Twenty-one years ago, when a conductor was poisoned and the Questura sent a man to investigate, readers first met Commissario Guido Brunetti. Since 1992's Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon and her shrewd, sophisticated, and compassionate investigator have been delighting readers around the world. For her millions of fans, Leon's novels have opened a window into the private Venice of her citizens, a world of incomparable beauty, family intimacy, shocking crime, and insidious corruption. This internationally acclaimed, bestselling series is widely considered one of the best ever written, and William Heinemann is thrilled to be publishing the twenty-second installment, The Golden Egg, in April 2013.

When making routine enquiries into a possible bribery case that could embarrass the mayor - a humiliation Vice-Questore Patta is very keen to avoid - Commissario Brunetti receives a call from his wife, Paola, who is evidently very upset. The middle-aged deaf mute with the mental age of a child who helped out at the Brunetti's dry cleaners has been found dead - an 'accidental' overdose of his mother's sleeping pills - and for some reason Paola is distraught by the news. To the neighbourhood he was just the 'boy' who helped out, but nobody knew much about him - not even his name. That a soul could have lived such a joyless life is too much for Paola to bear, and she asks Guido if he can find out what happened.

It is a surprise to Brunetti just how little was known about this man-child - there are no official records to show he even existed. The man's mother is angry and contradictory when questioned about his death, and Brunetti senses that there much more to the story than she is willing to tell. With the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, perhaps Brunetti can get to the truth and find some measure of solace.

Spring 2008. The art world is awash with money, and Piers Guest is getting his share. Celebrated art mogul, critic, impresario and 'adviser' with a client list ranging from the wealthiest of individual collectors to an international merchant bank, he is a bona fide member of the glitterati. Graced with his own beauty, he gallivants through London's galleries, cafes and hotels, playground for multi-millionaire artists, financiers and infidelity, while still enjoying a Chelsea mansion with his wife and daughter. Until a mysterious meeting about a newly discovered masterpiece begins a hunt that will lead him onto an altogether different terrain...

1933. Under the shadow of the newly elected Nazi party, Helga and Ernst Mann bring a disabled child into the world. While her husband Ernst, a folklorist, drifts near the baleful influence of the Third Reich, Helga will stop at nothing to keep her child safe.

1890. Vincent Van Gogh is living out his last few weeks in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. Tormented by illness and regret, his only companions are the melancholy Dr Gachet, the ghosts of his own past, and the group of disturbed but engaging patients being treated by Gachet. Taking up his brush, he paints the picture that will draw so many disparate lives together.

From the troubled genius of Vincent Van Gogh to the wartime birch forests of Ukraine, from the scintillating labyrinths of contemporary art and commerce to a mother's desperate journey across Germany into the teeth of the Red Army, Jonathan Tulloch's novel examines madness and creativity, love and destruction, the painting of a picture and the lust to own.

Richard Harris was never an easy person to get along with. He was a difficult schoolboy (and was later disowned by his Limerick teachers), then he went to work in the family flour and milling business - where he organised a strike against his father.

It was as a gifted and compelling actor that Richard Harris dominated stage and screen for more than four decades. He was nominated for an Oscar twice: for his earthy portrayal of a rugby player in This Sporting Life and as a dominant and bullish Irish farmer in The Field. More recently he delivered gripping screen performances in Gladiator and two Harry Potter films.

But it was his violent, drunken, womanising private life that fed the public myth and made Harris, one of a new breed of rogue male actors, an international celebrity. Married and divorced twice, with three sons - two actors, one a film director - he claimed the only time he had been miscast was as a husband. His lovers included legends such as Merle Oberon, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner and Vanessa Redgrave.

Peter and Tilte are trying to track down two notorious criminals: their parents. They are the pastor and the organist, respectively, of the only church on the tiny island of Fin?. Known for fabricating cheap miracles to strengthen their congregation's faith, they have been in trouble before. But this time their children suspect they are up to mischief on a far greater scale.

When Peter and Tilte learn that scientific and religious leaders from around the world are assembling in Copenhagen for a conference, they know their parents are up to something. Peter and Tilte's quest to find them exposes conspiracies, terrorist plots, an angry bishop, a deranged headmaster, two love-struck police officers, a deluded aristocrat and much more along the way.

Part adventure story, part study of human nature, The Elephant Keepers' Children is a delightful and thought-provoking novel from the prizewinning Danish author Peter H?eg.

Caterina Pellegrini is a young Venetian musicologist hired by two competing cousins to find the truthful heir to an alleged treasure concealed by a once-famous, but now almost forgotten, baroque composer. Sworn to secrecy, Caterina can solve the mystery only by searching through the papers contained in the composer's two chests that have not been opened for centuries.

