A. G. Macdonell

This fascinating book was written as a somewhat tongue-in-cheek travelogue. It is amusing, but also savage, and lacking in political correctness. It makes fun of Americans and Europeans alike and touches jokingly on hypocrisy everywhere.

Napoleon Bonaparte entered the world stage in 1793 at the siege of Toulon. This book covers the period of 1796 to 1815, from Napoleon's classic victories in Italy up to the point of his defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon created twenty-six Marshals in all and the tapestry of the book is wound around these men, their inter-personal relationships, their successes together, their constant bickering and their eventual failure. With Marshal jostling with Marshal for power and influence, to say nothing of aggrandisement, it is surprising that Napoleon succeeded to the extent that he did. The book tells the complete story of the Napoleonic Wars using the Marshals as the pivot around which the narrative unfolds. It presents a different and interesting focus, enabling the reader to see Napoleon from an unusual angle. The book proceeds chronologically providing a first-class read and a superb account of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Factory on the Cliff begins with a spoilt golf holiday at a coastal golflinks hotel in Aberdeenshire. 'George Templeton's car refused to start on the self-starter. He jumped out impatiently and gave the handle a mighty twist. The engine backfired and dislocated his thumb and he found himself unable to play golf for the remainder of his holiday.' Unable to play golf with his friends, he resorts to country walks and stumbles upon suspicious goings-on at a cliff-top farmstead where there are numerous outbuildings. The story moves from Scotland to London, and then to a small village in the Home Counties. In a fast-moving thriller which in some degree resembles John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, George Templeton and his friends must foil an international plot to mass-poison many countries in the World. Macdonell uses his usual skill, well-dosed with ingenious twists, and a fast moving story-line, to keep the reader riveted to the book. Chase, conspiracy, espionage, quick-thinking initiative and much adventure with Irishmen and Russians thrown in, keeps the adventure in a high gear from beginning to end.

When gentleman-adventurer Peter Kerrigan retrieves a stolen wallet from a pick- pocket, he discovers a small note inside that sparks his curiosity. "Dear Harry, This is written in great haste. A wonderful thing has happened to me, and before long I shall be worth at least a million pounds..." On a hunt for the mysterious treasure, Kerrigan becomes entangled in a murder investigation, at the heart of which is the malevolent Shakespeare Riddle. As the body count rises and the police become increasingly baffled, the treasure hunt mutates into a desperate struggle for survival; Kerrigan must do all he can to solve the riddle if he is to escape becoming its latest victim. Eccentric, unfathomable, amusing and hugely gratifying, The Shakespeare Murders is a feast of ingenuity and entertainment; a marvelously indulgent plunge into the creative mind of a master crime-writer at the peak of his form.

Under the watchful eye of Superintendent Bone, Inspector Dewar has his work cut out when he is called to investigate a mysterious spate of killings - each victim is apparently unconnected, the murders linked only by the macabre addition of a numbered badge to the victim’s corpse. As the death toll mounts, Dewar and Bone face a race against time to catch the killer. But who could be behind these terrible crimes? And what could possibly be the motivation for such apparently random acts of cruelty…? Originally published in 1929 this is a classic British mystery from the ‘golden age’ of crime fiction.