BEVERLEY MP Graham Stuart led a cross-party group of more than 45 MPs who gathered in Parliament to call on the government to reconsider the 2013/14 Local Government Financial Settlement which threatens to entrench the injustice suffered by rural areas by further widening the gap between the funding given to rural and urban councils.

Urban councils already receive 50% more per head than rural areas despite evidence that many services are more expensive to deliver in sparsely populated areas. Despite a commitment from Eric Pickles in December 2011 to reduce the inequality, the most recent provisional settlement instead cuts support for rural councils relative to that given to urban, widening the gap between the two, and further disadvantaging rural people.

The Rural Fair Share Campaign is calling on the government to do two things:

Firstly, to amend the provisional settlement so that there is a modest reduction in the gap between rural and urban councils in the coming year;

Secondly, for the Secretary of State to set out a plan to close the funding gap between rural and urban councils to no more than 40% by 2020;

The Chairman of the Rural Fair Share Campaign, Graham Stuart MP (Conservative, Beverley and Holderness) said: “The rural voice has been silent for too long. Last week Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs came together to demand a fair share of government funding for rural councils. Enough is enough.

“Overall, rural residents earn less, on average, than those in cities, pay council tax which is £75 higher per head but see urban areas receive government grants 50% higher per head than those in the countryside. This means people in rural areas earn less, pay higher council tax and then receive substantially less support for services.

“We are not arguing for more government spending overall but for fair allocations within the spending envelope. When money is tight it is more important, rather than less important, for funding allocations to be fair.

“We are determined to stop the inadvertent worsening of the situation this year and also to campaign for a reduction in the rural penalty from 50% to 40% by 2020.”

BEVERLEY Athletic Club has announced that entries for the 2013 Hall Construction Group Beverley 10k will open on Friday, February 1.

This will be the 20th Beverley 10k and organisers are expecting the race to sell out very quickly despite increasing the entry limit to 1,400.

There will be no entries on the day and runners should enter early at www.sportsentrysolutions.com/allraces.php to make sure of a place.

The race will take place on Sunday, May 12, and Hall Construction Group will sponsor the 10k for the fifth consecutive year.

The extensive prize list includes cash prizes of £200, to be awarded to the first male and the first female to cross the finishing line. An additional £200 will be awarded if a new course record is set.

Chip timing by Sports Timing Solutions will ensure accurate times are recorded and all finishers will receive a quality technical t-shirt supplied by Start Fitness.

Runners should be able to complete the course within 80 minutes due to a police requirement to reopen closed roads as soon as possible.

The 10k will be supported by the B&A Scaffolding 2k fun run. Entry is online only and there will be no entries on the day of the race.

Further information about both races is available from.beverleyac.com

‘There’s no need ever to feel like a victim; there are no circumstances beyond your control.’

Self-help guru Eric Newborn has an answer for all humanity’s conundrums. Think positively and all will be well, he advises those whose lives are in crisis.

But when Eric’s wife dies from cancer, he finds that grief renders him helpless. There is no easy cure, no platitude to comfort him, no replacement with which to fill the deep trough of his devastating grief.

For the first time in his successful career, the inspirational speaker and bestselling author of several motivational books is lost for words...

The Book of Why, a moving portrait of a man coming to terms with the death of his beloved ‘other half,’ is the remarkable work of New York writer Nicholas Montemarano whose short story collection, If the Sky Falls, won plaudits and prizes in literary circles.

Here he explores how memory, past events and the power of the imagination shape our perception of the world, and how we deal with death, disappointment, happiness, despair and the unpredictable course of our own destinies.

Montemarano dares to peer into the subconscious, to analyse how we process emotions like love, desire and guilt, and to examine the innermost workings of the human soul.

‘This is a self-help book,’ Eric tells us as his story begins. ‘Didn’t think it was, but it is. It’s also a revision, a question, a confession, an apology, a love letter.’

Unable to cope with the death of his wife Cary, the soulmate he felt as if he’d known forever, Eric retreats with his dog to his isolated home at Martha’s Vineyard where he surrounds himself with Cary’s belongings ... her letters, her doodles, a few sweaters, a pair of her socks.

