The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase Sequence

‘It’s a rotten old job being King!’ says Dido Twite. Her friend King Simon agrees – his scheming courtiers want to marry him off to a pushy princess, and he has to lead his army against a tribe of invading Wends.

Their only hope is to find a long-lost heir to take Simon’s place on the throne of England, with the help of failed witch Malise and her prophesying parrot.

The last book in the series that first introduced Simon as the hero of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a helter-skelter of battles, vicious villains and mysterious monsters, packed full of magic and humour. If you don’t know the Wolves Chronicles, this gives a wonderful taste of Joan Aiken’s fantastic world – and you still have all the rest to discover!

King Richard, son of James III lies gravely ill and there are rumours that the king's enemy, the Duchess of Burgundy, is preparing an imminent invasion. The ancient crown of Alfred must be found so King Richard can pass it on to his successor. Is Simon, Duke of Battersea and friend of the king, next in line to the throne or will the evil werewolf Baron Magnus Rudh succeed in his plot to make his son, Lot, king? To add further complications, Dido Twite, held prisoner by the Baron and the Duchess, does not know the whereabouts of either Simon or the dying king: can she escape in time to find and warn them of the treachery afoot? This adventure with a truly galloping plot and breath-taking situations will delight all fans of Joan Aiken's books

Dido Twite, heroine of Black Hearts in Battersea and Nightbirds on Nantucket, is on her wildest adventure yet. On her way back to London aboard the Thrush, Dido and crew are summoned to the aid of the tyrannical queen of New Cumbria. Her island is an infernal place where birds carry off men and fish eat human flesh. The queen is greatly distressed because a neighbouring king has stolen her lake. Dido faces fire, flood, wild beasts and, ultimately, threat of execution in order to get the lake back. Is she equal to the challenge?

A rich mixture of legend, fantasy, humour and pure snowballing adventure.

"Simon paid off the driver and turned to follow Mrs Twite. But she seemed to have locked the door behind her and, as he rattled the latch unavailingly and then rapped the locker, something dark and suffocating was forced down over his head and a pair of hands gripped his throat."

Simon, coming to London to study painting with his old friend Dr Field, finds he has vanished without trace. Determined to discover what lies behind his disappearance, Simon is trapped in a fiendish plot. Why has his landlord got guns in his cellar and how does one deal with his irrepressible daughter, Dido . . .?

While her friend Capt Hughes recovers from a carriage accident, Dido is marooned with the odd inhabitants of the Tegleaze estate. Soon suspicious things happen; a priceless possession is stolen, a boy kidnapped, a twin sister found and when Dido catches a glimpse of her rascally father in Petworth, she is sure she is in the midst of another wicked Hanoverian plot. Can she combat mass hypnotism, smugglers, and a gang of murderers to prevent the plot to put St Paul`s Cathedral in the River Thames?

Dido Twite is waylaid by her father, the shady Abednego Twite, acting on instructions from his evil patron. Why is Dido so urgently needed in Wapping? Why are King Richard's friends all accidentally drowning in the Thames? How does hard-drinking Mrs Lily Bloodvessel figure in this intricate plot, with her cellar full of sleeping guttersnipes?

Another rollercoasting story by Joan Aiken, in which Dido's scheming Pa finally receives his comeuppance.

Dido Twite is aboard the Thrush, trying to return to England after her adventures in America. But orders have been sent to find Lord Herodsfoot, said to be on Aratu, the Pacific 'Island of the Pearl Snakes'. Snakes are the least of Dido's worries as she and her companions struggle through the jungle. On Aratu she is helped by spirit magic but also meets settlers who will stop at nothing to achieve their ends. And what is this strange royal residence called Limbo Lodge?

Shipwrecked Dido Twite, picked up by a whaling ship, finds herself many miles from home and facing deep troubles. Sinister Miss Slighcarp, the governess from Willoughby Chase, makes a reappearance, this time is cahoots with Hanoverian plotters who have a dastardly plan in mind.

1832 - a period of English History that never happened. Good King James III is on the throne and the country is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel. When Sylvia and Bonnie (both orphans) fall into the hands of evil Miss Slighcarp, they must use all their wits to escape unscathed - for the governess is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.