{"title":"Penny Freedman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"life-force-in-life-science-book-penny-freedman-9781913208325","title":"A Life Force in Life Science","description":"A Life Force in Life Science tells the extraordinary story of Ida Smedley MacLean. Clever and charismatic, Ida was born in Birmingham in1877 but went on to study chemistry at Cambridge at a time when women working within science was still controversial. She won international awards and prizes, did pioneering work in biochemistry and, during WW1, worked with Chaim Weizmann, the future President of Israel, making a major contribution to the war effort. Founder of the British Federation and the International Federation of University Women, she worked throughout her life for the rights of women in the workplace and was responsible, during the 1930s, for enabling Jewish women scientists and academics to find asylum and work in the UK and USA - all while raising two children. Ida's story is told through her diaries, letters and memorabilia, to which the author was given unique access by Ida's granddaughter. For any woman who has combined a career with bringing up a family, it is fascinating to see Ida MacLean inventing herself as the professional working mother. Ida's story - the tale of a brilliant, loving, energetic, brave scientist and mother - should be more widely known and we are pleased to bring her life to a new audience in this carefully researched and inspiring biography.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49514949804305,"sku":"GOR013234700","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49767908245777,"sku":"GOR010922434","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/191320832X.jpg?v=1751437535"},{"product_id":"scottish-play-book-penny-freedman-9781803136011","title":"The Scottish Play","description":"Marianne Gray is getting married in Glamis Castle and her mother is in a state of superstitious terror. To English lecturer, Gina Gray, Glamis means Macbeth, and Macbeth means weirdness and woe - bad luck at best, and murder at worst.       Nobody else is worried, but – as Gina says – why take the risk?    She is right, of course. Murder strikes, and Gina, who prides herself on her success as an amateur detective, quickly finds that there is no place for her as a sleuth this time - the Scottish police have cast her as their prime suspect.    Isolated and helpless, Gina can only sit by an idyllic loch-side and watch and wait while Detective Superintendent David Scott, her on\/off lover of many years, pursues the London connections to the killing, and Freda, her fifteen-year-old granddaughter, confronts the terrifying possibility of a long-buried crime that could blow her family apart…","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49529507283217,"sku":"GOR013189299","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49747295043857,"sku":"NGR9781803136011","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1803136014.jpg?v=1750833644"},{"product_id":"where-everything-seems-double-book-penny-freedman-9781800461833","title":"Where Everything Seems Double","description":"“It was your sleuthing that brought us here. If you feel any responsibility, find out what has really happened to Ruby. You owe it to us, Gina.\"     This is the message, from the woman who was once her closest friend, that takes Gina Gray to the Lake District to unravel a mystery in circumstances which undermine even her boundless self-confidence.     Charged with finding out what happened to a thirteen-year-old girl who has gone missing during a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, she takes her granddaughter Freda with her to act as her undercover agent among the town’s teenagers, and while Freda struggles with the secrets and lies among the young, Gina launches herself into an investigation which turns toxic.     Off her home ground, increasingly uneasy about the motives of a student she has befriended, at odds with her on\/off partner, Detective Superintendent David Scott, she finds herself mired in a relationship which eventually puts both Freda and herself in mortal danger.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49543606632721,"sku":"GOR011284385","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49738862985489,"sku":"NGR9781800461833","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50132916011281,"sku":"GOR011553065","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1800461836.jpg?v=1750994586"},{"product_id":"little-honour-book-penny-freedman-9781789015294","title":"Little Honour","description":"Life should be good for Gina Gray. She has a job she loves, she is just about to move into a small but perfect flat in Bloomsbury and DCI David Scott has come back into her life.   But a family crisis brings her daughter and son-in-law to share her flat and, in the rash of hate crimes that follow the Brexit referendum, a young Indian woman is strangled just doors away from Gina’s new home. David Scott wants Gina’s help with an investigation which takes her into the world of barristers’ chambers in Gray’s Inn, a production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, and a clash with her difficult younger daughter.    Meanwhile, her granddaughter, ten-year-old Freda, has been sent to stay with her grandfather and his second wife in their imposing and isolated house in the Kent countryside, where a missing dog gives her a mystery of her own to solve.    Moving between London and Kent, the book disentangles two mysteries as, for the first time, Freda is given a voice of her own.