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Described by Cecil Day-Lewis as 'a great lark, full of preposterous situations and pokerfaced wit' Coffin Scarcely Used is Colin Watson's first Flaxborough novel and was originally published in 1958. The small town of Flaxborough is taken aback when one of the mourners at Councillor Carobelat's funeral dies just six months later. Not only was he Councillor Carobelat's neighbour but the circumstances of his death are rather unusual, even for Flaxborough standards. Marcus Gwill, proprietor of the Flaxborough Citizen has been found electrocuted at the foot of an electricity pylon with a mouth full of marshmallows. Local gossip rules it as either an accident or a suicide but Inspector Purbright remains unconvinced. After all he's never encountered a suicide who has been in the mood for confectionery at the last moment ...
Detective Inspector Purbright of the Flaxborough police force is used to a life of quietude in a small market town, yet he knows that behind the outward respectability of typical English communities a darker underbelly of greed, crime and corruption lurks. Chalmsbury, a neighbouring town to Flaxborough, has been experiencing a series of explosions that have destroyed many of the town's monuments. Explosives have even gone missing from the Flaxborough civil defence centre and Purbright is seconded to the baffled Chalmsbury police force to help them discover the culprit. When one of the locals is killed Purbright is forced to delve into the community of eccentric residents in a desperate hunt for the killer and finds that, like Flaxborough, Chalmsbury is every bit as rich in genteel assassination. First published in 1960 Bump in the Night is Colin Watson's second book in the Flaxborough series. 'He has all the virtues one looks for in a crime novel: a gift for writing dialogue, a sense of character, a style which moves from easy flippancy to positive grace.' Julian Symons
About the Author
Colin Watson was born in 1920. He worked as a journalist but was most famous for his twelve 'Flaxborough' novels, set in a small fictional town in England. Four of the 'Flaxborough' novels were adapted for television by the BBC under the series title Murder Most English and Watson's Detective Inspector Purbright remains one of the most intellectual detectives in the crime genre. Colin Watson died in 1983.
Right at the bottom of the column, it was. Something for which she had not dared to hope. Not in remote, prosperous, hard-headed Flaxborough. A matrimonial bureau. Two women have disappeared in the small market town of Flaxborough. They are about the same age, both quite shy and both unmarried. As Inspector Purbright discovers the only connection between them appears to be the Handclasp House Marriage Bureau, but what begins as a seemingly straightforward missing persons case soon spirals out of control as Purbright encounters deceit, blackmail and murder. Lonelyheart 4122 is the fourth in Colin Watson's Flaxborough series and was first published in 1967.
'Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings.' Sunday Times
'Watson's Flaxborough begins to take on the solidity of Bennett's Five Towns, with murder, murky past and much acidic comment added.' H. R. F. Keating
Within the quiet respectable market town of Flaxborough lurks a dangerous criminal; someone who has no compunction in committing horrific crimes. A secret agent has been murdered in unsavoury circumstances connected to an acid bath and it is up to Inspector Purbright to investigate, but it does not take long for two more operatives to arrive in Flaxborough looking for the same answers. How can one of their colleagues have been murdered in such a bland, provincial town? As ever Purbright must use all his skills as an investigator to get to the truth. Described by the "Literary Review" as 'wickedly funny,' "Hopjoy was Here", the third in the Flaxborough series, was first published in 1962.
The Flaxborough Crab was first published in 1969, although its title in the US was Just What the Doctor Ordered, and is the sixth novel in the Flaxborough series. H. R. F. Keating, in his critical study Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books, praised the 'solidity of Watson's Flaxborough saga.' Watson, Keating said, 'created in his imaginary Flaxborough a place it is not preposterous to compare with the creation of Arnold Bennett in his classic Five Towns novels, or even perhaps with William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County'. All twelve of Colin Watson's 'Flaxborough Chronicles' were set in this fictional town that could be found somewhere in the East of England and it is home to 15,000 inhabitants that appear, on the surface at least, to be bland and conservative, but as the novels show appearances can be deceiving...
. . . Raising another flower - a lank, brownish-yellow affair - Miss Pollock deliberately avoided the leading contestant's eye and looked appealingly to the further part of her audience. 'Now, what about some of you other ladies? Wouldn't you like to have a try? ''Old Man's Vomit,' snapped the omniscient Mrs. Crunkinghorn. 'You don't want to hold that too near your dress, me dear.'
This historical generational horror/suspense/science fiction novel defies genre classification as it has intrigue and terror.
It is a Centenary retelling of the story to destroy all the false legends surrounding . “From a master of terror and suspense,” according to Clive Cussler, author of , herein lies a compelling reason that forces Captain Edward J. Smith to scuttle his own ship—RMS .
What dark secret prompts such an action on the part of a veteran, retiring captain on a ship’s maiden voyage? What prompts men a hundred years later to pillage the wreck of the ? What secret lies buried within the lost ship—a secret that could destroy all life as we know it?
The answers are unveiled in April 1912 and in April 2012… and there will be blood…
INTRIGUE, SUSPENSE, AND ROMANCE IN THE TIME OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS A spy working for religious organizations, Jere Wakely is summoned to Salem Village Parish, where it has become obvious to church authorities that there is serious trouble. He is reluctant to return to his hometown for many reasons, not the least being that his heart is broken and he's worried about running into his former lover, Serena Nurse. During his investigation, he has no expectation that their love will be rekindled. But their renewed passion parallels a greater fire--one of terror amid the infamous Salem Witch Trials. A witch hunt in this important election year of 1692 is backdrop to a romance filled with intrigue and mystery; the history is accurate, and the truth is disturbing yet fascinating.
