"At a glittering society party in St. Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon?s army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey, and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants, to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace, Tolstoy entwines grand themes--conflict...

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot that could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his...

Reclusive tycoon Sir Oswald Coote and his melancholy wife, Lady Coote, have hit upon the ideal plan to spice up their quiet lives. They'll host a lavish weekend party at Chimneys -- their isolated estate. But the festive mood is clouded by doom. A practical joke involving seven clocks and a sleeping guest has ended in death -- indeed, in cause for alarm.

The Earl of Rule proposes to Horatia Winwood's sister, who is already in love with someone else. For her family's happiness, Horatia offers herself instead. Everyone knows she's no beauty, but she'll keep out of the Earl's way and make him a good wife. Until his archenemy sets out to ruin her reputation . . .

"The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite...

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 Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone- as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.--From back cover.

Warmsley Vale. To all appearances, it was just another sleepy English village shaken up by a series of bizarre coincidences...or were they cunningly deliberate crimes? A young bride--just 2 weeks a widow--was made sole heir to an enormous fortune. A mysterious stranger met a brutal end...and that dapper detective Hercule Poirot found himself on a trail as baffling as any he had ever encountered.

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises “A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.” A childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed....

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?Rex Fortesque was not so fortunate. He wasn't presented with a pie--he was murdered! The only clue is the rye found in his trousers pocket. When two more murders ensue only Jane Marple is able to see a pattern: a childhood rhyme with a link to the victims' past. Murder...