Ajay Chowdhury, the inaugural winner of the Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland prize, is a tech entrepreneur and theatre director. His children’s book – Ayesha and the Firefish, was published in 2016 and adapted into a musical which premiered in San Francisco. 
 
 
The Waiter (Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month), was published in 2021, and is the first in his critically-acclaimed crime series about Detective Kamil Rahman, an ex-policeman from Kolkata who has moved to Brick Lane in London. It is being adapted for television by Moonage Pictures.The Cook (Guardian Top Crime Books of the Year) was published in May 2022 to excellent reviews and deals with the issue of homelessness. The third book in the series – The Detective (Sunday Times Top Crime Books of the Year) – is about government surveillance and AI. The Spy (Longlisted Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing), the fourth book, sees Kamil infiltrate a terrorist cell. The Shadow (A Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month) is the latest book in the series.

Ajay Chowdhury

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Monir Mohammed

Martin Gray

Mother India at Westminster Terrace in Glasgow, has been an institution since 1996 and specialises in dishes such as ginger and green chilli fish pakora, seasoned Scottish haddock with Puy lentils, and Delhi-style Scottish lamb, all cooked fresh to order, reflecting Mother India owner Monir Mohammed’s commitment to cooking quality Indian food without pandering to the British taste for inauthentic korma or masala. 
 
The strategy has been hugely popular, allowing expansion to five outlets, including tapas, take- aways and a Mother India Cafe in Edinburgh. Mother India is regularly ranked in Herald restaurant critic Ron MacKenna’s top 10 Scottish restaurants. 
 
The book will incorporate a first person account of Monir’s personal culinary journey, with a photo essay of the life of one of the world's great Indian restaurants as an integral cog in the cultural melting pot of a modern British city. Alongside this will be a collection of recipes, some of which are signature Mother India dishes, and others designed specifically for home cooking. Each recipe will draw upon Monir's story: his beginnings as a boy from a British Asian family who started working in restaurants at 14 and his pivotal stay in the Punjab in his late teens where he learned the ancient principles of Indian home cooking from scratch. The book will tell the story of the risks he took to build a personal, authentic style of Indian cooking. There are human stories running through the recipes as well: Hajra Bibi's Salmon was inspired by a dish his mother (Hajra Bibi) used to make them as children.

Mother India at Home

Recipes Pictures Stories

Soho House UK Limited

Following the bestselling Eat, Drink, Nap and Morning, Noon, Night comes the eagerly-awaited third book from Soho House. 
 
City: Hong Kong, Paris, Downtown LA, 180 The Strand 
 
Country: Babington House, Farmhouse 
 
Coast: Soho House Mumbai, Soho Rok House Mykonos, Soho House Canouan Island, Little Beach House Barcelona 
 
Each chapter of City, Country, Coast is full of food and drink recipes, design stories from the Houses and how to recreate the style in your own home, and lifestyle stories about cooking with fire, hosting, picnicking, and growing wild flowers and vegetables. Contemporary, global yet with something quintessentially English and homely at its heart, this is Soho House style explained by its experts: the grit and the glamour, the style and the cosiness. 
____________________________________________ 
'If you're looking for inspiration for interior design, party hosting or catering, this stylish lifestyle guide is perfect... a fascinating look behind the closed doors of this celebrated private member's club' Sunday Mail, on Eat Drink Nap

City Country Coast

Our House Your Home

Tony Black

Gus Dury once had a high-flying career as a journalist and a wife he adored. But now he is living on the edge, a drink away from Edinburgh's down-and-outs, drifting from bar to bar, trying not to sign divorce papers. But the road takes an unexpected turn when a friend asks him to investigate the brutal torture and killing of his son, and Gus becomes embroiled in a much bigger story of political corruption and illegal people-trafficking. Seedy doss-houses, bleak wastelands and sudden violence contrast with the cobbled streets and cool bistros of fashionable Edinburgh, as the puzzle unravels to a truly shocking ending.

Paying For It

Paul Kenyon

Eighty miles off the Libyan coast water is leaking rapidly into the bottom of a dilapidated wooden boat. Twenty-seven men, crammed in side-by-side, desperately attempt to bail it out, but the boat is sinking. In the distance one of their number spots a ship and, forcing the last moments of life from the engine, they move towards it. But the crew refuses to allow them on board. Instead the men scramble onto the floats of a huge industrial tuna net, and watch as their boat rolls over and disappears into the heaving Mediterranean. 
 
