EU inspectors are causing havoc in St Denis & local tempers are running high, but is it really cause for murder? The first acclaimed & internationally bestselling case for Bruno, Chief of Police.` Hugely enjoyable & absolutely gripping. Martin Walker has got off to a flying start in what promises to be a great series. Bruno will be the Maigret of the Dordogne` Antony Beevor Market day in the ancient town of St Denis in south-west France. EU hygiene inspectors have been swooping on France`s markets, while the locals hide contraband cheese in their houses & call the Brussels bureaucrats ` Gestapo`. Police Captain Bruno Courreges supports their resistance. Although, here in what was once Vichy France, words like ` Gestapo` & `resistance` still carry a profound resonance. When an old man, head of an immigrant North African family, is found murdered, suspicion falls on the son of the local doctor, found in flagrante playing sex games surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia. But Bruno isn`t convinced, & suspects this crime may have its roots in that most tortured period of recent French history
- the Second World War, a time of terror & betrayal that set brother against brother. Now it`s up to him to find the killer
- but will the people of St Denis allow him to go digging through the past in order to do it?

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On a dark November evening, Sir Wilfred Saxonby is travelling alone in the 5 o`clock train from Cannon Street, in a locked compartment. The train slows & stops inside a tunnel; & by the time it emerges again minutes later, Sir Wilfred has been shot dead, his heart pierced by a single bullet. Suicide seems to be the answer, even though no motive can be found. Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard thinks again when he learns that a mysterious red light in the tunnel caused the train to slow down. Finding himself stumped by the puzzle, Arnold consults his friend Desmond Merrion, a wealthy amateur expert in criminology. Merrion quickly comes up with an `essential brainwave` & helps to establish how Sir Wilfred met his end, but although it seems that the dead man fell victim to a complex conspiracy, the investigators are puzzled about the conspirators` motives, as well as their identities. Can there be a connection with Sir Wilfred`s seemingly untroubled family life, his highly successful business, or his high-handed & unforgiving personality? & what is the significance of the wallet found on the corpse, & the bank notes that it contained? ...

Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2017. Spring, 1967. The trail of tragedy & destruction that followed the previous winter`s flood seems to have died down; Florence is beginning to recover. But Inspector Bordelli does not feel the same sense of relief
- he has not had a moment`s peace since his investigation of a young boy`s murder went disastrously wrong. Unsettled & embittered, Bordelli resigns from the force & leaves the city. He could not continue to work as a policeman while the perpetrators of such a terrible crime were still at large. Now, in the solitude of his new home in the Tuscan hills, he spends his days cooking, going for long walks & learning to grow his own vegetables. But the thought of that case
- of justice not served
- is constantly with him. Until fate, in which he has never believed, unexpectedly offers him the chance of retribution.. .


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TRANSLATED & INTRODUCED BY DAVID LUKE. Death in Venice is a story of obsession. Gustave von Aschenbach is a successful but ageing writer who travels to Venice for a holiday. One day, at dinner, Aschenbach notices an exceptionally beautiful young boy who is staying with his family in the same hotel. Soon his days begin to revolve around seeing this boy & he is too distracted to pay attention to the ominous rumours that have begun to circulate about disease spreading through the city. ...

The Vintage Classics Europeans series
- with covers provided by textile design firm Wallace Sewell, these are must-have editions
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For nearly two decades, an unsolved murder case has haunted Sergeant Zheng Haoming of the Chengdu Police Department. Eighteen years ago, two victims were murdered after being served with `death notices`. In refined calligraphy their perceived crimes were itemised & they were sentenced to death. The date of execution was declared, as was the name of their executioner: Eumenides. Now, a user on an internet forum has asked the public to submit names for judgement
- judgement for those the law cannot touch. Those found guilty will be punished & there is only one sentence: death. The user`s handle? Eumenides. Does Zheng have a lead? Has a long-dormant serial killer resurfaced? Perhaps modern police techniques
- criminal profiling, online surveillance & SWAT quick response teams
- can catch a killer who previously evaded justice? Or perhaps the killer is more than a match for whatever the Chengdu Police Department can muster? The first in a trilogy & a bestseller in China, Death Notice is a hi-octane, hi-concept, cat-&-mouse thriller that adds an exhilarating new gear to the police procedural.


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The eponymous nosy parker in Death of a Busybody is Miss Ethel Tither. She has made herself deeply unpopular in the quintessentially English village of Hilary Magna, since she goes out of her way to snoop on people, & interfere with their lives. On being introduced to her, the seasoned reader of detective stories will spot a murder victim in the making. Sure enough, by the end of chapter one, this unpleasant lady has met an extremely unpleasant fate. She is found floating in a cesspool, having been bludgeoned prior to drowning in the drainage water. This is, in every way, a murky business; realising that they are out of their depth, the local police quickly call in the Yard. Inspector Thomas Littlejohn, George Bellairs` series detective, arrives on the train, & in casting around for suspects, he finds that he is spoiled for choice. The amiable vicar supplies him with a map showing the scene of the crime; maps were a popular feature of traditional whodunnits for many years, & Bellairs occasionally included them in his books, as he does here. ...

This is a Vintage Murder Mystery. John Lafcadio`s ambition to be known as the greatest painter since Rembrandt was not to be thwarted by a matter as trifling as his own death. A set of twelve sealed paintings is the bequest he leaves to his widow
- together with the instruction that she unveil one canvas each year before a carefully selected audience. Albert Campion is among the cast of gadabouts, muses & socialites gathered for the latest ceremony
- but art is the last thing on the sleuth`s mind when a brutal stabbing occurs...

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An outstanding short novel by an author included in ” Granta”`s ” Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists.”A professor & a student in a nervous courtship are driving to his friend`s country house for a weekend. Towards the end of their journey they come upon an accident in the road where a horse is fatally injured. The lovers try to help, something that will put them through their first disagreements & towards their first truly tender moment. With his insight into the sweet jerkiness that defines our romantic encounters, Barba portrays the fragile atmosphere between two people. ...

Shanghai in 1990. An ancient city in a country that despite the massacre of Tiananmen Square is still in the tight grip of communist control. Chief Inspector Chen, a poet with a sound instinct for self-preservation, knows the city like few others. When the body of a prominent Communist Party member is found, Chen is told to keep the party authorities informed about every lead. Also, he must keep the young woman`s murder out of the papers at all costs. When his investigation leads him to the decadent offspring of high-ranking officials, he finds himself instantly removed from the case & reassigned to another area. Chen has a choice: bend to the party`s wishes & sacrifice his morals, or continue his investigation & risk dismissal from his job & from the party. Or worse.. . ...