Gordon Griffin

Dickie Bird remains the most famous cricket umpire of them. A lovable eccentric with a joyful sense of fun, he has decided, as he approaches his eightieth birthday, to recall the highlights of his life in cricket, while also providing an illuminating insight into what he has been up to since his retirement.

George Surridge, director of the Birmingham Zoo, is a man with many worries: his marrige is collapsing; his finances are insecure; and an outbreak of disease threatens the animals in his care.

May 1915. With thousands of Britons fighting in the trenches, a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the Home Front safe. Scotland Yard is already overstretched when the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots and arson attacks.

Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein, found dead in his burnt-out shop. Initially Jacob's killing appears to be the tragic excess of wartime hysteria - but when it transpires that Jacob had been stabbed, his safe ransacked, and his daughter Ruth raped, the possibility that these assaults were long-premeditated crimes becomes unavoidable.

Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups and contradictions and track down Jacob's killer and Ruth's assailants.

Three US cities all lose power, sparking fears of an imminent terrorist attack. Meanwhile SAS man Josh Harding is on the trail of young hackers hoping to make a fortune, unaware that the secrets they have uncovered have put them in danger.

Inspector Andy Horton's holiday peace is shattered when, stepping out across an abandoned golf course, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman with a gun in her hand, leaning over a corpse. Horton's old adversary, DCI Birch, is convinced she is a mentally disturbed killer, but Horton is not so sure . . .

When a woman's body is discovered at the Fair Isles bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez soon realises that there's a killer on the island just waiting for the opportunity to strike again...  Book 4 of series.

The discovery of a human skeleton and a red rucksack amongst the roots of a fallen tree jolts memories for DI Wesley Peterson: a hitch hiker who went missing in 2008, and was never found. Meanwhile, in the small Devon village of Petherham, a famous TV psychic is the main attraction at a supernatural weekend. But when the psychic dies in suspicious circumstances Wesley discovers a connection between the dead man and the vanished hitch hiker. But was he responsible for her murder? Or has a shady organisation called The Burial Circle been revived in the present day?

When the decaying body of a murdered woman is discovered in a suburban house, DI Wesley Peterson has problems establishing her true identity. But as he tries to find out more about the mysterious woman, he finds he has another more disturbing case to investigate. Book 16 of series.

Exploding pressure cookers, a thwarted wife's deadly revenge and transvestites in distress - manning an ambulance in the seventies kept you on your toes. It's quite a life for Les Pringle, and one that he and his shift mates tread with warmth and humour in equal measure.

In the seeming tranquility of Regency Square in Cheltenham live the diverse inhabitants of its ten houses. One summer's evening, the square's rivalries and allegiances are disrupted by a sudden and unusual death - an arrow to the head, shot through an open window at no. 6.

Unfortunately for the murderer, an invitation to visit had just been sent by the crime writer Aldous Barnet, staying with his sister at no. 8, to his friend Superintendent Meredith. Three days after his arrival, Meredith finds himself investigating the shocking murder.

Six of the square's inhabitants are keen members of the Wellington Archery Club, but if Meredith and Long thought that the case was going to be easy to solve, they were wrong...

Estrella de Mar is an exclusive Spanish resort for the rich, retired British. A life of leisure is offered by the surroundings and the thriving sports and social centre: Club Nautico. When five people die in an unexplained house fire, club manager Frank Prentice pleads guilty - but nobody believes him, least of all the police.

When Dan, one of the farm vets, is injured in a car accident, everyone at Barleybridge Animal Hospital is shocked. Scott Spencer, back from Australia, steps in to cover for him, not guessing what secrets are about to be revealed which will turn his life upside down and amend his callous attitude to women.  Book 4 of series.

May 1940: Sergeant Jack Tanner has been posted to a training company on the southeast coast of England where the mysterious deaths of two Polish refugees lead him to believe there has been foul play. But Tanner must first deal with an enemy far more deadly than the Germans.... Book 2 of the series.