Like tens of thousands of others Justice set off from his rural village with an idealised vision of an new life in England - the 'home' country - desperate just to earn his way and help his orphaned brother and sister left behind. During his long journey to the African coast, he's captured, jailed and tortured, before escaping and heading northwards again. Once in Tripoli he's duped into handing over his life savings for a trip in a wreck of a boat across miles of open sea to almost certain death. But there is also compassion here and he meets old and wise souls along the way. 
 
The tuna net is not the end of Justice's story. It is an extraordinary tale of courage, and an important account of a life caught between cultures, on the edge of survival.

I Am Justice

A Journey Out of Africa

Rachael Treasure

After a terrible argument with her father over their family property, Rebecca throws her kit into the back of her ute and heads north with her sheepdogs. A job as a trainee farmhand takes her into the rowdy world of country dances, Bundy rum and boys. When she at last settles down to a bit of study at agricultural college, her life is turned upside down by the very handsome, but very drunken party animal, Charlie Lewis. 
 
Will she choose a life of wheat farming on vast open plains with Charlie? Or will she return to the mountains to fight for the land and the river that runs through her soul? 
 
It's only when tragedy shatters her world that Rebecca finds a strength and courage she never knew she had, in this action-packed novel of adventure, dreams, heartbreak and love.

River Run Deep

Catherine Law

For over forty years Rose Pepper has kept her own counsel about the story of her past - especially her wartime past - wanting the truth to stay hidden from her two daughters. But the discovery of some letters, still unopened after forty years, threatens to betray all her secrets. Her story really begins in Cornwall during the war, where she has been evacuated to work as a landgirl. Here, against the most impossibly romantic landscape, she falls in love with a young Czech soldier, stationed at the local US army base - both of them trying to forget that Rose is already engaged to a man who is a friend of her family. This man, cold, controlling and vengeful, will not let her go, but eventually, in the chaotic aftermath of the war, Rose and her lover flee to Prague, where their troubles really begin in earnest, for the Communists are taking over and it is every man and woman for themselves in a city riddled with informers.

A Season of Leaves

Tom Bale

FROM THE AUTHOR OF SEE HOW THEY RUN AND ALL FALL DOWN 
 
 
On a cold January morning, a nightmare awaits in a sleepy Sussex village. A deranged young man goes on the rampage, shooting everyone in his path before taking his own life. It’s a senseless, tragic event. 
 
 Only Julia Trent – believed to be the sole survivor – knows that there was a second man involved. But after being shot and badly injured, her account of the massacre is ignored. 
 
 Together with Craig Walker, the son of one of the victims, Julia sets out to find the truth before she’s silenced for good. As they peel back the layers of a dark and dangerous conspiracy, they discover the slaughter didn't begin on that bitter day in January. 
 
And worst of all, it won't end there.

Skin and Bones

Mr Peng

Founded in 1982 by Mr Peng, Hunan is a legendary London restaurant which attracts customers from all over the world. 
 
At Hunan, diners don’t choose – they simply say what they don’t eat and how spicy they like their food. Mr Peng then does the rest, serving up small portions with the emphasis on sharing many courses. The orders are hand-written and are sent down to the kitchen by a chute and the food travels up in a dumb waiter. Mr Peng is a firm believer in simplicity. 
 
Hunan is a landmark book that captures the essence of a unique menu from a unique character. Among the 70 must-have recipes are Mr Peng’s ‘absurdly delicious’ prawn dumplings, lettuce wraps filled with diced chicken, ‘which you just pop into your mouth and scrunch’ and mouth-melting double-cooked pork. 
 
As Mr Peng says: 'I often say to people I've only just met: I'm a very strange person. And then I have to explain: food is my life. Despite being close to 70 I'm still in the kitchen at Hunan, on the floor almost every day doing prep, working the wok and talking to guests, most of whom have been regulars for years. The food is the only thing which has changed, and which changes almost daily. It is really about bringing out the most in the ingredients. Subtle blends of chilli and Sichuan peppercorns push enormous pearly scallops to the edge while the gentle salty miso cuts through the tenderest slivers of corn-fed chicken. It is possible because the ingredients I use are fresh and of faultless quality.

Hunan

A Lifetime of Secrets from Mr Peng’s Chinese Kitchen

Rosie Highgrove-Jones grows up hating her double-barrelled name. She dreams of riding out over the wide plains of the family property, working on the land. Instead she's stuck writing the social pages of the local paper. 
 
