Lorraine Blundell

Deadly secrets and fatal decisions, Marie Antoinette thought she took her secrets to the grave. She was wrong. Was Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, executed during the French Revolution for her worst crime or was there another that would have shaken the very foundations of the monarchy if it had become known? What was it? Colourful characters that filled Marie's life spill from the novel's pages. The royal perfumer, candle-maker, hairdresser, fashion stylist, painter, jeweller and even her pastry maker were all part of an extravagant, indulgent lifestyle. Go with her from Austria to the stunning royal estate of Versailles with the fairy-tale Trianon. Continue on to the filthy degradation of the prisons of revolutionary Paris and the faded glory of the Tuileries Palace, and share the lives, hopes and fears of real prisoners awaiting death in the feared Conciergerie. In the shadow of the guillotine stand other actors in this drama, Madame Tussaud maker of death masks, Charlotte Corday the Angel of Death, Marat, Robespierre and more. The gruesome tricoteuses knit as the heads drop and Sanson operates his Lady Guillotine. Discover the disgust of the stinking, overflowing graveyards and burial quarry which have now become part of the catacombs of Paris.

68 AD. A madman rules Rome's empire while its empress, born in Pompeii, tries desperately to restrain him as he plummets out of control. This is her story. A woman of strength and character, her personality is complex. Endearing and generous, she could also be cruel and calculating. In Pompeii, vicious gladiatorial riots explode. A serial poisoner is at work in the shadows, as Rome burns and Christians are used as flaming human torches to light the palace gardens. 'Empress of Pompeii' reveals a rich tapestry of life, from the splendour of Rome's royal palace and Nero's golden house to Pompeii's sordid, murderous laneways, the extravagant villas of the wealthy and the eruption of Vesuvius. Nero rules Rome in a time of fear and turmoil. Desperately, the empress, Poppaea, attempts to protect Pompeii and save her young son's life. Nero's praetorian prefect, Tigellinus, cradles her head in his arms as she lies dying in a pool of blood on the marble palace floor, murdered by Nero in a fit of rage. After her death he orders the murder of her son and the boy's life hangs in the balance. He was later found dead. Or was he? Does the answer lie in Pompeii? 2022 Edition

POMPEII: My Love Must Wait 'It cannot be, ' she replied, her breath coming in short gasps. 'My love must wait, but somewhere, we will meet again.' Pompeii. 78 AD. A distinctive, oddly-shaped building looms menacingly out of the night, squatting on the narrow laneway's paving stones. The Lupanar Grande is the largest Pompeii brothel and a place reeking of body odour, stale perfume, urine and sex. The prostitutes are the dregs of society, infames, but they still seek a way to find love and friendship. Selene, a free-born prostitute from Naples is new to Pompeii. She is an ambitious, enticingly pretty girl, determined to replace the famous courtesan, Prima. She will be drawn into a Lupanar blackmail ring. Velina, a slave, is bought by the brothel's leno and taken to the Lupanar with her best friend, Alexa. As slaves, they are limited to its interior and the outside footpath where they solicit for business. They sleep in their cells and are forbidden to stray from the brothel. Their leno, Servius, takes all they earn. Flora, shrewd and intelligent, lives in her own tiny, two room house two doors from the Lupanar. Behind her cerulean blue front door, she sees everything through her large front window. She will save girls from prostitution. Hester, a shy, gentle girl belongs to a small group known as Christianos. Its meeting place is located opposite the Lupanar, with unfortunate consequences. Lucius Attilius is addicted to gambling and women. It leads him into the Pompeii arena, where few gladiators die but many suffer severe injuries. He will find a love so strong that it overcomes even the sordid Lupanar. Their lives intertwine as Vesuvius erupts. What will happen to the survivors

One by one the young women of Pompeii are disappearing and the body count is rising. As the eruption of Vesuvius grows ever closer, a serial killer roams the dark, narrow streets at night. In desperation the city magistrate, Julius Polybius, seeks assistance from Rome. Cletus Asper the Praetorian Guard's most successful undercover investigator and his assistant, Felix, the retired head of Rome's urban vigiles are sent to Pompeii to catch the killer. The murderer has left behind unmistakable similarities at each crime scene, however, the motive for the murders is anything but clear. The investigators must delve into the horrors of the past. The Peacock Murders is a chilling crime thriller set amongst the people and places in Pompeii. Vesuvius erupts and amidst the devastation, lives are ripped apart as terror grips the city. One shocking twist, however, remains to be revealed after its annihilation.

A QUEST FOR REVENGE A HIDDEN SECRET 30 A.D. The Roman Empire approaches the peak of its power and human life is of so little value, it can be snuffed out like a candle's flame. A girl known as Poppy is born to a minor patrician family in the relatively insignificant city of Pompeii. She becomes a stunningly beautiful and intelligent young woman, but one day her life is changed forever.The victim of an act of indescribable evil, Poppy is filled with a white, hot anger that demands revenge. Intent on destroying those who have caused her such pain, she rises higher and higher in influence, until she is the most powerful and wealthy woman in the whole of the Roman Empire. She becomes Empress of Rome.Fiercely loyal to those few she trusts and to the city where she was born, Poppy's friendship with her childhood friend, Farzana, anchors and supports her. This is the story of the real Empress barely touched on by the ancient Roman historians. In an age of murder, greed and obsessive ambition, she clings to her love for Pompeii and is loved in return by its people. As Pompeii's destruction by Vesuvius grows ever closer, she risks losing everything. But there is one secret that can never be destroyed.