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552292151569,"sku":"GOR009336228","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50947092939025,"sku":"GOR014139075","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1789015294.jpg?v=1751421256"},{"product_id":"weep-a-while-longer-book-penny-freedman-9781784620165","title":"Weep a While Longer","description":"The fourth in a series of crime novels featuring Gina Gray and DCI David Scott, Weep A While Longer sets cosy Middle England against a dark crime. Picking up her granddaughter from nursery one summer afternoon, Gina Gray notices a mother and child with a dog. A few hours later she sees their faces on the TV screen, victims of a brutal murder. DCI David Scott, Gina’s semi-detached partner, is determined to keep her out of the investigation but nothing can prevent her from witnessing the case’s terrifying dénouement. The murder case is not the only thing preoccupying her, however. Her mother, her granddaughter, her job, her house invaded by her daughter’s student friends, the costumes for open air Shakespeare in the Minster grounds and, not least, her relationship with David Scott, all combine to distract her. As the police pursue the killer, Gina’s life at work and at home is running out of control. When the crash comes, just how bad will it be?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49559687102737,"sku":"GOR007160701","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1784620165.jpg?v=1751091011"},{"product_id":"one-may-smile-book-penny-freedman-9781783061662","title":"One May Smile","description":"Struggling, as ever, with the demands of work, family and a precarious love life, Gina Gray finds herself in the world of Scandinavian noir. A trip with students to perform Hamlet in Denmark, at the very castle where Shakespeare sets the play, starts out as an adventure: ‘I like young people, I like Hamlet, I have a predilection in favour of Denmark as a rational, civilised not-too-hot country,’ she tells us. What could possibly go wrong?  Almost everything, as it turns out. At the last minute, Gina has to take her three-year-old granddaughter, Freda, with her, David Scott, her ‘boyfriend, partner, lover or significant other’ breaks off contact and the student group turns out to be seething with neurosis, envy, conflict and soured relationships. Even before the first death, Gina is wishing she could go home... but when one of the students dies in a car crash and the local police suspect foul play, she is drawn into the investigation.  As other attacks follow and Gina stumbles towards the truth, hidden deep in Hamlet itself, police suspicion lights on her and a murderer’s net closes in around her. I could come over, David Scott texts. No need, she replies. Can she really cope alone?   One May Smile is another of Penny Freedman’s popular series of novels, providing a classic ‘whodunit’ story with a modern twist. The crimes take place in a ‘cosy’ Middle England context, but take us to dark emotional places with a lot of humour, black and otherwise. Fans of classic crime will find this a gripping read.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49588727906577,"sku":"GOR005738523","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49646093304081,"sku":"GOR006899243","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1783061669.jpg?v=1751439006"},{"product_id":"all-the-daughters-book-penny-freedman-9781780882772","title":"All the Daughters","description":"In this explosive follow-up to This is a Dreadful Sentence, featuring Gina Gray and DCI Scott, a twelve-year-old girl is killed, pushed down the stairs at her home and beaten over the head with a golf club. Scott leads the investigation and finds himself crossing paths again with Gina, a university lecturer, linguistics expert, harassed daughter, mother and grandmother, and all-round know-all and busybody.  Gina’s daughter, Ellie, was the dead girl’s teacher and when the police suspect her of involvement in the murder, Gina steps into the fray and launches her own parallel investigation. What she lacks in forensic evidence and IT wizardry she makes up for in linguistic acuteness, an extensive network of informants and sheer chutzpah. Scott is determined that she will be kept well away from the inquiry but a serious attempt on her life persuades him to work with her again and together they bring the case to a startling conclusion. Gina’s view of the world is often comic but the crime she unravels is as wicked as it is possible to be.  Penny cites Susan Hill and Kate Atkinson among her inspirations. ‘I love murder mysteries,’ she says, ‘but there aren’t enough good female detectives, and those there are fail to convince as having the kinds of lives most women lead. There’s not enough multi-tasking!’","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49598618140945,"sku":"GOR004983812","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1780882777.jpg?v=1751121877"},{"product_id":"chronicles-of-the-time-book-penny-freedman-9781800464629","title":"Chronicles of the Time","description":"March 2020. Gina Gray returns to the Lake District to share COVID isolation with her oldest friend, Eve. They are joined by Gina’s teenage granddaughter, Freda, who is finding her own home too crowded for comfort.    Locked down in the countryside, Gina is not expecting murder or mystery, but life without drama and challenges doesn’t suit her and knitting, baking and creativity with home-grown vegetables soon lose their appeal. Very soon she manages to find mysteries both at home and further afield.    