The old exhortations that we all have ‘the power to change our lives,’ that ‘happiness is an inside job’ and that illness is just ‘an extension of negative emotion’ have all been rendered either useless or meaningless.

Five years later, on a wild, snowy, storm-lashed night, a car crashes at the end of Eric’s lane and a woman turns up at his door, covered in blood and seeking help.

Sam Leslie, a professional obituary writer (‘God is my assignment editor’), turns out to be a fan who is trying to track him down, convinced that Eric and his best-selling book, Everyday Miracles, will sort out the tragedies and coincidences that have both destroyed and coloured her life.

As Eric vanquishes demons in his past and faces the world again, he and Sam spin around one another like constellations in a greater universe. Together they set out to search for answers to their questions, and to find some meaning in the events that have knocked them off course.

Perhaps everything doesn’t happen for a reason...

The Book of Why is a powerful love story as well an exploration of the fragility of relationships. Thought-provoking, sombre and yet exquisitely tender, it forces us to confront harsh truths about life... and death.

(Headline Review, paperback, £13.99)

A new Chief Constable has been proposed for appointment to lead Humberside Police.

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Grove, on advice from an appointments panel, has decided to propose Justine Curran, the current Chief Constable of Tayside Police as the next head of the force.

Ms Curran has almost four years proven experience as a Chief Constable.

Mr Grove said: “I always said this would be the most significant decision I would make. I am delighted to have secured the services of an outstanding leader with a proven track record.

“Justine clearly brings sound experience as an existing Chief Constable, having worked in some extremely challenging areas of the country.”

Sheffield-born Ms Curran joined Greater Manchester Police in 1988 and served in various posts including the regional crime squad and eventually became Chief Inspector in Manchester city centre before moving to Merseyside Police as Superintendent.

She was in charge of the Operational Support Unit for Merseyside and became the Operations Superintendent in the inner city area of Toxteth.

In 2003 she returned to Greater Manchester Police as Divisional Commander for North Manchester, a very large and challenging division which also hosted many high-profile events which she commanded.
In February 2007 she was appointed as Assistant Chief Constable for Greater Manchester Police heading up territorial divisions and leading on the development of Neighbourhood Policing and Citizen Focus. She later also took on responsibility for the Counter Terrorist Unit.

Ms Curran was appointed Chief Constable for Tayside in August 2009. She had previously served as Deputy Chief Constable.

Ms Curran said: “I am delighted to be put forward as the new Chief Constable of Humberside Police. I look forward to moving to the area with my family and getting down to work in this important and challenging role.”

The appointments panel interviewed three outstanding candidates, and following unanimous agreement, Matthew Grove will propose to appoint Ms Curran at the Police and Crime Panel meeting on Friday 15th February.

Ms Curran will take up her role in April 2013, subject to the confirmation hearing.

Haybrook is expecting to see more families than ever before choosing to rent in Sheffield in 2013.

The prediction from Haybrook, South Yorkshire’s largest independent estate agent, with over a dozen branches across the region, comes in the wake of a steep rise in the number of families inquiring about rental properties since the turn of the year.

Haybrook Lettings, which is based at Campo Chambers, on the corner of Campo Lane and Paradise Square in Sheffield, has seen a three-fold increase in applicant levels as young families in particular struggle to get on to the property ladder.

Sharon Owen, Lettings Manager, said: “The rental market in Sheffield has historically been focused on students and, to a lesser degree, young professionals, who are snapping many of the city centre apartments that come on the market.

“However, this is beginning to change as more and more families, especially the younger ones, struggle to raise the deposits needed to get on the property ladder and opt to rent instead over the short to medium term.”

Haybrook, which last year was named one of the top three lettings agents in the region for market share, is also expecting to see rents rise once again in 2013 as demands for properties continues to outstrip supply, even with a surge of new landlords coming on to the market. Last year average monthly rents rose by close to £50 across Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

“There is still a shortage of suitable rental properties in Sheffield,” added Sharon Owen, “and those properties that do come onto the market, especially homes in the better areas of the city, take only a matter of days before they are let.”

Haybrook prides itself on having its tenants’ best interests at hearts at all times. It is a member of SAFE Agent, a scheme launched by the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) to help signpost people to those firms that protect landlords’ and tenants’ money through Client Money Protection schemes.

