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Murder on the Angkor Express
The Kingdom of Cambodia is struggling into the twenty-first century, following the Pol Pot “killing fields” which erased a third of the population in the late 1970s. The encroaching dragons of mighty China and vibrant Vietnam vie with the tiger of Thailand to squeeze the precious life from the Mekong River Basin.
Politics is still dominated by the enduring shadow of the Khmer Rouge whose tentacles pervade a corrupt oligarchy, which is fighting to keep out the popular opposition leader, Sam Rainsy.
With a backdrop of potential civil war, our hero Chief Inspector Suon has to solve the case of Leap Son. A body found at the end of the murderous six-hour bus journey from Battambang to Siem Reap. With a coachload of tourists, all with a tale to tell or a secret to keep. Will Chief Inspector Suon be able to solve a crime committed in full view of all yet seen by no-one? More importantly, will he be allowed to?
£7.99 -
The el Toro Problem and Other Stories
Larry Carmody, private investigator, lives in a nighttime world of 1930s crime noir, a world of bottomless cynicism, triple standards, and scathingly black humor. There is no doing good in the world of Larry Carmody. There is only the cynicism and black humor needed to stay alive in the midst of convoluted plots and the nighttime world of crime. For some, that is. The accomplished and lucky ones. The rest perish.
In the world of Larry Carmody, you have to get the low-down. And you have to find a way out. Otherwise someone will show you the foolproof way out, by means of force-feeding you lead with an equalizer.
Larry Carmody himself says: “A case can sometimes be opened and shut in no time. It doesn’t often go down that way, but when it does, you can most often exchange the word ‘shut’ for the word ‘shot’. And I am not speaking of a shot of whisky in an instance such as this. I am using the word ‘shot’ in the sense of the main player in the case having been shot to death. Usually my client.”£8.99 -
Rust Never Sleeps
Deeply disenchanted with their lot as steel sculptors, Pam and Roy are driven by forces both unseen and of their own making to embark upon a long and tough battle to change the status quo. What they cannot know is that in achieving their perceived goal, they will also achieve an entirely unexpected and extraordinary outcome.Following a series of traumatic exhibition experiences, Roy becomes embittered and Pam is haunted by an indefinable presence as their situation reaches intolerable levels, driving them to take a radical and life-changing decision. They must create a way to go it alone.This brings them back to facing a more familiar battleground, the protection of steel sculpture against the invasion of rust. Fully aware of the treatments which could be employed to provide greater protection against the elements, the financial cost is way beyond their capability. So they must accept the life-long commitment to endless, regular renovation of their sculptures. But then an event occurs, simultaneously providing an astonishing solution alongside a whole new set of problems. They enter completely unknown territory.
£14.99 -
The Rat Cage
It’s London in the summer of 1984, a time of big hair, bold clothes and an ever-present sense of foreboding, just scratching beneath the surface. Here there is high unemployment and a housing shortage compounded by the counties’ jobless, striking miners and tourists all converging on the capital. When Elizabeth arrives in London she finds herself living in a once grand hotel, now cheap hostel, sharing a room with five strangers. Forced into each other’s personal space the normal boundaries become non-existent as they find work, fall in love and forge friendships that are more akin to family. As their interactions with the outside world infringe on their already pressured living conditions, it seems there is just no room for privacy. But, with so much on show, it’s surprising how little they know about each other.
£9.99 -
A Different Kind of Silence
Death will not part them, nor will it silence them. It is 1880 and women are meant to be seen and not heard. When a damaged daughter is born of a vicious marital assault, Pauline Kite and her child are condemned to a life of sequestration and silence in rural Oxfordshire until Elinor Budden, a young nurse herself in need of healing, urges resilience and an audacious plan to bring about justice. When an unforeseen catastrophe strikes and they are caught up in one of the worst rail disasters in Victorian history, the rare opportunity for reinvention promises a life lived on its own terms; with autonomy emerges a voice that will not be silenced, and the undreamed-of prospect of recognition for all women condemned to obscurity.
£8.99