When a woman is found murdered in Langstone Harbour, DI Andy Horton is assigned to the case but not for long if Superintendent Uckfield has his way. With the clock ticking Horton is soon forced to take a decision that will put his life on the line . . .

France, 1963. Inspector Lucas Rocco finds himself moved from the Paris metropolis to a small village. His new patch might be rural, but it's certainly not uneventful: on his first day, he finds a murdered woman wearing a Gestapo uniform lying in a British military cemetery. Before long Rocco realises he's up against a formidable enemy who will go to any lengths - even murder - to stop his investigation.

When DI Wesley Peterson is summoned to investigate a killing, he assumes that the case is a routine matter. But soon dark secrets and deadly deceptions start to emerge from the victim's past, and Wesley begins to realise that a simple incident of cold-blooded murder is altogether more calculated and complicated that he could ever imagine. Book 19 of series.

When two girls find a body in a remote cottage near Hungerford, Superintendent Gregory Summers discovers that the dead woman, Gillian Lestrange, has been presumed dead for the past fifteen years. Somebody paid the price for Gillian's first death. Could it be that retribution has at last come calling?

In June 1916, a young woman named Charlotte Reid is found murdered in a cinema. Harvey Marmion and Joe Keedy are assigned the task of finding the killer who so elusively fled in the dark. Before long, two more victims, of striking similarity but differing backgrounds, are found dead around the city. Meanwhile, miles from home, Marmion's son Paul prepares for life on the front line as he marches towards the Battle of the Somme.

Caroline Luard is shot dead in broad daylight in the grounds of a large country estate. With few clues available, her husband soon becomes the suspect ... But is he guilty? Quick Reads.

Murder turns the journey of a lifetime into a deadly nightmare The plague has struck London once again but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield's Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company's bookholder Nicholas Bracewell and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield's secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them. Treacherous seas become the least of Nicholas' worries when one of their actors is savagely killed. To make matters worse, when they finally arrive in Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II proves to be an eccentric and bewildering host and Nicholas' beloved Anne Hendrik is kidnapped...

Stamps tell a story. Since the Penny Black first burst on the scene in 1840, they have made and mirrored history as it happens. This delightfully playful history uses 36 of our most expressive, quirky, beautiful and sometimes baffling stamps to tell us the story of Britain.

1916. As thousands of Brits are fighting on the Front Line, a new breed of women emerges to hold the Home Front together. Fiercely independent and fiery-spirited, the munitionettes, or 'canaries', are easily recognisable with their chemically-stained yellow faces. Among the raucous group of women is Florrie Duncan, who plans to celebrate her birthday in style at the Golden Goose pub. But the celebrations are cut short when all but one are killed in a brutal explosion.

The balance between life and death is so delicate; the heart surgeon walks that rope between the two. At the forefront of pioneering cardiac technology, Professor Steve Westaby has seen it all. This astounding memoir details some of his most remarkable cases, such as ‘the pulseless man,’ a woman who lived the nightmare of locked-in syndrome after surgery and a man whose life was powered by a battery for eight years.

A note that is discovered hidden in a wall cavity of a London hotel leads Detective Inspector Harry Vicary and his team to a burial site containing the charred bones of two men. To solve the case Vicary must uncover what happened at a notorious gangland garden party – a party from which two men never returned . . .

Edie Cooper works for the powerful Fairley family as maid to Lady Elizabeth's adopted daughter Christina. Christina asks for her help in uncovering the mystery of her true parentage. But someone in the grand house will stop at nothing to keep the long-buried secrets hidden. Will Edie be able to protect Christina? And will she find her own path to happiness?

Dr James Earle and his wife live in comfortable seclusion near the Hog's Back, a ridge in the North Downs in the beautiful Surrey countryside. When Dr Earle disappears from his cottage, Inspector French is called in to investigate.

