Don't just see the sights―get to know the people.Who can afford not to understand the USA? Underneath the gleaming smile of American popular culture lies a rich and complex society that brims with contrasts and contradictions. It is a culture of rugged individualism, of go-getters, of high-tech high achievers. At the same time it is a deeply religious country with a quiet devotion to church and charitable works.This new edition of Culture Smart...

"Filled with clever repartee, memorable characters, and an ending as satisfying as it is unexpected."— BooklistWhat holy terror spiked the sacraments with strychnine?When a teenage girl disappears from a north London suburb a few days before Christmas, Detective Sergeant Effie Strongitharm puts would-be cult leader and reputed exorcist Nigel Tapster on her list of people to be questioned.But when Effie witnesses Tapster's a...

If a blackmail letter drives a man to suicide, is the sender guilty of murder?"Yes," says Oliver Swithin, author of bestselling Finsbury the Ferret children's stories and amateur sleuth, who is on holiday in an ancient village.A midnight streak with his naked girlfriend—Scotland Yard's Effie Strongitham—abruptly ends in the discovery of a corpse. Retired radiobroadcaster Dennis Breedlove has hanged himself from the old gibbet. Evidence suggests blackmail ma...

Don't just see the sights―get to know the people.Who can afford not to understand the USA? Underneath the gleaming smile of American popular culture lies a rich and complex society that brims with contrasts and contradictions. It is a culture of rugged individualism, of go–getters, of high–tech high achievers. At the same time it is a deeply religious country with a quiet devotion to church and charitable works.This new edition of USA – Culture...

Making a speech is the thing best men, grooms and fathers worry about the most when planning a wedding. Most people dont have to make speeches in public, so this is new territory and its seriously important to get it right. The balance has to be struck between being funny, while being aware that some people may not respond well to ideas that others would laugh about. This book will guide you through all the dos and don't of making a speech at a wedding. And it is full of great tips, useful q...

Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog find excitement and adventure wherever they go in Enid Blyton's most popular series.After the Five see a boy being kidnapped at the beach, they set out to find him. But where have the kidnappers hidden the boy?Will Timmy lead them to the answer?In addition to the Famous Five novels, Enid Blyton wrote a clutch of short stories based on the characters. These were published in magazines and collected in the ...

A short story by Lionel Shriver from the collection Reader, I Married Him: Stories inspired by Jane Eyre.In ‘The Self-Seeding Sycamore’, a widow wages war upon her neighbour’s garden, and makes a surprising discovery.Edited by Tracy Chevalier, the full collection, Reader I Married Him, brings together some of the finest and most creative voices in fiction today, to celebrate and salute the strength and lasting relevance of Charlotte Brontë’s game-changing novel and its belo...

A collection of short stories and poems with a twist

Superb storytelling from one of the world's best-loved writers.Just round the corner from St Jarlath's Crescent (featured in MINDING FRANKIE) is Chestnut Street. Here, the lives of the residents are revealed in Maeve Binchy's wonderfully compelling tales:Bucket Maguire, the window cleaner, who must do more than he bargained for to protect his son. Nessa Byrne, whose aunt comes to visit from America for six weeks every summer and turns the house - and Nessa'...

A sparklingly brilliant short story from the wonderfully warm and wise Fern BrittonFern Britton weaves a warm and witty short story set in Cornwall, full of mischief and fun!Best friends Penny Leighton and Helen Merrifield have swapped their hectic London lives for the leisurely pace of life in the pretty Cornish village of Pendruggan.Penny is in constant demand and juggling her life as a vicar’s wife alongside her day job as a hotshot TV producer is...

Nelly's monster sitting adventures are always full of surprises. Things just seem to get stickier and stickier when she monster sits for the Ultravores but it doesn't compare to how lost for words she is at the Rimes. And with even more fighting with Asti to add to the mix, her time with the Wattwatts is shocking to say the least!Nelly finds herself a little lost for words at the Rimes, and she'll need to find them fast if she's to save baby Shimma.

A seductive Beauty and the Beast retelling from New York Times bestselling author, Elizabeth Hoyt."Prepare to be seduced! Hoyt's writing is almost too good to be true." —Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author of the Wallflowers seriesReclusive Sir Alistair Munroe has hidden in his castle ever since return...