Sorted on book title (not in series order)
In the pages that follow, I have collected some of my favourite exchanges which can fairly be described as acid drops. The cruel bon mot which has its sting drawn from the laughter that ensues. It was Oscar Wilde who pointed out that no comment was in bad taste if it was amusing - and if...Read more
An unsettling, shocking and very funny collection of stories. The characters in this extraordinary book are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. Two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; Leith removal...Read more
Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Questura is shocked to hear that Brett Lynch, a friend since a murder case at La Fenice, has suffered a savage beating.
The attack, in the beautiful palazzo home of Flavia Petrelli, reigning diva of La Scala, had come with a message: 'Don'...Read more
In Act Of God, Charles Templeton has written the story of men and women trapped in a terrifying moral dilemma. A novel of extraordinary skill and authority, the plot is ingenious, the suspense electric and the characters are brilliantly drawn. Precisely authenticated details move the reader...Read more
From what is it they run?
He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, "They killed the King."
1660. General Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Colonel William Goffe board a ship in London bound for the New...Read more
Jock Lewis was supposed to have died in that terrible train crash at Paddington. Minty, his girlfriend, received a letter from Great Western telling her so. But, curiously, the police haven't been in touch. And Jock has borrowed all her savings . . .
Zillah also got a letter from...Read more
All is not well at Holm Coultram lecturers having affairs with students, witches’ sabbaths, a body buried under a statue.
Detective Superintendent Dalziel, despite his cynical view of academics, doesn’t feel murder fits in here – let alone a rash of killings. But when he and DS...Read more
First came a sinister warning to Poirot not to eat any plum pudding… then the discovery of a corpse in a chest… next, an overheard quarrel that led to murder… the strange case of the dead man who altered his eating habits… and the puzzle of the victim who dreamt his own suicide.
...Read more
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of...Read more
For more than twenty years a hidden hand has ruled the backstreets of Ulan Baatar, but now Muunokhoi, the once untouchable head of Mongolia's largest and most powerful criminal empire, has finally been caught.
It should be the Serious Crime Team's finest hour. But nothing is...Read more
It started so innocently. But doesn't everyone say that?
In the opulent rooms of a Sydney specialist, Nina and James Wilde are waiting. Waiting to learn whether the rare, blood disease that killed James' father will threaten not only James, but also their much loved son, Luke...Read more
After the two last house parties, Lord Burford's misgivings about guests were understandable. After all, the "unfortunate incidents" which had taken place had been murders. But, these people were travelling a long way for the funeral of an elderly relative. There was nowhere else for them...Read more
Welcome to Alderley, a magnificent mansion in the heart of the West Country where a grand house party is taking place. The preparations have been made, the guests have been invited, and the staff are on hand. What could possibly go wrong? Let the entertainment begin.
The theft of...Read more
The Earl of Burford can't believe his luck; Rex Ransom, his favourite star from the 'talkies', and his hot-shot producer, Haggermeir, want to film their next feature at Alderley, the family's seventeenth-century country estate.
Somewhat less enthusiastic is the Countess, who...Read more
Anyone concerned about the level of their personal debt or frustrated by the rat race of aspiring to an affluent lifestyle will appreciate this critique of the effects of over-consumption. This analysis pulls no punches as it describes both the problem and what can be done to stop it....Read more
Gregoire Nakobomayo, a petty criminal, has decided to kill his girlfriend Germaine. He's planned the crime for some time, but still, the act of murder requires a bit of psychological and logistical preparation. Luckily, he has a mentor to call on, the far more accomplished serial killer...Read more
Emma Fern has won at life: she’s a prize-winning author and she’s blissfully happy with her husband, Jim. It wasn’t an easy rise to the top, but Emma knows you can’t achieve success without sacrifice. The trouble is, Jim knows that too.
As her literary triumph starts to fade...Read more
The future Facebook timeline of Jess Mount is terrifying. Jess does not know why she is the only one in her present able to view her future in this way and she wants desperately for the events the posts describe to never occur. In about 18 months time, Jess's FB page will become another...Read more
On the night of 22 December 1980, a plane crashes on the Franco-Swiss border and is engulfed in flames. 168 out of 169 passengers are killed instantly. The miraculous sole survivor is a three-month-old baby girl. Two families, one rich, the other poor, step forward to claim her, sparking an...Read more
Trudy and Bruce Harrison have a happy marriage, a successful business, and three teenage children. One fateful day they take the winding coastal route home, and visit the Ocean View Gallery, perched on the cliff edge. It's not listed in any tourist pamphlet. The artist runs the gallery...Read more
Fleeing Melbourne for a village in the Yorkshire Dales had felt right. Sanctuary, I’d thought.
But nowhere is as straightforward as it first appears.
When Giselle escapes to the north Yorkshire village of Hollydale, she doesn’t give much thought...Read more
"Someone is dead because of Jamie. Yesterday they were alive. When we woke up yesterday and argued about how many pairs of shoes I could take, that person was alive, making coffee maybe. Scratching her arm or yawning in the mirror . . . " Newly qualified as a firearms officer, Jamie Worth...Read more
The master of a Victorian mansion dies suddenly – and his sister is convinced it was murder…. When Cora is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of...Read more
A body is found hanging on a hook above the canals of Amsterdam's old town, a mobile phone forced into the victim's mouth.
In a remote coastal village, a doll lies in the ashes of a burnt-down house. But the couple who died in the fire had no children of their own. Did a little...Read more
Cult classics in the UK since their first publication in the 1970s, Kyril Bonfiglioli's wickedly fun mysteries, featuring the Honorable Charlie Mortdecai - degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assassin, and general knave-about-Piccadilly.
...Read more
Jessie Else disappeared the summer the Lambs came to Magpie Beach. Not that the two events were connected at all, in reality; only in my own head, in my own world. They marked for me the end of a certain quiet time and the start of a more complicated living.
Magpie Beach is a...Read more
One phone call from a concerned neighbor has inadvertently led police to Terence Payne, the elusive serial killer known only as "Chameleon." Now the fiend is in custody, perhaps dying, and a long nightmare appears to be over at last. But is it? In Acting Detective Superintendent Alan Banks'...Read more
When Oscar Bach's body was found crushed under rubble, his death was classified as another tragic statistic of the Newcastle earthquake. So how could he have been seen alive five minutes after the quake? Who would want this man dead?
Oscar's quiet life was not all that is...Read more
It's 2005, and Walker has just entered the CIA. After a distinguished ten-years within Air Force special ops, he's re-upped to avoid a desk job. But his first job will move the front line far closer to home - his first mission is stateside.
New Orleans, pre Katrina. Walker is...Read more
