Then a clue lures him to the capital’s high-security prison, where he finds Raeve … Together, they’ll burn it all down Now they seek truths that threaten to shatter everything they knew about their world – and each other.

Millionaire Sonny earns scorn for dabbling in his tacky supermarket wine brand, while caustic French critic Maëlys hovers, poised to record their indiscretions. Finally, there’s the enigmatic Master, who relishes the sway he holds over his guests almost as much as his partner, Tao, resents it. As glasses are emptied, rivalries fermented and secrets spilled, each must confront hard truths.

Heady and subtly powerful, Lush is a bittersweet reckoning with class, beauty, hedonism and desire.

Hitler ordered his forces to dig in and fight for every yard, thus setting the stage for one of the grimmest and most attritional campaigns of the Second World War. By the start of 1944, the Allies found themselves coming up against the Gustav Line: a formidable barrier of wire, minefields, bunkers and booby traps, woven into a giant chain of mountains and river valleys that stretched the width of Italy where at its strongest point perched the Abbey of Monte Cassino. It would take five long bitter winter months and the onset of summer before the Allies could finally bludgeon their way north and capture Rome.

By then, more than 75,000 troops and civilians had been killed and the historic abbey and entire towns and villages had been laid waste. Following a rich cast of characters from both sides – from frontline infantry to aircrew, from clerks to battlefield commanders, and from politicians and civilians caught up in the middle of the maelstrom – James Holland has drawn widely on diaries, letters and contemporary sources to write the definitive account of this brutal battle. The result is a compelling and often heart-breaking narrative, told in the moment, as the events played out, and from the perspective of those who lived, fought and died there.

Photographs have been carefully selected to allow key identification criteria to be pinpointed. Range maps are also included to show at a glance where the plants can regularly be found. Comprehensive yet portable, this book belongs in every Alpine naturalist’s backpack.

 Giuseppe is leaving his flat in the city of Rome, where he has lived for more than twenty years, to go and live with his brother in America. He must say goodbye to his cousin Roberta; to his former lover Lucrezia and her husband Piero; and to all his friends who used to gather for weekends at Le Margherite, Lucrezia’s splendid house in the country. But even before Giuseppe’s departure, friendships have begun to fracture as frustrated yearnings and past infidelities strain the bonds.

The sale of Le Margherite marks the end of an era and its old inhabitants and visitors are left to pursue happiness on their own. Their stories unfold through an exchange of letters that reveal with great poignancy the thoughts, passions and desires of the protagonists. 

—–Solving murders. It’s a family business. Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life.

He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers the pub quiz and afternoons at home with his cat Trouble. His days of adventure are over – that’s his daughter-in-law Amy’s business now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul, which makes being a private security officer to billionaires the perfect job.

She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Then a dead body, a bag of money and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending Steve an SOS… As a breakneck race around the world begins, can they stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy?

By Friday, Kinga E is happy to spend the days soaking, wine-drunk, in the bath. Kingas A-G, perhaps unsurprisingly, live a varied life – between them is a professional matchmaker, a scent-crazed perfumer and a window cleaner, all with varying degrees of apathy, anger, introversion and bossiness. At least three of them are Team Toxic.

It’s an arrangement that’s not without its fair share of admin, grudges and half-truths. But when Kinga A discovers a man tied up in their apartment, the Kingas have to reckon with the possibility that one of them might be planning to destroy them all.