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A Shortcut to Paradise
By Teresa Solana, Peter Bush. 2007
A writer is murdered at the Ritz on the night she wins an important literary prize, battered to death with…
the trophy she has just won. A satire of the Catalan literary scene dressed up as a hilarious murder mystery.The Sound of One Hand Killing
By Peter Bush, Teresa Solana. 2011
The director of an exclusive New Age meditation centre in a fancy Barcelona neighborhood is murdered, a case for twin…
detectives Borja and Eduard. The murder of a CIA agent simultaneously drags them into an international conspiracy that transports them to China and back. This hilarious mystery novel is a remorseless satire of those practicing pseudo-science and pseudo-spirituality.The Eyes of Lira Kazan
By Eva Joly, Judith Perrignon, Emily Read. 2012
"Plot twists galore, relentless suspense and expert insights to satisfy anyone fascinated by today's financial crisis."--Culture TF1 From Lagos to…
London, by way of the Faroe Islands and St. Petersburg, an investigation turns deadly. The head of the Nigerian fraud squad is evacuated from Lagos by secret service operatives. Meanwhile a junior prosecutor in Nice probes the mysterious death of the wife of a powerful banker and a crusading journalist in St. Petersburg pursues a corrupt oligarch and his criminal business empire. The paths of all three cross in London, where they find themselves embroiled in violent events obviously linked to financial and political interests and hunted by the oligarch's men, the Western secret services and goons sent by Nigerian oil magnates. A satirical, intelligent, and fast-paced thriller set in the world of high finance and low politics, The Eyes of Lira Kazan is co-written by Eva Joly, a prominent former prosecuting judge in Paris and a candidate in the 2012 French Presidential elections. Eva Joly is Norwegian born and this is her first novel. Judith Perrignon is a prize-winning essayist and the author of a number of historical and other literary works, including La nuit du Fouquet's avec Ariane Chemin. This is her second novel after the much lauded Les Chagrins, published in France in 2011.Crazy Tales of Blood and Guts
By Peter Bush, Teresa Solana. 2013
Fascinating short stories that include a rather bloody satire on installation art, including the Edgar Award-nominated story "Still Life No.41",…
a wonderful story of gruesome revenge involving a wayward son-in-law, a surprising and hilarious tale of a pre-historic serial killer who invents God and psychoanalysis, and, inevitably, a vampire story told with venom and humor.These stories remind one of the best short stories by Stephen King, such as those in the 'Just after Sunset' compilation. They can be horrific but are never without a devastating sense of humor. As in the adult short stories of Roald Dahl (the 'Kiss Kiss' collection in particular, with its tales of family and other violence) there is great ingenuity, surprising and satisfying endings, and, since it's Solana, deep cutting satire of contemporary fads and mores.Framed
By Adriana Hunter, Tonino Benacquista. 2006
Praise for Holy Smoke, the first in the Antoine series:"A terrific black comedy ...both a blasphemously funny satire of provincial…
Italian chicanery and a wry acknowledgment of the ambivalence that ambitious immigrants feel about their roots."--The New York Times"Unexpected deadly demands made in the name of friendship inspire the plot of this quirky mystery novel. Irreverently inveighs against romantic love, cancer and the Paris suburbs."--The Washington Post"An iconoclastic chronicle of small-time crooks and desperate capers, with added Gallic and Italian flair. Wonderful fun."--GuardianAntoine, a fanatic billiards player, is asked to watch over a Paris art gallery. When he scuffles with a thief a statue falls and severs his right hand. His maverick investigation leads to the discovery of a series of gruesome killings. Soon Antoine finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of a gallery owner. A game of billiards decides the outcome of this satirical tale which brilliantly captures the world of modern art and the parasites that infest it.After being, in turn, a museum night-watchman, and a train guard on the Paris-Rome line, Tonino Benacquista is now a highly successful author of fiction and film scripts.Someone Else
By Adriana Hunter, Tonino Benacquista. 2005
"Breathless pace. Touches effortlessly on identity, love, alcohol, and the cynicism of the business world."--Les EchosWho hasn't wanted to become…
"someone else"? Over a drink in Paris, two men give each other three years to see which one can more radically alter his life. Blin becomes a private detective. He takes on a new identity, even a surgically altered face. Gredzinski, a self-effacing corporate executive, discovers liquor that evening and rapidly yields to the sensuality and self-confidence induced by alcoholism. Things get complicated when Blin is hired by an ex-lover to find himself and when Gredzinski secretly follows his girlfriend to her home. A helter-skelter tale of humor and suspense.Winner of the literary prize RTL-Lire.The Art of Killing Well
By Marco Malvaldi. 2011
Nothing could please a chef more than a chance to learn the secrets of a Baron's castle kitchen. Having travelled…
the length and breadth of the country compiling his masterpiece, The Science of Cooking and The Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi relishes the prospect of a few quiet days and a boar hunt in the Tuscan hills. But his peace is short-lived. A body is found in the castle cellar, and the local inspector finds himself baffled by an eccentric array of aristocratic suspects. When the baron himself becomes the target of a second murder attempt, Artusi realises he may need to follow his infallible nose to help find the culprit. Marco Malvaldi serves up an irresistible dish spiced with mischief and intrigue, and sweetened with classical elegance and wit. His stroke of genius is to bring Italy's first cookery writer to life in this most entertaining of murder mysteries.The Human Part
