Anthologies
This delightful anthology has the power to entertain a child in just five minutes, making even the shortest story time special. Twenty stories by authors including Joan Aiken, Dick King-Smith, and Anne Fine make this perfect for reading aloud.
In 1929, Dorothy L. Sayers published her landmark anthology, The Omnibus of Crime . More recently, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert decided it was time to produce a definitive new anthology representing the best of the genre since then - the critically acclaimed A New Omnibus of Crime . This extraordinary collection emphasizes the most exciting styles and voices in each genre, rather than taking a typical decade-by-decade approach. As a result, A New Omnibus of Crime boasts a broad range of engaging, page-turning, and spine-tingling selections from the past eight decades. Stories in this collection include Patricia Highsmith's "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie," Sue Grafton's "A Poison That Leaves No Trace," Alexander McCall Smith's "He Loved to Go for Drives with His Father," and many more. A New Omnibus of Crime is a marvelous achievement that brings together some of the greatest crime and mystery short fiction ever collected.
An exciting collection including new stories from previous BBM favorites and first appearances from Alexander McCall Smith, John Harvey, Lee Child and Robert Goddard * Bite size chunks from Britain’s hottest crime writers * ‘An essential read for all crime fans’ Publishing News Following the huge success of the previous Best British Mysteries collections comes the latest batch of stories from the UK’s top-flight crime writers. The fourth collection features contributions from stalwarts of the genre along with exciting short fiction from up-and-coming authors.
In 2009, the Glyndebourne Festival of Opera reaches its 75th year. In commemoration of this event, Jeanette Winterson has brought together some of the best loved and most critically acclaimed authors writing today to pen stories inspired by opera. A foreword from Ralph Fiennes and an introduction by Jeanette Winterson are followed by: Alexander McCall Smith on Cosi Fan Tutte; Ali Smith on Fidelio; Andrew Motion on Peter Grimes; Andrew O'Hagan on Eugene Onegin; Ann Enright on Rusalka;; Colm Toibin on Pearl Fishers; Jackie Kay on The Makropulos Case; Joanna Trollope on L'Elisir d'Amore; John Mortimer on Cosi Fan Tutte; Julie Myerson on The Crowning of Poppaea; Kate Atkinson on La Traviata; Kate Mosse on Pelleas et Melisande; Lynne Truss on The Turn of the Screw; Marina Warner on Dido and Aeneas; Posy Simmonds double page of 'Glyndebourne Midsummer Night'; Ruth Rendell on Theodora; Sebastian Barry on Natoma; Toby Litt on Don Giovanni.
Ox-Tales is a set of four compelling and collectible books, each themed on one of the elements. 'Air' features stories by Alexander McCall Smith, Helen Simpson, DBC Pierre, AL Kennedy, Kamila Shamsie, Beryl Bainbridge, Louise Welsh, Diran Adebayo and Helen Fielding, and a poem by Vikram Seth. The idea behind Ox-Tales is to raise money for Oxfam and along the way to highlight the charity's work in project areas: agriculture in Earth, water projects in Water, conflict aid in Fire, and climate change in Air.
All the short stories in "Crimespotting" are brand new and specially commissioned. The brief was deceptively simple - each story must be set in Edinburgh and feature a crime. The results range from hard-boiled police procedural to historical whodunit and from the wildly comic to the spookily supernatural.
The must-have annual anthology for every crime fiction fan - the year's top new British short stories selected by leading crime critic Maxim Jakubowski. This great annual covers the full range of mystery fiction, from noir and hardboiled crime to ingenious puzzles and amateur sleuthing. Packed with top names like Colin Dexter, Christopher Fowler, Alexander McCall Smith, Robert Barnard, Peter James, Natasha Cooper, Sophie Hannah, and many more
• Published on the occasion of a new display at the National Portrait Gallery, London from 3 December - August 2012 • Features two new pieces by award winning author Alexander McCall Smith and Tarnya Cooper, 16th Century Curator and Deputy Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London • A major collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery, postgraduate students at the University of Bristol and the National Trust, and includes new research into the identities of the sitters In Rosy, Tracy Chevalier writes of a handsome young man with a flushed complexion as the object of homosexual desire. Minette Walters writes a poignant letter from a despairing wife. Julian Fellowes has created a biography of a resourceful woman whose husband was executed during Henry VIII's reign. Sarah Singleton relates the adventures of a spice merchant and amateur musician struggling to make his way in the world, despite his illegitimate status. Joanna Trollope tells a touching tale about the offer of a marriage proposal in the form of a letter from the sitter's intended bride. By contrast, the fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has written an amusing tale about an explorer who presented Elizabeth I with a skunk. And John Banville has seen, in the features of a man on his deathbed, the face of an admired officer serving with Cromwell's New Model Army. These short, fictional narratives build brilliantly on what can be seen in each portrait, thereby providing a new and entertaining way of looking at these intriguing images.