From his childhood love of animals, through to his training and first steps in the profession, Julian Norton has seen all sides of the veterinary world and writes about it all with humour and affection. Just as happy calving a cow, treating a dehydrated chameleon or tending to the overgrown teeth of a rabbit, his passion for his work shines through, as does his love for Yorkshire.

When Darren Hatman reports his daughter Leanne missing, DI Wesley Peterson isn't too concerned. Leanne works at Eyecliffe Castle, now converted into a luxury hotel. When Darren is found murdered in the grounds, Wesley suspects a connection between the recent crimes, the disappearance of two girls in the 1950s and a mysterious Sicilian ruin called the House of Eyes.  Book 20 of series.

1916. Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy are assigned to the case when the body of a young conscientious objector is found bludgeoned to death. Public sympathy is lukewarm for conscientious objectors and some people even claim that a "conchie" deserves to die if he won't fight for his King and Country. As the detectives identify one suspect, others pop up in the most unexpected places. Everyone speaks well of Ablatt but is he really the saint they describe? Marmion and Keedy have to dig deep in order to unearth the instrument of slaughter and the person who wielded it.

Thirteen Torland Place is a house with a disturbing past. When a student living there is found murdered, DI Joe Plantagenet wonders whether her death has anything to do with its grim history. Then other, similar deaths come to light and he fears that a ruthless serial killer is at work. Book 3 of series.

Although Professor Stephen Westaby was born with the necessary coordination and manual dexterity, it was a head trauma sustained during university that gifted him the qualities of an exceptional heart surgeon: qualities that are frequently associated with psychopathy. This is his intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession’s most eminent figures.

When archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a long-buried mechanical figure in a Dartmoor field, he is determined to discover the truth behind the bizarre find. Then two people are found shot dead in nearby Manor Field and DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate. Is there a link between the double murder and the accidental death of a young history student in Manor Field 20 years ago? And just what is the true identity of the Mechanical Devil?  Book 22 of series.

Promising young author, Zac Wilkinson, is working on the biography of literary legend Wynn Staniland, and hopes to reveal the true story of the recluse to a waiting world. When Wilkinson is found brutally murdered, DI Wesley Peterson finds links to the unexplained poisoning of a middle-aged couple - and Staniland appears to be the connection. The case becomes personal for Wesley, and as he begins to unravel decades of secrets and deception, the shocking truth proves almost too much to bear...  Book 21 of series.

1895. Former Scotland Yard detective Daniel Wilson, made famous from his days working the Jack the Ripper case, and his archaeologist sidekick Abigail Fenton are summoned to investigate the murder of a young woman at the Manchester Museum. Though staff remember the woman as a recent and regular visitor, no one appears to know who she is, and she has no possessions which identify her. Seeking help from a local journalist, Daniel hopes to unravel this mystery, but the journey to the truth is fraught with obstacles.

In 1001, the toddler, Thorgils Leiffson, arrives in Greenland to be brought up by a foster mother, Gudrid. Having inherited the gift of second sight, his destiny lies far beyond his home. The young boy joins a doomed expedition to Vinland, but escaping the massacre, he embarks on a journey of discovery.  Book 1 of series.

Drawing on extensive archival sources and hundreds of interviews, Timothy Brennan's Places of Mind is the first comprehensive biography of Said, one of the most controversial and celebrated intellectuals of the 20th century.

In Brennan's masterful work, Said, the pioneer of post-colonial studies, a tireless champion for his native Palestine, and an erudite literary critic, emerges as a self-doubting, tender, and eloquent advocate of literature's dramatic effects on politics and civic life. Places of the Mind charts the intertwined routes of Said's intellectual development, revealing him as a study in opposites: a cajoler and strategist, a New York intellectual with a foot in Beirut, an orchestra impresario in Weimar and Ramallah, a raconteur on national television, a Palestinian negotiator at the State Department, and an actor in films in which he played himself.