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The Norfolk Mystery (The County Guides)
The Norfolk Mystery (The County Guides)
Ian Sansom
¥57.09
Love Miss Marple? Adore Holmes and Watson? Professor Morley’s guide to Norfolk is a story of bygone England; quaint villages, eccentric locals – and murder! It is 1937 and disillusioned Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton is stony broke. So when he sees a mysterious advertisement for a job where ‘intelligence is essential’, he applies. Thus begins Sefton’s association with Professor Swanton Morley, an omnivorous intellect. Morley’s latest project is a history of traditional England, with a guide to every county. They start in Norfolk, but when the vicar of Blakeney is found hanging from his church’s bellrope, Morley and Sefton find themselves drawn into a rather more fiendish plot. Did the Reverend really take his own life, or was it – murder? Beginning a thrilling new detective series, ‘The Norfolk Mystery’ is the first of The County Guides. A must-read for fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, every county is a crime scene and no-one is above suspicion!
Summer Holiday
Summer Holiday
Penny Smith
¥57.09
A riotously funny novel from Penny Smith. Miranda Blake is divorced. At 45, things are starting to head south. She’s toying with the idea of Botox. Toying with the idea of facial surgery. And toying with getting a job or possibly a toy boy. The only block to all those things is her stiff, uppity daughter, 23-year-old Lucy. Pompous, is what Miranda calls her. (Sane, is how Lucy sees it.) Her friends are trying to set her up with a collection of bankers and company directors… Similar types to her ex-husband, Nigel (Nigel – just saying his name makes her wince) and every new date ends in disaster. So, one summer's day, Miranda decides to go and help clean out a local canal. She falls for Alex, a dreadlocked eco-warrior. But Lucy does not approve, and sets about sabotaging the relationship. She succeeds… Miranda, heartbroken, goes on holiday to Spain. But there, things only go from bad to worse – she falls in with a bad crowd, and is soon way out of her depth. What is it they know about Alex and his family? How is the wealthy recluse, and island owner, David Miller involved in their dodgy business activities? Aboard a glamorous yacht, hosting an award ceremony with former breakfast TV star Katie Fisher, Miranda might be in more trouble than she ever could have imagined. Will Alex get there in time to save her?
Millennium People
Millennium People
J. G. Ballard,Iain Sinclair
¥57.09
Violent rebellion comes to London’s middle classes in the extraordinary new novel from the author of ‘Cocaine Nights’ and ‘Super-Cannes’. When a bomb explodes at Heathrow, it looks like just another random act of violence to psychologist David Markham. But when he discovers that his ex-wife is among the victims he is compelled to further investigate the mysterious and shocking circumstances surrounding her death. Acting on police suspicions he immerses himself in the strange world of London’s fringe protest movements. A quiet rebellion against middle-class normality is taking place. However as civic responsibility and the trappings of consumer society are jettisoned the movement grows steadily more bellicose and Markham is increasingly lured by the idea of revolution and terror.
Utterly Monkey
Utterly Monkey
Nick Laird
¥57.09
A very funny, energetic, wonderfully engaging novel about where we’re from and where we’d like to get to… Danny Williams is talented, upwardly mobile and has left his Northern Irish small town roots well behind him. In his mid-twenties he lives in a stylish London flat and has a job in a top London law firm. However, one innocuous Wednesday night his old mucker from home, Geordie Wilson, arrives at the door. On the run from a loyalist militia, whose operational funds he has taken, he manages to bring everything that Danny has been fleeing from right to his smart London doorstep. Taking place over an intense and gripping five-day period–set in both London and the fictional Irish town of Ballyglass–Nick Laird has written an hilarious, touching and ultimately redemptive novel about friendship.
Instances of the Number 3
Instances of the Number 3
Salley Vickers
¥57.09
The fantastic new edition of the bestselling second novel from the author of ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’. Bridget Hansome and Frances Slater have only one thing in common. And that's Peter Hansome, who has died suddenly. Without their husband or lover, the women find that before they can rebuild their lives they must look to themselves and unravel mysteries that they had never before even suspected. So begins an unlikely alliance between wife and mistress and a voyage of discovery that is as comic as it is profound. ‘Instances of the Number 3’ is a funny, beguiling exploration of love, bereavement, Shakespeare, illusion and the impossibility of escaping your past. Following on from ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, this brilliant novel confirms Salley Vickers as a writer who transcends generations.
High-Rise
High-Rise
J. G. Ballard
¥57.09
From the author of ‘Crash’ and ‘Cocaine Nights’ comes an unnerving tale of life in a modern tower block running out of control. Within the concealing walls of an elegant forty-storey tower block, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on ‘enemy’ floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for riots and technological mayhem. In this visionary tale of urban disillusionment society slips into a violent reverse as the isolated inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by the laws of the jungle. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Iain Sinclair, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.