As a member of ARLA (the Association of Residential Lettings Agents), the firm prides itsefl on managing all of the paperwork on behalf of tenants and once they have moved in, making sure that someone is always available at the end of a telephone to resolve any future issues.

Haybrook works just as hard for its landlords, whether they are a homeowner looking to rent out their home, a seller who can’t sell and needs to move or a Buy to Let landlord with an extensive property portfolio.

Its property management team offer peace of mind to landlords that their property is being looked after professionally at all times, in the process ensuring they are maximising the return on their investment.

Call 0114 272 0700 or email lettings@haybrook.com.

Plans have been submitted to Doncaster Borough Council for a new housing development that is aimed to help regenerate the area and have a long-lasting impact on the region.

If approved, the first phase of the £22.6m development will see the construction of 334 homes, which is expected to start in March.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) appointed housing and regeneration specialist Keepmoat as its preferred developer in the first phase, which will see the development of 172 homes at Carr Lodge in Doncaster. A further 132 larger homes and 30 self-build housing plots will also be delivered with support from Strata Homes.

Carr Lodge will be Doncaster’s first low-carbon community consisting of 1,500 mixed tenure homes. All homes will be designed to the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes level 3 and are designed to be ‘Lifetime Homes’.

The scheme will see a new single carriageway spine road developed to link the roundabouts at either end of Woodfield Way, adjacent to the Tesco supermarket in the south and the Holiday Inn in the north in Balby, Doncaster.

Across the wider development of 1,500 homes, a new main street and village square incorporating shops and a community hall will be developed as well as incorporating other community facilities, a children’s nursery, a primary school, youth club, sports pitches, play areas and a park.

Carr Lodge will include a network of green routes designed to encourage walking and cycling and provide connections to local facilities.

Mark Knight, New Build Managing Director for Keepmoat Yorkshire, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed as the preferred developer for the first phase of homes at Carr Lodge and we look forward to working in partnership with the HCA, Strata and a social housing provider to deliver affordable new homes.

“As a local company based in Doncaster, it means a lot to be involved in such a significant, flagship project that will have a long lasting impact on the area. The homes that will be developed in the first phase will be of mixed tenure offering a variety of choice to the highest quality design ensuring that the needs of local families are met.”

CONTROVERSIAL proposals to construct a renewable energy plant producing bio-gas is recommended for approval despite widespread public concern.

Three parish councils and 51 residents have submitted objections to the plan to build an anaerobic digester, which breaks down organic matter into a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane, and associated equipment at Yarrows Aggregates Ltd’s Little Catwick Quarry.

Applicant, FB Bird and Sons, proposes waste matter including poultry faeces would be broken down in the digester to produce gas to fuel a heat and power plant on site, and generate electricity to power the quarry.

At a meeting of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Planning Committee on Thursday January 3 members deferred the application for a site visit to a similar site.

Following consultation by members to the Environment Agency it was confirmed residents and parish councils do not need to be consulted as part of the permitting process - however it was suggested a community liaison group be set up for local residents.

A spokesperson for Leven Parish Council said: “In particular we are very concerned with the safeguarding of residents and their safety, potential risks and smells.”

Its concerns included “potential at various stages for explosion” and another was “poultry manure is a potential health hazard.”

Further objections to potential odour from the site were raised by Catwick and Brandesburton Parish Councils. Long Riston Parish Council recommended a set of conditions including odour management and the formation of a liaison committee if the plans are to be approved.

Residents of all four villages submitted letters highlighting areas of concern including the impact on tourism at caravan sites in the area, a reduction in property values and health and safety issues.

The director of planning and economic regeneration for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Alan Menzies, in his report to the planning committee to be held this afternoon (Thursday) said the applicant would need to demonstrate the people and environment will be protected from the proposed development before they receive authorisation from the Environment Agency.

Mr Menzies said: “This is a sustainable waste management scheme which is not considered to have a detrimental effect on the local landscape, and which would be in line with development plan policy and national guidance.

“It is considered that this development could make a significant contribution towards meeting regional and national targets for renewable energy.”

