Mike Ashley's brilliant new collection of whodunnits presents stories that reflect all the excitement, escapism and eccentricity of the 1920s. The Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the Age of Wonderful Nonsense - this was a decade when everyone went a little bit crazy. It was also a decade that saw wonderful detective fiction from the likes of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and others. Contributions range from Cornell Woolrich's story of murder at a jazz party set aboard a steamboat on the Mississippi, to Grenville Robbins's impossible homicide committed on the radio, live on air, and Mat Coward's tale of death at a house party hosting the inaugural meeting of the British Communist Party.

Charles Dickens created some of the most memorable characters in English literature. But just what became of the convict that frightened young Pip in Great Expectations? Was he guilty, or framed? And what really did become of Edwin Drood? Was the case ever solved? Mike Ashley presents over 25 vivid new whodunnits from the world of Dickens - recorded for posterity by such writers as Michael Pearce, Amy Myers, Peter Tremayne, Alanna Knight, Kage Baker, and Edward D. Hoch. Many of the stories feature one or more of Dickens's characters, as a sleuth or as the victim of crime; while others are set in Dickens's real life, with him investigating people closely associated with him, such as Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell or Hablot Browne. Interlinking the stories is a narrative that brings alive Dickens's own life and part in the early development of crime sleuthing. The stories include: Miss Havisham's Revenge by Alanna Knight, in which we discover the part Estella Havisham played in the fate of Bentley Drummle; Murder in Murray's Court by David Stuart Davies, in which Oliver Twist has to help the Artful Dodger who has been accused of murder; The Thorn of Anxiety by Keith Miles, in which the mystery of Edwin Drood is at last solved; The Divine Nature by Kate Ellis, in which David Copperfield finds himself investigating the disappearance of Edward Murdstone; The Letter by Joan Lock, in which the skills of Inspector Bucket are once again put to the test in solving a crime that apparently never happened.

Eighteen classic sea-faring tales by the best-loved writers of the genre, including Patrick O'Brian, C. S. Forester, Richard Woodman, Herman Melville and Frederick Marryat. Featuring favourite heroes such as Captain Jack Aubrey, Adam Hardy, Horatio Hornblower and Nathaniel Drinkwater. These tales vividly re-create the age of the glory days of sail, aboard the great ships that sailed for trade, discovery or warfare. They include storms and shipwrecks, the great sea battles of the Napoleonic era and the sheer, dangerous excitement of life before the mast.

The year's darkest tales of terror Here is the latest edition of the world's premier annual showcase of horror and dark fantasy fiction. It features some of the very best short stories and novellas by today's masters of the macabre - including Neil Gaiman, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Glen Hirshberg, Peter Atkins and Tanith Lee. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror also features the most comprehensive yearly overview of horror around the world, lists of useful contact addresses and a fascinating necrology. It is the one book that is required reading for every fan of macabre fiction.

You never forget your first time with a vampire. Whether reaquainting yourself with some of your favourite, sexy creatures of the night or getting bitten by the vampire romance phenomenon for the very first time, let the biggest and brightest names in the business help you explore your dark side. Witness the bewildering array of complex vampire codes of conduct, dark ritual and dating practices as they chat up the locals and engage in the most erotic encounters you will sink your teeth into this side of un-Death. Because vampires never really die, do they?

The great explorers were the celebrities of their day - the romance and danger of their daring expeditions captured the public imagination and the world's headlines to an extraordinary degree. Not all of them lived to tell the tale, of course, but those who emerged triumphant from jungle, desert or polar wasteland were hailed as if returning from beyond the grave. Journalists vied for their stories and publishers rushed their first-hand accounts of exciting and dangerous journeys into print for a wide and voracious readership. Acclaimed travel historian John Keay introduces this selection of the best of these first-hand narratives, including those of John Ross and John Franklin, writing about their experiences in the Arctic; Richard Burton's account of his search for the source of the Nile; John Speke on Lake Victoria; David Livingstone and Henry Stanley's adventures in central Africa; Alexander McKenzie's first crossing of America and Meriwether Lewis's encounter with the Shoshonee; Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen's voyages to the poles; and the poignant last words of William Wills in Australia and Robert Scott's In Extremis. Keay includes the experiences of four remarkable twentieth-century explorers: Hiram Bingham on the discovery of Machu Picchu; Wilfred Thesiger on Arabia's Empty Quarter; Edmund Hillary on reaching the summit of Everest; and Harry St John Bridger Philby facing despair and defeat in the Arabian desert.

Monsterrific stories by top names in horror writing Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Ghouls . . . these and many other Creatures of the Night are featured in this bumper collection of stories by such authors as Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Tanith Lee, Michael Marshall Smith, Kim Newman, Joe R. Lansdale, Lisa Tuttle, R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Basil Copper and many others. Here you'll discover creatures both unnatural and manmade, as the walking dead rise from their graves, immortal bloodsuckers seek human nourishment, deformed monstrosities pursue their victims across the countryside, and the ugliest of nightmares is revealed to have a soul. Drawn from the pages of legend and literature, these stories feature Things that slither, stagger, swoop, stomp and scamper. So bolt the doors, lock the windows and shiver in the shadows, because no-one is safe when the Monsters are loose .