A gripping crime novel inspired by the "Jack the Stripper" killings in 1960s London. Bad Penny Blues is the latest gripping crime fiction from Cathi Unsworth, London's undisputed queen of noir. Set in late 1950s and early 1960s London, it is loosely based on the West London "Jack the Stripper" killings that rocked the city. The narrative follows police officer Pete Bradley, who investigates the serial killings of a series of prostitutes, and, in a parallel story, Stella, part of the art and fashion worlds of 1960s "Swinging London," who is haunted by visions of the murdered women.
Named one of the Best Crime Books of the Year by the Guardian , Weirdo is an atmospheric thriller about a teenage girl convicted of murder in a 1980s seaside town and the private investigator who reopens the case to discover that she may not have acted alone ... Corinne Woodrow was fifteen when she was convicted of the ritualistic murder of her classmate in a quaint seaside town. It was 1984, a year when teenagers ran wild, dressed in black, stayed out all night, and listened to music that terrified their parents. Rumours of Satanism surrounded Corinne and she was locked up indefinitely, a chilling reminder to the parents of Ernemouth to keep a watchful eye on their children. Twenty years later, private investigator Sean Ward — whose promising career as a detective with the Metropolitan Police was cut short by a teenager with a gun — reopens the case after new forensic evidence suggests that Corinne didn’t act alone. His investigation uncovers a town full of secrets, and a community that has always looked after its own.
Hunter Davies, the only ever authorised biographer of the group, has produced the essential Beatles guide. Divided into four sections – People, Songs, Places and Broadcast and Cinema – it covers all elements of the band’s history and vividly brings to live every influence that shaped them. Illustrated with material from Hunter's remarkable private collection of artefacts and memorabilia, this is the definitive Beatles treasure.
China Bayles isn't happy when a Texas wind blows her husband's ex-wife, and the mother of China's stepson, into her herb shop. Sally is known to have a split personality and fall into constant trouble with the law, but she claims she has nowhere else to turn. Now its up to China to weed out whatever it is Sally's running from before the truth catches up to them all.
From 43AD, and the building of the (no doubt very straight) Roman Great West Road to Silchester, to 2009, another bout of Carnival Riots and David Cameron getting his bike nicked outside Tescos on the Grove, (retrieved with the help of a friendly / non-class conscious Rasta), long time Portobello Road resident and local historian/psychogeographer Tom Vague takes us on a breathless romp through the peoples history of W10, taking in Roman Coffins on Ladbroke Grove and Civil War skirmishes in Holland Park, Russian occultists at 77 Elgin Crescent, Tory anarchist GK Chesterton and his Napoleon of Notting Hill, Thomas Hardy compering poetry nights at 84 Holland Park Avenue with Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound, the pre WW1 Vorticist art HQ on Campden Hill Road ,WW2 bombs on Ladbroke Grove, Halliday Christie moving to 10 Rillington Place, teenage teddy boys rampaging at the Prince of Wales Cinema on Harrow Road, Max Mosely painting fascist Union Movement graffiti around Notting Hill in 1956, Peter Rachman renting properties to the ‘blacks and Irish’ before ruthlessly exploiting them all and ratcheting up local tensions, the infamous race riots of 1959, future Home Secretary Alan Johnsons’ original mod band the Area playing the Pavillion pub on North Pole Road in 1965, Pink Floyd at the Free School, All Saints Church, 1966, Performance, Powis Square 1969, Mick Farrens’ proto-punk Deviants at 56 Chesterton Road in 1970, Strummer, Jones and Simenon’s Clash on the Westway, in the Elgin, at the carnival riots....
Barry Cryer is one of the great comedians of the last 50 years. This is a sparkling series of hilarious and true anecdotes, almost all of which have never been told before! Barry Cryer has collaborated with all the greats from Max Miller to Tony Hancock, Bob Hope, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, John Cleese, Frankie Howerd, Kenny Everett, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Dave Allen, Richard Pryor, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Graham Chapman, the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise - in fact almost all the great comedians and comic writers since the mid 1950s. Barry's set of experiences with these legends of humour is unique, and will delight all who made PIGS CAN FLY a runaway porcine bestseller. In this completely new, organically grown book, old Baz recalls, reminisces, recounts and other words beginning with 'R', on a trip down Memory Lane, pausing only for tea and macaroons at the Stannah Stairlift Cafe. What memories - if only he can remember them. Currently 74, a third of his life has already passed and he invites you to enjoy this wonderfully funny account of it, a decorous orgy of nostalgia.
Given the phenomenal fame and commercial success that the Beatles knew for the entire course of their familiar career, their music per se has received surprisingly little detailed attention. Not all of their cultural influence can be traced to tong hair and flashy clothing; the Beatles had numerous fresh ideas about melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, form, colors, and textures. Or consider how much new ground was broken by their lyrics alone -- both the themes and imagery of the Beatles' poetry are key parts of what made (and still makes) this group so important, so popular, and so imitated. This book is a comprehensive chronological study of every aspect of the Fab Four's musical life -- including full examinations of composition, performance practice, recording, and historical context -- during their transcendent late period (1966-1970). Rich, authoritative interpretations are interwoven through a documentary study of many thousands of audio, print, and other sources.
