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. An impossible crime? Only Miss Marple can unravel it.

Angel Pavement is one of the great London novels. First published in 1930, it is a social panorama of the city of London seen largely through the eyes of the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, on the first floor of No. 8, Angel Pavement (a small cul-de-sac in the heart of London's commercial district). Angel Pavement provides readers with a vivid picture of ordinary London life before the war and the blitz changed everything dramatically and is set against the background of the great depression. The story centres on the arrival of a mysterious Mr. Golspie from the Baltic region. Business at the firm has been struggling but Mr. Golspie looks set to change its fortunes. His arrival turns life upside down for everyone connected with the firm, but all is not what it seems with Mr. Golspie...

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‘How could I be expected to know? I was a child when I left this house four months ago. Why didn’t you tell me there was danger? Why didn’t you warn me?’

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her ‘cousin’ Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D’Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy’s novels.

Based on the three-volume first edition that shocked readers when first published in 1891, this edition includes as appendices: Hardy’s Prefaces, the Landscapes of Tess, episodes originally censored from the Graphic periodical version and a selection of the Graphic illustrations.

"The Decameron has had numerous English translations, most of them bowdlerized or reliant on corrupt texts. The challenge is to move gracefully between the widely varying idioms employed for different tales and Rebhorn is notably successful in handling this, avoiding both an excess of slack colloquialism and the pish-tush-forsooth faux-antique of earlier renderings. The achievement genuinely honors its original."-JONATHAN KEATES, The Telegraph

Penguin publishes forty-five of the nation’s top 100 favourite titles. If you haven’t read them yet, then now’s your chance to enjoy some of the nation’s favourite reads in our special 3-for-2 offer.

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'It is the history of a revolution that went wrong - and of the excellent excuses that were forthcoming at every step for the perversion of the original doctrine', wrote Orwell for the first edition of Animal Farm in 1945. Orwell wrote it at the end of 1943, but it almost remained unpublished. Its savage attack on Stalin, at that time Britain's ally, led to it being refused by publisher after publisher. Orwell's simple, tragic fable, telling what happens when the animals drive out Mr Jones and attempt to run the farm themselves, has since become a world-famous classic.

THE AUTHORITATIVE TEXT

A deluxe gift edition of L. Frank Baum's cherished children's classic, vividly reimagined with beautiful four-color artwork and nine interactive features created by MinaLima, the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter film franchise. Hailed as "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale" by the Library of Congress, L. Frank Baum's classic story has been enjoyed by generations of young readers since its publication in 1900. One of the most-read children's books, it is a staple of American literature and the inspiration for the beloved 1939 Academy Award-winning movie (widely acclaimed as one of the greatest films of all time), as well as stage plays and musicals. When a tornado strikes the Kansas prairie, young orphan Dorothy Gale and her little dog Toto are blown away to Oz, a magical place filled with witches, munchkins, winged monkeys, and other unusual inhabitants. Lost and afraid, all Dorothy wants is to return to her Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. But to do so, the Good Witch of the North tells her, she must follow the Yellow Brick Road that leads to the Emerald City. There, she will find the fearsome Wizard of Oz who can help her find her way home. Along the way, Dorothy encounters three unforgettable characters-the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion-who join her in her quest. Their journey to the Emerald City, fraught with peril and adventure, teaches them the true meaning of friendship and reminds us all that there is no place like home. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Interactive reimagines the novel's iconic imagery and highlights phrases from the original book in a unique and delightful style that will enchant readers of all ages. Sure to become a collector's item, this deluxe illustrated edition contains specially commissioned artwork and nine exclusive interactive features, including: A cyclone map that opens up to reveal the Land of Oz A pop-up Yellow Brick Road Oz glasses that provide a different look at the world Fighting trees with branches that move Dorothy's silver shoes that can be clicked together This marvelous edition will enchant young and adult readers and is a thoughtful gift for any occasion.

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien's manuscripts and presented for the first time as a standalone work, the epic tale of The Fall of Gondolin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Balrogs, Dragons and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien's Middle-earth. In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwe, chief of the Valar. Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo's desires and designs. Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Turin, the instrument of Ulmo's designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon's daughter, and their son is Earendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo. At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Tuor and Idril, with the child Earendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Earendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources. Following his presentation of Beren and Luthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same 'history in sequence' mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was 'the first real story of this imaginary world' and, together with Beren and Luthien and The Children of Hurin, he regarded it as one of the three 'Great Tales' of the Elder Days.

A spellbinding novel of romantic obsession. Vernon Deyre is a sensitive and brilliant musician, even a genius. But there is a high price to be paid for his talent, especially by his family and the two women in his life. His sheltered childhood in the home he loves has not prepared Vernon for the harsh reality of his adult years, and in order to write the great masterpiece of his life, he has to make a crucial decision with no time left to count the cost... Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart, six bittersweet and very personal novels, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.

The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, "The Sun Also Rises" is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, "The Sun Also Rises" helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century

A charity murder game at a Devon house turns into the real thing... Sir George and Lady Stubbs, the hosts of a village fete, hit upon the novel idea of staging a mock murder mystery. In good faith, Ariadne Oliver, the well known crime writer, agrees to organise their murder hunt. Despite weeks of meticulous planning, at the last minute Ariadne calls her friend Hercule Poirot for his expert assistance. Instinctively, she senses that something sinister is about to happen... Beware - nobody is quite what they seem!

