A widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secrey affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study, but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. Kings Abbot is crawling with suspects and it's up to famous detective, Hercule Poirot, to solve the case.

Deronda, a high-minded young man searching for his path in life, finds himself drawn by a series of dramatic encounters into two contrasting worlds: the English country-house life of Gwendolen Harleth, a high-spirited beauty trapped in an oppressive marriage, and the very different lives of a poor Jewish girl, Mirah, and her family. As Deronda uncovers the long-hidden secret of his own parentage, Eliot's moving and suspenseful narrative opens up a...

Elinor is as prudent as her sister Marianne is impetuous. Each must learn from the other after they are they are forced by their father's death to leave their home and enter into the contests of polite society. The charms of unsuitable men and the schemes of rival ladies mean that their paths to success are thwart with disappointment but together they attempt to find a way to happiness.

An enduring classic by E.M. Forster about human connection, society, and legacy. Set in Edwardian England, Howards End delves into the intricate relationships between three families with contrasting values and aspirations: the idealistic and intellectual Schlegels, the wealthy and pragmatic Wilcoxes, and the struggling, working-class Basts. At the heart of the story lies Howards End, a quaint country house symbolizing heritage, connection, and...

"Framed in the doorway of Hercule Poirot's bedroom stands an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man stares for a moment, then he sways and falls. Who is he? Is he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what is the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life--and that of his 'twin brother'--to uncover...

Of the complex, richly rewarding masterworks he wrote in the last decade of his life, Little Dorrit is the book in which Charles Dickens most fully unleashed his indignation at the fallen state of mid-Victorian society. Crammed with persons and incidents in whose recreation nothing is accidental or spurious, containing, in its picture of the Circumlocution Office, the most witheringly exact satire of a bureaucracy we possess, Little Dorrit is a stunning...

Anne Bronte's 'Agnes Grey' tells the story of a young woman forced by circumstances to take on the role of governess in an aristocratic Victorian household, and how this stressful and at times humiliating role shapes her youthful character. The book is seen by many as a barely-disguised critique of Victorian morality, especially that society's hypocritical stance on women's enforced domesticity, marriage and the bringing up of children. --Publisher....

"The Seven Dials Myster, featuring Agatha Christie's shrewd police detective, Superintendent Battle, pokes lighthearted fun at the international spy thriller genre. Gerry Wade is famous for oversleeping, but when a group of his fellow guests at a country house weekend decide to play a prank by setting eight alarm clocks to go off in his room early one morning, they are rewarded with a surprise. This time, poor Gerry is quite literally dead to the...

"The beloved story of the March girls is a classic American feminist novel, reflecting the tension between cultural obligation and artistic and personal freedom"--

Eight years ago Anne Elliot bowed to pressure from her family and made the decision not to marry the man she loved, Captain Wentworth. Now circumstances have conspired to bring him back into her social circle and Anne finds her old feelings for him reignited. However, when they meet again, Wentworth behaves as if they are strangers and seems more interested in her friend Louisa. In this, her final novel, Jane Austen tells the story of a love that...