neighbour. But as the two women strike up a friendship and begin open up, Rani wonders - is Nata ..read more