There seemed to be no reason behind the series of grisly murders plaguing Orlando. The victims were young and old, women and men, destitute and well-off. Only two shocking similarities linked the deceased; before dying, they had been horribly brutalized..and they were all found with their scalps removed.
SLICE OF DEATH
Medical Examiner Dr. Dean Grant had previous success teaming with police to hunt down serial killers. But a maniac is lurking in the shadows, secretly studying the M.E.'s every move. And if Grant doesn't crack the gruesome case very soon, he could end up the next victim...
(Approximately 80,000 words, the second book in the Dean Grant series.)
A very regrettable incident has ocurred. A US MOONRAKER space shuttle, on loan to the British, has disappeared — apparently into thin air. Who has the spacecraft? The Russians? Hugo Drax, multi-millionaire supporter of the NASA space programme, thinks so. But Commander James Bond knows better.
Aided by the beautiful — and efficient — Dr Holly Goodhead, 007 embarks on his most dangerous mission yet. Objective: to prevent one of the most insane acts of human destruction ever contemplated. Destination: outer space. The stakes are high. Astronomical even. But only Bond could take the rough so smoothly. Even when he’s out of this world...
It starts with a sacred crypt, dug centuries ago, discovered under Manhattan. Buried with it is a diabolical creature spreading a strange contagion, claiming its victims by the thousands. But the dead aren't staying dead for long... and only one man is qualified to brave the unstoppable zombie army.
...IN A CITY OF THE DAMNED
Psychic detective Abraham Stroud knows the origin of what festers in the unholy pit. And only he can battle the primeval horror as it prepares mankind for the ultimate sacrifice.
Welcome to Chicago, 1893 -- where new wonders are being unveiled . . . and a monster feeds on the unsuspecting. Tens of thousands are flocking to a bustling, wind-swept metropolis in the middle of America for the great Exposition of 1893 -- to see the future and to ride Mr. Ferris's remarkable wheel. A city of hope and hardship has caught the attention of the world -- and a maniacal killer has made it his hunting ground. Inspector Alastair Ransom carries the burden of the dead on his shoulders. But a demon far worse than Ransom's own is loose -- a bloodthirsty killer who preys on Chicago's most vulnerable citizens, his grisly handiwork masked by the glitter and frenzy of the World's Fair. But a haunted detective doesn't realize how desperate his search has become -- for each passing hour brings the slayer closer to his next intended victim: Alastair Ransom.
Miles away, in the mist and rain of the Essex marshes, a satanic priest has created a hideous creature. Now it was waiting beneath the ancient stones of Bentford Priory for the virgin sacrifice that would give it life . . .
Revew
Why did the solitary girl leave her rented house on the French Riviera only for short walks at night? Why was she so frightened? Why did animals shrink away from her? The girl herself didn't know, and was certainly not aware of the terrible appointment which had been made for her long ago and was now drawing close.
Molly Fountain, the tough-minded Englishwoman living next door, was determined to find the answer. She sent for a wartime secret service colleague to come and help. What they discovered was horrifying beyond anything they could have imagined.
Dennis Wheatley returned in this book to his black magic theme which he had made so much his own with his famous best seller The Devil Rides Out. In the cumulative shock of its revelations, the use of arcane knowledge, the mounting suspense and acceleration to a fearful climax, he out-does even that earlier achievement. This is, by any standards, a terrific story.
The Shadow of Tyburn Tree tells the story of Roger Brook–Prime Minister Pitt's most resourceful secret agent–who, in 1788, is sent on a secret mission to the Russia of that beautiful and licentious woman Catherine the Great. Chosen by her to become her lover, Roger is compelled to move with the utmost care, for if it was known that not only was he spying for two countries but also having an affair with the sadistic and vicious Natalia, he would meet certain death.
The story moves to Denmark and the tragedy of Queen Matilda, to Sweden and the amazing ride of King Gustavus to save Gothenborg, and finally back to England where Roger returns to the arms of his one great love, Georgina..
This is the United Kingdom, but it's no country you know. No place you ever want to see, even in the howling, shuttered madness of your worst dreams. You survived. man.You walk because you have to. You have no choice. At the end of this molten road, running along the spine of a burned, battered country, your little boy is either alive or dead. You have to know. You have to find an end to it all. hope.The sky crawls with venomous cloud and burning red rain. The land is a scorched sprawl of rubble and corpses. Rats have risen from the depths to gorge on the carrion. A glittering dust coats everything and it hides a terrible secret. New horrors are taking root. You walk on. chance.
Sean Redman is a failed policeman who cannot escape the job. Will Lacey is a husband who witnesses the birth of a monster. Cheke is a killing machine programmed to erase every trace of an experiment gone horribly wrong... These strands all come together in this dark and visceral fantasy. Decay Inevitable charts the badlands of horrifying dreams and demons, where a black market in unspeakable goods is discovered. A race is on to unearth the secrets of the soul... secrets woven into the fabric of death itself.
Praise for Conrad A. Williams:
“An impressive tour-de-force that ranges from grimy magic realism to outright horror.” – SFX on
“Rivals the nastiest imagery of Edgar Allan Poe.” – Maxim on
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