The Winner Stands Alone
The Winner Stands Alone
Paulo Coelho
¥57.09
The Winner Stands Alone is the enthralling new novel by the incomparable Paulo Coelho. The story is set during the Cannes International Film Festival and the entire action plays out over 24 hours. Igor is a wealthy Russian businessman. His wife Ewa left him two years ago and Igor has never really come to terms with their break up, especially as Ewa is now remarried to a famous fashion designer, Hamid Hussein. Igor is insanely jealous and when Ewa left him he told her that he would destroy 'whole worlds' in order to get her back, and he intends to keep his promise… Igor has followed Ewa and her new husband to Cannes and his plan is to cause as much violence and destruction as possible until Ewa realises how much he loves her and comes back to him. Ewa loved Igor but she was absolutely terrified of him. She knows that Igor has killed people in the past when he was a soldier, but she also knows a dark secret - that he once cold bloodedly murdered a beggar who was bothering them in a restaurant. Igor is clearly unhinged and he will stop at nothing to regain her love and so he goes on a ruthless killing spree until he tracks down Ewa… The star-studded film festival acts as a backdrop to Igor's maniacal murdering spree and we are ntroduced to various characters along the way, all of whom are desperately trying to get their big break in the shallow world of show business; Gabriela a young and naive actress who is being exploited by her agent and Jasmine a troubled young Rwandan refugee working as a model. The Winner Stands Alone is a gripping, fast-paced thriller, and Coelho cleverly weaves in elements of social satire, poking fun at our celebrity and money obsessed culture.
Friends and Rivals
Friends and Rivals
Tilly Bagshawe
¥57.09
For everyone who loves Jilly Cooper, Penny Vincenzi, Tasmina Perry and Louise Bagshawe. Cat fears she is past her prime. Her philandering husband, Ivan, who she still loves passionately after twenty years of marriage, leaves her for a younger woman. Devastated, there is only one person left who Cat trusts. Kendall is sure she has it all. But underneath her tough exterior she hides a vulnerability – she is helplessly struggling with an unrequited love. But when Kendall’s need for success consumes her, she won’t let anyone stand in her way. Ava is an innocent, plucked from obscurity and thrown into the deep-end of the glamorous world of fame. When she is pitted against Kendall, the world watches closely, wondering who will survive. As these three women try to navigate a backstabbing world of infamy, desire and fortune, will they be tempted to betray the people they hold dearest?
Brixton Beach
Brixton Beach
Roma Tearne
¥57.09
Opening dramatically with the horrors of the 2005 London bombings, this is the profoundly moving story of a country on the brink of civil war and a child’s struggle to come to terms with loss. London. On a bright July morning a series of bombs brings the capital to a halt. Simon Swann, a medic from one of the large teaching hospitals, is searching frantically amongst the chaos and the rubble. All around police sirens and ambulances are screaming but Simon does not hear. He is out of breath because he has been running, and he is distraught. But who is he looking for? To find out we have first to go back thirty years to a small island in the Indian Ocean where a little girl named Alice Fonseka is learning to ride a bicycle on the beach. The island is Sri Lanka, and its community is on the brink of civil war. Alice’s life is about to change forever. Soon she will have to leave for England, abandoning her beloved grandfather, and accompanied by her mother Sita, a woman broken by a series of terrible events. In London, Alice grows into womanhood. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she has a son. Slowly she fulfils her grandfather's prophecy and becomes an artist. Eventually she finds true love. But London in the twenty-first century is a mass of migration and suspicion. The war on terror has begun and everyone, even Simon Swann, middle class, rational, medic that he is, will be caught up in this war in the most unexpected and terrible way.
The Cleft
The Cleft
Doris Lessing
¥57.09
Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, invites us to imagine a mythical society free from sexual intrigue, free from jealousy, free from petty rivalries: a society free from men. An old Roman senator embarks on what may be his last endeavour: the retelling of the story of human creation. He recounts the history of the Clefts, an ancient community of women living in an Edenic, coastal wilderness, in the valley of an overshadowing mountain. The Clefts have no need, or knowledge, of men – childbirth is controlled through the cycles of the moon, and their children are always female. But with the birth of a strange, new child – a boy – the harmony of their community is thrown into jeopardy. At first, the Clefts are awestruck by this seemingly malformed child, but as more and more of these threateningly unfamiliar males appear, they are rejected, and are exposed on the nearby mountainside, sacrificed to the patrolling eagles overhead. Unbeknownst to the Clefts, however, these baby males survive, aided by the eagles, and thrive on the other side of the mountain. It is not until a curious young Cleft named Maire goes beyond the geographical, and emotional, divide of the mountain that this disquieting fact is uncovered – forcing the Clefts to accept the prospect of a now shared world, and the possible vengeance of the wronged males. In this fascinating and beguiling novel, Lessing confronts head-on the themes that inspired much of her early writing: how men and women, two similar and yet thoroughly distinct creatures, manage to live side by side in the world, and how the specifics of gender affect every aspect of our existence.