Then the horrible death of her fiance sparks a series of shocking revelations for Rosie and her family. As she tries to put her life back together, Rosie throws herself into researching the haunting true story of a 19th century Irish stockman, who came to Australia and risked his all for a tiny pup and a wild dream. Is it just coincidence when Rosie meets a sexy Irish stockman of her own? And will Jim help her realise her deepest ambition - or will he break her heart? 
 
Timeless Land moves effortlessly between the present and the past to reveal a simple yet hard-won truth - that both love and the land are timeless.

Timeless Land

Brett Battles

Bestselling author Brett Battles takes us on a brilliantly nerve-wracking journey in this hypnotically captivating espionage thriller, jam-packed with twists and turns and fascinating characters. Fans of Jason Bourne, James Bond or Jack Reacher will not be disappointed! 
 
'Razor-sharp prose bites deep, cuts to a raw nerve and leaves you...craving more. Just don't say I didn't warn you.' -- James Rollins 
 
'Break-neck pacing, colourful locales and dizzying plot twists make the Quinn series a welcome addition to the political thriller genre.' -- Publishers Weekly 
 
'The plot kept me guessing through to the last three or four chapters. Really, really a super read. I loved it!!' -- ***** Reader review 
 
'Thoroughly enjoyed the ride' -- ***** Reader review 
 
'Great balance in story line, character development and a twist at the end that is, literally, sleep depriving.' -- ***** Reader review 
 
'A totally awesome read and highly recommended to all who enjoy a good mystery.' -- ***** Reader review 
 
******************************************************************************* 
HE DISPOSES OF THE DEAD, BUT THEIR SECRETS WON'T STAY BURIED. 
 
As a professional 'cleaner', Jonathan Quinn disposes of bodies and ties up loose ends - doesn't get his hands dirty. 
But when he discovers he's been hired to vanish all traces of Steven Markoff, one of his best friends who just happened to work for the CIA, his job suddenly hits too close to home. This time, it's personal. 
 
Quinn is determined to get justice for his friend. Plus, now, Markoff's girlfriend Jenny, who had been an assistant to an ambitious Congressman, has also disappeared... 
 
Racing from the corridors of power in Washington to the bustling streets of Singapore - along with his smart, eager apprentice Nate and brilliant Orlando, his closest friend who's saved his life more than once - events quickly spiral dangerously out of control...

The Deceived

(Jonathan Quinn: book 2):  an addictive and action-packed global-spanning adventure that will have you gripped…

Dyed-in-the-wool country girl Kate Webster seems not to have a care in the world: playing hard, drinking even harder, she tells herself that she will worry about the consequences later. But there is one consequence she cannot escape: the result of a wild dare she undertook when she was nineteen, her little daughter, Nell. 
 
Now she seems hell-bent on self-destruction: fighting with her father over the future of their farm after the death of her mother and his remarriage, refusing to reveal the identity of Nell's father, while remaining in love with him, and all too often neglecting Nell herself, while she parties the night away. 
 
But destiny is about to take a hand and stop Kate dead in her tracks. As in all Rachael Treasure's novels, tragedy and violence are only ever a heartbeat away. And back into her life, too, is about to walk the father of her child. How can she ever admit the truth to him?

The Dare

Brett Battles's debut novel has it all: exotic locations, ingenious plot twists and gritty action. If you're a fan of Jason Bourne, James Bond or Jack Reacher, what more could you want? 
 
'Brett Battles make a grand entrance into the thriller scene' - Tess Gerritsen 
'A brilliant and heart-pounding thriller' - Jeffrey Deaver 
'Catnip for thriller readers' - John Lescroart 
'The author is even better than they are telling you. None stop action delivered with outstanding pace and style' -- ***** Reader review 
'Very difficult to put down' -- ***** Reader review 
'Fast paced, believable, gripping. Can't wait to read the next one!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Buy this book and read it, you won't regret it' -- ***** Reader review 
 
********************************************* 
JONATHAN QUINN'S WORK COMES AFTER THE CRIME. BUT NOW THE CRIME'S COMING AFTER HIM. 
 
 Quinn is a freelancer working for 'the Office', a shadowy criminal organisation. His job is to clean up crime scenes - dispose of bodies, wipe away prints - anything to help them get away with it. 
 
 His latest job seems simple enough: investigate a suspicious case of arson. Until the moment a dead body turns up where it doesn't belong, and Quinn's Office handlers go strangely silent. 
 
The Office is under threat, and someone wants him dead. 
 
 And if Quinn can't figure out what's going on from only a handful of clues, he'll never clean another crime scene. 
 
 He'll be the crime scene.

