Five years after Charles II's triumphant return to London there is growing mistrust of his extravagant court & of corruption among his officials
- & when a cart laden with gunpowder explodes outside the General Letter Office it is immediately clear that such an act is more than an expression of outrage at the inefficiency of the postal service. As intelligencer to the Lord Chamberlain Thomas Chaloner cannot understand why a man of known incompetence is put in charge of investigating the attack while he is diverted to make enquiries about the poisoning of birds in the King's aviary in St James's Park. He becomes even more suspicious of his employer's motives when he discovers that the witnesses he needs to interview have close links to the business conducted in the General Letter Office activities more firmly centred on intercepting people's mail than delivering it. Then human rather than avian victims are poisoned & Chaloner knows he has to ignore his master's instructions & use his own considerable wits to defeat an enemy whose deadly tentacles reach into the very heart of the government: an enemy who has the power & expertise to destroy anyone who stands in the way.. .
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Now a major TV series: Quirke starring Gabriel Byrne. When newspaper magnate Richard Jewell is found dead at his country estate clutching a shotgun in his lifeless hands few see his demise as cause for sorrow. But before long Doctor Quirke & Inspector Hackett realise that rather than the suspected suicide ' Diamond Dick' has in fact been murdered. Suspicion soon falls on one of Jewell's biggest rivals. But as Quirke & his assistant Sinclair get to know Jewell's beautiful enigmatic wife Francoise d' Aubigny & his fragile sister Dannie as well as those who work for the family it gradually becomes clear that all is not as it seems.. . Against the backdrop of 1950's Dublin Benjamin Black conjures another atmospheric beguiling mystery. ...

A fascinating look at the history & grandeur of bullfighting Death in the Afternoon is also a deeper contemplation on the nature of cowardice & bravery sport & tragedy & is enlivened throughout by Hemingways pungent commentary on life & literature. Seen through his eyes bullfighting becomes an art a richly choreographed ballet with performers who range from awkward amateurs to masters of great grace & cunning. ...

In late January of 1945 with the Allied victory imminent nearly 10 000 German refugees attempted to flee the advancing Red Army aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff a cruise liner-turned-escape ship. As the ship set sail in the dark of night three torpedoes from a Soviet submarine struck the boat causing catastrophic damage & throwing women children the elderly & wounded soldiers into the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea. When a few hours later first light broke over 9 000 people had drowned in one of the worst maritime disasters of all time. For 65 years both East & West kept this story hidden. The drowned were citizens of the future East Germany & part of the Soviet Bloc. & the German victims inspired little sympathy in the West. In Death in the Baltic award winning author Cathryn Prince reconstructs the story of unimaginable horror by drawing on original interviews with ten remaining survivors & newly declassified records. Weaving the personal narratives into the broader history she finally gives this WWII tragedy its place in history. ...

THE MOST AMAZING TRUE STORY SINCE AGENT ZIGZAG OCCUPIED PARIS 1944. A swastika crowns the Eiffel Tower. Nazis march through the streets. & in the dark heart of the city a madman is at work.. . At a chic Right Bank address a horrific pile of dismembered bodies is discovered. The propertys owner well-to-do Dr Petiot immediately becomes the prime suspect but he has vanished without a trace. As the police delve into the doctors past a disturbing history of violence & corruption is uncovered. It seems like a cut-&-dried case but the investigation soon takes a surprising turn. Is Petiot a sadistic serial killer or a hero of the Resistance? Who are his victims? In this fascinating true account of a case that gripped wartime Paris David King draws extensively on new sources to paint a chilling portrait of a murderer whose crimes devastated a city already in the grip of evil. ...

A full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of an Agatha Christie story. On a flight from Le Bourget to Croydon on which Hercule Poirot is an apprehensive passenger a woman is found dead. A doctor on board is inclined to put it down to a wasp-sting but Poirot suspects that a poisoned dart is the real cause
- & perhaps rather too conveniently a blow pipe is dicovered stuffed down the back of his seat. Clearly the murder can only have been committed by one of the passengers or crew on the plane. But which one? Poirot Japp & M. Fournier of the Surete will make their way through shoals of red herrings before reaching an utterly unexpected conclusion.
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Thea Osbourne is thanking her lucky stars. After two disastrous housesitting incidents in which she has unwittingly become embroiled in murder & mayhem she is only too happy to have a bit of peace & quiet. The only positive thing that has come out of her experiences she thinks is her blossoming relationship with DI Phil Hollis & she relishes the thought of their spending some quality time together while she helps him clear out his late aunts cottage in the small village in which he grew up. Even meeting Phils childhood acquaintance the eccentric Ariadne with her abrupt manner & queer habits cannot detract from Theas happiness. But the bad luck that plagues the hapless Thea & her beloved spaniel Hepzibah is never far away. With autumn drawing in preparations for Samhain or Halloween are well underway when Ariadne discovers a very tangible reminder of the season of death on Notgrove Barrow: a body laid out like a sacrificial victim. Unlikely companions Thea & Ariadne find themselves thrown together as they try to uncover the events that led to the fatality. It soon becomes apparent that the cosy village has more than its share of secrets. But just how far will some go to keep them hidden... ...

Lets give em something to think about! Another day another mission. Now a fully fledged member of covert military squad Delta Unit Mitch is thrust straight back into the battle zone. & theres more at stake then ever before. The Mission: smuggle an undercover peace negotiator through war-torn Afghanistan to the secret hideout of a powerful Taliban leader. The Squad: elite Black-Ops soldiers
- Mitch Gaz Two Moons Tug Benny & Nelson
- codename Delta Unit. Six men set out on the mission. How many will come back?

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In Almagen a small village in the Andalucian mountains Staffe nurses himself back from the brink of death. One day his friend Manolo takes Staffe to visit Almeria & tells him about a body that has been found buried in an old greenhouse by the Mediterranean. Staffe becomes inexorably drawn to the case & befriends a journalist Raul who presents the killing as a simple case of drug-trafficking gone wrong but it soon emerges that this murder mirrors the methods of torture used during Spains brutal civil war. When Raul plunges to his death in a drunken car crash Almagens own secret past slowly rises to the surface... ...

Detective Max Camara is under pressure. A renowned paella chef has been found dead; the town hall are set on demolishing El Cabanyal the colourful fisherman's quarter on Valencia's sea-front; an abortionist has been kidnapped & with the Pope due to visit the city the police are summoned to offer protection from crowds of the faithful & the danger of anti-religionists alike. When one of Camara's long term adversaries is put in charge of the missing abortionist case tensions are quickly running high & with ominous cracks spreading across the walls of his flat Camara soon has nowhere to turn. ...