The ​Silkworm

Agatha Christie - The ​Listerdale Mystery
After ​Mr St Vincent’s death, his family are plunged into poverty. Living in reduced circumstances their lives change when they find an elegant town house with staff, for a suspiciously cheap rent. Why would Lord Listerdale rent his home out for such a low price and why are the staff so accommodating?

Agatha Christie - Appointment ​With Death
Collins ​brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners. Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully adapted versions are shorter with the language targeted at upper-intermediate learners (CEF level B2). Each reader includes: * A CD with a reading of the adapted story * Helpful notes on characters * Cultural and historical notes relevant to the plot * A glossary of the more difficult words Mrs Boynton, a cruel and hated woman, is found dead in the ancient city of Petra. Was it just a weak heart and too much sun that killed her, or has one of Mrs Boynton's many victims found revenge? By chance, the great detective Hercule Poirot has some useful information, but is it enough to find the killer? He has 24 hours to solve the case.

Neil Cross - Luther: ​The Calling
A ​particularly repellent case moves DCI Luther closer to the edge he's never been far from. A young married couple is found murdered, the husband sadistically savaged, the wife, eight and a half months pregnant, ripped open, her infant just possibly still alive torn from her. Luther, a big man with a big walk and a near-legendary capacity for sensitivity, catches the case, as he catches all the truly bad ones. But this case just might be one too many. Stoic by nature and principle, Luther has never been easy to read, but now the tells are becoming unmistakable. He's been unable to sleep and looks it. Instead of resolving to push to the end, he asks to be taken off the case. At home, his wife and soul mate, Zoe, has grown restless to the point of no return. Their moribund relationship deprives Luther of the ballast and empowerment his marriage has always provided. Meanwhile, a monstrous killer continues to select victims, like the little girl who goes missing. By now Luther s famous intuitiveness has been productive, and he's closing in on his crafty antagonist. When the two confront each other, will Luther retain his commitment and remain the embodiment of law and order?

Elizabeth George - Deception ​on His Mind
Balford-le-Nez ​is a dying seaside town on the coast of Essex. But when a member of the town's small but growing Asian community is found dead near its beach, the sleepy town ignites. Working without her long-time partner, Detective Inspector Lynley, Sergeant Barbara Havers must probe not only the mind of a murderer and a case very close to her own heart, but also the terrible price people pay for deceiving others ...and themselves.

Agatha Christie - Ten ​Little Niggers
Agatha ​Christie's most famous thriller -- ghoulish, nerve-tearing. A detective story -- with no detective! 10 people are invited to a fabulous mansion on Nigger Island off the coast of Devon. Though they all have something to hide, they arrive hopefully on a glorious summer evening ... But soon a series of extraordinary events take place: the island is suddenly bathed in a most sinister light ... panic grips the visitors, one, by one .. by one, by one ....

Agatha Christie - The ​Secret of Chimneys
What ​connects Chimneys, a formidable country estate nestled in the English countryside, with the small Balkan nation of Herzoslovakia? If Anthony Cade had known the answer, perhaps the chance to earn a thousand pounds just delivering a parcel would not have seemed like such easy money! The Secret of Chimneys was written in 1925 - a mystery thriller involving jewel thieves, a murderous international conspiracy, and the combined forces of Scotland Yard and the French Sûreté.

Erle Stanley Gardner - The ​Case of the Dangerous Dowager
Perry ​Mason lives on -- and on -- in the perennially popular courtroom classics that put legal thrillers on the map. Case closed

Erle Stanley Gardner - The ​Case of the Singing Skirt
Ellen ​Robb does more than just sing for her supper -- she also dances and sells cigarettes in a two-bit gambling parlor in a one-horse town. But when she hits a sour note with her scheming employer by refusing to help fleece a fat-cat customer in a crooked card game, she finds herself out of all three jobs. That's when she sings her song of woe to Perry Mason, who promises to turn her blues into greenbacks with the help of his crack team, Della Street and Paul Drake, and a hefty lawsuit. Things are humming along just fine -- until murder interrupts the merry melody of Mason's crafty legal maneuvers. When the vindictive wife of Ellen Robb's not-so-secret lover turns up shot to death, Mason is certain it's a frame-up -- and that his songbird client's belligerent boss is to blame. Until his own gun is found at the scene. The cocksure Mason will have to change his tune -- and do some quick thinking -- or else this case could be his swan song.