By Kari Hotakainen. 2009
An elderly woman agrees to sell her life to a blocked writer she meets at a book fair. She needs…
to talk - her husband has not spoken since a family tragedy some months ago. She claims that her grown-up children are doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland's economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he's on to something. The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.The Human Part
By Kari Hotakainen. 2009
An elderly woman agrees to sell her life to a blocked writer she meets at a book fair. She needs…
to talk - her husband has not spoken since a family tragedy some months ago. She claims that her grown-up children are doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland's economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he's on to something. The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.Shooting Martha
By David Thewlis. 2021
'A riotously good novel, witty and earnest, brimming with sharply drawn characters and creeping suspense. David Thewlis is a fabulous…
writer' Anna Bailey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Tall BonesCelebrated director Jack Drake can't get through his latest film (his most personal yet) without his wife Martha's support. The only problem is, she's dead...When Jack sees Betty Dean - actress, mother, trainwreck - playing the part of a crazed nun on stage in an indie production of The Devils, he is struck dumb by her resemblance to Martha. Desperate to find a way to complete his masterpiece, he hires her to go and stay in his house in France and resuscitate Martha in the role of 'loving spouse'.But as Betty spends her days roaming the large, sunlit rooms of Jack's mansion - filled to the brim with odd treasures and the occasional crucifix - and her evenings playing the part of Martha over scripted video calls with Jack, she finds her method acting taking her to increasingly dark places. And as Martha comes back to life, she carries with her the truth about her suicide - and the secret she guarded until the end.A darkly funny novel set between a London film set and a villa in the south of France.A mix of Vertigo and Jonathan Coe, written by a master storyteller.PRAISE FOR DAVID THEWLIS'S FICTION 'David Thewlis has written an extraordinarily good novel, which is not only brilliant in its own right, but stands proudly beside his work as an actor, no mean boast' Billy Connolly'Hilarious and horror-filled' Francesca Segal, Observer'A fine study in character disintegration... Very funny' David Baddiel, The Times'Exquisitely written with a warm heart and a wry wit... Stunning' Elle'Queasily entertaining' Financial Times'A sharp ear for dialogue and a scabrously satiric prose style' Daily Mail'Laugh-out-loud, darkly intelligent' Publishers Weekly'This is far more than an actor's vanity project: Thewlis has talent' KirkusA Not So Perfect Crime
By Peter Bush, Teresa Solana. 2006
A prominent politician's wife is suspected of infidelity. The case for our twin private investigators becomes nasty when she is…
found poisoned. A satire of Catalan politics and life and habits of Barcelona's inhabitants, diurnal and nocturnal.The Public Prosecutor
By Brian Doyle, Jef Geeraerts. 1998
Albert Savelkoul, Public Prosecutor of Antwerp has power, money, an aristocratic wife and a high-maintenance mistress. A wonderful life-until Opus…
Dei takes a less than benevolent interest in it. So starts a harrowing yet humorous tale of blackmail and murder.'MAKES YOU WANT TO BUY A PLANE TICKET AND IMMERSE YOURSELF IN DEEPEST FRANCE' Irish IndependentMillions of readers worldwide are…
talking about the Dordogne Mysteries and their hero, Bruno, Chief of Police. Join them in this entertaining and compelling read and find out why the world of Bruno is so engaging. One of the glories of French cuisine leads to murder in this thrilling mystery set in the idyllic French town of St Denis.At the heart of French gastronomy lies the famed black truffle of the Périgord. But France's truffles are being adulterated with cheaper ones from China, and it seems that Chinese organised crime is behind the fraud. In St Denis market, a Vietnamese family has been selling their dishes for years, until their stall is wrecked by attackers who look Chinese. Again it appears that organised crime is behind the outrage, firing the opening shots of a Viet-Chinese triad war. When vicious murder, illegal immigration and the importation of underage girls for prostitution are added to the mix, Bruno has his work cut out to keep St Denis from tearing itself apart.'WALKER'S FINEST YET ... A FIRST-RATE MYSTERY' - Entertainment WeeklyBruno, Chief of Police, investigates when a body is found floating…
in the river showing marks of Satanism. France's favourite cop must track down a murderer while quelling his town's superstitious fears in this page-turning mystery, part of an internationally bestselling series.It is springtime France's Périgord, a time of beauty and calm. But not for Bruno, chief of police of the small town of St Denis. A woman's body has been found on a boat, bearing signs of a black magic ritual. Bruno has too much on his plate as it is - mediating a domestic abuse case that needs careful handling and a dodgy local development proposal that seems just too good to be true. But a murder case must take precedent and the roots of this one lie buried deep in the past - linked to a chateau above a bend in the river, to the reclusive old woman who lives there, and to the secret hidden in the Devil's Cave.'WALKER BRINGS TO LIFE A COMPLETE COMMUNITY AND THE CHIEF OF POLICE WHO IS ITS PROTECTOR, TEACHER AND FRIEND' -…
