"No other study of the American novel has such fascinating and on the whole right things to say." Washington Post

The book that inspired the brand new Swedish TV series Modus. Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo investigate a chilling murder case in Oslo.

Henk van der Pol is a 30 year term policeman, a few months off retirement. When he finds a woman's body in Amsterdam Harbour, his detective instincts take over, even though it's not his jurisdiction. Warned off investigating the case, Henk soon realises he can trust nobody, as his search for the killer leads to the involvement of senior...

Renowned opera singer Antonio Mollini begins construction on what he hopes will be the most beautiful garden in Italy, unaware that its development will have tragic consequence for both him, and his series of lovers.

Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain, seeking work. Behind him loom the figures of his dead wife, his beloved young daughter and his outrageous friend Rudi. London holds out the alluring possibility of friendship, sex, money and a new career and, if Lev is lucky, a new sense of belonging...

Robert Merivel is a dissolute young medical student when an accident of fate leads him to the attention of King Charles II. Finding favour with the King, Merivel embarks on the time of his life, enthusiastically enjoying the luxury, women and wine of the vibrant royal court, until he is called upon to serve his monarch in an unusual role.

200 years after being plucked from obscurity to marry the Crown Prince of Korea, the Red Queen's ghost decides to set the record straight about her extraordinary existence - and Dr Babs Halliwell, with her own complicated past, is the perfect envoy. Why does the Red Queen pick Babs to keep her story alive, and what else does she want from her?

A collection of tales that range from one man's honeymooning epiphany in "Hassan's Tower" to the journeying fantasies of "A Voyage to Cythera", and the joy of "The Merry Widow" which explore cruel and loving relationships, social change and personal obsessions.

London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk job and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century.

For Maria, nothing is certain. Her life is a chain of accidents. Friendship passes her by, and she's unimpressed by the devoted Ronny and his endless proposals of marriage. Maria lives in a world of her own - yet not of her own making. Stumbling through university, work, marriage and motherhood, she finds it hard to see what all the fuss is about.

On Millennium night, with Blair presiding over a sexed-up new version of the country, Benjamin Trotter finds himself watching the celebrations on his parents' TV. Watching, in fact, his younger brother, Paul, now a New Labour MP who has bought wholeheartedly into the Blairite dream. Neither of them can know that their lives are about to implode.

Sarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events; Robert has had his life changed for ever by the misunderstandings arising from her condition; and Terry, the insomniac, spends his wakeful nights fuelling his obsession with movies.

Rosamund lies dying in her remote Shropshire home. But before she does so, she has one last task: to put on tape not just her own story but the story of the young blind girl, her cousin's granddaughter, who turned up mysteriously at her party all those years ago.

A zestful comedy of personal and social upheaval, this book captures a fateful moment in British politics - the collapse of 'Old Labour' - and imagines its impact on the topsy-turvy world of the bemused teenager: a world in which a lost pair of swimming trunks can be just as devastating as an IRA bomb.

Robin, a postgrad student in Coventry, has spent four and a half years not writing his thesis. Now it languishes in a drawer, and Robin hides in his room, increasingly frightened by a world he doesn't understand. His friends have failed him and romance eludes him.

Santiago Nasar is brutally murdered in a small town by two brothers. All the townspeople knew it was going to happen - including the victim. But nobody did anything to prevent the killing. Twenty seven years later, a man arrives in town to try and piece together the truth from the contradictory testimonies of the townsfolk.

Fridays are different. Every other day of the week, the Colonel and his ailing wife fight a constant battle against poverty and monotony, scraping together the dregs of their savings for the food and medicine that keeps them alive. But on Fridays the postman comes - and that sets a fleeting wave of hope rushing through the Colonel's ageing heart.

Introducing you to a host of extraordinary characters and communities, this book includes a collection of short stories written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Crimson Snow brings together a dozen vintage crime stories set in winter

Set in a disturbing dreamlike version of Regency London, this story features a young italian clockmaker who contrives a magical means, not only of repairing time, but also of unlocking the mechanism of sexual happiness.

A gripping, white-knuckle novel set in the Antarctic and the muddy fields of the Western Front, told through the eyes of real-life adventurer and pioneer Australian photographer Frank Hurley.

Acclaimed crime writer Cathi Unsworth brings wartime London to life, as magic and murder swirl together to create a spine-chilling mystery.