Addictive Books

Cain started a new genre: American noir fiction. It may be full of despair, sweltering greed, dark violence and raw sex, but the no-nonsense description of humanity heading towards destruction is impossible to resist. In his laconic style Cain tells the story of Frank, a tramp, who his attracted to Cora, the young wife of brutally violent Nick. When Frank and Cora start an affair behind her older man's back, the story is heading for disaster. More ...

Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactress, the elderly Emily Ingle­thorp. When Emily is poisoned, Poirot puts his sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s husband, her stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village. More ...

When Stella and her younger brother, Tom, move to their new London home, they become mystified by the disappearances of Harry, their elderly neighbour’s small dog. A page-turning time travel adventure for children aged 8-11. More ...

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family.Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. More ...

Miss Marple is staying at a spa hotel in a small village for treatment, when a murder is announced in the local newspaper. It shall take place on Friday, 29 October, at Little Paddocks, at 6.30 pm. Miss Marple works with Inspector Craddock of the county police to solve the crime. Deft and ingenious plot fabrication! More ...

The tales of Uncle Abner take place in what is now West Virginia, in the 1840's or 1850's. The mysteries of the crime solving, justice dispensing West Virginian backwoodsman Uncle Abner - written between 1911 and 1928 - have been called some of "the finest mysteries ever written". More ...

It is in a harsh and eerie landscape - the crater formed by the meteor they called "The Stranger" - that a stranger is found dead. In an area where the presence of every outsider is immediately announced by the bush telegraph, how had this man passed unreported? This Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) mystery that gives a glimpse into the lost world of aboriginal culture. More ...

Marlowe is hired by an influential lawyer he's never heard of to tail a gorgeous redhead, but then decides he'd rather help out the redhead. She's been acquitted of her alcoholic husband's murder, but her father-in-law prefers not to take the court's word for it. More ...

Our hero wakes up one day to find that some upstanding citizens have been scrambled. The king, his horses and his men are now after our hero for a crime he didn’t commit and proving his innocence is going to be nearly impossible - particularly if you are a chicken. A darkly comic novel noir. More ...

When Kline is kidnapped by a dark sect that believes amputation brings you closer to God, he's tasked with uncovering who murdered their leader. Will he uncover the truth in time to save himself, take on the mantle of prophet, or destroy all he sees with a rain of biblical violence? But the puzzles grow more craggy and complex.

After a routine security check by George Smiley, civil servant Samuel Fennan apparently kills himself. When Smiley finds 'Circus' head Maston is trying to blame him for the man's death, he begins his own investigation, meeting with Fennan's widow to find out what could have led him to such desperation. But on the very day that Smiley is ordered off the enquiry he receives an urgent letter from the dead man. More ...