Literary ReviewIn rural Dordogne, Bruno, Chief of Police, knows that WW2 casts the longest shadow. Rare bank notes are found, linking to the famous Neuvic train robbery of 1944 in the sixth internationally-bestselling case for France's favourite cop.In the small town of St Denis, Bruno, can't get a moment's rest. Some rare bank notes have come to light that may have links to the legendary Neuvic train robbery in 1944. The investigation is fraught with issues. Bruno is also dealing with a wave of local burglaries, which have brought his old flame, Isabelle - and their complicated history - back to the town. Worse is to come. Tasked with piecing together these past crimes, Bruno now finds he has the more pressing matter of a body on his hands. He must now trace the links between past and present to restore peace in his beloved town of St Denis.The Art of Killing Well: A Pellegrino Artusi Mystery
By Marco Malvaldi. 2011
Nothing could please a chef more than a chance to learn the secrets of a Baron's castle kitchen. Having travelled…
the length and breadth of the country compiling his masterpiece, The Science of Cooking and The Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi relishes the prospect of a few quiet days and a boar hunt in the Tuscan hills. But his peace is short-lived. A body is found in the castle cellar, and the local inspector finds himself baffled by an eccentric array of aristocratic suspects. When the baron himself becomes the target of a second murder attempt, Artusi realises he may need to follow his infallible nose to help find the culprit. Marco Malvaldi serves up an irresistible dish spiced with mischief and intrigue, and sweetened with classical elegance and wit. His stroke of genius is to bring Italy's first cookery writer to life in this most entertaining of murder mysteries.Foul Deeds and Fine Dying: A Pellegrino Artusi Mystery
By Marco Malvaldi. 2020
Pellegrino Artusi, the great gastronome and amateur detective, is back. It is 1900 and Pellegrino's famed cookbook is in its…
fifth edition. Flushed from his fortune and success, our hero joins a weekend party at the Tuscan castle of the wealthy agricultural entrepreneur, Secondo Gazzolo. In this castle of winding corridors, secret passageways and clandestine meetings, Pellegrino finds a curious collection of guests, each with their own purpose for being there.But when one of the party is found dead in his locked bedroom, seemingly the victim of suffocation, it is up to Pellegrino and his old friend, the detective Ispettore Artistico, to solve what really happened, for the science of food is every bit as complex, rigorous and tantalising as the sublime art of investigation.A perfect "locked room mystery" that will have your brain and your tastebuds tickled.Translated from the Italian by Howard CurtisFoul Deeds and Fine Dying: A Pellegrino Artusi Mystery
By Marco Malvaldi. 2020
Pellegrino Artusi, the great gastronome and amateur detective, is back. It is 1900 and Pellegrino's famed cookbook is in its…
fifth edition. Flushed from his fortune and success, our hero joins a weekend party at the Tuscan castle of the wealthy agricultural entrepreneur, Secondo Gazzolo. In this castle of winding corridors, secret passageways and clandestine meetings, Pellegrino finds a curious collection of guests, each with their own purpose for being there.But when one of the party is found dead in his locked bedroom, seemingly the victim of suffocation, it is up to Pellegrino and his old friend, the detective Ispettore Artistico, to solve what really happened, for the science of food is every bit as complex, rigorous and tantalising as the sublime art of investigation.A perfect "locked room mystery" that will have your brain and your tastebuds tickled.Translated from the Italian by Howard CurtisThe Brothers' Lot
By Kevin Holohan. 2011
"Holohan's ability to write the kind of free-flowing naturalistic dialogue that so potently conveys the anarchic spirit of schoolboy warfare…
. . . is grounded by a shadow play of macabre references to horrors that ghost around the edges of the narrative, many eerily similar to some of the more infamous real life reports that have emerged in recent years."--The Irish TimesCombining the spirit of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim with a bawdy evisceration of hypocrisy in old-school Catholic education, The Brothers' Lot is a comic satire that tells the story of the Brothers of Godly Coercion School for Young Boys of Meager Means, a dilapidated Dickensian institution run by an assemblage of eccentric, insane, and often nasty celibate Brothers. The school is in decline and the Brothers hunger for a miracle to move their founder, the Venerable Saorseach O'Rahilly, along the path to Sainthood.When a possible miracle presents itself, the Brothers fervently seize on it with the help of the ethically pliant Diocesan Investigator, himself hungry for a miracle to boost his career. The school simultaneously comes under threat from strange outside forces. The harder the Brothers try to defend the school, the worse things seem to get. It takes an outsider, Finbar Sullivan, a young student newly arrived at the school, to see that the source of the threat may in fact lie inside the school itself. As the miracle unravels, the Brothers' efforts to preserve it unleash a disastrous chain of events.Tackling a serious subject from the oblique viewpoint of satire, The Brothers' Lot explores the culture that allowed abuses within church-run institutions in Ireland to go unchecked for decades.