DRIFFIELD people will get the chance to benefit from cheaper gas and electricity bills, thanks to a scheme which is to be launched in the next few weeks by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Energy firms were widely criticised at the weekend for hiking prices as Britain ­shivered under a blanket of snow.

E.ON became the latest company to energy bills and the average dual-fuel bill for its four million customers will go up to £1,370 - an increase of about £110 a year.

ERYC is concerned that many people in the county - especially the elderly and vulnerable - are still paying too much for their energy.

So, under a Cheaper Energy Together scheme, the council plans to negotiate for competitive prices with a rafts of energy companies on behalf of everyone who wants to take part.

An auction will then take place between the energy suppliers - and the one that offers the best deal will offer people new contracts.

Driffield and Rural ward councillor Symon Fraser revealed the news to Driffield town council last week and urged its members to help promote the idea.

He said: “It is a joint group energy buying scheme that the East Riding is facilitating at the moment which could come on stream shortly.

He explained: “We are confident that this will enable residents across the whole of the East Riding to join in on the joint purchase of their energy.

“Instead of them having to log on and do it individually through the internet, they will be able to get it through one large scheme.

Coun Fraser added: “The idea is to get them a good price as the energy suppliers will bid against the total wattage which is needed by all those subscribers for a full year.

“So it should be something that is attractive to energy suppliers.

“Our initial target audience is the elderly and vulnerable who would would tend not to get involved in these schemes and continue doing what they have done for years.

“I would encourage people to register interest and find out what benefits it will have for them.”

The Council is currently in the process of hiring a technology partner who will handle the registration process which is expected to start towards the end of January.

A MEETING is to be held in Driffield with a local Member of the European Parliament.

Linda McAvan, Labour MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, will visit Cass Hall, King Street, Driffield, on Saturday January 26.

The event is free to attend and will begin at 10am. All are welcome.

Becoming a parent, as we all know, is easy – becoming a good parent is much more difficult.

Parenthood is a challenge many of us face with little experience or education in childcare and from toddler tantrums to teenage mood swings, raising children is certainly not child’s play.

There are books galore out there with every kind of advice for frazzled mums and dads but, if you want to read just one, look no further than a tried-and-trusted ‘parenting bible’ that has been transforming family relationships for 30 years.

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, now available in a new edition, is the phenomenal bestseller written by two women with many years of experience in child psychology but, more importantly, once frustrated mothers themselves.

Their approach is simple, effective, easy to follow and is based on methods that refrain from abstract theorising, affirm the dignity and humanity of both parents and children and deal only with the practical issues of parenting.

Using sensitivity, empathy, communication skills and lashings of humour, they teach how to break a pattern of arguments, engage a child’s co-operation, set clear limits without losing goodwill, express emotions without being hurtful and resolve conflicts easily.

It may sound too good to be true but is achieved by rejecting authoritarian and confrontational methods of punishment and instead encouraging your child to be co-operative rather than simply obedient.

You can learn how to avoid turning simple conversations into arguments, how to instruct rather than criticise when correcting your child, choose effective alternatives to punishments and show a child how to make amends for bad behaviour.

This invaluable book, with its very human, down-to-earth approach, really does give you the know-how you need to be more effective with children, enabling parents to improve and enrich relationships with their offspring.

With three million copies sold and enthusiastically praised by parents and professionals around the world, the book provides step-by-step techniques and is illustrated with playful, humorous cartoons showing the skills in action and demonstrating innovative ways to solve common problems.

And to bring this edition bang up to date, there is a thoughtful Afterword on The Next Generation by Adele Faber’s daughter Joanna which gives the time-honoured and tested techniques a fresh, new 21st century perspective.

(Piccadilly, paperback, £12.99)

Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman died in a fatal traffic collision in Market Weighton yesterday.

The collision occurred on the A614 Londesborough Road, shortly after 8.30pm when a Vauxhall Agila car, driven by a 65-year-old local woman collided with a 34-year-old female pedestrian as she was crossing the road.

The 34-year-old woman sadly died at the scene from her injuries.

The victim is believed to have been a passenger in a blue Ford Focus, which had parked on the A614 and was returning to the vehicle when the collision occurred.

The driver of the Vauxhall Agila was uninjured in the incident.

