WINNER SWEDISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR. The adrenaline-charged & suspenseful thriller set in a ruthless world where all means are permitted in the fight for power. When a savaged body is found in the waters outside the governing party`s conference centre, the case lands on detective Julia Gabrielsson`s desk. Who is the deceased & why has somebody gone to such trouble to make sure the body is unidentifiable? Officer David Sarac is a man haunted by demons. After a violent showdown that almost cost him his life, the policeman is being treated at a closed ward far from the capital. Soon he will permanently silence the accusing voices in his head. But a mysterious offer has David changing his mind. ...

The powerful second psychological thriller featuring Javier Falcon, the complex detective from ` The Blind Man of Seville`. At seven years old, Mario Vega faces a terrible tragedy
- his parents are dead in an apparent suicide pact. But Inspector Javier Falcon has his doubts. In the brutal heat of a Seville summer, he dissects the disturbing life of the boy`s father, Rafael Vega. His investigation draws threats from the Russian mafia whose corruption reaches deep into the city. He questions a creative American couple with a destructive past & uncovers the misery of a famous actor whose only son is in prison for an appalling crime. More suicides follow & one of them is a senior policeman. As a forest fire rages through the hills above the city Falcon must sweat out the truth that connects it all
- & find the final secret in the dark heart of Vega`s life.

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From the No. 1 bestselling author of THE AMERICAN BOY comes a brilliant new historical thriller set during the French Revolution. Selected as Historical Novel of the Year by The Times & Sunday Times, & picked as one of Radio 4`s Crime Books of the Year. Paris, 1792. Terror reigns as the city writhes in the grip of revolution. The streets run with blood as thousands lose their heads to the guillotine. Edward Savill, working in London as agent for a wealthy American, receives word that his estranged wife Augusta has been killed in France. She leaves behind ten-year-old Charles, who is brought to England to Charnwood Court, a house in the country leased by a group of emigre refugees. Savill is sent to retrieve the boy, though it proves easier to reach Charnwood than to leave. & only when Savill arrives there does he discover that Charles is mute. The boy has witnessed horrors beyond his years, but what terrible secret haunts him so deeply that he is unable to utter a word? ...

Inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson & Susan Hill & set in a crumbling country mansion, The Silent Companions is an unsettling gothic ghost story to send a shiver down the spine... Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband`s crumbling country estate, The Bridge. With her new servants resentful & the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband`s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. For inside her new home lies a locked room, & beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary & a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure
- a Silent Companion
- that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself...

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As featured on the Radio 2 Book Club. Some doors are locked for a reason... Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband`s crumbling country estate, The Bridge. With her new servants resentful & the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband`s awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. For inside her new home lies a locked room, & beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary & a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure
- a Silent Companion
- that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself...

...

On 6 June 1944 Britain woke up to a profound silence. Overnight, 160, 000 Allied troops had vanished & an eerie emptiness settled over the country. The majority of those men would never return. This is the story of that extraordinary 24 hours. Using a wealth of first person testimonies, renowned historian Max Arthur recounts a remarkable new oral history of D-Day, beginning with the two years leading up to the silent day which saw the UK transformed by the arrival of thousands of American & Canadian troops. We also hear the views of the American troops, who quickly formed strong views of both the British military & civilian populations. Then, on that June morning, many Britain people woke up to discover that vast areas of the country, which had throbbed with life only the day before, were now empty & silent. Civilian workers found coffee pots still warm on the stove but not a soul to greet them. Many women
- & children
- felt bewildered & betrayed. Then, throughout that day & the days that followed, the whole population gathered around wireless sets, waiting for news. There are powerful testimonies from families of who lost loved ones on the beaches of Normandy, & dramatic personal accounts from young widows who had never had the chance to say goodbye. THE SILENT DAY is an original & evocative portrait of a key event in world history, & a poignant reminder of the human cost of D-Day.

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On 6 June 1944 Britain woke up to a profound silence. Overnight, 160, 000 Allied troops had vanished & an eerie emptiness settled over the country. The majority of those men would never return. This is the story of that extraordinary 24 hours. Using a wealth of first person testimonies, renowned historian Max Arthur recounts a remarkable new oral history of D-Day, beginning with the two years leading up to the silent day which saw the UK transformed by the arrival of thousands of American & Canadian troops. We also hear the views of the American troops, who quickly formed strong views of both the British military & civilian populations. Then, on that June morning, many British people woke up to discover that vast areas of the country, which had throbbed with life only the day before, were now empty & silent. Civilian workers found coffee pots still warm on the stove but not a soul to greet them. Many women
- & children
- felt bewildered & betrayed. Then, throughout that day & the days that followed, the whole population gathered around wireless sets, waiting for news. There are powerful testimonies from families of who lost loved ones on the beaches of Normandy, & dramatic personal accounts from young widows who had never had the chance to say goodbye. THE SILENT DAY is an original & evocative portrait of a key event in world history, & a poignant reminder of the human cost of D-Day.

...

Palermo, Sicily. In the Piazza Marina a large crowd has gathered to witness the public hanging of a young brig&. Duke Signoretto di Fontanasalsa, leader of the Noble Fathers of the Inquisition, is in attendance, & with him is his deaf-mute daughter, Marianna, who is seven years old. The child watches as the rope is slipped round the prisoner`s neck; there is a roll of drums & the hangman kicks away the box on which the boy is standing; the body drops & starts to rotate. The execution over, the Duke turns to his daughter: surely such a sight will force her to speak? But she remains silent & trembling, clinging to the folds of her father`s robes. Set in the mid-eighteenth century, Dacia Maraini`s unforgettable novel tells the story of three generations of the Ucria family, seen through the watchful eyes of the young Duchess Marianna. Married at thirteen to her own uncle, set apart from others by her disability, she searches for fulfilment in a society in which women facer either marriage & endless childbearing, or a life of renunciation within the walls of a convent. ...

First published in 1938, this book by Chiang Yee is original in more ways than one. It was one of the first available titles written in English by a Chinese author, but it also reversed the expected conventions of travel writing, as the ”exotic” subject becomes London & its people, as observed by a foreigner. Chiang Lee, immersing himself in the strange rituals of London life, set out to learn about Londoners, their habits & their pleasures. He watched locals at work & at play. He was fascinated by such social conventions as afternoon tea & discussing the weather. He tried to make sense of British society, & as Chiang Yee lived through the capital`s various seasons his affinity with the place & its people grew, all reflected in his simple & lyrical prose. ” The Silent Traveller in London” contains sketches in the author`s own h&. It is also a book about China & a world in transition. Comparing London with his native land Chiang Yee draws parallels & contrasts, seeking to rectify misunderstandings & stereotypes regarding Chinese life. ...

FROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TEA PLANTER`S WIFE. Dinah Jefferies` stunning new novel is a gripping, unforgettable ...