The Cleaner

(Jonathan Quinn: book 1):  a brutal, unputdownable spy novel.  You’ll be on the edge of your seat…

Alice Patten

We begin at the beginning according to Liz Calder, Groucho’s inventor. Liz’s friend and fellow publisher and founder Carmen Callil called her ‘probably the most magnificent of the generation of women who changed things; who moved the centre of the universe, of vision, and gave it a jolt’. The opening of the Groucho Club in 1985 was a part of that jolt. Dreamt up by a group of publishers as an alternative to stuffy gentleman’s clubs who wanted somewhere to meet and relax, they approached Anthony Mackintosh owner of ‘The Zanzibar’ – a members bar in Covent Garden – and Restaurant 192. Tony and his partners got to work and the Groucho Club was created. 
 
 Premises were found in Soho, the bohemian heart of London, and the doors opened to a membership drawn from the arts, publishing, film, music and advertising. It soon became the approved watering hole for the bright young things. 
 
 Over the years its four thousand or so members have become something of a dysfunctional family. And along the way the Club has, through member's donations, accidentally become the guardian of one of the most, if not the most, special collections of modern British art on the planet. But above all it has become a home from home. 
 
 To mark their thirtieth Birthday in 2015 the Groucho Club are publishing this, their first autobiography.

Groucho 30th Anniversary

Robert Sellers

'God put me on this earth to raise sheer hell.' Richard Burton 
'I was a sinner. I slugged some people. I hurt many people. And it's true, I never looked back to see the casualties.' Richard Harris 
'Booze is the most outrageous of all drugs, which is why I chose it.' Peter O'Toole 
'I don't have a drink problem. But if that was the case and doctors told me I had to stop I'd like to think I would be brave enough to drink myself into the grave.' Oliver Reed 
 
This is the story of four of the greatest thespian boozers who ever walked - or staggered - off a film set into a pub. It's a story of drunken binges of near biblical proportions, parties and orgies, broken marriages, drugs, riots and wanton sexual conquests. They got away with it because of their extraordinary acting talent and because the public loved them. They were truly the last of a breed, the last of the movie hellraisers.

Hellraisers

The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed

Rick Wakeman

Around about August 1948, Mr and Mrs Cyril Wakeman had an early night and some time later, at Perivale in Middlesex, Mrs Wakeman produced a bonny baby son. They named him Richard, but he quickly became known as Rick. 
 
Rick was a likeable little fellow who had a talent for the piano and for making trouble. Music became Rick's life - he joined a popular music group called Yes and became a legend. Much later he became a Grumpy Old Man who appears on Countdown, hosts a hugely popular radio show on Planet Rock and performs a one-man show telling stories about his rather extraordinary life. 
 
Which is where this book you are holding comes in. Mr Wakeman is simply one of the great storytellers of our age - let's face it, he has some fabulous material. It seemed a shame that some of the funniest yarns should not be more widely known. So he accepted some cash and here we are. 
 
Curl up by the fire with a Grumpy Old Rock Star and your nearest and dearest. We defy you not to want to read it aloud and laugh.

Grumpy Old Rock Star

and Other Wondrous Stories

Tim FitzHigham

All At Sea is a celebration of the epic absurd, an attempt to explain just how out of hand things can become from a very simple starting point. The book follows the author's death-defying 200-mile journey in his antique Thomas Crapper bath - not just across the Channel, but around Kent - right up to the tremendous reception and huge media attention which awaited him under Tower Bridge. Tim met the Queen, and his bath now resides in the National Maritime Museum of Great Britain.

All At Sea

One man. One bathtub. One very bad idea.

Iain Pattinson

The I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue team of Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, in the company of their esteemed chairman Humphrey Lyttelton, have been recording their BBC radio show around the UK for longer than any of them can remember ... that's about a week - or twenty minutes in the case of Barry Cryer. At each venue Humph would present a short history of the location, written by Iain Pattinson, to the mutual delight of the audience, the team and their delightful scorer Samantha (who somehow always found time for a rewarding poke around the area's backstreets). 
 
We are privileged to present, in gazetteer form, the very best of Humph's local histories form Radio 4's multi award-winning 'antidote to panel games'. As accurate as Wikipedia and as comprehensive as Reader's Digest, this unique guide tells you everything you never knew you wouldn't ever need to know about the background and inhabitants of Britain's most prominent towns and cities. The intelligent reader will waste no time in adding it to their collection. 
 