Witnesses or anyone who may have information about the incident are asked to contact Humberside Police on the non emergency number 101 referring to log 588 of 24 January 2013

THE latest thoughts of our sports blogger Myfanwy Garman looks at Hull City’s bid to reach the Premiership

Just over a week ago the chant “Elmo…Elmo” rang around the KC Stadium. Hull City fans welcomed

Ahmed Elmohamady when he arrived in the summer as one their own, and they will miss him now

that he has gone. The winger’s season-long loan was cut short last week after Sunderland, impressed

by his performances and short on attacking presence, recalled him to the Stadium of Light.

The departure of Elmohamady comes as a big blow because the player has been so influential in the

first half of Hull City’s 2012-13 campaign. His dynamic runs and blistering pace terrorised defences

of the opposition and, as a result, he was a constant threat down the right wing. Not only does the

winger have bags of skill to trick his way past opposition full-backs, but he is also a big threat in the

air. He wins numerous headers which helps link play from the defence to the attack.

Elmohamady’s main asset was his ability to cross the ball. And cross it well. It’s a technique that Hull

has lacked over the years but with Elmo down the right, the strikers had the service they needed to

score the goals. The Egypt international has assisted in six of Hull City’s goals this season, including

a superb cross in the Tigers recent game against Sheffield Wednesday and two assists in City’s 2-1

victory over Ipswich.

Without Elmohamady’s assists and goals, Hull City would be sitting in sixth position with 44 points,

rather than in third position with 50 points. This again shows how valuable Elmohamady was during

his brief loan-spell at the KC Stadium.

Elmohamady’s best performance came against Leeds United. The winger was inspired and put in a

Man of the Match performance. His goal and two assists in the 3-2 victory made sure Hull took all

three points from Elland Road.

Elmohamady was signed for Sunderland by Steve Bruce in 2010 and he arrived in England having

only played in the Egyptian Premier League for Ghazl El-Mahalla SC and ENPPI. At the time of his

arrival on Wearside, Elmohamady had only experienced football in England when on a trial with the

Black Cats, however he clearly had the credentials to become a Premier League player and, after

fighting off competition from West Brom and Club Brugge, Sunderland signed him up on a season-

long loan.

In the summer transfer window of 2011, Sunderland decided to make Ahmed Elmohamady’s stay at

the club permanent. In 55 appearances for Sunderland, Elmohamady has scored just one goal but

that is probably because he has not had much of a chance under current boss Martin O’Neill.

The 25-year-old’s lack of game time and opportunities at the Stadium of Light led him to Hull City,

to once again join forces with Steve Bruce. The fact that Elmo has scored just as many goals, and

assisted in six times as many goals, at the KC Stadium, as he did at Sunderland, shows that Bruce is a

manager who can get the most out of him and his talent.

Elmohamady brought a certain fluency to Hull and made the football interesting and exciting. He’s

helped City to become title contenders rather than play-off hopefuls and he’s also injected a lot of

pace and width into the team, who, before his arrival, were happy to play the ‘long-ball game’.

Hopefully, depending on whether Sunderland find an attacking player before the January transfer

window closes, Elmohamady will return to Hull City by February. For now, Cameron Stewart is a

suitable, though not necessarily ideal, replacement for Ahmed Elmohamady. Stewart can play on

both wings but he does not possess the same skills and experience as Elmohamady. The inability to

replace Elmohamady with a natural winger, who is willing to attack and defend down the right flank,

could affect the shape and balance of the team and perhaps threaten their promotion chances.

Heavy rainfall over the Christmas and New Year period has seen localised flooding affect areas across the East Riding - including Willow Grove, in Beverley.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council, as part of a £600,000 flood alleviation scheme, is constructing a retaining wall to protect properties on Willow Grove that back onto the Westwood, anticipated to be completed in around 16 weeks time.

Unfortunately, running springs have resulted in standing water and have delayed the start of works, with the council’s contractor beginning pumping operations on site on 8 January.

To speed progress up, the council and Yorkshire Water will install a pipe running from the pasture to a chamber to be constructed outside the pinfold and a further pipe running to an existing chamber in the public sewerage system outside Pocklington Carpets.

This pipe work will allow water levels to be reduced and work on the wall to start, but avoid the need for disruptive temporary overland pipe work.

