A groundbreaking examination of a terrifying murder & its aftermath by the bestselling author of Hanns & Rudolf & The House by the Lake. In June 2006, police were called to number 9 Downshire Hill in Hampstead to investigate reports of unusual card activity. The owner of the house, Allan Chappelow, was an award-winning photographer & biographer, an expert on George Bernard Shaw, & a notorious recluse, who had not been seen for several weeks. Someone had recently accessed his bank accounts, & attempted to withdraw large amounts of money. Inside the darkened house officers found piles of rubbish, trees growing through the floor, &, in what was once the living room, the body of Chappelow, battered to death, partially burned & buried under four feet of paper. The man eventually convicted of his murder was a Chinese dissident named Wang Yam: a man who claimed to be the grandson of one of Mao`s closest aides, & a key negotiator in the Tiananmen Square protests. His trial was the first in modern British history to be held `in camera`: closed, carefully controlled, secret. Wang Yam has always protested his innocence. Thomas Harding has spent the past two years investigating the case, interviewing key witnesses, the investigating officers, forensic experts, & the journalists who broke the story, & has unearthed shocking & revelatory new material on the killing, the victim & the supposed perpetrator. It is a story that has been described in the press & by the leading detective as `the greatest whodunnit` of recent years: an extraordinary tale of isolation, deception, espionage & brutal violence, stretching from the quiet streets of north London to the Palace of Westminster & beyond. It is an explosive new work of non-fiction from an author working at the height of his powers. ...

` Never had I been given a tougher problem to solve, & never had I been so utterly at my wits` end for a solution.`A signalman is found dead by a railway tunnel. A man identifies his wife as a victim of murder on the underground. Two passengers mysteriously disappear between stations, leaving behind a dead body. Trains have been a favourite setting of many crime writers, providing the mobile equivalent of the `locked-room` scenario. Their enclosed carriages with a limited number of suspects lend themselves to seemingly impossible crimes. In an era of cancellations & delays, alibis reliant upon a timely train service no longer ring true, yet the railway detective has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the twenty-first century. Both train buffs & crime fans will delight in this selection of fifteen railway-themed mysteries, featuring some of the most popular authors of their day alongside less familiar names. This is a collection to beguile even the most wearisome commuter. ...

For the first time in history, the navies of the world have united against a common enemy
- a couple of thousand rag-tag, underfed
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For the first time in history, the navies of the world have united against a common enemy
- a couple of thousand rag-tag, underfed
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Winner of the Costa Children`s Book Award 2011. ”I ain`t afeared of nuthin.” Saba`s twin is golden. She is his living shadow. He is strong & beautiful. She is scrawny & dark. Nothing will separate them... Raised in isolated Silverlake, Saba is ignorant of the harsh & violent world beyond her home. But when her twin is snatched by black-robed riders, red rage fills her soul. How will Saba find him in a wild, scorching & lawless land? Racing across the cruel dustlands to find him, she can spare no one. Not even the boy who saves her life. She must silence her heart to survive. Blood will spill. Every step of Saba`s journey sizzles with danger in this futuristic thriller, which beats with a powerful, red-blooded heart. ”A shot of pure adrenalin. Exuberant, exciting & charged with emotion... If a better book for teenagers is published this year, I`ll be surprised.” The Times ” Has an elemental power, unfolding across achingly barren landscapes, full of blistering hotwinds & swirling clouds of orange dust.” New York Times ...

Blood River tells of author Tim Butcher`s unbelievable solo journey down the river Congo, through the heart of Africa. Ever since Henry Morton Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has epitomised the dark & turbulent history of a failed continent
- from colonial cruelty under the Belgians to the kleptocratic chaos of Mobutu Sese Seko & the current post-apocalyptic riot of robber-baron politicians. However, its troubles only served to increase the interest of Daily Telegraph correspondent, Tim Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. He remembered his mother`s stories of her own genteel river journey there in the 1950s & his connection deepened when he discovered that Stanley`s expedition was funded by the Telegraph. Before long, he became obsessed with the idea of recreating Stanley`s original expedition
- but travelling alone. Despite warnings from old Africa hands that his plan was `suicidal`, Butcher spent years poring over colonial-era maps & wooing rebel leaders before making his will & venturing to the Congo`s eastern border with just a rucksack & a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Almost 2, 500 harrowing miles later, he reached the Atlantic Ocean a thinner & a wiser man. His extraordinary account describes a country with more past than present, where giant steamboats lie rotting in the advancing forest & children hear stories from their grandfathers of days when cars once drove by. Butcher`s journey was a remarkable feat. But the story of the Congo, told expertly & vividly in this book, is more remarkable still.

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Lemmer is a professional bodyguard. Silent, invisible, he never gets involved. Emma le Roux is convinced she's seen her brother on the news as a suspect in the recent killing of four poachers. But her brother is supposed to have died twenty years ago. When le Roux hires Lemmer to watch her back while she goes looking for answers, it becomes clear someone wants to keep them in the dark. & when that someone tries to murder them both, for once in his life Lemmer steps out of the shadows. ...

LEMMER is a professional bodyguard. Silent & invisible, he never gets involved. EMMA LE ROUX believed her brother died twenty years ago, until she sees him on the news as the prime suspect in the brutal killing of four poachers. As Lemmer & Emma join forces in pursuit of the truth, it soon becomes clear that someone is willing to do whatever it takes to stop them. When that someone tries to murder them both, Lemmer is forced to step out of the shadows for the first time in his life. ...

An invaluable guide to planning a charity challenge offering practical advice on how to plan your challenge, tips on how to hit your fundraising target & safe & effective training. An inspirational guide, Stanhope brings together the knowledge & experience of hundreds of experts with many examples & case studies throughout. ...

This is a book about a man`s relationship with hawks, & his self-education as a falconer, & about his discovery that despite his Asperger`s Syndrome, which hampers his normal social interactions, he can forge a loving bond with the young son he thought he had lost. He rediscovers his full humanity through his commitment to the training of falcons & his love of the natural world. Ben Crane writes with uncanny accuracy & lyrical precision about the intricacies of birds` behaviour & their instincts. He has a ruthless eye for the minute details of natural processes
- of plumage, the patterns of flight, of killing, death & decay. He`s as clear-eyed about himself & his detachment from ordinary human society as he is about the flight of peregrines & goshawks. Here is nature writing at its very best, interwoven with an affecting human story & an account of how a man mastered the ancient craft of falconry.
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