The three great-nephews of cantankerous Mr Penicuik know better than to ignore his summons, especially when it concerns the bestowal of his fortune. His freakish plan is that his fortune will be his step-daughter's dowry.
Adam Deveril, the new Viscount Lynton and a hero at Salamanca, returns from the Peninsula War to find his family on the brink of ruin and the broad acres of his ancestral home mortgaged to the hilt. It is Lord Oversley, father of Adam's first love, who tactfully introduces him to Mr Jonathan Chaleigh, a City man of...
"Strange as it may seem, the idea of 'God' developed in a market economy in a spirit of aggressive capitalism," Karen Armstrong asserts in her fascinating work A History of God. Armstrong considers herself a "historian of ideas," and with this broad view she gives a compelling account of the correspondences...
It was not unusual to find the beautiful bronzed body of the sun-loving Arlena Stuart stretched out on a beach, face down. Only, on this occasion, there was no sun...she had been strangled. Ever since Arlena's arrival at the resort, Hercule Poirot had detected sexual tension in the seaside air. But could ...
Rich and handsome, the hope of ambitious mothers and despair of his sisters, the Marquis of Alverstoke sees no reason to put himself out for anyone. But when a distant connection applies to him for help, he finds himself far from bored.
Morse had solved so many mysteries in his life. Was he now, he wondered, beginning to glimpse the solution to the greatest mystery of them all? How can the discovery of a short story by a beautiful Oxford graduate lead Chief Inspector Morse to her murderer? What awaits Morse and Lewis in Room 231 of the...
Six people sit down to dinner at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary - in solemn memory of Rosemary Barton who died at the same table exactly one year previously. No one present on that fateful night would ever forget the woman's face, contorted beyond recognition - or ....
When Sylvester, the Duke of Salford, first meets Phoebe Marlow, he finds her dull and insipid. She thinks he is insufferably arrogant. But when a series of unforeseen events leads them to be stranded together in a lonely country inn, they are both forced to reassess their hastily formed opinions, and they begin to discover a new-found liking...
The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy features all five complete and unabridged audiobooks of this much-loved 'trilogy' in a CD pack. On 12 October 1979 the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (and Earth) was made available to humanity. This was ...
Thomas Hardy's novels about the cruel twists of fate that blight our lives have a timeless power to move us. In The Mayor Casterbridge, a young Michael Henchard makes a rash, alcohol-fuelled decision to sell his wife. Despite abstaining from alcohol from this point forward and living an upstanding life.... Naxos
Agatha Christie’s audacious mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder.
This 10-part history of mathematics reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. He explores the relationship between Newton and...
Venetia Aldridge QC is a distinguished barrister. When she agrees to defend Garry Ashe, accused of the brutal murder of his aunt, it is one more opportunity to triumph in her career as a criminal lawyer.
WARNING: CONTAINS AN UNLIKELY IMMIGRANT, AN UNSUNG COUNTRY, A BUMPY ROMANCE, SEVERAL SHATTERED PRECONCEPTIONS, TRACES OF INSIGHT, A DOZEN NUNS AND A REFERENDUM. Not many Brits move to Poland to work in a fish and chip shop. Fewer still come back wanting to be a Member of the European Parliament. In 2016, Ben Aitken moved to Poland while he still could. It wasn’t love that took him...
"A Christmas Carol" is the best-known and best-loved of Dickens' 'Christmas Books', and the story of the miser Scrooge's redemption has become as much part of the Christmas tradition as plum pudding and carols themselves. Will Tiny Tim live to see another Christmas? Naxos
A classic novel of desire and jealousy. Ann Prentice falls in love with Richard Cauldfield and hopes for new happiness. Her only child, Sarah, cannot contemplate the idea of her mother marrying again and wrecks any chance of her remarriage. Resentment and jealousy corrode their relationship as each seeks relief in different directions. Are mother and daughter destined to be enemies for life or will their underlying love...
Beloved New York Times best-selling author Susanna Kearsley delivers a riveting novel that deftly intertwines the tales of two women, divided by centuries and forever changed by a clash of love and fate. For nearly 300, the cryptic journal of Mary Dundas has kept its secrets. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas travels to Paris to crack the cipher. Jacobite exile Mary Dundas is filled with longing - for freedom, for...
A Falcon Flies is the first bestselling novel in Wilbur Smith's epic tale of Africa, The Ballantyne Novels. In search of a father they barely remember, Zouga and Dr Robyn Ballantyne board Mungo St John's magnificent clipper to speed them to Africa.
Max Skinner, man about town and successful City slicker, finds himself suddenly redundant and instead of rejoining the rat race he has an opportunity to start a new life when he finds he has inherited an 18th century vineyard in Provence. It sounds ideal but life has a habit of surprising even in paradise. Peter Mayle's delightful novel will enchant the audiences who bought A YEAR IN PROVENCE and TOUJOURS PROVENCE in their millions. Affectionate and witty, his unerring eye...
