Best Book Publishers UK | Austin Macauley Publishers
  • A Game for Spoilers
    paperback
    A Game for Spoilers
    N Whitefield Smith

    Don’t be fooled! The ‘sedate and genteel’ game of croquet so often considered a dumb pastime for retired vicars and old ladies is, at the ‘association’ level, both demanding and as tactical as chess. They even play international test matches!


    That’s how Compton Abdale sees it. But soon, encouraged by the enthusiasm of Hong Kong actor Danny Chang, Compton, a successful publisher from an aristocratic family, finds himself juggling preparations for an ‘international’ croquet event in Hong Kong with plans for his upcoming wedding to the beautiful Lucinda. At the same time he is becoming increasingly attracted to Calmsden, the fashion editor of a glossy magazine with whom his best friend Willy Fleming has also fallen hopelessly in love.


    Meanwhile, the manipulative Bryan Barton Kinnerton is looking for ways to make trouble on and off the lawns. He has already antagonised Compton into nearly killing him, but will the Hong Kong event create more problems, putting Compton’s life and his game under such pressure that things could explode into something far from either ‘sedate’ or ‘genteel’?


    It’s a game for spoilers where savage competition can lead to almost anyone breaking all the rules.

    £13.99
  • For Each a Road
    paperback
    For Each a Road
    Paul Kavanagh

    Follow the lives of JP, Jamie, Anto, and Deco, four young friends growing up in the working-class neighbourhood of Tallaght, Dublin. This coming-of-age story traces their journey from the age of twelve into their twenties, navigating a world where life is far from easy.

    For Jamie, childhood was marked by tragedy. When he was just four years old, his father was murdered on a cold winter’s night while walking home from the pub. The trauma lingered, but having JP by his side gave him a sense of safety and belonging that helped soften the harshness of life.

    As the boys grow up, they face the weight of a world that demands too much, too soon. Drink and drugs become part of their daily lives as they try to cope with the chaos around them. Along the way, they experience the pain of losing loved ones, the intensity of first sexual encounters, and the violent realities that shape the roads they walk.

    £11.99
  • Restored - Book 2
    paperback
    Restored - Book 2
    Stella Jackson

    Josie had been punished for being naïve. The horrific events of the recent past still plagued her mind, and the lurking fear that she may never lay eyes on her baby girl, snatched away from her at birth, was almost impossible to push aside. But now she was faced with the bitter pain of betrayal and alienation by those she trusted and held so dear.


    Like a rollercoaster with a few ups and many downs, the twists and turns of Josie’s tangled web become even more complicated as she tries to protect her ‘secret’.


    Tired of watching others’ control of her life, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands, making instinctive, self-preserving and life-defining decisions that open her eyes to a whole new world. The question is, “Has she got what it takes to see her decisions through?”


    £12.99
  • Glass Roots
    paperback
    Glass Roots
    Alexander Matthews

    What would you do – how would you behave if you were being bullied and powerless to fight back? Could you survive with your psychology intact, or is the damage permanent? Some of you may have been bullied at school or online. Sadjit and Thila, who run a good Indian restaurant, are faced with this problem. Their restaurant is attacked by racist thugs. They are forced to work through this nightmare. They do survive, which is a triumph for them and euphoric for the audience. Read this play and think for yourself what you would do. Those who saw its London production were terrified but happy with the ending.

    £8.99
  • His Brother's Keeper
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    His Brother's Keeper
    Dr. Zidane Salmon

    His Brother’s Keeper is a sweeping romance-drama set against the vivid backdrop of Jamaica, where the clash between rural traditions and urban ambitions reshapes lives and relationships.At its heart is a love story tested by more than desire, shaped by questions of gender expectations, the pull of migration, the ache of fertility struggles, and the unyielding weight of religion. Families fracture and loyalties are tested as dreams of modernity collide with the stubborn roots of rural life.Tender, raw, and deeply human, His Brother’s Keeper explores what it means to belong, to hope, and to love in a society caught between the old ways and the new. It is a story not only of romance but of resilience, sacrifice, and the choices that echo across generations.

    £7.99
  • God's Holding Pen
    paperback
    God's Holding Pen
    Cullie Prosser-Jones

    When the industries that once powered New Zealand’s small towns vanished, so too did the tight-knit communities that depended on them. As families scattered in search of work, the elderly were left behind—adrift in a rapidly changing world, their familiar way of life slipping away.


    By the dawn of the 21st century, retirement villages promised comfort and care, but the rise of corporate ownership soon turned these sanctuaries into profit-driven enterprises. At Pleasant Mount Retirement Village in Tauranga, residents find themselves caught in a web of empty promises, rising fees, and a corporate culture that values profit over people.


    Through wry observations and poignant moments, this contemporary novel explores the resilience and camaraderie of those who refuse to be forgotten. As the residents of Pleasant Mount gather for their weekly happy hour and endure the hollow rituals of management-run meetings, they find strength in each other—and in their determination to reclaim a sense of dignity and belonging.


    A heartfelt, sharply observed portrait of ageing, community, and the quiet battles fought behind the closed doors of New Zealand’s retirement villages, this is a story for anyone who has ever wondered what becomes of the places—and the people—left behind by progress.

    £8.99
  • The Wednesday Friend
    paperback
    The Wednesday Friend
    J. S. Douglas

    This is the story of two Englishmen who become neighbours in a Swiss city, their lives unexpectedly entwined despite the generational divide between them. One is a Generation Z young man, born at the turn of the millennium; the other, a Boomer, shaped by the mid-twentieth century. As their differences surface, tensions grow – especially when sexual conflict enters the equation.

    The women in their lives – an ex-lover of the younger man and a long-standing friend of the older – become catalysts for an emotional reckoning. What begins as a connection built on common ground unravels into confrontation, ultimately leading to the breakdown of their relationship.

    A thought-provoking exploration of generational contrasts, personal identity, and the fragile nature of human connection.

    £9.99
  • Going, Going, Gone!
    paperback
    Going, Going, Gone!
    Joanna Hill

    Beards Auction House is holding a major sale of important sporting pictures, and Jasper is eager to buy a companion piece to one he already owns. But when sale day arrives, something unexpected happens: Lot number 59 has vanished!

    What follows is a tangled mystery of tracking down the missing painting, complete with abduction, horse racing, and blackmail.

    £7.99
  • Keeping On
    paperback
    Keeping On
    Nicci Wright

    Continuing on from Holding Strong, Keeping On is the tale of Abbigail and Draino. Life has never been easy for Abbigail or Draino, but they have great big, ginormous dreams to be someone in a world where they’ve been labelled no ones. Can they achieve their goals? Because if they can, maybe so can we.

    £8.99
  • Alex / Heraclius
    paperback
    Alex / Heraclius
    Michael Rawlings

    From the royal palaces and fortified walls of medieval Constantinople to the distant banks of the Northern Danube beyond the Balkans, and 2,000 miles northwest to the landscapes of East Norfolk, England, this story follows the intertwined lives of two families. One belongs to the royal lineage of ancient Constantinople, while the other, in mid-twentieth-century England, lives in the dazzling era of the machine age.

    In the latter, Alex and his brother Henry experience the world as wealthy yet rugged peasants, surrounded by the marvels of modern technology – cars, motorbikes, telephones, tanks, radios, record players, trains, and jets. Their lives are observed from afar by Heraclius and his brother Philip, who see a world of peaceful apple, pear, and corn harvesting. Meanwhile, Alex and Henry look upon the past as an age of rigorous Greek science, mathematics, and the brilliant, can-do spirit of Roman-Greek engineering and warfare. One world has emerged from years of brutal war and survival; the other seems destined to endure such struggles every decade. Their realities shape them in different ways – Alex rides, works, dances with girls, and goes to school, while Heraclius devotes himself to military training, strategy, and nocturnal rituals of light.

    In Alex’s world, a family legend speaks of a long-lost prince from the East whose bloodline merged with their own. At the same time, Heraclius' twin brother receives a mysterious visitor in his dreams – one who speaks to Alex across the centuries. As Alex becomes increasingly preoccupied with these visions, his family first regards it with humour, but their amusement soon turns to concern, as his distraction grows ever more noticeable to his friends, family, and especially his parents.

    £11.99
  • Soul Music
    paperback
    Soul Music
    Clara Black

    Would it be? Could it be? There is no precedent for this, no way to prepare for the physical blows.


    As a loving mother and dedicated wife, she has been cruelly thrust onto an unknown path, armed only with her bare and unprepared feet in the face of rejection.


    This is a journey; pack your own experiences and bring them with you, warding against tears as this slain woman journeys a lonely path from here to there, beyond this great tragedy.


    I am a mother of three and my husband is leaving; I am no longer to be called ‘wife’.

    £6.99
  • Catch 25
    paperback
    Catch 25
    Joseph David Bradley

    The human psyche can typically only take so much negativity: getting wrongly excluded from education, having your friends betray and abandon you, and failing at your career. This is something Jason finds out the hard way.


    Luckily, there are ways around going insane, or worse. One of them being having the best partner in the world.

    £7.99

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