Searching for truffles in a wood a man & his dog unearth something less savoury
- a human h&. The body as Chief Inspector Wexford
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One day I Cordelia Codd will be glamorous. I will take taxis everywhere have an absurd-looking little dog & Wednesdays will be manicure day. But for now I'm stuck with: a totally un-glamorous school bus chauffeur two mean EX-best friends a 50% reduction in parents & cat litter Fridays. Did I tell you how utterly ridiculous my life is...? ...

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara Delinsky When Susan Tates seventeen-year-old daughter Lily announces she is pregnant Susan is stunned. A single mother she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily & herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lilys best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school she has always been held up as a role model of hard work & core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughters pregnancy her job financial independence & long-fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers & daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love & forgiveness. Once again Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother? ...

There's something Billy Bonkers doesn't want you to know. Come closer...I'll whisper it: he has to wear his sister's underpants! & whether Billy's flying round a go-kart track chasing a very smelly dog or finding some priceless long-lost treasure it's not easy to explain: They're NOT MY PANTS!"" ...

Mike Pannett used to work the beat in Central London
- tackling drugs & knife crime
- so when he moved back to Yorkshire he

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In Not Quite Worlds End" Simpson offers a lively & upbeat look at the challenges & the changes the world has gone through in his life & long career. In it he looks at the world & takes the perhaps surprising view that its actually not nor will be the end of the world. His vivid prose his clear-sightedness & the wonderful anecdotes about the many strange people & places he has come across
- from emperors to movie stars from Chelsea to China
- all add up to a richly satisfying read. & with his long experience & his remarkable ability to explain whats really going on out there he offers us all a crumb of comfort in desperate times. He is a very fine journalist
- Nelson Mandela. Inspirational anecdotal humorous & chilling. Simpsons unbiased accounts are riveting
- Bob Geldof."



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Middle-aged single mother & entertainment publicist Suzanne Portnoy leads a double life. Monday to Friday shes a professional executive devoted to her two adolescent boys. But at weekends she spends her kid-free hours having sex with a different man each time. Or multiple men. Picking up where her first book The Butcher the Baker the Candlestick Maker: An Erotic Memoir" left off this memoir finds Suzanne both confronting the consequences & enjoying the fruits of her notoriety as the bestselling author of an erotic memoir. From a coked-up rock star to an uptight millionaire to a hunky stripper Suzanne attracts plenty of men wherever she goes particularly once they learn her identity. But just when Suzanne grows reconciled to the possibility of never settling down she meets a man who wants to be more than one of her friends. While debating whether to unload her portfolio of men for the potential one true lover this most unconventional woman ponders the most conventional question: has she found the fabled Mr. Right or will he prove to be just another in a long string of Mr. Wrongs?" ...

Last year Stephen Pile attempted to deliver a daring blow to the success ethic that so pervades Western culture. To his dismay The Ultimate Book of Heroic Failures" became the " Sunday Times" Humour Book of the Year. Nothing daunted Stephen returns with a new selection which brings together the very best of his original classic titles
- " The Book of Heroic Failures" & " The Return of Heroic Failures". The heartwarming news that stays news is that there really is no limit to what humanity can achieve as we move onwards & downwards to ever more immortal & breathtaking feats of incompetence. " The Not Terribly Good Book of Heroic Failures" lovingly chronicles the all-time heroes who have been so bad at things that they shine as beacons for future generations. It is hard not to feel boundless admiration for example for the fifty Mexican convicts who dug an escape tunnel out of their jail & came up in the courtroom where many of them had been sentenced. Or for the worlds worst tourist who spent three days in New York believing he was in Rome."
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Catherine Alliott bestselling author of A Rural Affair" & "A Crowded Marriage" examines just the sort of trouble a girl can land herself in when she gets caught in the middle of a love triangle in " Not That Kind of Girl". A girl can get into all kinds of trouble just by going back to work... Henrietta Tate gave up everything for her husband Marcus & their kids. But now that the children are away at school & shes rattling round their large country house all day shes feeling more than a little lost. So when a friend puts her in touch with Laurie a historian in need of a PA Henrietta heads for London. Quickly she throws herself into the job. Marcus is
- of course
- jealous of her spending so much time with her charming new boss. & soon enough her absence causes cracks to form in their marriage that just cant be papered over. Then Rupert a very old flame reappears & Henrietta suddenly finds herself torn between three men. How did this happen? Shes not that kind of girl.. .is she? Step into Alliott country with " Not That Kind of Girl". Praise for Catherine Alliott: " Compulsively readable". (" The Times"). " Possibly my favourite writer". (Marian Keyes). Catherine Alliott is the author of twelve bestselling novels: "A Crowded Marriage" "A Married Man" " Not That Kind of Girl" " Going Too Far" " The Old-Girl Network" " Olivias Luck" " Rosie Meadows Regrets..." " The Wedding Day" " The Real Thing" " The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton" " One Day in May" & "A Rural Affair". She lives with her family in Hertfordshire."

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Lisa Maxwell the newest addition to the quick-witted Loose Women team is a bundle of fun & laughter & a natural storyteller. Here for the first time she tells her astonishing story
- a tale of remarkable spirit incredible experiences & family secrets. A much-loved presenter & respected actress Lisa got her first onscreen role at the age of just 11. In the eighties she became a TV presenter on series like Splash & No Limits interviewing the icons of the time & partying with the likes of George Michael Robert Downey Junior & Michael Hutchence before moving more firmly into comedy appearing on sketch shows like The Les Dennis Laughter Show The Russ Abbott Show & her very own self-titled The Lisa Maxwell Show. She narrowly missed out on the part of Daphne in a little show called Frazier. & then for seven years played the part of The Bills DI Sam Nixon before joining Loose Women in 2009 where she quickly became an audience favourite. But behind the fun glamour & onscreen success is a south London girl hiding the secret shes been taught never to talk about. An illegitimate child brought up in Elephant & Castle Lisas life very nearly took a different path. Lucky for her her dear old Nan had a kind heart & in a last minute change of plan she was brought home to her grandparents flat on the Rockingham Estate. With warmth honesty & humour Lisa takes us to the heart of the Elephant revealing a home filled with love laughter & drama. From having the drawer of an old chest for her bed to hiding from the Tally Man waiting for her Nan outside the betting shop to dabbling in petty crime discovering her dad was still alive & always looking for a way to be in the lime light Lisa has written a colourful memoir of life as a daughter a granddaughter a mother & an actress.
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