Early in "Proud Beggars," a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery's wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life. Chief among Cossery's proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery's masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.

Death and decapitation seem to go hand in hand in the Devon village of Aller. When the first victim's head is sent floating down the river, the village's ruralcalm is shattered. Soon the corpses are multiplying and the entire community isinvolved in the murder hunt. While the rector, the major, the police and a journalist, desperate for the scoop of the century, chase false trails, it is left to Gervase Fen, Oxford don and amateur criminologist, to uncover the sordid truth.

Elric of Melniboné is a requisite title in the hard fantasy canon, a book no fantasy fan should leave unread. Author Michael Moorcock, already a major player in science fiction, cemented his position in the fantasy pantheon with the Elric saga, of which Elric of Melniboné is the first installment. The book's namesake, the brooding albino emperor of the dying nation of Melniboné, is a sort of Superman for Goths, truly an archetype of the genre. The youthful Elric is a cynical and melancholy king, heir to a nation whose 100,000-year rule of the world ended less than 500 years hence. More interested in brooding contemplation than holding the throne, Elric is a reluctant ruler, but he also realizes that no other worthy successor exists and the survival of his once-powerful, decadent nation depends on him alone. Elric's nefarious, brutish cousin Yyrkoon has no patience for his physically weak kinsman, and he plots constantly to seize Elric's throne, usually over his dead body. Elric of Melniboné followsYrkoon's scheming, reaching its climax in a battle between Elric and Yyrkoon with the demonic runeblades Stormbringer and Mournblade. In this battle, Elric gains control of the soul-stealing Stormbringer, an event that proves pivotal to the Elric saga.

In the Kingdom of Isle, where the Sun Kings reign with the power of the Book of the Suns, Hal and Alan are given a mission. They must use the ancient strength of wisdom to destroy the evil that plagues the kingdom. The two blood brothers venture throughout the land fighting the many forms that this evil takes so they can arrive at their destiny.

Gail Fleming leaves her job in New York and rushes home to England when she hears the shocking news that her invalid aunt’s husband, the famous Czech writer Alexis Karel, has disappeared. Then Alexis is spotted in Europe together with her aunt’s glamorous nurse. This totally destroys Alexis’s credibility as a dedicated anti-communist. Only Gail still believes in him and determines to find Alexis for an explanation. Gothic Romance by Nancy Buckingham; originally published by Dell

She moved up along the couch, put her hands on my shoulder and forced me back. She looked intently down into my face. A long strand of the dark hair swung below her cheek. 'Suppose it were a year, Kyle. A full year. Just for us. Would that be worth it?' 'Where would we hide for a year?' 'Would it be worth it? Answer me!' I traced the line of her swollen mouth with my fingertips. 'If it were thirty days, it would be worth it. You know that.' When Kyle Cameron meets temptation - in the memorable shape of Emily, the new girl at the bank - his life changes. He thought he would be trapped behind bronze bars, chained to a suburban bungalow, but now he had won out: a strange, lovely woman, a fortune, and the strength to murder to keep what he had won. But, gripped by sexual obsession, he enters a world where he will never feel safe again. He puts himself in the hands and the plans of a woman who craves the contents of a very special suitcase from which even the prospect of death won't free her. And when a brutal fate pulls them into its shadows, they have known the extremes of love and hate - and neither of them is welcome any more. In this powerful novel John D MacDonald explores how our passions can provoke a chain of events to trap us. It is a story that challenges us to recognise the narrow line that draws our illusion of self-control.

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke." Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…

Book DescriptionTom Chantry wore no gun and wished no man harm. French Williams was a ruthless cattleman more than willing to use his weapon. But Tom needed Williams to help him drive a herd north to Dodge. Setting off together on a trail alive with danger, soft-spoken Chantry and hard-bitten Williams faced storms, treachery, and Indian attacks. Now the man some call a coward and the man many call a killer have no choice but to trust each other with their lives-for both have enemies and both are pursued by a violence from the past.

An affair with the unpredictable Joe led to a marriage that Virginia was determined would work. But Joe had no reason to trust or respect women. As he drew her into one humiliating situation after another, Virginia was forced to admit that her romantic dream had turned into a nightmare.

James Parker Pyne is a retired government employee who considers himself to be a "detective of the heart." Advertising his services in the "Personal" column of The Times, he works alongside his secretary Miss Lemon, novelist Ariadne Oliver, handsome "lounge lizard" Claude Luttrell and disguise artist Madeleine de Sara. The first six stories deal with Pyne solving cases in England, while the second six stories detail Pyne's vacation, where he hopes not to have to detective work only to end up helping others anyway.Contents1 The Case of the Middle-aged Wife2 The Case of the Discontented Soldier3 The Case of the Distressed Lady4 The Case of the Discontented Husband5 The Case of the City Clerk6 The Case of the Rich Woman7 Have You Got Everything You Want?8 The Gate of Baghdad9 The House at Shiraz10 The Pearl of Price11 Death on the Nile [unrelated to Hercule Poirot novel of same name]12 The Oracle at Delphi