On a French golf course, a millionaire is found stabbed in the back... An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course. But why is the dead man wearing his son's overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse...

Agatha Christie's most exotic murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything - until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls 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 in this exotic setting nothing is ever quite what it seems...

A new edition of Orwell's timeless dystopian classic, introduced and annotated by his biographer, D.J. Taylor Since its first publication in 1949, Orwell's devastating expose of the totalitarian mind has established itself as the most influential political satire of the modern age. Winston Smith's doomed rebellion against the all-seeing eye of Big Brother, and a world corrupted by technology and the perversion of language, is as relevant now as it ever was. This new edition includes an introduction and extensive end-notes, and an appendix containing original responses to the novel and several of Orwell's essays from the period in which Nineteen Eighty-Four was written.

Famously described by the author as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," Emma Woodhouse is wealthy and charming, and she delights in interfering with the romantic relationships within her community-though she herself has no desire to marry. As her meddling begins to bear consequences, however, Emma must come to terms with her responsibility and decide on her place in the world. With inimitable wit and incisive social commentary, Austen evokes a complex prism of relational connection and a richness of ordinary life that unfolds from the small world of her most extraordinary heroine.

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST PAPERBACK OF 2020! 'You should read ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay as soon as possible. It's one hell of a suspense novel' STEPHEN KING 'Moves as fast as a falling elevator and hits with just as much force. Linwood Barclay is a stone cold pro. ELEVATOR PITCH is a shameless good time' JOE HILL WHEN THE DOORS CLOSE, HE'S GOT YOU... It begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in Manhattan. Each presses the button for their floor, but the elevator climbs, non-stop, to the top where it pauses for a few seconds, before dropping. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again. And when Wednesday brings yet another catastrophe, New York, one of the most vertical cities in the world is plunged into chaos. Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it's working. But what do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? It will be a race against time for detectives Jerry Borque and Lois Delgado to find the answers before a deadly Friday night showdown. Number one bestseller Linwood Barclay returns with a heart-stopping thriller which will do for elevators what Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the beach... PRAISE FOR ELEVATOR PITCH: 'You should read ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay as soon as possible. It's one hell of a suspense novel' STEPHEN KING 'This novel moves as fast as a falling elevator and hits with just as much force. Linwood Barclay is a stone cold pro and ELEVATOR PITCH is a shameless good time' JOE HILL 'A superior thriller' SUNDAY TIMES 'The twists keep coming' THE TIMES 'A great cast of characters,tension, humour and a thrilling ending; this book takes Linwood to new heights!' MARK EDWARDS 'Linwood Barclay presses all the right buttons' MICHAEL ROBOTHAM 'One of the finest thriller writers in the world at the very top of his game' MARK BILLINGHAM 'Genius ... but terrifying' THE SUN 'The plot is crammed with even more narrative twists than Barclay usually serves up ... it is delivered with considerable acumen' FINANCIAL TIMES

'My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know.' In The Outsider (1942), his classic existentialist novel, Camus explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. Meursault, his anti-hero, will not lie. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. And when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society and the law. Yet he is as much a victim as a criminal. Albert Camus' portrayal of a man confronting the absurd, and revolting against the injustice of society, depicts the paradox of man's joy in life when faced with the 'tender indifference' of the world. Sandra Smith's translation, based on close listening to a recording of Camus reading his work aloud on French radio in 1954, sensitively renders the subtleties and dream-like atmosphere of L'Etranger. Albert Camus (1913-1960), French novelist, essayist and playwright, is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. His most famous works include The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), The Plague (1947), The Just (1949), The Rebel (1951) and The Fall (1956). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, and his last novel, The First Man, unfinished at the time of his death, appeared in print for the first time in 1994, and was published in English soon after by Hamish Hamilton. Sandra Smith was born and raised in New York City and is a Fellow of Robinson College, University of Cambridge, where she teaches French Literature and Language. She has won the French American Foundation Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize, as well as the PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.

Two boys from two different walks of life change places and alter their paths forever in this American classic from Mark Twain

London, 1547. Two boys meet by chance and strike up a conversation at the gates of a palace. Tom Canty is a poor young boy with few prospects in life; his new friend happens to be Prince Edward VI, the Prince of Wales. The prince and the pauper could not be more different from one another, except for the small fact that they look identical. When Tom admires the prince's fine garments, he and Prince Edward decide on the spur of the moment to swap clothes. But with cruel irony the prince is mistaken for a poor beggar in Tom's rags and kicked out of his own palace while Tom is taken to be the prince by everyone he meets. Suddenly the prince and the pauper have swapped not only clothes but also their homes, families, lives, and their very identities. While the boys are eager to learn about life in someone else's shoes, they ultimately want to return to their own homes and families. But this proves to be a tall order when nobody believes the prince's claims that he is really a prince despite being clothed in rags. This gripping tale of mistaken identity sees Mark Twain venturing into historical fiction for children while displaying his typical flair for witty dialogue and incisive satire.

Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon... The prelude to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies since its publication in 1937, establishing itself as one of the most beloved and influential books of the twentieth century.