Wrath of the Lion
Wrath of the Lion
Jack Higgins
¥57.09
At the height of the Cold War, a renegade submarine threatens to ignite Europe in all-out war The French submarine L Alouette prowls deep beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, its crewmembers eager to spill blood in the service of their frenzied nationalism regardless of the cost. And only one man can stop them.That man is Neil Mallory, former lieutenant colonel of the British Special Air Services and Korean War hero. Can Mallory and his team find and destroy L Alouette before it shatters Europe s fragile peace? "
The Siege (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 4)
The Siege (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 4)
Kathryn Lasky
¥57.09
Fourth title in a mythic adventure series in which the heroes are owls! In the owl kingdom, a war between good and evil is raging. On one side, Soren and the noble owls of the Great Ga’hoole tree. On the other, Soren’s fearsome brother Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle scars. Driven by an all-consuming lust for power, Kludd leads his forces in a brutal attack on the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Meanwhile, Soren is asked to lead a mission back to the one place he never wanted to see again – St Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. He and his crew will have to enter St Aggie's as spies, then leave without being noticed…or caught. Soren escaped the rocky confines of St Aggie's once. If the Ga’Hoole tree is to be saved he must do it again…
Touch and Go
Touch and Go
M. R. D. Meek
¥57.09
Chance is a fine thing, thought the nurse who had watched wealthy Muriel Probert die in her Fifth Avenue apartment, so she took that chance – along with other fine things – and ran. To Lennox Kemp, Muriel’s ex-husband, the string of gambling casinos in Las Vegas left to him in her will seemed a dubious inheritance, bound to bring out the worst in everyone concerned whether they be prevaricating lawyers or predatory gangsters. But the slow legal process is undercut when a body is found in the East River, and there will soon be another victim as the hunt for the missing nurse turns murderous. Kemp would prefer the nastiness kept on the far side of the Atlantic, but when the final showdown comes it is on his own home ground of Newtown, where the local police force gets a taste of gunplay, Nevada-style.
Idiopathy
Idiopathy
Sam Byers
¥57.09
Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award 2013, this bitterly humorous debut is a novel of love, narcissism, and ailing cattle. Katherine has given up trying to be happy. Her cynical wit repels the people she wants to attract, and attracts the people she knows she should repel. Her ex Daniel, meanwhile, isn’t sure that he loves his new girlfriend. But somehow not telling her he loves her has become synonymous with telling her that he doesn’t love her, meaning that he has to tell her he loves her just to maintain the status quo. When their former friend Nathan returns from a stint in a psychiatric ward to find that his mother has transformed herself into bestselling author and Twitter sensation ‘Mother Courage’ – Katherine, Daniel and Nathan decide to meet to heal old wounds. But will a reunion end well? Almost certainly not. Both scathing invective on a self-obsessed generation and moving account of love and loneliness, ‘Idiopathy’ skewers everything from militant environmentalists to self-help quackery and announces the arrival of a savagely funny talent.
The Rescue (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 3)
The Rescue (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 3)
Kathryn Lasky
¥57.09
The owls of Ga'Hoole return in the third book of the series ready to battle new and far more dangerous threats. Based on Katherine Lasky's work with owls, this adventures series is bound to be a hit with kids. Join the owls in their quest to safeguard the owl kingdom from the encroaching evil! Out of the darkness a hero will rise… Ever since Soren was kidnapped and taken to the St Aegolius School for Orphaned Owls, he has longed to see his sister Eglantine again. Now Eglantine is back in Soren’s life, but she’s been through an ordeal too terrible for words. And Ezylryb, Soren’s mentor, has disappeared. Deep within Soren’s gizzard, something more powerful than knowledge tells him there’s a connection between these events. In order to rescue Ezylryb, Soren must embark upon a perilous quest. It will bring him face to face with a force more dangerous than anything the rulers of St Aggie’s could have devised – a truth that threatens to destroy the owl kingdom.
