Author surnames K-O

Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial (read more)

Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers will be tested beyond their understanding. Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London.

Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Miranda's assistance, he co-designs Adam's personality. (hide)

Pampered Margaret Macy flees London in disguise to escape pressure to marry a dishonourable man. With no money and nowhere else to (read more)

Pampered Margaret Macy flees London in disguise to escape pressure to marry a dishonourable man. With no money and nowhere else to go, she takes a position as a housemaid in the home of Nathaniel Upchurch, a suitor she once rejected in hopes of winning his dashing brother. Praying no one will recognize her, Margaret fumbles through the first real work of her life.

If she can last until her next birthday, she will gain an inheritance from a spinster aunt - and sweet independence. But can she remain hidden as a servant even when prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall? Observing both brothers as an "invisible" servant, Margaret learns she may have misjudged Nathaniel. Is it too late to rekindle his admiration? And when one of the family is nearly killed, Margaret alone discovers who was responsible. (hide)

'The man who had nearly run me over had touched my hair, as if he were touching a statue or something without a heartbeat...'In 1988 (read more)

'The man who had nearly run me over had touched my hair, as if he were touching a statue or something without a heartbeat...'In 1988 Saul Adler (a narcissistic, young historian) is hit by a car on the Abbey Road. He is apparently fine; he gets up and goes to see his art student girlfriend, Jennifer Moreau.

They have sex then break up, but not before she has photographed Saul crossing the same Abbey Road. Saul leaves to study in communist East Berlin, two months before the Wall comes down. There he will encounter - significantly - both his assigned translator and his translator's sister, who swears she has seen a jaguar prowling the city. (hide)

Jaded Edinburgh journalist Neil Bannerman is sent to Brussels, intent on digging up dirt. Yet it is danger he discovers, when two (read more)

Jaded Edinburgh journalist Neil Bannerman is sent to Brussels, intent on digging up dirt. Yet it is danger he discovers, when two British men are found murdered.

A CHILD WITH NO FATHER. One victim is a journalist, the other a Cabinet Minister: the double-assassination witnessed by the former's autistic daughter. This girl recalls every detail about her father's killer - except for one. THE MAN WITH NO FACE. With the city rocked by the tragedy, Bannerman is compelled to follow his instincts.

He is now fighting to expose a murderous conspiracy, protect a helpless child, and unmask a remorseless killer. (hide)

Bound together by blood ties, Martha, Jack and Shanco live on a farm in west Wales where their lives unfold in their eerie half-presence (read more)

Bound together by blood ties, Martha, Jack and Shanco live on a farm in west Wales where their lives unfold in their eerie half-presence of their dead parents. Glimmers of understanding punctuate their relationship with one another, but unspoken animosity seems to be the most potent ingredient. A lament for the prizes and the price of nurturing a landscape: an antidote for anyone impatient with those who choose to stay in one place. (hide)

Sebastian Zollner is set on writing the biography of the painter Manuel Kaminski. Yet Kaminski - once a pupil of Matisse, now an (read more)

Sebastian Zollner is set on writing the biography of the painter Manuel Kaminski. Yet Kaminski - once a pupil of Matisse, now an ailing recluse - is not the kind of character to willingly embrace such a project. And Zollner - inept, charmless, and with scant knowledge of art history - is hardly the man to undertake it.

So it's a good job Sebastian has an ace up his sleeve, and that Kaminski will have little choice in the matter... (hide)

Berlin, 1928, the dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It was a period of decadence (read more)

Berlin, 1928, the dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the Nazis came to power.

It was a period of decadence and excess as Berliners - after the terrible slaughter of WWI and the hardships that followed - are enjoying their own version of Babylon. Bernie is a young detective working in Vice when he gets a summons from Bernard Weiss, Chief of Berlin's Criminal Police. He invites Bernie to join KIA - Criminal Inspection A - the supervisory body for all homicide investigation in Kripo.
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When her mother dies from a snakebite, Comity's life in the Australian outback changes forever. As her father retreats into his work, (read more)

When her mother dies from a snakebite, Comity's life in the Australian outback changes forever. As her father retreats into his work, Comity turns to Fred, the Aboriginal yard boy, who becomes her only friend. But then a new assistant arrives who delights in playing cruel games.

As Fred becomes his target, events spiral dangerously out of control.
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THE NEW NOVEL FROM BOOKER LONGLISTED ED O'LOUGHLIN, IN WHICH A MEETING BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS SHEDS LIGHT ON THE GREATEST UNSOLVED (read more)

THE NEW NOVEL FROM BOOKER LONGLISTED ED O'LOUGHLIN, IN WHICH A MEETING BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS SHEDS LIGHT ON THE GREATEST UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF POLAR EXPLORATION. It begins with a chance encounter at the top of the world. Fay Morgan and Nelson Nilsson have each arrived in Inuvik, Canada - 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle - searching for answers about a family member: Nelson for his estranged older brother, Fay for her disappeared grandfather.

They soon learn that these two men have an unexpected link - a hidden share in one of the greatest enduring mysteries of polar exploration. In a feat of extraordinary scope and ambition, Ed O'Loughlin moves between a frozen present and an-ever thawing past, and from the minds of two present-day wanderers to the lives some of polar history's most enigmatic figures. Minds of Winter is a novel about ice and time and their ability to preserve or destroy, of mortality and loss and our dreams of transcending them. (hide)

It has never occurred to Precious Ramotswe that there might be disadvantages to being the best-known lady detective in Botswana. (read more)

It has never occurred to Precious Ramotswe that there might be disadvantages to being the best-known lady detective in Botswana. But when she receives a threatening anonymous letter, she is compelled to reconsider her unconquerable belief in a kind world and good neighbours. While she ponders the identity of the letter-writer Mma Ramotswe has a further set of problems to solve, both professional and personal.

There is an adopted child's poignant search for her true family, and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni's pursuit of an expensive miracle for their own foster daughter Motholeli. With these latest developments on Tlokweng Road, Alexander McCall Smith reveals with all his brilliant storytelling skill that there are very few troubles that cannot be solved with kindness, and very few dry seasons that do not end with welcome rain. (hide)