Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 5925 items
The Mayfair Dagger: A Novel
By Ava January. 2024
A witty, feminist mystery set in the heart of nineteenth-century London, this daring adventure featuring an intrepid woman detective will…
thrill fans of Deanna Raybourn and Katharine Schellman.London, 1894. Albertine Honeycombe never wanted a husband and certainly not the one with fifteen children that her cousin, Aubrey, is trying to marry her off to. She reinvents herself as Countess Von Dagga, a private detective aiding the upper echelons of women in society. As the Countess, she is a married woman, with a conveniently absent husband who doesn&’t exist, which allows her far more freedom than being single.When Lord Grendel, from whom she has recovered blackmail letters, is murdered, Albertine is suspect number one—having been the last person to see him. And when the Duke of Erleigh comes looking for her utterly fictitious husband, she realizes she has landed herself in hot water, without a tea bag. When Albertine also becomes the prime suspect in her fictional husband&’s death, things are looking grim.Unless Albertine can prove who murdered Lord Grendel and clear her name, her choices are stepmothering enough small children to start a school or hanging from the end of Her Majesty's rope.Girl Forgotten
By April Henry. 2023
Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case in this thrilling YA murder mystery by New York…
Times bestselling author April Henry. Seventeen years ago, Layla Trello was murdered and her killer was never found. Enter true-crime fan Piper Gray who is determined to reopen Layla&’s case and get some answers. With the help of Jonas—who has a secret of his own—Piper starts a podcast investigating Layla&’s murder. But as she digs deeper into the mysteries of the past, Piper begins receiving anonymous threats telling her to back off the investigation, or else. The killer is still out there, and Piper must uncover their identity before they silence her forever.A message in a bottle launches a quest for the recovery of shipwrecked crew in this Jules Verne classic—now with…
an arresting new look!When Lord and Lady Glenarvan catch a shark during a sailing trip, they are surprised to find a message in a bottle within its belly, sent by Captain Grant of the shipwrecked Britannia. Unfortunately, the water-damaged note is mostly unreadable, giving any would-be rescuers only a latitude and no longitude to work with. Eager to help the castaways, the couple urges the British government to launch a rescue expedition but are refused. So they take it upon themselves to search for Grant with the help of Mary and Robert—Captain Grant&’s children—and the crew of the Duncan. Thus, the group sets off, determined to find the shipwrecked crew, even if it means sailing across the entire thirty-seventh latitude—and facing whatever dangers lie in their path.Off on a Comet (The Jules Verne Collection)
By Jules Verne. 2024
Brace yourself for an out-of-this-world adventure in this Jules Verne classic following a small group of survivors set adrift in…
space by a comet—now with an arresting new look!A comet collides with Earth, causing a portion of the world to go floating off into space with it. On this new asteroid, thirty-six survivors of various nationalities will first need to uncover the truth of their circumstances before adapting to their new environment. But when it&’s determined the comet is on a return course to Earth, can the group survive long enough to come up with a plan to get back on the planet?Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery #29)
By Leslie Meier. 2023
A surprise wedding in France sets the table in the latest book in the ever-popular Lucy Stone mystery series set…
in Tinker&’s Cove, Maine. When Lucy Stone arrives at a sprawling French chateau with the whole family, it should be the trip of a lifetime—especially because she&’s about to watch her oldest daughter, Elizabeth, marry the handsome, successful man of her dreams. But while navigating the vast countryside estate owned by her impenetrably wealthy in-laws-to-be, the jet-lagged mother of the bride has a creeping feeling that Elizabeth&’s fairytale nuptials to Jean-Luc Schoen-Rene are destined to become a nightmare . . . Maternal instincts are validated the moment a body is pulled from a centuries-old moat on the property. A young woman has dropped dead under mysterious circumstances—possibly at the hands of someone at the chateau—and unflattering rumors about the Schoen-Rene line and their inner circle flow like champagne. Then there&’s the matter of Elizabeth&’s hunky ex beau showing up on the scene as she prepares to walk down the aisle . . . With tensions building, personalities clashing, and real dangers emerging at the chateau, Lucy is determined to protect her family, together for the first time in years, and expose the one responsible. She&’ll have to locate the culprit among a list of worldly jilted lovers and potential criminal masterminds, or Elizabeth&’s trip down the aisle could end in tragedy . . .The Stranger Times: (The Stranger Times 1) (The Stranger Times #1)
By C. K. McDonnell. 2021
STOP PRESS! The Stranger Times wins the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio Work! 'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' proclaimed…
ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling This is Going to Hurt'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' said the GUARDIANJASON MANFORD thinks it's 'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.'The Chronicles of St Mary's series author JODI TAYLOR declared 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.'And THE TIMES called it 'ripping entertainment from start to finish.'There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable.At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined.The Stranger Times is the first novel from C.K. McDonnell, the pen name of Caimh McDonnell. It combines his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a joyous celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction.Readers love The Stranger Times:***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.'***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.'***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'The Stranger Times and This Charming Man shortlisted for a 'Dead Good Reader Award' - the 'The New Kid on the Block Award for Best New Series'!A Stranger On Board: This summer’s most tense and unputdownable thriller
By Cameron Ward. 2022
There's a murderer on board. And everyone is a suspect...'Fast-paced, gripping and intense - A Stranger on Board is going…
to make waves this summer' T.M. LOGAN'What a tense, breath-taking read! Amazing' 5***** READER REVIEW ________Welcome to The Escape.A luxury superyacht. A once-in-a lifetime opportunity to get away. Until the first passenger goes missing...Everyone on board has a part to play.The newcomer with secrets buried in her past.The unexpected guest looking for an escape. The crew looking to settle old scores. They all have something to hide.But only one of them is a killer...________READERS LOVE A STRANGER ON BOARD:'A gripping suspense that grabs from the first page . . . Fizzing with adrenaline' 5***** Reader Review'Loved every page of this - was hooked from the start!' 5***** Reader Review'A fantastic, fast-paced story with enough intrigue to keep you gripped and guessing until that final climax!' 5***** Reader Review'This book gripped me and had me hooked until the very last page' 5***** Reader ReviewThe Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) are exquisite and amusing miniatures that are regarded as the pinnacle of classical…
Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. Here a Taoist monk conjures up a magical pear tree, a scholar recounts his previous incarnations, a woman out-foxes the fox-spirit that possesses her, a child bride gives birth to a thimble-sized baby, a ghostly city appears out of nowhere and a heartless daughter-in-law is turned into a pig. In his tales of humans coupling with shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena, haunted buildings and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes back the boundaries of human experience and enlightens as he entertains.The Strange Crime of John Boulnois
By G K Chesterton. 2011
The colossus of crime leaned over to the little rustic priest with a sort of sudden interest.'You have heard of…
it?' he asked. 'Where have you heard of it?''Well, I mustn't tell you his name, of course,' said the little man simply. 'He was a penitent, you know. He had lived prosperously for about twenty years entirely on duplicate brown-paper parcels. And so, you see, when I began to suspect you, I thought of this poor chap's way of doing it at once.''Began to suspect me?' repeated the outlaw with increased intensity. 'Did you really have the gumption to suspect me just because I brought you up to this bare part of the heath?''No, no,' said Brown with an air of apology. 'You see, I suspected you when we first met. It's that little bulge up the sleeve where you people have the spiked bracelet.''How in Tartarus,' cried Flambeau, 'did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?''Oh, one's little flock, you know!' said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. One of detective fiction's most idiosyncratic and best-loved characters, G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown is both a diminutive, genial clergyman and a master sleuth. In these two stories involving the ingenious, unobtrusive priest, a murdered man denounces his killer with his dying breaths, and a brilliant French inspector follows a trail of gentil carnage across London.This book includes The Strange Crime of John Boulnois and The Blue Cross.The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde & the Suicide Club
By Robert Louis Stevenson. 2015
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
By Robert Louis Stevenson. 2002
Everyone has a dark side.Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into something else.…
Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter-ego.It seems he is master of his fate.It seems he is in complete control.But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price...The Strange Adventures of Mr Andrew Hawthorn & Other Stories
By John Buchan. 2008
In 'The Strange Adventures of Mr Andrew Hawthorn' and the other stories in this collection, peculiar worlds of temptation, adventure…
