The first of these Tales of Mystery and Horror begins with the most puzzling of murders... Dupin's brilliant powers of analysis always reached ingenious conclusions. So, when he read about THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, Dupin was keen to search the crime scene. Newspapers portrayed the locked apartment as impossible to escape from, making the case so mysterious. Inside, there was a blood-smeared razor, locks of grey human hair, an opened safe and bags of money. Then a grisly discovery was made, distracting the police but leaving Dupin to investigate the small details that had gone unnoticed...
Lord Henry Wotton observes the artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of a handsome young man named Dorian Gray. When he asks to meet Dorian, Basil is at first hesitant, but agrees. Dorian, who had been completely unaware of his own beauty, becomes enthralled by Lord Wotton's world view and begins to think that beauty is the only worthwhile aspect of life - the only thing left to pursue. However, Dorian realises that his beauty will fade and expresses, out loud, a desire to sell his soul to ensure that the portrait Basil is painting will age - whilst his own appearance remains unchanged...
Young Jimmie Curry's father is killed unjustly by an enraged mob, and the boy barely escapes the same fate. He shoots two pursuers and assumes they are dead, and in desperation becomes a most unusual outlaw, the Red Devil. He never kills, takes only ill-gained money, secretly returns it to the rightful owners and escapes every pursuit on his remarkable horse Meg. Spoiled Charlie Mark has left home to seek thrills and easy money. He vows to find the Red Devil and discover why he is so merciful and so particular about his victims. Charlie trails Meg's hoofprints to the hideout and forces Jimmie to switch roles - but the new Red Devil becomes addicted to the excitement of robbing and killing. When will retribution catch up with Charlie? Can anyone save him? And where is Jimmie Curry?
Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the Abbey boasts the services of Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognises Richildis, whom he loved before he took his vows. And Master Bonel has been fatally poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's herbarium. The Sheriff is convinced that the murderer is Richildis' son Edwin, but Cadfael is certain of her son's innocence. Using his knowledge of both herbs and the human heart, Cadfael deciphers a deadly recipe for murder...
July, 1977. Lance's eccentric father, the retired Dr Benjamin Elliott, has been running a Horticultural Club at local Bensham Manor School, a good deed he decided to take on to impress Ada Clarke, the head dinner lady at the school. One summer's evening, Lance and his girlfriend Max turn up for the school's parents evening to show their support of the elder Dr Elliott's efforts. Much to the consternation and irritation of Detective Inspector Masson, Lance then finds himself in the middle of a local killing spree - once again - where it seems teachers from Bensham School are being targeted.
Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it certainly turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in a confrontation between Willoughby and his ex-lover, followed by a heated argument with the gallery owner and a rival artist. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. While the police seem happy to accept an official verdict of suicide, Fethering residents Carole and Jude remain unconvinced. Deciding to investigate further, Carole and Jude soon discover that the answers lead only to more questions - and that at least one Fethering resident has a dark secret to hide.
There are few figures in British history more famous and more influential than Vice-Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson, KB. This book offers a comprehensive overview of all aspects of the Nelson story. It is complemented by a gazetteer and chronology, together with over 100 illustrations and eight pages of colour plates.
Harriet Dale is an insurance claims investigator and a talented, but out of work, actress. While untangling a stolen artwork claim, she discovers The Frightened Lady, the portrait of a 200 year-old unsolved murder. The portrait also carries a curse. Anyone who moves it, dies. Axe Winston, a lethally attractive man, spells danger. And for a moment, Harriet forgets the good advice given her by DI Brice MacDonald, with dire consequences.
Apothecary John Rawlings has travelled to Devon to be by the side of his mistress, Elizabeth di Lorenzi, who is due to give birth to their child. Leaving his shop, and his new carbonated water business in good hands, John is presented with a surprise on his arrival at Sidmouth House. While Elizabeth is recuperating, he learns that Lady Sidmouth's daughter, Miranda, is to marry the elderly Earl of St Austell, who is fifty-four years her senior and has a cruel reputation. As the wedding day approaches, John feels increasingly uneasy, and before too long his worst forebodings are realised...
The pretty gift-wrapped box floating in a toy dinghy looks innocent enough, but it holds a bloody secret: a human heart. Nothing is more important to Detective Sam Becket than being able to keep his family safe. But when that gruesome package is found outside their home, they fear it can mean only one thing: that Cal the Hater is back. When a second grisly discovery is made in a crowded resort pool, the great manhunt is back on. Yet those troubles are nothing compared to the unthinkable nightmare that Grace is about to plunge into. Suddenly, Sam's greatest hell is watching his wife on the edge of the abyss and knowing there's nothing he can do to help her.
Thirteen Torland Place was the scene of five terrible murders back in the 19th century, and was also linked to the more recent disappearance of two teenage girls. When a student living in the house is found murdered, DI Joe Plantagenet wonders whether her death has anything to do with the house's grim history. Then other, similar deaths come to light and he fears a ruthless killer is at work in the ancient Yorkshire city of Eborby, a killer who deprives each victim of one of their five senses. Could the deaths be connected to Obediah Shrowton, an executed murderer whose presence still seems to linger in the house? Or is there a yet more sinsiter and dangerous explanation?
Jess and Nancy, girls from very different backgrounds, are nursing in France during the Great War. They have much in common for both have lost their lovers in the trenches and when the war is over, they return to a bleak future, nursing in Liverpool. Very soon, however, their paths diverge. Nancy marries an Australian stockman and goes to live in the Outback, whilst Jess marries a Liverpudlian. Both have children; Nancy's eldest is Pete, and Jess has a daughter, Debbie, yet their lives couldn't be more different. When the Second World War is declared, Pete joins the RAF and comes to England, promising his mother that he will visit her old friend. In the thick of the May blitz, with half of Liverpool demolished and thousands dead, Pete arrives in the city to find Jess's home destroyed and her daughter missing. Pete decides that, whatever the cost, he must find her...
India, in the late nineteenth century. In Lahore, Kim is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and nursemaid, who have both died in poverty. Kim begs in the streets, occasionally working for a horse trader, who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. Few people realise that Kim is white, and that he carries on him documents from his father. Kim befriends an aged Tibetan Lama and becomes his disciple...and so begins his journey. An adventure both spiritual and educational, which leads also to espionage.
Sheriff Jim Conner captured a gangling horsethief who turned out to be the nephew of the man he'd stolen the horses from, and if this didn't cause Jim Conner enough discomfort, when the lad was sentenced to be hanged, Sheriff Conner felt worse. He found the rich rancher from whom the lad had stolen the horses was a notorious gambler and forger from Wyoming who had acquired all his wealth by cheating his nephew - the young horsethief. From then on, Sheriff Jim Conner did everything he could to prevent the hanging from taking place.
1901 Eighty-five-year-old Miss Sarah Brook decides that her diary-keeping days are over. 1832. Sarah is sixteen when her mother tragically dies, an event that has huge repercussions for her and her family. Arabella, her sister assumes the domestic role of mother, destroying the relationship with John Sharp, captain of her father's whale ship the Sea King. Little knowing that her younger sister Harriet, is planning to ensnare John. None of them anticipate the stranding of the Sea King in the frozen wastes of the north and the consequences that may still be felt sixty years later - if Sarah allows her diaries to be read...
Items have been successfully added to your basket.
Please select your country of residence where you will find titles, offers and news relevant to your country only.