In James Patterson's #1 bestselling Private series, the world's most exclusive detective agency hunts London's most mysterious killer. For Hannah Shapiro, a young American student, the nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when the owner of Private-the world's most exclusive detective agency-saved her from a horrific death. Now, after eight years, the terror follows her to London. The only man who can help is former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London. In London, young women are being abducted and their bodies found mutilated in a grotesque, mysterious way. Carter's ex-wife, DI Kirsty Webb, leads the investigation into these brutal murders, which may somehow be linked to Hannah Shapiro. Working together, the two investigators are caught in a desperate race against the odds. Private may be the most advanced detection agency in the world . . . but can they catch a predator who rivals London's most elusive killer ever?

The Burlington Fine Arts Club was founded in London in 1866 as a gentlemen’s club with a singular remit – to exhibit members’ art collections. Exhibitions were proposed, organized, and furnished by a group of prominent members of British society who included aristocrats, artists, bankers, politicians, and museum curators. Exhibitions at their grand house in Mayfair brought many private collections and collectors to light, using members’ social connections to draw upon the finest and most diverse objects available. Through their unique mode of presentation, which brought museum-style display and interpretation to a grand domestic-style gallery space, they also brought two forms of curatorial and art historical practice together in one unusual setting, enabling an unrestricted form of connoisseurship, where new categories of art were defined and old ones expanded. The history of this remarkable group of people has yet to be presented and is explored here for the first time. Through a framework of exhibition themes ranging from Florentine painting to Ancient Egyptian art, a study of lenders, objects, and their interpretation paints a picture of private collecting activities, connoisseurship, and art world practice that is surprisingly diverse and interconnected.

'Calum is the pie king' Jamie Oliver 'If you want to know how to make a pie, Calum is your go-to man!' Tom Kerridge Discover the definitive pie bible from self-confessed pastry deviant, chef and London's King of Pies, Calum Franklin. Calum knows good pies and in his debut cookbook, The Pie Room, he presents a treasure trove of recipes for some of his favourite ever pastry dishes. Want to learn how to create the ultimate sausage roll? Ever wished to master the humble chicken and mushroom pie? In this collection of recipes discover the secrets to 80 delicious and achievable pies and sides, both sweet and savoury including hot pork pies, cheesy dauphinoise and caramelised onion pie, hot and sour curried cod pie, the ultimate beef Wellington and rhubarb and custard tarts. Alongside the recipes Calum guides you through the techniques and tools for perfecting your pastry. Within these pages you'll find details including how to properly line pie tins, or how to crimp your pastry and decorate your pies so they look like true show-stoppers. Say hello to your new foodie obsession and get ready to create your very own pie masterpiece. 'I'd happily spend eternity eating chef Calum Franklin's pies.' Grace Dent

This book examines British collectors of so-called Persian art (a broad umbrella term then covering a large portion of Islamic art) in the late 19th century, including ceramics, metalwork, carpets, textiles and woodwork. Based on a foundational event, the very first exhibition of “Persian and Arab Art” held by a London Gentlemen’s Club in 1885, this book follows one generation of men, retracing the subtle shades of difference among “amateurs,” “connoisseurs,” “experts” and “collectors,” and exploring all the mechanisms of the construction of a collective fascination for the Orient. Isabelle Gadoin uncovers some of the first “scientific” analyses of Islamic objects and of the first private notebooks or exhibition catalogues, to provide an in-depth study of the way Westerners talked about Islamic objects and began to define what would become Islamic art history. All the while, Gadoin unravels the skein of Western prejudice, Romantic fancy, sincere admiration and ruthless appropriation, in art collecting, to write a new chapter of Orientalist history. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, history of collecting, colonialism and postcolonialism, and Orientalism.

An investigator in Berlin is on the brink of a terrifying discovery that could throw Europe into chaos in this tense thriller-perfect for fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Chris Schneider is a superstar agent at Private Berlin, Germany headquarters for the world's most powerful investigation firm. He keeps his methods secret as he tackles Private's most high-profile cases-and when Chris suddenly disappears, he becomes Private Berlin's most dangerous investigation yet. Mattie Engel is another top agent at Private Berlin, gorgeous and ruthlessly determined-and she's also Chris's ex. Mattie throws herself headfirst into finding Chris, following leads to the three people Chris was investigating when he vanished: a billionaire suspected of cheating on his wife, a soccer star accused of throwing games, and a nightclub owner with ties to the Russian mob. Any one of them would surely want Chris gone-and one of them is evil enough to want him dead. James Patterson has taken the European thriller to a masterful new level with Private Berlin, an adrenaline-charged and sexy novel with unforgettable characters of dark and complex depths. Private Berlinproves why Patterson is truly the world's #1 bestselling author.

The next explosive book in James Patterson's #1 bestselling Private series! For Hannah Shapiro, a beautiful young American student, this particular nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when Jack Morgan, owner of Private--the world's most exclusive detective agency--saved her from a horrific death. She has fled her country, but can't flee her past. The terror has followed her to London, and now it is down to former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London, to save her all over again. In central London, young women are being abducted off the street. When the bodies are found some days later, they have been mutilated in a particularly mysterious way. Dan Carter's ex-wife, DI Kirsty Webb, is involved in the investigation and it looks likely that the two cases are gruesomely linked. Dan Carter drawn on the whole resources of Private International in a desperate race against the odds. But the clock is ticking... Private may be the largest and most technologically advanced detection agency in the world, but the one thing they don't have is the one thing they need--time. (22,000 words)

A lot has changed since Towpath first rolled up its shutters 10 years ago on the Regent’s Canal in Hackney and everything but the toasted cheese sandwich was cooked from home across the bridge. And a lot hasn’t. It is still as much a social experiment as a unique and beloved eatery. What happens when seasonality means you close every year in November, because England’s cold, dark winters are simply inhospitable to hospitality from a little perch beside a shallow, manmade waterway that snakes through East London? What if you don’t offer takeaway coffees in the hopes that people will decide to stay awhile and watch the coots skittering across the water? If you don’t have a phone or a website, because you’d rather people just show up like (hungry) kids at a playground? Towpath is a collection of recipes, stories and photographs capturing the vibrant cafe’s food, community and place throughout the arc of its season – beginning just before the first breath of spring, through the dog days of summer and culminating – with fireworks! – before its painted shutters are rolled down again for winter.

Travel under the streets of London with this lavishly illustrated exploration of abandoned, modified, and reused Underground tunnels, stations, and architecture.