or iniquity are perilously close at hand. Mr Hawthorn himself steps outside to allow his porridge to cool and disappears for five years and more, a Glasgow grocer is shipwrecked and ultimately worshipped as a god, a young mathematician discovers an entirely new aspect of reality and becomes terrified by what he finds there, and an ageing sinner clings grimly, weakly to a hard-won life of decency: John Buchan in each demonstrating his abilities as a gripping writer of short stories.In his introduction, Giles Foden explores Buchan's innate sense of the fascination held by sudden jeopardy and vanished comfort, and the themes of the will and fate in his work.The Story of the Treasure Seekers
By Edith Nesbit. 1995
When their father's business fails, the six Bastable children decide to restore the family fortunes. But although they think of…
many ingenious ways to do so, their well meant efforts are either more fun than profitable, or lead to trouble...The Story of the Stone: The Warning Voice (The Story of the Stone #3)
By Cao Xueqin. 1980
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is…
the great novel of manners in Chinese literature.Divided into five volumes, of which The Warning Voice is the third, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.The Story of the Stone: The Golden Days (The Story of the Stone #1)
By Cao Xueqin. 1973
The Story of the Stone (c.1760) is one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature. The first part of the…
story, The Golden Days, begins the tale of Bao-yu, a gentle young boy who prefers girls to Confucian studies, and his two cousins: Bao-chai, his parents' choice of a wife for him, and the ethereal beauty Dai-yu. Through the changing fortunes of the Jia family, this rich, magical work sets worldly events - love affairs, sibling rivalries, political intrigues, even murder - within the context of the Buddhist understanding that earthly existence is an illusion and karma determines the shape of our lives.The Story of the Stone: The Dreamer Wakes (The Story of the Stone #5)
By Cao Xueqin. 1986
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is one of the…
greatest novels of Chinese literature. The fifth part of Cao Xueqin's magnificent saga, The Dreamer Awakes, was carefully edited and completed by Gao E some decades later. It continues the story of the changing fortunes of the Jia dynasty, focussing on Bao-yu, now married to Bao-chai, after the tragic death of his beloved Dai-yu. Against such worldly elements as death, financial ruin, marriage, decadence and corruption, his karmic journey unfolds. Like a sleepwalker through life, Bao-yu is finally awakened by a vision, which reveals to him that life itself is merely a dream, 'as moonlight mirrored in the water'.The Story of the Stone: The Debt of Tears (The Story of the Stone #4)
By Cao Xueqin. 1982
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is…
the great novel of manners in Chinese literature.Divided into five volumes, of which The Debt of Tears is the fourth, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.The Story of the Stone: The Crab-Flower Club (The Story of the Stone #2)
By Cao Xueqin. 1977
"The Story of the Stone" (c. 1760), also known as "The Dream of the Red Chamber", is one of the…
greatest novels of Chinese literature. The fifth part of Cao Xueqin's magnificent saga, "The Dreamer Awakes", was carefully edited and completed by Gao E some decades later. It continues the story of the changing fortunes of the Jia dynasty, focussing on Bao-yu, now married to Bao-chai, after the tragic death of his beloved Dai-yu. Against such worldly elements as death, financial ruin, marriage, decadence and corruption, his karmic journey unfolds. Like a sleepwalker through life, Bao-yu is finally awakened by a vision, which reveals to him that life itself is merely a dream, 'as moonlight mirrored in the water'.Story of the Eye (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Georges Bataille. 2001
Bataille’s first novel, published under the pseudonym ‘Lord Auch’, is still his most notorious work. In this explicit pornographic fantasy,…
the young male narrator and his lovers Simone and Marcelle embark on a sexual quest involving sadism, torture, orgies, madness and defilement, culminating in a final act of transgression. Shocking and sacreligious, Story of the Eye is the fullest expression of Bataille’s obsession with the closeness of sex, violence and death. Yet it is also hallucinogenic in its power, and is one of the erotic classics of the twentieth century.The Story of the Amulet
By Edith Nesbit. 1996
At the end of Five Children and It the five children promised not to ask the Psammead for another wish…
as long as they lived, but expressed a half wish to see it again some time. They find 'it' again in a pet shop in Camden Town, and their magic adventures start over again.'It' leads them to a magic amulet - half of it actually - which they use it to try and find the other half. It takes them back to ancient Egypt and Babylon. The Queen of Babylon visits them in London, bringing all her ancient customs with her - which is awkward. They visit the lost continent of Atlantis. They see Julius Caesar in the flesh. But none of these adventures run smoothly, and if they forget the 'word of power' or lose the amulet, what in the world will happen to them?