Bristol 
It was from Bristol in 1497 that John Cabot set off to find a new route to the Spice Islands by sailing north-west. He instead discovered a strange, hostile world which he named 'Newfoundland', until the natives explained that they actually called it 'Swansea'. 
Nottingham 
It's well documented in official records that the city's original name was 'Snottingham' or 'home of Snotts', but when the Normans came, they couldn't pronounce the initial letter 'S', so decreed the town be called 'Nottingham'or the 'home of Notts'. It's easy to understand why this change was resisted so fiercely by the people of Scunthorpe. 
Brighton 
A settlement is first recorded in Brighton as long as ago as 3000 BC, when Celtic Druids practised their ancient worship of oaks, mistletoe and virgins, and indeed, oaks and mistletoe are still plentiful in Brighton.

Lyttelton's Britain

A User's Guide to the British Isles as heard on BBC Radio's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

E. W. Hermon

Lt Colonel E.W. Hermon died in a hail of bullets on the 9th April 1917, the first day of the Battle of Arras, leading his men of the 24th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers into the attack. Like hundreds of thousands of others in the Great War, he gave his life for his King and country. He was shot through the heart, one bullet slicing through the papers in his top pocket, including the four-leaf clover his wife had given him for good luck. His final words to his Adjutant were 'Go on!' before he sank to his knees and died almost instantaneously. He was carried from the battlefield by his faithful soldier servant, Buxton, and now lies buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Roclincourt, three miles from Arras. This could have been the end of the story but he left a testament of his life and ideals in a unique and hitherto unknown and unpublished collection of long and detailed letters he wrote to his darling wife and his children, 'the Chugs'. Now, nearly a century after his death, he speaks to us of a past, less cynical life, where selflessness, honour, duty and courage were admired above all else. His own courage was officially recognised as he was mentioned in despatches three times and posthumously awarded the D.S.O. 
 
The letters have been transcribed and edited by Hermon's granddaughter Anne Nason with the guidance and historical advice of James Holland, the distinguished historian and writer. Peter Caddick-Adams, who works alongside Richard Holmes at Cranfield University, believes the letters to be unique in their candour and context since Hermon was Battalion Commander and thus his letters were not censored.

For Love and Courage

The Letters of Lieutenant Colonel E.W. Hermon from the Western Front 1914 - 1917

Readers love MORNING, NOON, NIGHT: 
'A beautiful coffee table book!' 
'Fantastic furniture, fabulous recipes' 
'Gorgeous photos to inspire the home, as well as recipes. A great buy!' 
'Give this as a house warming gift to anyone who has taste.' 
'I bought both of the Soho House books. I love them!' 
_______________________________________________________ 
 
This 300-page, cloth-bound book invites readers behind the scenes at the Houses - taking you through the day from the second you wake up to the moment you go to bed. Key elements of the Soho House way of living are illustrated and broken down into helpful features, like how to make a tasty vegan breakfast or creating the perfect bedroom, with plenty of inspirational new imagery along the way. 
 
Interior design, food and drink take centre stage, and with more than 20 years of design experience behind them, Soho House's experts offer impactful insights into House style, including tips on their favourite sources and suppliers - all designed to help you take a little of the House home. 
________________________________________ 
 
SOHO HOUSE founder, NICK JONES: 
'I've been astonished by the number of people who went out and bought Eat, Drink, Nap, which really set out to explain our founding principles. Since that was published, we've built Soho Farmhouse on 100 acres of Oxfordshire countryside, transformed a former belt factory in Chicago, reimagined a 140-year-old palazzo in Istanbul, restored the shell of a listed Georgian building in London's Soho and launched our own collection of homeware, called Soho Home.'

Morning, Noon, Night

A Way of Living

Lisa Jardine

'I want to use the moment as a springboard for some big ideas. I want to use the past and present to stimulate and challenge the listener and seduce them into thinking differently.' Lisa Jardine 
 
Provocative and inspirational, Lisa Jardine is one of our pre-eminent thinkers. A leading academic, she is a polymath who embraces both the arts and the sciences with equal passion and has that rare gift of being able to make her subject and her thinking accessible to a mainstream audience. 
 
Lisa presents 'A Point of View' on Radio 4 on Sunday mornings, replacing Alistair Cooke's 'Letter From America'. Another Point of View is a collection of twenty-two of the hugely popular and critically-acclaimed talks from the programme, on subjects as wide-ranging and topical as commuting, national identity, Christmas, Latin, knife crime, the mortgage crisis and the credit crunch. 
 
The book contains drawings by Nick Wadley.

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