The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.
It's the night before Hogswatch. There's snow, there are robins, there are trees covered with decorations, but there's a notable lack of the fat man who delivers toys... He's gone.
The eagerly anticipated new novel from the worldwide number one best-selling author behind the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Little Lies. Could 10 days at a health resort really change you forever? Nine perfect strangers are about to find out.... The 10-day retreat at boutique health-and-wellness resort Tranquillum House promises healing and transformation. Nine stressed city dwellers are keen...
Deception, blackmail, murder, revenge - these are themes of stories that move from London to the coast of Spain, from Mauritius to Dublin. Whether his subject is assassination by stealth, gun-smuggling or the cruel confidence trick Forsyth is never less than compulsive.
Here are eight stories with the Forsyth touch - a brilliant and original collection by an incomparable craftsman of suspense.
The first Plantagenet king inherited a blood-soaked kingdom from the Normans and transformed it into an empire that stretched at its peak from Scotland to Jerusalem. In this epic history, Dan Jones vividly resurrects this fierce and seductive royal dynasty and its mythic world. We meet the captivating Eleanor of Aquitaine, twice queen and the most famous woman in Christendom; her son, Richard the Lionheart...
The wonderful BBC dramatisation of this fabulous novel. Take Gussie Fink-Nottle, the soupy Madeline Bassett, Old Pop Bassett, the unscrupulous Stiffy Byng, the Rev. H (Stinker) Pinker, an eighteenth-century cow creamer, a small brown leather-covered notebook and mix well with a liberal....
The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.
Artist Alexander Kinloch has worked out a good pattern for his life. His home is a small bothy on a remote mountain in Scotland; he paints on commission, from which he derives both pleasure and a decent income; he lives alone and likes it. One day, however, Alexander's peace is violently shattered when he returns home to find a group of strangers waiting for him. After a scuffle, he is left for dead with only...
Rebus is juggling four cases trying to nail one killer - who might just lead back to the infamous Bible John. And he's doing it under the scrutiny of an internal inquiry led by a man he has just accused of taking backhanders from Glasgow's Mr Big.
Boneland is Alan Garner’s continuation of the story thread which began in his first and enduringly popular fantasy children’s novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, published in 1960, it has never been out of print. The Moon of Gomrath followed in 1963 taking the story further with the same two children, Colin and Susan. But Boneland is particularly fascinating because it takes the story into adulthood, with Colin again...
Peter Robinson's psychological thriller Caedmon's Song follows two characters and their mysterious connection. On a balmy June night, Kirsten, a young university student, strolls home through a silent, moonlit park. Suddenly her tranquil mood is shattered as she is viciously attacked. When she awakes in hospital, she has no recollection of that brutal night. But then, slowly and painfully, details reveal themselves...
These two 60-miniute CDs, recorded by native speakers of Russian, are an invaluable component of the Colloquial Russian course. While reinforcing material from the book, the CDs also contain a variety of additional exercises, including role-playing, and a useful guide to pronunciation.
Hugh Laurie reads Tove Jansson's wonderfully imaginative story "Finn Family". Moomintroll Moomintroll lives in Moominhouse, nestled in Moomin Valley - a place where everyone does what they like and hardly ever worries about tomorrow. Together with Moominmamma and Moominpappa, Snufkin, Sniff and the others, Moomintroll has some marvellous adventures! When they find a tall black hat on top of a...
The third book in Landy's fantastically imaginative and illustrious series about our favourite dead detective, Skulduggery Pleasant and his wonderfully cheeky and inquisitive side kick Valkyrie take us through another journey which promises to be filled with adventure, dark mysterious meetings, and classically funny moments. With all the characters read once again by Rupert Degas 'The Faceless Ones' will...
A brilliant evocation of the period and a truly unnerving, menacing and original plot... Sure and Certain Death is the fourth chilling World War Two crime mystery in the Francis Hancock series by award-winning Barbara Nadel. Perfect for fans of Lindsey Davis and Nicola Upson. East London, 1940: Francis Hancock finds the brutally eviscerated body of a woman in a derelict house. Francis' sister, Nancy, knew the victim.
A recognized pioneer of modern spirituality highlights the innumerable ways humans conceptualize God, offering guided sessions for deeply experiencing the three aspects of God--mystical, devotional, and objective.
For Iris, childhood memories are of long hot summers spent playing with her cousin Rosmarie in her grandmother's garden, a place where redcurrants turned to pale tears on the branches of trees and beautiful Aunt Inga shook sparks from the tips of her fingers. But now her grandmother is dead, and along with inheriting the property, Iris finds that she also inherits her family's darkest secrets. Reluctant to keep it...
The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and most secretive - of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era. Their story - encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall - has left a comet's tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire...