Edward Gorey

These playful verses by a celebrated poet have delighted readers and cat lovers around the world ever since they were gathered for publication in 1939. As Valerie Eliot has pointed out, there are a number of references to cats in T.S. Eliot's work, but it was to his godchildren, particularly Tom Faber and Alison Tandy, in the 1930s, that he first revealed himself as "Old Possum" and for whom he composed his poems.

Adventurer Richard Hannay has just returned from South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his London life -- until a murder is committed in his flat, just days after the victim had warned him of an assassination plot that could bring Britain to the brink of war. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland, where he must use all his wits to stay one step ahead of the game -- and...

Living with his grandparents gives Johnny Dixon a lot of time to find trouble. Or adventure. Or is it both? In this, the first Johnny Dixon mystery, our young hero hears the spinetingling story of Father Baart, a madman who haunts the town's church. At first, Johnny does not believe in ghosts, but when he takes a scroll and a small Egyptian figurine from the church basement, all that changes. Soon, a mysterious stranger gives him a ring, and Johnny...

Mrs Zimmermann is at a loss - she still hasn't regained her powers from her last encounter with dark magic and Uncle Jonathan and Lewis have left for the summer to travel around Europe, leaving her and Rose Rita bored and lonely at home. That is until Mrs Zimmermann keeps on seeing visions and shadows of her old magic teacher, Granny Wetherbee, who is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. Mrs Zimmermann and Rose Rita set off to Pennsylvania...