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This page lists novels and short story collections by Veronica Stallwood.

Before publishing novels using her own name two romantic novels (Wildfire Love and Imperfect Harmony) were possibly published using the pen name Kate Ivory. These fall outside the scope of this site.

The Kate Ivory name was subsequently used for the main character in the Oxford series of crime novels.

Deathspell

Veronica Stallwood

1992

"Hanna Benson is a lucky woman, with her large house on a wooded hill overlooking Oxford, her rich and successful second husband, Malcolm, and their five children. Anyone would envy her. Any outsider. ut when Malcolm begins to lay down the law, Hanna's ten-year-old daughter Tess decides to fight back. She wants her family together again: just her, her little sister, her mother and her real father, Gerard. There is no place in her world for Malcom and his three vicious sons. And it seems that Gerard is only too willing to offer Tess her paradise - he provides her with the perfect way to achieve her aims. Murder."

Death and The Oxford Box

Veronica Stallwood

1993

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Dawn on a cold February morning and a mist hangs over Oxford, shrouding spires and domes. Feisty novelist Kate Ivory enjoys her early morning run with the (mainly) women's jogging group. It gets her away from her word processor and she hears all the local gossip on the hoof. This morning, one of the women complains to Kate that her husband has walked out on her, taking with him the valuable antique enamel mourning-boxes given to her by her grandmother who - horrors - is coming to visit. The group plans to nick the boxes back again. How could they guess that their amateurish raid would provide the cover for a more sinister crime?"

Oxford Exit

Veronica Stallwood

1994

A Kate Ivory novel.

"When novelist Kate Ivory is offered a special assignment by her friend at Oxford's famous Bodleian Library, she decides to accept. For the University's libraries have a serious problem: valuable books have been disappearing from their closely guarded collections. And Kate has to find out how. Then she begins to hear stories of an even more alarming disappearance of the year before - that of a young librarian subsequently found murdered. Could there be a connection?"

Oxford Mourning

Veronica Stallwood

1995

A Kate Ivory novel.

"When novelist Kate Ivory first meets Dr Olivia Blacket, an academic at Leicester College, Oxford, the atmosphere is far from amicable. Olivia refuses to show Kate the fascinating material she is researching, even though it concerns the same literary figure that Kate is writing about. Determined to nose out the scandals that could provide her with a bestseller, Kate discovers a darker side to Dr Blacket. What are the strange obsessions that haunt her? What is her relationship with Kate's boyfriend Liam? And most of all, who would want to murder her? When Dr Blacket is murdered, Liam's name heads the list of suspects, but Kate thinks a bizarre 'family' of civilised squatters - four men guarding a blank-faced girl - might have something to hide. Can Kate unravel the truth and prove Liam's innocence?"

Oxford Fall

Veronica Stallwood

1996

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Christopher Townsend, Development Officer of Bartlemas College, was reportedly drunk when he plunged from the top of the Tower of Grace. His tragic death does, however, lead to an offer of work for novelist Kate Ivory - finishing Townsend's preparations for the 'Gender and Genre' study fortnight. Kate is doing Bartlemas a favour by taking his place - so why do her new colleagues seem so hostile towards her? And who left the note on one of Christopher's files which reads CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT? When Kate receives some threatening messages of her own, she begins to wonder if Christopher's death was an accident after all. Perhaps he had stumbled on to something he shouldn't have. And perhaps, by stepping into his shoes, Kate has now put her own life in terrible danger."

Oxford Knot

Veronica Stallwood

1998

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Novelist Kate Ivory is used to receiving letters, each week, from her readers. But when she receives a package containing a gold knot-ring, with no explanatory note, she is more than a little bemused. A phone call from her publicist, however, soon banishes any worries to the back of Kate's mind, as she prepares to embark on a bookshop tour to promote her new novel. Joining Kate on the tour is Devlin Hayle, author of a series of romantic bodice-rippers and bearer of the title 'The Man Who Understands A Woman's Heart'. But her companion seems to have a talent for producing mayhem wherever he goes. It soon becomes clear that Devlin has a hidden agenda for the tour, and Kate herself seems to be developing a habit of attracting the wrong sort of people."

Oxford Blue

Veronica Stallwood

1998

A Kate Ivory novel.

"In order to come to terms with the death of a close friend, Kate Ivory has escaped Oxford and found sanctuary in a friend's cottage a few miles away. Here, in the peace of the countryside, she hopes to find inspiration for her next novel. However, shortly after Kate's arrival at the cottage, her gardener, Donna, is found dead in mysterious circumstances and Kate is reluctantly drawn into an investigation. Unconvinced by the official police verdict, she starts to uncover the feuds and illegal goings-on behind the genteel village façades. There is plenty of gossip, and everyone has a theory about Donna's death, but Kate must relinquish her exile and return to Oxford before she can discover the truth."