Why did Eve really invite her here? What is going on with the strange couple whose garden backs on to theirs? What has happened to the cat? Why is Freda being so secretive about her history project? Most importantly, who murdered a teenage girl on a riverbank in an upmarket London suburb, and how can Detective Superintendent David Scott possibly track down the killer without Gina's help?    Told in three narrative voices – Gina’s, Freda’s and David Scott’s – Chronicles of the Time explores these interlocking mysteries against a background of personal tensions and strained relationships in the strangest of times – the lockdown months.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49629898440977,"sku":"GOR011886653","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49744969466129,"sku":"NGR9781800464629","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1800464622.jpg?v=1750929502"},{"product_id":"drown-my-books-book-penny-freedman-9781785893018","title":"Drown My Books","description":"Prolific crime writer Penny Freedman returns with her fifth novel in the Gina Gray series: Drown My Books. The narrative follows the story of Gina Gray, a woman who is disappointed by work, love and life. She has settled on a bleak stretch of the Kent coast where she walks her surly dog, coaches unpromising A-level students and teaches English to asylum seekers in Dover, whose stories break her heart. The one bright spot in her life is the community library and the book group she organises; however, on one grim February morning, her dog finds a body on the beach and her source of comfort turns into her biggest threat...Alarmingly, Gina learns that the dead woman is the second member of the book group to be killed, making Gina convinced that the book group is being targeted. DI Paula Powell, the lead of the police investigation, also happens to be Gina’s old rival in love, and Powell breaks the news that the killer is believed to be among Gina’s class of asylum seekers. With or without the help of DI Paula Powell, Gina has to move fast to find the truth. Could it be one of her asylum-seeker students who she admires so much that is actually a cold-blooded murderer? Drown My Books will appeal to those who enjoy crime and mystery fiction, as well as fans of Penny’s former books. The book will also appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson and Susan Hill, authors that have inspired Penny’s writing.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49652676395281,"sku":"GOR009765490","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50151091372305,"sku":"GOR008822846","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1785893017.jpg?v=1751215859"},{"product_id":"this-is-a-dreadful-sentence-book-penny-freedman-9781848764200","title":"This is a Dreadful Sentence","description":"In the library of a university college, in a small English town, a Turkish student, known to be a government spy, is found dead one morning, crushed between two rolling stacks. In the days that follow, puzzling messages relating to his death start appearing on the board in the seminar room where English language classes take place. Suspicion falls on the other students in the class as the police start to investigate their backgrounds and motives, and their teacher, Gina Gray, is drawn into the mystery.    When Gina Gray sets out to discover who murdered her student, she is an unlikely detective: a harassed mother and grandmother with difficult teenage daughters and a baby granddaughter in tow, she has nothing on her side but stubbornness, bravado - and a detailed knowledge of English grammar.     As the lives, relationships and secrets of the thirteen students involved begin to be revealed, the police uncover links with opium production in Turkey and with the Russian mafia. DCI David Scott, leading a murder investigation for the first time, believes that these hold the key to the murder, but as the police investigation stalls, two of the students disappear and another is killed.    Told in alternate chapters from the point of view of Gina and of DCI Scott, the novel weaves and unravels a complex mystery, while exploring the edgy, combative relationship that develops between the two of them.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49762713403665,"sku":"GOR003227338","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1848764200.jpg?v=1751454203"},{"product_id":"come-to-dust-book-penny-freedman-9781805145400","title":"Come to Dust","description":"It is September 2022. The Queen is dead, and the UK government is in turmoil, the economy close to collapse.   Normally, opinionated Gina Gray would have plenty to say, but she is grappling with her own despair: A dark moon is rising; the world has shrunk to the inside of her head.   So, when her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Freda, doing a weekend job as a chambermaid at a scientific conference in a local college, finds an eminent professor dead in his bed, Gina has no energy for detective work, but when the police start to follow a trail that leads back into her own past, she faces a desperate moral dilemma.   It is Freda, caught up in her own investigation and finding herself at risk, who shakes Gina out of her apathy and into action – to protect Freda and to avenge a very personal crime.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51466585735441,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51466585768209,"sku":"GOR014291812","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51533644562705,"sku":"NGR9781805145400","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1805145401.jpg?v=1750767259"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-penny-freedman.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}