France's favourite country policeman investigates a suicide and gets involved in a tricky local issue in the latest adventure in this ever popular and bestselling mystery series.
'FRENCH TOURISM SHOULD RAISE A GLASS TO WALKER'S DORDOGNE MYSTERIES' Daily Mail
Bruno Courr?ges is chief of police of the lovely Dordogne town of St Denis with a remit that covers the beautiful valley of the river Véz?re. One autumn morning he comes across an abandoned car parked near a local beauty spot. Inside is a dead woman, Monique, an apparent suicide resulting from depression. But there are circumstances surrounding the death that raise Bruno's suspicions, particularly when disputes arise surrounding her Will.
At the same time, Bruno makes the mistake of interfering in a local marital dispute. Deputy mayor Xavier has been playing away and finds himself evicted from the family home. Old controversies about deer culls take on new life and then a second campaign begins, stating that Bruno is less of a village copper and more of a secret policeman, whose main job is working for French intelligence. Some of the ammunition for this attack, Bruno learns, comes from Xavier, who sees this as a way to topple Bruno and the mayor and succeed to the mayor's job himself.
Suddenly Bruno's shiny reputation is looking a little tarnished as he battles to save his name and answer the questions surrounding Monique's suicide.
A joyous fantasy for grownups' Guardian
'A funny, offbeat adult fantasy novel' Independent
'A dazzling first adult novel from bestselling children's author Colfer' Daily Mail
Highfire is a genre-bending tour-de-force of comedy and action by the million-copy-selling master storyteller.
Squib Moreau may be swamp-wild, but his intentions are (generally) good: he really wants to be a supportive son to his hard-working momma Elodie. But sometimes life gets in the way - like when Fake Daddy walked out on them leaving a ton of debt, or when crooked Constable Regence Hooke got to thinking pretty Elodie Moreau was just the gal for him . . .
An apprenticeship with the local moonshine runner, servicing the bayou, looks like the only way to pay off the family debts and maybe get Squib and his momma a place in town, far from Constable Hooke's unwanted courtship and Fake Daddy's reputation.
Unfortunately for Squib, Hooke has his own eye on that very same stretch of bayou - and neither of them have taken into account the fire-breathing dragon hiding out in the Louisiana swamp . . .
For Squib Moreau, Regence Hooke and Vern, aka Lord Highfire of Highfire Eyrie, life is never going to be the same again.
'Told in crunchy prose, with lashings of earthy dialogue, it reads like an Elmore Leonard Thriller, but with dragons . . . Colfer clearly had a blast writing this, and his sheer storytelling panache brushes aside the quibbles of fantasy-genre agnostics with infectious glee' Mail on Sunday
From the internationally bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series: Eoin Colfer's first adult fantasy novel is a hilarious, high-octane adventure about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who's been hiding out from the world - and potential torch-carrying mobs - in a Louisiana bayou . . . until his peaceful world's turned upside down by a well-intentioned but wild Cajun tearaway and the crooked (and heavily armed) law officer who wants him dead.
This book is a compendium of symbols with sacred meanings, perfect for anyone looking to find a meaningful tattoo design, professional tattoo artists or anyone interested in folklore and religion.
It gathers some of the most popular and lesser known signs from around the world in a comprehensive and accessible guide. Looking at each symbol's history and origins, it unveils the cultural and spiritual significance, alongside any folklore to give each image context, and showcases different tattoo styles for those seeking inspiration or just a fresh approach to a traditional design.
The directory includes 75-100 lead symbols and themes, reflecting the way these develop and emerge across different folklore and religions. Each of these has an accessible list of meanings as well as a list of key uses and context to where the sacred origins lie.
This book is a compendium of symbols with sacred meanings, perfect for anyone looking to find a meaningful tattoo design, professional tattoo artists or anyone interested in folklore and religion.
It gathers some of the most popular and lesser known signs from around the world in a comprehensive and accessible guide. Looking at each symbol's history and origins, it unveils the cultural and spiritual significance, alongside any folklore to give each image context, and showcases different tattoo styles for those seeking inspiration or just a fresh approach to a traditional design.
The directory includes 75-100 lead symbols and themes, reflecting the way these develop and emerge across different folklore and religions. Each of these has an accessible list of meanings as well as a list of key uses and context to where the sacred origins lie.
A Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2023
'Delightfully clear and vivid to read...A splendid book! Philip Pullman
'Absolutely fascinating' James O'Brien
'An exceptional book - readable, funny and more needed than ever' Dr Chris van Tulleken, bestselling author of Ultra-Processed People
· Are you more likely to become a professional footballer if your surname is Ball?
· How can you be one hundred per cent sure you will win a bet?
· Why did so many Pompeiians stay put while Mount Vesuvius was erupting?
· How do you prevent a nuclear war?
Ever since the dawn of human civilisation, we have been trying to make predictions about what's in store for us. We do this on a personal level, so that we can get on with our lives efficiently (should I hang my laundry out to dry, or will it rain?). But we also have to predict on a much larger scale, often for the good of our broader society (how can we spot economic downturns or prevent terrorist attacks?).