Oxford Shift

Veronica Stallwood

1999

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Joyce Fielding walked out one afternoon into the streets of Oxford and just disappeared. And now, Kate Ivory has been hired to find her. Joyce is a respectable widow in her sixties and there is nothing at first glance to explain her disappearance, so Kate consults her own mother, the irrepressible Roz, to help solve the puzzle. It isn't long before Kate, following Joyce's trail, discovers a dead body. The police may think that Joyce is a murderer and Kate an interfering amateur, but Kate realises that Joyce has unwittingly walked into danger, and that the hunt for the missing grandmother is a race against time."

The Rainbow Sign

Veronica Stallwood

1999

"In an idyllic mountain spot in the Levant, Beatrice Markland witnessed something terrible. She was told to forget what she'd seen and she did; she blocked it out of her memory for good. But over 30 years later, Beatrice - now living in Oxford, married with a daughter - is starting to remember."

Oxford Shadows

Veronica Stallwood

2000

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Oxfordshire appeared to be a haven of safety for many children sent away from the bombs falling on London in 1944, but for 10-year-old Chris Barnes, the result was death. Over 50 years later, novelist Kate Ivory, searching for material for her latest historical romance, uncovers Chris's tragic tale. Amongst piles of old papers in the attic of the house she shares with her partner, George, she finds the child's diary and a haunting photograph of a face she cannot forget. Kate determines to uncover the mystery surrounding Chris's death, but George's family appears to be implicated - and Kate is faced with an impossible choice."

Oxford Double

Veronica Stallwood

2001

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Writer Kate Ivory has new neighbours on either side of her terraced house. On one side lives Jeremy Wells, a diffident, charming Oxford academic. On the other live Laura and Edward Foster who are intent on enjoying every moment of their retirement. None of them seems likely to become embroiled in serious crime, nor to be its victim. But within a few weeks, Kate is answering questions by the police about a brutal murder on her own doorstep."

Oxford Proof

Veronica Stallwood

2002

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Writer Kate Ivory can't believe her luck when she's head-hunted by a successful Oxford publishing house. But it seems her good fortune is to be short-lived. Her new young editor, Neil Orson, falls victim to fraud and has to fight to clear his name and regain his reputation. And when the criminal responsible is found dead, Neil is the obvious suspect. It's up to Kate to find out who the real murderer is - and not just for Neil's sake!"

Oxford Remains

Veronica Stallwood

2004

A Kate Ivory novel.

"Tensions are running high at Bartlemas College, Oxford. Daisy Tompkins, a bright, attractive student has put in a formal complaint about her tutor, the odd and unpopular Joseph Fechan. Faith Beeton, the Dean of Women Students, is asked to investigate but, for all his oddities, Joseph is a friend of hers, so she turns to her friend, novelist Kate Ivory, for an impartial opinion. Kate, who is busy trying to put the recent traumatic events in Agatha Street behind her and settle into her new home, is reluctant to become involved in yet another battle in the political war raging at Bartlemas. But then Daisy is murdered. Although Fechan is the obvious suspect, Faith still believes he is innocent and, once again, Kate is drawn unwillingly into the search for the truth."

Oxford Letters

Veronica Stallwood

2005

A Kate Ivory novel.

"When Kate Ivory returns from holiday, a phone call from a concerned friend gives her some rather alarming news. Apparently Kate's normally vibrant and energetic mother Roz is a shadow of her former self, and looks very ill indeed. When Kate visits her mother, Roz sends her away, insisting that her new friends, the Freemans, are taking care of her. Although the couple seems kind-hearted, something about them disturbs Kate. Are they more interested in her mother's new-found wealth than in her health? Kate decides to look into the Freemans' background. In an investigation that takes her right across the country, she uncovers a trail of deception and soon realises that her mother may not be the only one in danger."

Oxford Menace

Veronica Stallwood

2007

A Kate Ivory novel.

"When two of Kate Ivory's friends, members of a team working at an Oxford University biotechnology unit, start to receive smoke bombs through the letterbox and discover that slanderous letters about them are being circulated, Kate is intrigued and disturbed. Working where they do, her friends are used to the high security necessary to ward off animal activists. But this time there is a difference: there is nothing random in the choice of victims, and the attacks are growing more sophisticated. The team is in danger of being disbanded and if this happens the important project they are working on will come to an end. Is this just another phase in the war between scientists and the Animal Liberation Front or is there a different - and dangerous - group at work? And if so, do they have an ulterior motive for trying to sabotage the project? Novelist and amateur sleuth Kate is persuaded to find out who is behind the dirty tricks, before her friends' careers, and even their lives, are put at risk."

Oxford Ransom

Veronica Stallwood

2011

A Kate Ivory novel.

"It’s the wedding of Estelle Livingstone, Kate Ivory’s agent, to Peter Hume, second-hand book dealer: a lavish, fashionable affair where the booze flows as freely as the gossip and backbiting, until the elegant proceedings are interrupted by a drunken accusation against one of the wedding party. Kate Ivory is writing her breakthrough novel, and her agent’s support and encouragement are essential. But, just a few weeks after her return from honeymoon, Estelle goes missing. Her husband hides away, refusing to speak to Kate, let alone to the police. Where is Estelle? Has her disappearance something to do with the demented authors who have been stalking her, brandishing unpublishable manuscripts?"