More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel -- a collaboration that combines the skills of America’s greatest storytellers to produce a gripping, spellbinding mystery. “The lineup of writers who have contributed to this mystery is akin to the Murderers’ Row of the 1927 New York Yankees. There is not a weak spot in the bunch.” —David Baldacci, from the Introduction Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown. Faye Kellerman. J.A. Jance. Jeffery Deaver. Kathy Reichs. Lisa Scottoline. Jeff Lindsay. These are only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind No Rest for the Dead , a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from one creator's mind to the next.” When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he's discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. With the help of the dead woman's friend, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth, suspect by suspect. Solving this case may be Nunn’s last chance for redemption … but the shadowy forces behind Christopher’s death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever. In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-five bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America’s very best authors could achieve. From the Introduction of No Rest for the Dead : There is always that case, the one that keeps me awake at night, the one that got away. It’ll always be there, gnawing at the edges of my mind. It doesn’t matter that ten years have passed, it doesn’t matter that the case is officially closed. An innocent woman was executed, I was the one who helped make it happen, and on the sad night when the needle was inserted into her arm, injecting her with death, part of my life ended too. It never felt right, never made sense. Sure, there was motive and opportunity, there was the physical evidence. But if you met her, if you knew her the way I got to know her . . . It wasn’t until later, after I’d taken a step back from the case, that I realized it had angles I hadn’t seen, layers I hadn’t uncovered, back when it mattered, back when I could have saved her…. With contributions from: David Baldacci (Introduction) Jeff Abbott Lori Armstrong Sandra Brown Thomas Cook Jeffery Deaver Diana Gabaldon Tess Gerritsen Andrew F. Gulli Peter James J.A. Jance Faye Kellerman Raymond Khoury John Lescroart Jeff Lindsay Gayle Lynds Philip Margolin Alexander McCall Smith Michael Palmer T. Jefferson Parker Matthew Pearl Kathy Reichs Marcus Sakey Jonathan Santlofer Lisa Scottoline R.L. Stine Marcia Talley
Leading crime critic Maxim Jakubowski presents this year's must-have collection of British mystery fiction.
A stellar collection from Newbery medalists and bestselling authors written to benefit Darfuri refugees With contributions from some of the best talent writing for children today, What You Wish For is a compelling collection of affecting, inspiring, creepy, and oft-times funny short stories and poems all linked by the universal power of a wish - the abstract things we all wish for - home, family, safety and love. From the exchange of letters between two girls who have never met but are both struggling with the unexpected curves of life, to the stunning sacrifice one dying girl makes for another, to the mermaid who trades her tail for legs, to the boy who unwittingly steals an imp's house, and to the chilling retelling of Cinderella, What You Wish For brings together a potent international roster of authors of note to remember and celebrate the Darfuri refugees and their incredible story of survival and hope.
Collects over thirty travel stories from Isabel Allende, Joyce Carol Oates, Alexander McCall Smith, and other fiction authors documenting their travels to such destinations as Malawi, San Quentin, Luxembourg, and Mumbai.
A collection of stories from some of the world's greatest crime writers. Introduced by Ian Rankin, other contributors include Mark Billingham, Neil Gaiman, Anthony Horowitz, Alexander McCall Smith, Val McDermid, George Pelecanos, Stuart Neville, Walter Mosley, Adrian McKinty, and many more. Profile has raised more than $415,000 for Oxfam through previous collections OxTales and OxTravels .
In a fresh approach to Scotlandâ€s past, five Scottish writers – Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat, James Robertson, James Crawford and the poet Kathleen Jamie – explore 25 buildings, or remains of buildings, across the country. Starting at Geldie Burn in the Cairngorms with its traces of prehistoric habitations, they visit Ionaâ€s ancient abbey, medieval castles, and modern buildings ranging from the Glasgow School of Art to Sullom Voe oil terminal – structures whose stories together create a new narrative of Scottish history.