Literature & Fiction

It is opening night at the London Palladium, and tensions are running high amongst the feuding cast of "Leopard Spots". When an on-stage accident forces an unexpected intermission, it is clear to dresser Jayne that the drama has turned deadly. Will she step out of the wings and discover who was behind the final curtain call? Or will murder make an encore?

Disgraced former detective Mike Humber gets off a train in the bleak autumn countryside, his mind haunted by a dark past. A new job awaits. Huntington House needs a live-in security guard to prevent access during an inheritance dispute. This is exactly what Mike needs: a new start in a new place and a chance to turn things around. It all seems perfect, especially when he meets Tessa. But Huntington House holds dark secrets. Bumps in the night. Flickering lights. Music playing from somewhere.

The last thing Alice expects to see at her husband’s graveside on his birthday is a giant, talking frog. On closer inspection, it’s a grown man dressed as Kermit. Turns out Alice’s husband is buried next to Ben’s older brother Harry, who—as a parting practical joke in his will—insisted that Ben visit his grave each year, on this specific day, dressed in an as-yet-undisclosed pageant of embarrassing fancy dress.

Expensive, expansive, fun-filled and frantic, cult classic The Million Pound Radio Show ran for 11 years between 1985 and 1992, and won the 1991 British Comedy Award for Best Radio Comedy. Included here are all five series and six Specials, featuring a feast of quick-fire gags, stinging satire, comic chat and snappy sketches.

At 104 years of age, Mrs Elsie Drake of Granville Gardens, London, is the sixth oldest woman in Britain. But fed up with sitting in her armchair all day, Elsie is ready for new adventures. And so, armed with a computer she can barely operate, she fires off dozens of letters to everyone from the Prime Minister to Greggs Bakeries, to see if they can help. Whether offering her services as the new Arsenal football mascot dressed as a giant hare, or simply sending Sainsbury's a load of meat, no one can escape the clutches of Elsie Drake.

E. F. Benson is probably best known for his wickedly satirical ‘Mapp and Lucia’ series. A prolific writer, his works included novels, biographies and supernatural fiction. His versatility is showcased in these dramatisations and readings, which range from the hilariously comic to the horribly chilling.

My husband is dead. I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car. My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

Christmas is all about lists. To do lists. Shopping lists. Lists to bloody Santa. And doesn’t Anna Johnson know it. Waking up on Christmas Eve after the annual Johnson party, she's hungover, exhausted and really sick and tired of Christmas already. All she wants is to tick the last things off her endless list and sit down with the world’s biggest glass of wine. ​A mysterious death in her home really is the last thing she has time for right now, but with police officers and a husband and two kids intent on watching Christmas films, it looks like it’s up to her.

A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered. . . in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death? The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen - top salesperson and the victim's potential successor at Steam Devil. And as if hitting middle age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren't enough, Anni realises that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all - before it's too late. .

Remi Finch has spent the better part of her adult life avoiding family—especially her sisters. They just don’t click. Besides, her unconventional upbringing and major anxiety have convinced Remi that she can’t build a relationship with anyone. Period. When her parents plan a family reunion camping trip to celebrate their anniversary, Remi’s willing to reconnect, if only because she doesn’t have a choice. But then a dead body turns up at their campsite, and their sisterly bonding kicks into high gear.

If you haven’t had the misfortune of dating a George, you know someone who has. He’s a young man brimming with potential but incapable of following through; sweet yet noncommittal to his long-suffering girlfriend; distant from but still reliant on his mother; charmingly funny one minute, sullenly brooding the next. Here, Kate Greathead paints one particular, unforgettable George in a series of droll and surprisingly poignant snapshots of his life over two decades.

Björn has been given an ultimatum: repair his work-life balance, or his wife Katharina will leave him - and take their daughter. He reluctantly starts a mindfulness class and to his surprise, it's a revelation. He becomes calmer, more focused, and he's starting to understand what's really important in life. So when his client and brutal crime boss Dragan Sergowicz tries to interfere with his precious family time, Björn remembers his new-found goal to find serenity - and kills him.

Newly graduated from university, Alex Fisher returns home depressed and suffering from existential angst. But when his father encourages him to make himself useful by killing the snails in the garden Alex has an epiphany. Instead of murdering them, he will save them – and soon, he has a whole escargatoire of snails, all named after celebrities, crawling over the carpet, climbing the walls and hanging off the lampshades.