In order for the pipe work to be laid, the council will be temporarily relocating the traffic signals on York Road for up to two weeks.

The council apologises for the inevitable inconvenience this may cause.

The views of Ryedale residents affected by flooding are needed at a special roadshow to be held in Norton-on-Derwent next month.

The National Flood Forum (NFF) roadshow will be at the Asda supermarket carpark on Norton Road, Norton-on-Derwent on Monday February 4 from 12 noon to 6pm.

The National Flood Forum is a national charity dedicated to supporting and representing communities and individuals at risk of flooding. 

It works to support the recovery of victims of flooding, to improve resilience of communities to future flood threat and speaks out to highlight the plight of flood victims and the need for adequate flood prevention investment.

Staff at the roadshow will be on hand to provide support for local people to ensure that the needs of flood risk communities are represented.

The National Flood Forum is independent and understands the trauma people go through.

For 30 years, millions of adoring fans have been enthralled by Sue Grafton’s iconic, alphabetical Kinsey Millhone mysteries, some completely unaware that the smart-talking private investigator is the author’s own dark alter-ego.

Through the creation of Kinsey, one of America’s most popular female writers has been empowered to tell home truths – ‘sometimes bitter, sometimes amusing’ – and to look at the world with a ‘mean’ eye, exploring the shadowy side of human nature.

But if Kinsey is Grafton’s alter-ego, another, more psychologically complex and troubled character called Kit Blue, devised in the decade after the death of the author’s mother, is unequivocally a heart-searching portrait of the young Sue.

To mark the anniversary of A is for Alibi, the first Kinsey Millhone book, and while we await the W, X, Y and Z thrillers, Grafton has given us Kinsey and Me, an intriguing collection of short stories which reveal the fictional detective’s origins, and the author’s own turbulent childhood with two alcoholic parents.

A book of two halves, split by a fascinating entr’acte in which Grafton briefly examines the detective novel genre from Raymond Chandler to the ‘random, pointless and pervasive’ violence of the modern age, Kinsey and Me is essentially an eloquent and cathartic collection of short stories and autobiographical musings.

These nine Kinsey Millhone tales, all firmly rooted in the 1980s, are each a gem of detection and, coupled with the Kit Blue stories about Grafton’s relationship with her dysfunctional parents, reveal just how much Kinsey is a Freudian distillation of her creator’s past.

Free of parental discipline, the young Sue read everything and roamed everywhere. ‘Every morning, my father downed two jiggers of whiskey and went to the office. My mother, similarly fortified, went to sleep on the couch.’

But the destructive side of such freedom was a glaring parental distance that made her confused, rebellious and anxious, and left an emotional hole in her life. It was a void she filled by marrying at 18 and filling her home with three children.

And so Kinsey Millhone became the person she might have been, a ‘stripped-down’ version of herself, ‘her shadow, her projection,’ a celebration of her own freedom and independence.

Published in the UK for the first time, this powerful, revelatory and emotionally raw collection displays the depth and range of Grafton’s writing and reminds us of her unique talent as a storyteller.

Although lifting the veil on a chaotic and confused period of her life has been painful, Grafton knows that she cannot edit her life as deftly as prose.

‘The past is a package deal,’ she observes, ‘and I don’t believe there’s a way to tell some of the truth without telling most. Wisdom comes at a price, and I have paid dearly for mine.’

(Mantle, hardback, £16.99)

What do you do when the man you love dies on Valentine’s Day... the exact date you had hoped to seal the deal on your relationship?

Prepare to laugh, cry and everything in between as Juliet Ashton takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride in her perfectly pitched debut novel, a journey through grief, despair, discovery and renewal in 390 emotion-packed pages.

Heart-wrenching, heart-warming and with love and friendship nestling at its cosy, clever little core, The Valentine’s Card is an enchanting package delivered with the promise of mystery, black comedy and plenty of true romance.

Irish girl Orla Cassidy is more than happy with her life in Tobercree – she has her family, her job as a primary school teacher and the love of her actor boyfriend Sim Quinn, a decorative, easy-going kind of guy who is on a relentless mission to charm the world.