Zero Per Cent
Zero Per Cent
Mark Swallow
¥57.09
Jack Curling tells his life story from 11-15 while sitting in Business Studies GCSE, writing nothing but his number, knowing that this will earn him precisely 0%. Jack is caught in the slipstream of decisions, decisions made without reference to him and what he wants. Can't he run his life on his own terms? He's pretty famous at school – Jack Curling, entrepreneur and wheeler dealer. Surely his dad can see that he's OK doing it his way? It's time to prove a point. The exam is waiting. Can he get precisely 0%?
Happily Ever After
Happily Ever After
Harriet Evans
¥57.09
Funny, wistful and wise, I loved this book' Katie Fforde Absorbing storytelling at its very best from the Sunday Times bestselling author. The past catches up with you no matter how far you try to run… This is a story of a girl who doesn’t believe in happy endings. Or happy families. It’s the story of Eleanor Bee, a shy, book-loving girl who vows to turn herself into someone bright, shiny and confident, someone sophisticated. Someone who knows how life works. But life has a funny way of catching us unawares. Turns out that Elle doesn’t know everything about love. Or life. Or how to keep the ones we love safe…. Absorbing, poignant and unforgettable, Happily Ever After is a compelling story of a fractured family and a girl who doesn’t believe in love.
When the Lights Go On Again
When the Lights Go On Again
Annie Groves
¥57.09
The tide is turning, but on the home front, the battle is far from over for the Campions… Autumn 1944, the allies are invading Italy. On the home front, the Campion family are doing their bit –working tirelessly in the hope that the end of the war is now in sight. Sasha, newly engaged to Bobby has been tormented by nameless terrors ever since she was rescued from a bomb shaft. But she needs help if she is to face down her fears and look to the future. Lou, separated from her twin Sasha, is breaking the mould in her new role as a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary. But she is shaken to her core when a face from her past shows up, the devilishly handsome American GI, Kieran Mallory. Back in London Katie hopes that she is finally over Luke, the man who broke her heart, until a surprise letter from him arrives. But can they rebuild something stronger on the ashes of their love? Even though today is full of suffering and pain, there is hope that tomorrow the lights will go on again.
Plague Child
Plague Child
Peter Ransley
¥57.09
The first instalment of a captivating trilogy set against the backdrop of the English Civil War. September 1625: Plague cart driver, Matthew Kneave, is sent to pick up the corpse of a baby. Yet, on the way to the plague pit, he hears a cry – the baby is alive. A plague child himself, and now immune from the disease, Matthew decides to raise it as his own. Fifteen years on, Matthew’s son Tom is apprenticed to a printer in the City. Somebody is interested in him and is keen to turn him into a gentleman. He is even given an education. But Tom is unaware that he has a benefactor and soon he discovers that someone else is determined to kill him. The civil war divides families, yet Tom is divided in himself. Devil or saint? Royalist or radicalist? He is at the bottom of the social ladder, yet soon finds himself within reach of a great estate – one which he must give up to be with the girl he loves. Set against the fervent political climate of the period, 'Plague Child' is a remarkable story of discovery, identity and an England of the past.
What Women Want
What Women Want
Fanny Blake
¥57.09
A heartwarming and witty novel about female friendships and how they will outlast any man from the author of The Secrets Women Keep Bea, Kate and Ellen have always known that they can depend on each other, no matter what. But as each reaches a new phase in their life, their bond is put to the test. Recently-divorced Bea's job is in jeopardy as she grapples with a new boss and her power-hungry younger colleagues. At home she has to deal with a stroppy teenage son and the gaping hole left by her ex-husband. Feisty, impulsive and never one to give up, she throws herself back onto the dating scene. Her friends will hold her steady. Stressed-out Kate contends with an empty nest now that her children have left home, a frantic pace at work as a GP and the growing realisation that her marriage has definitely lost its shine. Reliable, hard-working, how can she find the energy to keep going? At least her friends will lift her spirits. Then Ellen, who has devoted herself to her two children and her small art gallery for the last ten years since her beloved husband died, falls head over heels in love with Oliver. When Oliver forces Ellen to re-evaluate everything about herself and her future, so Bea and Kate are driven further away from their friend and from each other as they react differently to this unfamiliar stranger in their midst. A novel about love and life and the issues that face women today as they try to decide what they want – and come to realise what they really need…
The Machine
The Machine
James Smythe
¥57.09
Shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award 2014, this is a Frankenstein tale for our time from one of the UK’s brightest new literary talents. Vic returned from war tormented by his nightmares. His once happy marriage to Beth all but disintegrated. A machine promised salvation, purging him of all memory. Now the machines are gone, declared too controversial, the side-effects too harmful. But within Beth’s flat is an ever-whirring black box. She knows that memories can be put back and that she can rebuild her husband piece by piece. A Frankenstein tale for the 21st century, The Machine is a story of the indelibility of memory, the human cost of science and the horrors of love.