'An absorbingly and well-written book' New York Times Major Harry Maxim, ex-SAS and special adviser to number 10 Downing Street, is about to get drawn into conflict on an international scale. An English corporal, a cabinet convulsion in East Germany, and a double murder in a small West German town all seem to be connected by a dark secret from the past, and it's down to Harry Maxim to uncover before it's too late. The Conduct of Major Maxim is the second novel in the Major Harry Maxim Series. 'Gavin Lyall is one of the best writers of intelligent, macho, spy thrillers in the business' Spectator

'A first-class piece of work' New York Times Book Review Major Harry Maxim, formerly of the SAS, is as surprised as anyone when he is hired by 10 Downing Street to assist in matters of defence and security. When there is a suspicious suicide at the Ministry of Defence, and a hand grenade thrown through the door of number 10, Major Maxim's military intelligence training is put to the test. It all seems to point towards Professor John Tyler, a nuclear strategist who will state Britain's case when Europe's think tank on Armageddon gathers in Luxembourg. The Secret Servant is the first novel in the Major Harry Maxim Series.

'Stirring period piece set in the anxious months before the outbreak of the First World War' Sunday Times With the shadow of the First World War looming ever closer, Britain is quietly relieved when Turkish bandits hold to ransom engineers working on a railway that threatened its oil interests in the Persian Gulf. Feigning help, the Foreign Office sends the notorious Lady Kelso, once the lover of the bandit's chief, with members of the fledgling Secret Service Bureau to serve as 'diplomatic protection'. Ambush, betrayal, murder and bombardment all ensue as there are others – German, Turkish and French – all honourably putting their own country's interests first.

'A first-class piece of work' New York Times Book Review Major Harry Maxim, formerly of the SAS, is as surprised as anyone when he is hired by 10 Downing Street to assist in matters of defence and security. When there is a suspicious suicide at the Ministry of Defence, and a hand grenade thrown through the door of number 10, Major Maxim's military intelligence training is put to the test. It all seems to point towards Professor John Tyler, a nuclear strategist who will state Britain's case when Europe's think tank on Armageddon gathers in Luxembourg. The Secret Servant is book one in the Major Harry Maxim Series.

Bruce Murphy's Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is a comprehensive guide to the genre of the murder mystery that catalogues thousands of items in a broad range of categories: authors, titles, plots, characters, weapons, methods of killing, movie and theatrical adaptations. What distinguishes this encyclopedia from the others in the field is its critical stance.

'The vortex of Caribbean politics made even more turbulent by one of the most compelling of contemporary storytellers' New York Times Flying charter cargoes around the Caribbean wasn't quite the same as flying in Korea, but it was still a living, and Carr had built up a solid reputation over the years, managing to keep his hands clean. But when he is almost brought down by mercenary pilots flying for the newly instated La Republica government, he realises it is inevitable that things will get messy. As both the new government and the FBI seek his services, Carr takes a job flying a camera plane for a major Hollywood movie in order to escape the conflict. It soon becomes apparent, however, that his new employers have more in mind than aerial shots.

Over 3,200 entries An essential guide to authors and their works that focuses on the general canon of British literature from the fifteenth century to the present. There is also some coverage of non-fiction such as biographies, memoirs, and science, as well as inclusion of major American and Commonwealth writers. This online-exclusive new edition adds 60,000 new words, including over 50 new entries dealing with authors who have risen to prominence in the last five years, as well as fully updating the entries that currently exist. Each entry provides details of a writer's nationality and birth/death dates, followed by a listing of their titles arranged chronologically by date of publication.

'Terrific – when better novels of suspense are written, lead me to them' P. G. Wodehouse Making a threadbare living flying charter cargos of dubious legitimacy around the Mediterranean, Jack Clay's ambition of starting his own chartering company remains a distant dream. All this changes in Athens when Clay bumps into an old wartime buddy helping the former Nawab of Tungabhadra recover his stolen fortune. Clay joins the hunt, but he is not the only one looking; there are many men – and women – who are prepared to lie and cheat, murder and maim, in order to get to the diamonds first. First published in 1961, The Wrong Side of the Sky was Gavin Lyall's debut novel and became an international bestseller. 'A model thriller ... Like its hard-flying hero, it's a natural' New York Herald Tribune

'Lean and literate suspense' Guardian It seemed like money for old rope. All Kemp had to do was arrange the smooth passage of a Cezanne across the border to Switzerland, and anything was preferable to London in January. But on awaking in a Zurich park with a bump the size of a burial mound on his head, minus the priceless work he'd been carrying, he reckons he may have underestimated the situation. Running into Harry Burroughs at the airport the next day can't be a coincidence, as Burroughs is a fine art dealer, and an even finer crook. If he is mixed up in all this, Kemp knows that from now on he will have to earn his money the hard way.