Agatha Christie - They ​Do it with Mirrors
“They ​said it was an accident, but I think it was just temper!” Ruth Van Rydock – They Do it With Mirrors After a death threat, murder, and attempted poisoning, Ruth Van Rydock is so concerned for her sister’s safety that she invites her old friend Miss Jane Marple to visit them at their sprawling mansion home that they run as a rehabilitation school for boys; clearly a dangerous place to be even under normal circumstances. Can Miss Marple solve the case before Carrie-Louise is killed?

Agatha Christie - Ordeal ​By Innocence
According ​to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko's innocence, it is too late - Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor's revelations re-open old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer could strike again... "Family tensions and suspicions are adroitly handled, and the solution is characteristically surprising." - _New York Times_

Dorothy L. Sayers - Clouds ​of Witness
The ​Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords. Naturally, his brother Lord Peter Wimsey is investigating the crime - this is a family affair. The murder took place at the duke's shooting lodge and Lord Peter's sister was engaged to marry the dead man. But why does the duke refuse to co-operate with the investigation? Can he really be guilty, or is he covering up for someone? 'She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit.' P. D. James

Jacqueline Winspear - The ​Mapping of Love and Death
In ​the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling series, Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death an investigation that leads her to a long-hidden affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse. August 1914. Michael Clifton is mapping the land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, certain that oil lies beneath its surface. But as the young cartographer prepares to return home to Boston, war is declared in Europe. Michael the youngest son of an expatriate Englishman puts duty first and sails for his father's native country to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed among those missing in action. April 1932. London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs is retained by Michael's parents, who have recently learned that their son's remains have been unearthed in France. They want Maisie to find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among Michael's belongings a quest that takes Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love. Her inquiries, and the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his trench, unleash a web of intrigue and violence that threatens to engulf the soldier's family and even Maisie herself. Over the course of her investigation, Maisie must cope with the approaching loss of her mentor, Maurice Blanche, and her growing awareness that she is once again falling in love. Following the critically acclaimed bestseller Among the Mad, The Mapping of Love and Death delivers the most gripping and satisfying chapter yet in the life of Maisie Dobbs.

Agatha Christie - Evil ​Under the Sun
A ​quiet holiday at a secluded hotel in Devon is all that Hercule Poirot wants, but amongst his fellow guests is a beautiful and vain woman who, seemingly oblivious to her own husband’s feelings, revels in the attention of another woman’s husband. The scene is set for murder, but can the field of suspects really be as narrow as it first appears?

Agatha Christie - A ​Murder is Announced
The ​villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which read: "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m." Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the ppointed time when, without warning, the lights go out ...

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The ​Complete Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock ​Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning (somewhat mistakenly - see inductive reasoning) and astute observation to solve difficult cases. He is arguably the most famous fictional detective.

Agatha Christie - The ​Moving Finger
Lymstock ​is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets - a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate-mail causes only a minor stir. But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says 'I can't go on' but still Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Was this the work of a poison-pen? Or of a poisoner? _Reviews_ "Beyond all doubt the puzzle in The Moving Finger is fit for experts." _The Times_

Jo Nesbø - The ​Snowman
The ​night the first snow falls a young boy wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman bathed in cold moonlight, its black eyes glaring up at the bedroom windows. Round its neck is his mother's pink scarf.

Dan Brown - Inferno ​(angol)
Dan ​Brown's new novel, Inferno, features renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and is set in the heart of Europe, where Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centred around one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces. As Dan Brown comments: "Although I studied Dante's Inferno as a student, it wasn't until recently, while researching in Florence, that I came to appreciate the enduring influence of Dante's work on the modern world. With this new novel, I am excited to take readers on a journey deep into this mysterious realm.a landscape of codes, symbols, and more than a few secret passageways."

Agatha Christie - The ​Murder at the Vicarage
“Anyone ​who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.” Reverend Clement The tranquillity of St Mary Mead is shattered when Lucius Protheroe is found dead. A thoroughly unpleasant character, there is no shortage of suspects with a motive for murder. Could it have been his unfaithful wife? Her artist lover? The daughter, set to inherit? Or even the mild-mannered vicar? Inspector Slack is at a loss. Perhaps Miss Jane Marple, the local village busybody, can help...

Agatha Christie - One, ​Two, Buckle My Shoe
Even ​the great Poirot harbours a deep and abiding fear of the dentist, so it is with trepidation that he arrives at the celebrated Dr Morley’s surgery for an examination. Yet even Poirot couldn’t have guessed that only hours later he would be examining the dentist, dead in his surgery – an apparent suicide. Why would a successful dentist choose to kill himself on such a busy day? Poirot turns to the other patients for answers – but only finds other, darker questions. ‘A swift course of unflagging suspense leads to complete surprise.’ New York Times