'Akunin is an outstanding novelist... Fandorin is a beautifully drawn character who more than lives up to comparisons with Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes... The characters are delightful and you can imagine them in a Woody Allen version of an Agatha Christie novel... Akunin's work is gloriously tongue-in-cheek but seriously edge-of-your-seat at the same time' Daily Express On 15th March 1878 Lord Littleby, an English eccentric and collector, is found murdered in his Paris house together with nine members of his staff. A gold whale in the victim's hand leads Erast Fandorin to board the Leviathan, the world's largest steamship, as the murderer is one of the 142 first class passengers. Commissioner Gauche of the French police has narrowed down the suspects to ten, and they are forced to eat together at every meal time in the ship's Windsor Suite until 'the Crime of the Century' is solved. But is the murderer really at the table, and can Erast Fandorin discover his or her identity before Gauche? As more passengers are murdered and the Leviathan heads towards Calcutta, Fandorin needs all his investigative skills to find the truth.

This is the first book featuring Erast Fandorin, a gentleman sleuth who solves murders and mysteries in Tsarist Russia. Moscow 1876. A young law student commits suicide in broad daylight in Moscow's Alexander Gardens. But this is no ordinary death, for the young man was the son of an influential industrialist and has left a considerable fortune. Erast Fandorin, a hotheaded new recruit to the Criminal Investigation Department, is assigned to the case. Brilliant, young, and sophisticated, Fandorin embarks on an investigation that will take him from the palatial mansions of Moscow to the seedy backstreets of London in his hunt for the conspirators behind this mysterious death.

A strange, beautiful account of a woman's intimate encounters with the people, places and politics of a rich yet crumbling culture.

“The Separation” is the story of twin brothers, rowers in the 1936 Olympics (where they met Hess, Hitler's deputy); one joins the RAF, and captains a Wellington; he is shot down after a bombing raid on Hamburg and becomes Churchill's aide-de-camp; his twin brother, a pacifist, works with the Red Cross, rescuing bombing victims in London. But this is not a straightforward story of the Second World War: this is an alternate history: the two brothers — both called J.L. Sawyer — live their lives in alternate versions of reality. In one, the Second World War ends as we imagine it did; in the other, thanks to efforts of an eminent team of negotiators headed by Hess, the war ends in 1941. “The Separation” is an emotionally riveting story of how the small man can make a difference; it's a savage critique of Winston Churchill, the man credited as the saviour of Britain and the Western World, and it's a story of how one perceives and shapes the past.

Four uproarious new stories enhanced by Miranda Richardson's inspired reading and really horrid music and sound effects, in which the Queen visits Horrid Henry's school and watches the children make wattle and daub; and Horrid Henry tries to hypnotise Moody Margaret, tricks Perfect Peter into doing his household chores, and gets his own way at bathtime.

Four hilarious unabridged stories in the book and on the tape, with really horrid music and sound effects: Horrid Henry and the Mummy's Curse Horrid Henry's Hobby Horrid Henry's Homework Horrid Henry's Swimming Lesson

From the wartorn steppes of Russia, from the slopes of Monte Cassino, the stunned, bloody remnants of Hitler's armies were gathered to fight the last battle of the German Reich — the battle of the Western Front. And as the Allies advanced upon Paris, the war erupted into its most ruthless, most savage and cruel phase. Across the scarred, corpse-strewn landscape of northern France, the men of the Panzer tank corps retreated — fighting a suicide action as they went...

Roman Londinium, Saxon Lundenwic, the medieval City of London, the great metropolis that has survived the Plague, the Fire and the Blitz — it's all here, along with the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Madam Tussaud's, the London Eye and all the famous landmarks. Richard Brassey has a gift for focussing on just the colourful details children will enjoy, and on each page the narrative breaks out into stories, anecdotes, jokes, fascinating facts and accounts of famous Londoners. With excitingly busy pages packed with lively pictures and witty captions, this is a brilliant introduction to London past and present.

For the millions of Asterix fans old and young alike the wait is over. ASTERIX RETURNS sees our favourite hero on fine form in this superb collection of short stories. ASTERIX RETURNS includes 10 short stories by Goscinny and Uderzo (many unpublished in the UK) and a further 2 brand-new short stories created by Albert Uderzo. The initial print-run in French is a cool million and Asterix and his chums once again look set to take the UK by storm.

It is a rainy late-summer's night in New Orleans. Detective Dave Robicheaux is about to confront the man who may have savagely assaulted his friend, Father Jimmie Dolan, a Catholic priest who's always at the centre of controversy. But things are never as they seem and soon Robicheaux is back in New Iberia, probing a car crash that killed three teenage girls. A grief-crazed father and a maniacal, complex assassin are just a few of the characters Robicheaux meets as he is drawn deeper into a web of sordid secrets and escalating violence. A masterful exploration of the troubled side of human nature and the dark corners of the heart, peopled by familiar characters such as P.I. Clete Purcel and Robicheaux's old flame Theodosia LeJeune, LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS is vintage Burke — moody, hard-hitting, with his trademark blend of human drama and relentless noir suspense.

Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts — for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders. BOOK 17 A multinational team of slave construction workers are to clear the forest around the Gaulish village and build a modern housing development forcing the villagers to take swift action to protect themselves against the Roman newcomers.

Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts — for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders. BOOK 5 The Romans build a barricade around the village. So Asterix and Obelix demonstrate their resistance by going on a journey around the entire country, collecting local specialities on the way.

Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts — for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders. BOOK 7 The Romans persuade a Gaulish chief to challenge Vitalstatistix to single combat. This poses no threat until Getafix is hit by a flying menhir and forgets how to make the magic potion.

Gaul was divided into three parts. No, four parts — for one small village of indomitable Gauls still held out against the Roman invaders. BOOK 16 Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus turns up in Gaul to investigate the creative accountancy of Governor Varius Flavus. When the quaestor is poisoned, he turns to Getafix the druid and the other Gauls for help.

Living a lie for 21 years — and now the past has caught up with him... A first-rate thriller from the SUNDAY TIMES No.1 bestselling author of SIX YEARS. Grace Lawson is living a happy, straightforward life in the suburbs with her husband, Jack, and two young children. But that security is about to come to a brutal end. For when Grace picks up a set of holiday snaps, amongst them is one shot that doesn't fit: a faded image of a life that Grace doesn't recognise and of her husband as she never knew him. Within 12 hours, Jack has disappeared, a brutal hitman is stalking her family and the safe world she knows has been turned upside down. And all Grace can see is that the past is coming back to haunt the present and people are getting hurt...

Toy Town—older, bigger, and certainly not wiser. The Old Rich, who have made their millions from the royalties on their world-famous nursery rhymes, are being murdered one by one. A psychopath is on the loose, and he must be stopped at any cost. It’s a job for Toy Town’s only detective—but he’s missing, leaving only Eddie Bear, and his bestest friend Jack, to track down the mad killer.

Elvis Cole has got a problem to solve — and this time it's personal.His girlfriend, Lucy, is out of town, and has left her young son, Ben, in Elvis's care. Elvis and Lucy have had a few problems lately — not least over his job as a private investigator. But at last things seem to be getting better. Until Ben disappears. One minute he's playing his computer game in Elvis's house; the next he has vanished. Elvis looks everywhere, but he just can't find Ben; and neither can Lucy, when she arrives. Then Elvis receives a phone call about Ben — and realises that something from his own past has come back to haunt him...