For Jodi Wexler, a Florida doctor with a flourishing practice, only one thing’s missing: the chance to spend more time getting to know her eight-year-old granddaughter, Macallan. When Jodi’s restauranteur daughter asks her to watch Macallan in the Berkshires while she takes care of some business out of town, Jodi can’t say yes fast enough. Neither Jodi’s podiatric patients nor her just-fired, suddenly retired husband can keep her away. But when Jodi arrives, she discovers she’s not the only grandma at Lisa’s house.

For those who prefer their romance novel served with a helping of satirical, subversive, and absurd transgressions, welcome to the Seattle City Attorney's Office. In the skyscrapers high above Seattle, lawyers toil day and night. Working-class roots keep Maria humble. A one-ton chip on his shoulder keeps Ben discontent. Unattainable Blue-blooded expectations keep Erin unfulfilled. Pull on your own professional camouflage and get ready, because sparks fly in the courtroom, but the real drama happens outside of it.

Humorist Russell Johnson goes astray with stories about Duckton Abbey (Downton Abbey In A Duck Pond), the futility of Putting The Cat Back In The Bag, why he would like to be an octopus, his after-bucket list (Where to Go After You Die), his cure for SOHDD (Ask Your Doctor About Sense Of Humor Deficit Disorder), and other meanderings.

After too many glasses of champers, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of her friends, family and colleagues. She accuses her husband of having an affair and lambasts her mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other. As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl reveals that she has terminal cancer, and has cashed in her life savings to take her two estranged sisters cruising into the sunset for a dose of HRT – Husband Replacement Therapy. But is Ruby being courageous or ruthlessly selfish?

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Mick's adult life is not turning out the way he'd hoped. His twenties are over, and instead of being the acclaimed novelist and family man he thought he'd be, Mick is stuck running a second-rate California motel and fumbling through an endless succession of hilarious dating misadventures. Most of his friends are married with children, and he feels they look down upon single people like him as being merely a fraction of a whole being.

Saadat Hasan Manto was born in 1912. As a playwright and author, he wrote in what was then British India until the 1947 partition placed him on the Pakistan side of the new border. He wrote mainly in Urdu and was a prolific short story writer. His writing attracted controversy, and he was arrested and charged with obscenity 6 times but was never convicted.

Sticks and stones are no match for flowers and cameras as Poison Ivy delivers flower bouquets with a vengeance. Zesty entrepreneur Em seeks the ultimate revenge by creating a business that exposes cheating partners in the most scandalous proposition since the Ashley Madison hack. The dramatic public displays create brilliant PR fodder and become a social media juggernaut. A razor-sharp focus is cast on those caught in the act, and no red carpet is safe.

The Woke Apostles of the Fourth Reich: A Comedy of Global Madness is a satirical masterpiece that takes a bold, unapologetic look at the bizarre world we live in today. In this razor-sharp critique of modern politics, social justice movements, and global elitism, the author blends biting humor with intellectual depth, exposing the absurdities of cancel culture, virtue signaling, language policing, and the overreach of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Two buffoons, Ed and Harry, are trapped in their tower block apartments following an apocalypse neither of them remembers, knowing only that daylight is deadly and that they must at all times wear totally immersion, body seal suits, and masks, Ed, doesn’t care why there is always food in the fridge. He is quite happy to remain in his apartment and immerse himself in history books. On the other hand, Harry is bored stupid and is determined to trick Ed into leaving their building and trekking across the rubble in search of answers.

Truth be told, in his ongoing battle with the Threetrees Cleaning Company, Mr. Gitting, couldn’t be doing more badly if he tried. Except it turns out that he could… The terrible fact is, Mrs. Threetrees and her little yellow van are having an effect across the neighbourhood that is nothing short of catastrophic - and only getting worse! Last man standing in a world he barely recognises any more, it can only be a matter of time before they get him too.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language. He began his first foray as a fabulist, publishing ‘Fantastic Fables’ in 1899. But tragedy struck two years later when his second son Leigh died of pneumonia relating to his alcoholism. He continued to write short stories and poetry and also published ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’.