Claire Rayner: 52 books

Claire Rayner's 'Fifth Member' is the fifth featuring George Barnabas, the female Head of Pathology at the Old East Hospital. Her fiance, Superintendant Gus Hathaway, has got a very hot case on his hands: the brutal murder of Conservative MP Sam Diamond which is shortly followed by the killing of a Labour...

Dr Paul Martin wanted to marry Sister Harriet Brett, but she had different ideas. Trained as a nurse, Claire Rayner turned to writing in the 1960s. Since then, she has written almost 90 books on a broad range of subjects.

She was born in 1893, in the slums of London. The daughter of immigrants, the descendant of exiles, she was part of a people doomed to wander, forever strangers in the lands they had chosen as home. But Hannah Lazar was different. She was born and bred a Londoner, and London was where she belonged. As...

Martha Lackland dies in 1905. Her great-niece, Letty attends the funeral. Here she meets Luke O'Hare, an aspiring actor with plans to start a theatre for the poor of London. Letty falls under the spell of Luke and his circle of Bohemian friends. In an attempt to establish her independence from her domineering...

Maggy Dundas is a star jazz pianist with looks, style, and a keen business brain. And when her hated mother Dolly dies, she is free at last from the memories that mar it all - from the woman whose wanton selfishness threatened to keep her from success. Or is she?

This is the second in the medical mystery series, featuring Dr Frederica Barnabus, the forensic pathologist and police-surgeon at the Old East Hospital. In this story she is involved in investigating the harrowing case of suspicious deaths of small babies in the Maternity unit.

The troubled '30s leading to the outbreak of the 2nd World War form the background for a further episode of The Performers' family saga. Harry Lackland meets Leah Landis, but because of their lack of children and the fact that she is his senior, the marriage begins to go awry. Being Jewish, Leah fears...

1951. The Festival of Britain announces a time of post-war optimism and hope in the future for the country as shortages come to an end. Poppy is beginning to have some success running her own business and she is enjoying her independence. She continues to be the anchor for her family and the support for their dreams and aspirations. Then the steadfast Poppy meets Peter Chantry...

They have all come a long way since their childhood days as part of a Jewish family in the East End of London. Orphaned during the war years, each has sought to escape her humble background in a ruthless search for a share of worldly success. But the much envied glamour of their lives has been achieved at a price.

Her name was Abigail Winterburn - at least that's what the newspapers said. They also said that she was wanted in connection with the disappearance of her stepson. But Abigail couldn't remember her stepson - she couldn't even remember being married. And so began a search to find the missing pieces of her life... and the reason why she had lost her memory.

In a hushed courtroom, the scene is set for one of the most celebrated trials of recent years. A tral caused by a bitter family wrangle. A trial that, as it unfolds, will reveal the dramatic story of the turbulent lives and careers of its three central characters, Hester, Hildegarde and Bonnie Morris.

Sophie Lackland is the granddaughter of the great surgeon, Abel Lackland. She is twenty-one, alone in the world and virtually penniless. A letter tells her of the death of her step-grandmother and of a strange bequest. This legacy could make it possible to fulfil her ambition of becoming a doctor. Sophie...

In 1851 Lydia Mohun, the daughter of the famous actress, Lilith Lucas, comes to live in Soho Square. She dreams of the same success on the same stage and when Jonah Lackland's daughter Phoebe is introduced to Lydia, an exciting and glittering world is opened up to her. Freddy, her cousin feels very protective...

A severed leg is found, but there is not much the police or their pathologist, George Barnabus, can do. After two further deaths George's suspicions are aroused, and when her lover, Chief Inspector Gus Hathaway, finds himself in trouble, George begins to unravel a dangerous crime.