Tucked away in an idyllic corner of the West Country youd think Doreen & her husband Charles would be enjoying a peaceful life
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Isabel Dalhousie is a new mother & a connoisseur of philosophy; she'd rather not be a sleuth. But when a chance conversation at a dinner party draws her into the case of a doctor whose career has been ruined she cannot ignore what may be a miscarriage of justice. Because for Isabel ethics are not theoretical at all but an everyday matter of life & death. As she attempts to unravel the truth behind Dr Thompson's disgrace Isabel's patient intelligence is also required to deal with challenges in her own life. There is her baby son Charlie; Cat's deli to look after not to mention her vulnerable assistant Eddie; & a mysterious & unlikeable composer who has latched on to Jamie making Isabel fear for the future of her new family. Isabel treads a difficult path between trust & gullibility philanthropy & interference while keeping in her sights the small but certain comforts of family philosophy & a fine Saturday morning. ...

As their holiday unfolds Colin & Maria are locked into their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously as though there waits someone who cares deeply about how they appear. Then they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell & become drawn into a fantasy of violence & obsession. ...

In Muriel Sparks fantastic first novel the only things that arent ambiguous are her matchless originality & glittering wit. Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys & the strange detached narration of her every thought & action. She has an unusual problem
- she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence her former lover finds diamonds in a loaf of bread
- could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? & Baron Stock her bookseller friend believes he is on the trail of Englands leading Satanist.

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The Comforts of Home" is a book that enters into the spirit of how we want to live now at a time when excess is no longer desirable. Author Caroline Clifton-Mogg puts a welcoming & beautiful haven within everyones reach. The first section The Elements extols the joys of an orderly haven covering both decorative aspects such as textiles & finishing touches & practical topics such as storage & cleaning. The second section The Rooms shows how to create a home thats cosy & easy to live in
- from the wecloming hallway to the cozy kitchen comfortable living room satisfying study practical bathroom & peaceful bedroom
- through to the garden. " The Comforts of Home" offers clever decorating ideas that rely on imagination & style rather than a deep purse & suggests ways of making the most of what we have to put the heart back into our homes."

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For anyone from the effortlessly erudite to those who think that a myth is a female moth its extremely handy to know about Greek myths. Not only are they everywhere
- books films language the collective subconscious
- it will also make you look clever. Now from Jason & the Argonauts to Helen of Troy (via Achilles Heel) all the essential myths
- plus a few brilliant but less well-known ones
- have been condensed in one hilarious volume. Featuring eye-gouging baby-eating liver-pecking & wooden horses these are some of the most exciting & satisfying tales ever told.. .from the stories that created Heroes invented Amazons & brought you the Cyclops centaurs & ladies with snakes in their hair. It was written by Tracey Turner & illustrated by celebrated cartoonist Sally Kindberg.



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Norton presents here two classic drawing textbooks revised & enhanced for a new generation. Based on Will Eisners legendary course at New Yorks School of Visual Arts these guides have inspired generations of artists students teachers & fans. In Comics & Sequential Art" Eisner reveals the basic building blocks & principles of comics including imagery the frame & the application of time space & visual forms. " Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative" teaches how to control a story effectively using a broad array of techniques. With examples from Eisners own catalogue & such masters as R. Crumb Art Spiegelman Milton Caniff H. Foster Al Capp & George Herriman these books distill the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist writer & filmmaker should know." ...

A true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career. Trescothicks brave & soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen. At 29 Marcus Trescothick was widely regarded as one of the batting greats. With more than 5 000 Test runs to his name & a 2005 Ashes hero some were predicting this gentle West Country cricket nut might even surpass Graham Goochs record to become Englands highest ever Test run scorer. But the next time Trescothick hit the headlines it was for reasons no one but a handful of close friends & colleagues could have foreseen. On Saturday 25 February 2006 four days before leading England into the first Test against India in place of the injured captain Vaughan Trescothick was out for 32 in the second innings of the final warm-up match. As he walked from the field he fought to calm the emotional storm that was raging inside him at least to hide it from prying eyes. In the dressing room he broke down in tears overwhelmed by a blur of anguish uncertainty & sadness he had been keeping at bay for longer than he knew. Within hours Englands best batsman was on the next flight home. His departure was kept secret until after close of play when coach Duncan Fletcher told the stunned media his acting captain had quit the tour for personal family reasons. Until now the full extraordinary story of what happened that day & why of what preceded his breakdown has never been told. He reveals for the first time that he almost flew home from the 2004 tour to South Africa
- of what caused it & of what followed
- his comeback to the England side & a second crushing breakdown nine months later that left him unable to continue the 2006-07 Ashes tour down under. Coming Back to Me replaces the myths & rumours with the truth as Trescothick talks with engaging openness & enthusiasm about his rise to the top of international cricket; & describes with equal frankness his tortured descent into private despair.

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The late Terry Newton sparked controversy from his earliest days in rugby league. Initially signing at 14 for Warrington he also signed for Leeds on his 16th birthday missing the entire Centenary season until Leeds won the resulting tribunal. A phenomenal hooker for Leeds Terry went on to star for Wigan Great Britain Bradford & finally Wakefield. Coming Clean is the startlingly frank yet honest story of the highs & lows of Terrys career & life from his tough upbringing in Worsley Mesnes through rugby league success to the recent tragic death of his sister & his own career-ending drugs ban. Now notorious as the first ever sports person to test positive for taking the banned drug Human Growth Hormone Terry explains what drove a star player to end a glittering career in such a cloud of controversy. Love or hate the bad boy of rugby league his story will make you laugh cry & feel despair in equal measures. This new edition

Includes:: a tribute from Terrys father Tony Newton.

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Fully revised & updated edition covering China's new membership of the WTO & with a new introduction. ' Damning data & persuasive arguments that should set some Communist knees a-knocking.' Kirkus Reviews'A compelling account of the rot in China's institutions & the forces at work to end the Communist Party's monopoly on power.' James A. Dorn Cato Institute Washington D. C. Co-Editor of China's future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat? ' Quite simply the best book I know about China's future. Gordon Chang writes marvellously & knows China well. I hope everyone concerned with that country will pay careful consideration to what he sees ahead.' Arthur Waldron Director of Asian Studies American Enterprise Institute; Lauder Professor of International Relations University of Pennsylvania.'A tour de force not to be missed.' Willy Wo-Lap Senior China Analyst at CNN's Hong Kong office & author of The Era of Jiang Zemin.' When he warns that China's two centuries of troubles are still not over we had better take notice.' Andrew J. Nathan Professor of Political Science Columbia University; Co-Editor The Tiananmen Papers. ...