After years of scraping by in Dublin’s theatrical circles, Sim gets his big break when he is cast as the dashing male lead in the BBC’s latest costume drama.

It means moving to London for five months and he wants Orla to go with him. But even a woman in love has to be pragmatic and besides, the thought of being able to watch reality TV shows, wear shapeless pyjamas and eat toast for dinner is secretly rather attractive.

But after five weeks away, Orla is missing him like mad and she is certain that this year’s Valentine’s card from Sim is going to change everything.

That morning his card duly arrives but before she can open it, Sim’s London agent telephones with the devastating news that her beloved boyfriend died suddenly that morning.

As Orla travels from Ireland to London to live and breathe Sim’s final moments, she cannot face opening the Valentine’s card and reading his last message.

It was meant to be her fairytale ending, but it now it’s only the beginning because Sim’s journal reveals that all was not as it appeared. The man she thought she knew so well had secrets that will blow apart both the past and the present...

Ashton’s story packs plenty of surprises as well as a big, emotional wallop but what really makes the story zing is her entertaining supporting cast, from Sim’s adorable neighbour Maude, a woman who ‘had grown older without losing any of her juice,’ to Orla’s best friend Juno whose Irish wit and charm often threaten to steal the show.

Watch out for the new kid on the block...

(Sphere, paperback, £6.99)

Prostate Cancer UK is urging people to support its new campaign and help crack prostate cancer once and for all.

The Sledgehammer Fund will run until the end of March, and aims to generate cash to help fund research, support men, provide information and lead change, raising the profile of the disease and improving care.

He was one of England’s great Romantic poets, she was the celebrated creator of Frankenstein, and their illicit love affair scandalised early 19th century society. But did the lives of Percy and Mary Shelley harbour secrets more dangerous and more deadly than we could ever have imagined?

It will take two generations of a fictional detective family to lift the lid on a mystery that has been bubbling below the surface of history for nearly 200 years.

Back to pursue the gaps in our literary heritage is Lynn Shepherd and her daring duo, Charles Maddox senior and Charles Maddox junior, whose thrilling investigations in Murder at Mansfield Park and Tom-All-Alone’s brought their author fame and acclaim.

A Treacherous Likeness is the third outing for the Victorian Maddoxes whose cerebral sleuthing has already solved mysteries inspired by the great Jane Austen and Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.

In her latest foray into the classics, Shepherd exploits the treachery, turbulence and tragedy that dogged the lives of the Shelleys, the notorious poet Lord Byron and those unfortunates whose fates become bound up with these flawed geniuses.

It’s a tale of passion told with passion – a shocking story of cruelty, unrequited love, betrayal, cover-up, abandonment (in every sense of the word) and premature death.

Shepherd’s complex but compelling crime puzzle weaves between the dying days of 1850 and the early years of that century to unravel secrets from the past and offer a dark, new and excitingly authentic version of a literary enigma.

As always, Shepherd undertakes the task with style, harnessing the facts, taking some very credible liberties, adding atmosphere and colour, and turning an old mystery into something refreshingly readable.

While Charles Maddox, once one of London’s greatest ‘thief-takers,’ lies semi-conscious, ravaged by age and mental incapacity, his great-nephew and namesake, and also a detective, reluctantly takes on a new case.

His clients are the ineffectual Sir Percy Florence Shelley, only surviving son of the famous Shelleys, and Lady Jane Shelley, his brusque, haughty wife who has turned their home into a shrine to the long-dead poet.

The widowed Mary Shelley, now very much a recluse, is being blackmailed over lost ‘letters’, claim her son and daughter-in-law, and young Charles’ job will be to find whether the missing, and probably incriminating, memoirs really do exist.

When Charles tracks down Mary Shelley’s step-sister Claire Clairmont, a former lover of Lord Byron and a leading player in the Shelleys’ misadventures during their travels abroad, he soon finds himself being drawn into the bitter battle being waged over the poet’s literary legacy.

And as he learns more about the scheming, single-minded Mary Shelley and her ruthlessly ambitious father, political journalist and philosopher William Godwin, Charles makes a chance discovery that raises new doubts about the death of Shelley’s first wife, Harriet Westbrook. Did young Harriet kill herself, or was her death far more sinister than suicide?

