'I must say Jack I have been in some awful company before
- I have dined with torturers & Apaches & strict Plymouth Brethren &
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Thomas Chaloner has forged a living as spy to the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Clarendon since the early days of the Restoration. Now in February 1664 he is aware of an undercurrent of restlessness on the streets of London. The coffee houses are thick with rumours. There is anger at the new laws governing church attendance & a deepening contempt for the loucheness of the court. & there is murder. The infamous church-smasher Dick Culmer is killed among the tottering ramshackle buildings of London Bridge & Chaloner's investigations into the death link Culmer to a group of puritan conspirators. Further west in the opulence of Somerset House & in the Palace of White Hall Chaloner gradually realises that the ring-leaders of a rebellion are planning an explosive climax to achieve their goals. Desperately racing against time Chaloner is determined to thwart them
- as determined as they are to prevent him revealing their true intentions.. .
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When the engines finally met there was a deafening clash & the Brighton Express twisted & buckled tipping its carriages on to the other line. It was a scene of utter devastation. October 1854. As crowds of passengers rush to make the departure of the London to Brighton Express a man watches from the shadows nearby
- Chaos fatalities & unbelievable destruction are the scene soon after when the train derails just outside the Balcombe Tunnel. Could it simply be a case of driver error? Detective Inspector Colbeck thinks not. But digging deep to discover the intended target of the accident takes time something Colbeck doesn't have as the killer prepares to strike again.
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Phil The Power" Taylor. Eric " The Crafty Cockney" Bristow. Andy " The Viking" Fordham. To this great hall of fame add another name: Justin Irwin. Or to give him his darts moniker: Justin " The Bachelor of Darts" Irwin". Justin Irwin used to have another moniker
- that of the Director of England at the children's charity Childline. However in December 2004 he suddenly resigned giving up his well-paid job in order to...play darts. His aim was simple: to qualify for the World Darts Championship in one year's time in December 2005. As a child Justin had wanted to become a sportsman. But as the sportsman got younger Justin just got older until he realised that in his mid-thirties he was old enough to be Wayne Rooney's father. So professional footballer was out the window. However he remembered that in 1987 he once hit treble 20
- darts nirvana! So why couldn't he do that again just on a more regular basis? & so began his journey. From playing with friends he graduated to pub teams moving on to Open Tournaments in Essex & Hampshire. From backroom bars to the glamour of the Novotel in Southampton he learnt the difference between a " Bull-up" & " Bullseye". Between a " Double-in" & " Double Trouble". Justin immersed himself completely in the darts community getting to know the players the players' wives & entourages the strange rules & language as well as earning himself the sobriquet of " The Bachelor of Darts" (so christened because he was the only darts player with a Degree...). Until finally he found himself playing to qualify for the Darts World Championship in December 2005."

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Daisys in danger of heading off the rails! Daisys embarking on a journey to Edinburgh & her biggest worry is that she has forgotten her book so how will she pass the time? Her concern proves to be pointless however as once the journey begins Daisy finds a pint-sized stowaway on board
- Belinda the daughter of dreamy Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher Daisys beau. No sooner has this problem revealed itself than Daisy & Belinda run into a bickering Scottish clan en route to the deathbed of the head of the family. But before the express reaches its first stop one of the greedy Mc Gowans has turned up dead. Is it murder? Daisys willing to bet her first-class ticket it is after all the victim was the heir-in-waiting & shes sharing the carriage with an entire family of suspects who have everything to gain by his death. Praise for The Daisy Dalrymple Series": Cunning...appropriate historical detail & witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece
- " Publishers Weekly". As always Dunn evokes the life & times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy. This will delight readers who love country-house mysteries
- " Booklist". For fans of Dorothy L. Sayers novels
- " Library Journal"."



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' Akunin is an outstanding novelist... Fandorin is a beautifully drawn character who more than lives up to comparisons with Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes... The characters are delightful & you can imagine them in a Woody Allen version of an Agatha Christie novel... Akunin's work is gloriously tongue-in-cheek but seriously edge-of-your-seat at the same time' Daily Express On 15th March 1878 Lord Littleby an English eccentric & collector is found murdered in his Paris house together with nine members of his staff. A gold whale in the victim's hand leads Erast Fandorin to board the Leviathan the world's largest steamship as the murderer is one of the 142 first class passengers. Commissioner Gauche of the French police has narrowed down the suspects to ten & they are forced to eat together at every meal time in the ship's Windsor Suite until 'the Crime of the Century' is solved. But is the murderer really at the table & can Erast Fandorin discover his or her identity before Gauche? As more passengers are murdered & the Leviathan heads towards Calcutta Fandorin needs all his investigative skills to find the truth. ...

On a French golf course a millionaire is found stabbed in the back! An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course. But why is the dead man wearing his sons overcoat? & who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second identically murdered corpse! ...

BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring John Moffat as Hercule Poirot. When Poirot arrives in France following an urgent appeal for help he finds he is too late. His client a South American millionaire has been stabbed to death & his body flung into a freshly dug open grave on the golf course adjoining the property. Meanwhile the millionaire's wife is found bound & gagged in her room. Poirot launches an investigation & the baffling mystery begins to unfold. ...

Agatha Christies most famous murder mystery reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans & book lovers. Just after midnight a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment stabbed a dozen times his door locked from the inside. Isolated & with a killer in their midst detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer -- in case he or she decides to strike again. ...

Its the height of summer & the wealthy Finney family have gathered at the Manoir Bellechasse to pay tribute to their late father. But as the temperature rises old secrets & bitter rivalries begin to surface. When the heat wave boils over into a mighty storm a dead body is left in its wake. Chief Inspector Gamache a guest at the Bellechasse finds himself with a building full of suspects. With the hotel locked down the murderer is trapped. But a cornered predator is always the most dangerous of all... ...