For just as long, we have been getting it wrong. From religious oracles to weather forecasters, and from politicians to economists, we are subjected to poor predictions all the time. Our job is to separate the good from the bad. Unfortunately, the foibles of our own biology - the biases that ultimately make us human - can let us down when it comes to making rational inferences about the world around us. And that can have disastrous consequences.
How to Expect the Unexpected will teach you how and why predictions go wrong, help you to spot phony forecasts and give you a better chance of getting your own predictions correct.
The principle of "ikigai" embedded into Japanese everyday life is suggested as being the determining factor in Japanese longevity, and the TED-popular neuroscientist Ken Mogi reveals how the tenets of "ikigai" can be observed by anyone anywhere, applying mindfulness for a greater degree of health and happiness.
A guide to new ambitions in work, relationships and learning, by our most inspired thinker on society and community.
"Scintillating . . . prophetic . . . engaging" - Financial Times
"A masterpiece" - The Times
What is worth knowing?
What does it mean to be alive?
Where can one find nourishment for the mind?
What is the great adventure of our time?
What is a wasted life?
What can the poor tell the rich?
What could the rich tell the poor?
How many ways of committing suicide are there?
How can prejudices be overcome?
How else can one think about the future, apart from trying to predict it or worrying about it?
Is ridicule the most effective form of non-violent protest?
How does one acquire a sense of humour?
What stops people feeling completely at home in their own country?
How many nations can one love at the same time?
Why do so many people feel unappreciated, unloved and only half alive?
How else might women and men treat one another?
What can replace the shortage of soul-mates?
Is another kind of sexual revolution achievable?
What is more interesting than becoming a leader?
What is the point of working so hard?
Are there more amusing ways of earning a living?
What else can one do in a hotel?
Theodore Zeldin is the bestselling author of Conversation and An Intimate History of Humanity.His TED talk has now been viewed 1 million times.
Winner of the Salon London Transmission Prize
A missing art student. An international investigation. A secret that will shatter the village of St Denis.Millions of readers worldwide are talking about the Dordogne Mysteries. Find out why and join them with the latest gripping addition to this beloved series.
'Will make readers long for lazy days in rural France' Irish Independent
A rich American art student is found dead at the bottom of a well in an ancient hilltop castle. The young woman, Claudia, had been working in the archives of an eminent French art historian, a crippled Resistance war hero, at his art-filled chateau.
As Claudia's White House connections get the US Embassy and the FBI involved, Bruno traces the people and events that led to her fatal accident - or was it murder?
Bruno learns that Claudia had been trying to buy the chateau and art collection of her tutor, even while her researches led her to suspect that some of his attributions may have been forged. This takes Bruno down a trail that leads him from the ruins of Berlin in 1945, to France's colonial war in Algeria.
The long arm of French history has reached out to find a new victim, but can Bruno identify the killer - and prove his case?
In this latest mouthwatering mystery starring country policeman, Bruno, the body of a woman is found outside a cave beneath the ruined Templar chateau of Commarque in the heart of the Dordogne. She died of a broken neck. An accidental fall, or was she pushed?
The victim carries no identification and her fingerprints are not known to the French Police or Interpol.The only clue to the woman's identity is that her dentistry looks American, but Bruno's inquiries at local hotels and gites yield no trace of a missing foreign woman.
The chateau of Commarque, begun in the 11th century, was founded by a Bishop of Sarlat and entrusted to the Knights Templar. In the rocks beneath it are caves. It is one of the few Templar sites in France that has never been associated with the fabled hidden treasure of the Templars - never until now, when a local journalist publishes a sensational story around the unknown woman's death and a centuries-old mystery looks like it might finally be solved...
The instant New York Times bestseller
'An unbelievable debut' New York Times
Racism,but "managed" through virtual reality
Black Friday,except you die in a bargain-crazed throng
Happiness,but pharmacological
Love,despite everything
APublisher's Weekly MostAnticipatedBook for Fall 2018
Friday Black tackles urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explores the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In the first, unforgettable story of this collection, The Finkelstein Five,Adjei-Brenyah gives us an unstinting reckoning of the brutal prejudice of the US justice system. In Zimmer Land we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And Friday Blackand How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Ice Kingshow the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Fresh, exciting, vital and contemporary, Friday Black will appeal to people who love Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad, the TV show Black Mirror,the work of Kurt Vonnegut and George Saunders, and anyone looking for stories that speak to the world we live in now.
'An excitement and a wonder'George Saunders
'The writing in this outstanding collection will make you hurt and demand your hope'Roxane Gay
'The fiction debut of the year. Bravo young man. We await your encore'Mary Karr
Friday Black has the thrilling strangeness of George Saunders but driven by a deep and justified anger about the racism and violence that constitute the bedrock of American society. It's a rollercoaster ride