As she delves into all quarters of his life, from professional to personal, she is drawn into one of the most scandalous affairs of the baroque era. When her research takes her in unexpected directions, she begins to wonder what dark secrets these chests hold and just whom can she trust?

Whether you know him as El Amigo, the Banana Man, the Gringo, or simply Z - whether you even know him at all - Sam Zemurray lived one of the greatest untold American stories of the last hundred years.

A tough, uneducated Russian Jew who found himself and his fortune in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, Zemurray built a fruit-selling empire hustling rotting fruit to market to eke out the slimmest profit, to eventually become a backchannel kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary. The Fish That Ate the Whale spans the transition from Old-World business to New-: from privateer adventurers seeking fortunes in remote frontiers, to buccaneers of high finance and wars fought with media, no-bid contracts, and necessary illusions.

Part of what makes this book so remarkable - and its dubious hero so compelling - is the almost invisible ease with which Cohen's threads intertwine to create a larger pattern that seems so obvious once you step back to see it. Z's story spans the birth of modern foreign relations, the creation of the CIA, smuggling dispossessed Jews out of Europe, the invention of Israel, corporate espionage, the Bay of Pigs, political assassination, and the unspoken motives of the Cold War. It is a twentieth-century epic, and standing at its core is a man unlike any we've seen before or since, who, for good or ill, looked at what was, but saw only what was possible.

Leading management guru Peter M Senge defines the five business 'disciplines' which together help to build learning organizations. These companies will be the successful ones in the coming decade because of their ability to learn, to absorb new ideas, theories and practices at all employee levels and use them to competive adventage. Shared vision, teamwork and leverage are the main themes of this book.

The ancient Greeks, to whom a trained memory was of vital importance - as it was to everyone before the invention of printing - created an elaborate memory system, based on a technique of impressing 'places' and 'images' on the mind. Inherited and recorded by the Romans, this art of memory passed into the European tradition, to be revived, in occult form, at the Renaissance, and particularly by the strange and remarkable genius, Giordano Bruno.

Such is the main theme of Frances Yates's unique and brilliant book, in the course of which she sheds light on such diverse subjects as Dante's Divine Comedy, the form of the Shakespearian theatre and the history of ancient architecture. Aside from its intrinsic fascination, The Art of Memory is an invaluable contribution to aesthetics and psychology, and to the history of philosophy, of science and of literature.

This is the incredible story and miraculous work of a remarkable woman. Though she began life severely learning disabled, she built herself a better brain and a brain training program that has helped thousands of others do the same.

Barbara Arrowsmith Young was born with severe learning disabilities. Undaunted, she used her strengths to develop brain exercises to overcome her neurological deficits. She has gone on to change countless lives.

In the past five years, the idea that self-improvement can happen in the brain has caught hold and inspired new hope. Now, thanks to brilliant path-breakers such as Barbara, rather than worrying about how our brains shape us, we can focus on shaping our brains. Young's work is one of the first examples of the extensive and practical application of 'neuroplasticity.' As the individuals described in this book change their brains, readers see how the brain works and what a profound impact improved mental capacity has on how we can participate in the world. Here her personal story is interwoven with fascinating accounts of the clinical mysteries and triumphant stories that Barbara has encountered during her career.

The Arrowsmith cognitive training program originated in Toronto in 1978, but is now being implemented in schools in Canada and across the United States.

Azar Nafisi, author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.A girl's pain over family secrets; a young woman's discovery of the power of sensuality in literature; the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political upheaval - these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir.

Nafisi's intelligent and complicated mother, disappointed in her dreams of leading an important and romantic life, created mesmerising fictions about herself, her family, and her past.But her daughter soon learned that these narratives of triumph hid as much as they revealed.Nafisi's father escaped into narratives of another kind, enchanting his children with classic tales like the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings.When her father began to see other women, young Azar began to keep his secrets from her mother.Nafisi's complicity in these childhood dramas ultimately led her to resist remaining silent about other personal - as well as political, cultural, and social - injustices.

Reaching back in time to reflect on other generations in the Nafisi family, Things I've Been Silent About is also a powerful historical portrait of a family that spans the many periods of change leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79.It is, finally, a deeply personal reflection on women's choices, and how Azar Nafisi found the inspiration for a different kind of life.This unforgettable portrait of a woman, a family, and a troubled homeland is a stunning book that readers will embrace, a new triumph from an author who is a modern master of the memoir.

Pizzas, pasties, curries, cobblers, hotpots, stroganoffs, burgers and pies. Soups, salads, koftas, kebabs, pilafs, moussakas, wraps and melts...