The tangled web of the past continues to yield up more disturbing secrets and Charles faces the shattering possibility that his own great-uncle is implicated in a conspiracy to conceal terrible truths...

With an inherently charismatic cast and an all-seeing narrator to provide 21st century rationale, possessing an extensive knowledge of literature and the Romantics is not essential to enjoy and appreciate this beautifully executed novel.

A Treacherous Likeness is undeniably a new spin on an old story but it is also intelligent, revealing and exciting in the sheer power of its possibility.

Immaculately researched, gripping and often unsettling, this is the kind of storytelling to set the grey matter in motion, help us reflect on the nature of genius and question the veracity of literary legacies.

We might even feel encouraged to consider that maybe, just maybe, Lord Byron was not the only member of that ‘dazzling but doomed’ generation who was ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know.’

(Corsair, hardback, £17.99)

Cardinal’s courtesan Fiammetta Bianchini is a born survivor so when Rome is brutally sacked in 1527, she gathers what little she can, swallows her jewels for safekeeping and heads off to the shimmering, simmering city of Venice.

Accompanying her on the journey is Bucino Teodoldi, her dwarf companion and business partner, whose life is inextricably bound to his mistress and who will need all his natural guile to protect her from the dangers that lie ahead.

For those already familiar with the Renaissance Italy conjured up with such startling brutality, carnality and veracity in Sarah Dunant’s thrilling novel The Birth of Venus, you will need no second guess as to the provenance of In the Company of the Courtesan.

Dunant has become a thrilling teller of Italian tales; an all-seeing, all-knowing guide who transports us back to the ‘louche, loud’ and magnificent medieval cities where hypocrisy, greed, pleasure seeking and sexual politicking are the stuff of everyday life.

Against this powerful, atmospheric backdrop, Dunant brings us a seductive mix of fact and fiction, dazzling portraits of charismatic characters both real and richly imagined, and stories of such earthy and colourful complexity that Renaissance Italy becomes a living, breathing, believable world.

Here we are plunged into the turmoil of 16th century Rome when an invading army under the leadership of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V blows a hole in the wall of the eternal city and lets in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops hell bent on pillage and punishment.

In a luxury house, filled with the warmth of wealth and security, the ever-resourceful Fiammetta and Bucino, her wily, bandy-legged dwarf who has perfected only one strategy in life, ‘to keep his belly full,’ are already planning their future.

After a narrow escape and with Fiammetta’s fabulous jewels churning in their stomachs, they head for Venice, still at the height of its power and influence and a honey pot for merchants, travellers and adventurers.

And it is in this rich, beautiful but squalid city that they start to rebuild their business and use their wit and cunning to infiltrate Venetian society.

As a partnership they are invincible – Bucino, clever with a sharp eye and a wicked tongue and Fiammetta, beautiful and shrewd, trained from birth to charm, entertain and satisfy men who have the money to support her.

Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court.

But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all.

With its lively sexual politics, dark irony, joie-de-vivre and charming, chilling corruption, Dunant’s stunning story paints an unforgettable portrait of a city at its most powerful and of the cosmopolitan people who wheeled and dealed, worked and played and made Venice the magical, mesmerising city of glass, water ... and duplicity.

(Virago, paperback, £7.99)

This stone-built semi-detached house, ripe for restoration, is offered for sale at auction, with a guide price of around £225,000-£250,000.

The stone-built property, Lone Beech, is on Eaton Drive, in the sought after village of Baslow, Derbyshire.

It stands in a large corner plot of 0.166 acres, with mature gardens to the front and side, offering ample room to extend.

It is one of the lots which will come under the hammer on March 19 at the Platinum Suite, Bramall Lane, with auctioneers Mark Jenkinson & Son.

The front door opens into a reception hall which leads to a sitting room with a bay window and French doors to the garden.

There is a separate dining room, a kitchen and a pantry.

Stairs rise to a first-floor landing. There are three bedrooms, a bathroom and a separate wc.

Outside, a driveway leads to an attached garage.

Details: Mark Jenkinson & Son, Norfolk Row, Sheffield (0114) 276 0151.

Baslow village location

Large corner plot

Room for extension

Stone built

Auction March 19