Mighty mince has long been a handy and budget-friendly standby found in fridges and freezers up and down the country. But there's more to this tasty staple than spag bol and shepherd's pie . . .

In this, his first collection of easy-to-follow recipes bursting with big flavours, TV chef Dean Edwards takes inspiration from all over the world to whip up super-quick, versatile meals with mince for every day of the week.

Chili beef hotpot

Chicken and chorizo burgers

Thai lamb and tomato curry

Sizzling beef pizza

Smokey turkey fajitas

Moroccan meatball tagine

You'll never again be left wondering what to cook for dinner . . .

Robbie Savage could have been just another Manchester United reject. Instead, he used the Old Trafford scrapheap as a springboard to become one of the most instantly recognisable footballers in the Premier League, despite being told by Sir Alex Ferguson he was not good enough to stay in the class of '92 alongside David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville.

For the last 16 years, Savage has carved out a reputation as a hard man and wind-up merchant with an unerring ability to grab a headline. From deliberately getting Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh sent off in a Wembley Cup final to the 'Jobbiegate' row with referee Graham Poll and the bust-ups with John Toshack, Rio Ferdinand, Graeme Souness and Paul Jewell, the list is endless.

Yet numerous footballing legends will testify to the skill of the midfielder, who has starred for Crewe, Leicester, Birmingham, Blackburn and Derby and won 39 international caps for Wales. Behind the long blond hair, the Armani tattoo and the flamboyant cars, Savage has always been the heartbeat of his team.

Savage! provides a unique insight into the extraordinary life of an elite sportsman, a colourful character and loving family man. Love him or loathe him, Robbie Savage's story is a remarkable one.

Primrose Bakery is a way of life. From croissants for breakfast to layer cakes at tea, it has the whole day covered. And of course their signature buttercream cupcakes are delicious any time of day!

With over 80 inspirational and easy-to-follow recipes for cupcakes, layer cakes, biscuits, loaves and much more, as well as tips like perfect icing, The Primrose Bakery Book is a baking bible. It is also a gorgeously quirky window onto the very special day-to-day world of the Primrose Bakery.

Sometime late in 1664, the musketeer D'Artagnan rode beside a heavily-armoured carriage as it rumbled slowly southwards from Paris, carrying his great friend Nicolas Fouquet to internal exile and life imprisonment in the fortress of Pignerol. There he would be incarcerated in a cell next door to the Man with the Iron Mask...

From a glittering zenith as the King's first minister, builder of the breathtaking chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, collector of books, patron of the arts and lover of beautiful women, Fouquet had fallen like Icarus. Charged with embezzlement, he was convicted and sentenced to banishment until the King intervened to change his sentence to life imprisonment.

Charles Drazin's riveting account brings to life the rich and hazardous world in which Foucquet lived. As a child he learned from his devout mother how to mix herbal remedies for the patients at the Hotel-Dieu and from his father, a creature of Cardinal Richelieu, the demands of political life. Drazin tells of the young man's first adventures as a tax-collector, caught up in rebellion in the Dauphine , of the loyalty and service that he gave to Cardinal Mazarin and of the financial wizardry that somehow kept France's finances together. The cunning, charisma and charm of Fouquet enchant and beguile while they reveal the seeds of his destruction.

But it is in his downfall and incarceration, which he bore with great fortitude, courage and humour, that Fouquet's strength of character and grace emerge, as he somehow survives both solitary confinement and absence of books, pen and ink. The richness and contrasts of his remarkable story are done full justice in this compelling book.

A fair-haired young man from Virginia sees a dark girl rowing on the lake at Versailles and he falls in love. She turns out to be the Duchess de La Rochefoucauld, known as Rosalie, married to a man twice her age who also happens to be her uncle. It is the spring of 1875 and the young American, William Short, nicknamed Wm, has crossed the Atlantic to serve as secretary to his adoptive father Thomas Jefferson at the Paris embassy. Lodging on the Champs Elysees with Jefferson's two young daughters and their teenage slave Sally Hemings, Wm becomes the darling of the free spirits of the ancien regime, who want to copy everything American, including revolution and the pursuit of happiness.

But this is a time when nothing runs straight, certainly not the pursuit of happiness. Together and apart, Wm and Rosalie endure the bloodiest days of the Terror when everyone loses their heads or their illusions except for one man, but that man is about to become President of the United States.

Stylish, intelligent and witty, The Condor's Head is by turns tense and erotic, incredibly funny and unbearably sad. It includes the real-life letters of Wm and Rosalie and Jefferson, some never published before. It also incidentally reveals the truth about the Third President and Sally Hemings.