Books published by Duckworth Books

More outrageous than Santa Claus in a Speedo, When Elves Attack serves up a Yuletide feast of the "pure gonzo humor" the New York Times Book Review enthusiastically attributes to this fearlessly funny writer. Welcome to Tim Dorsey's slice of America - where nobody gets out unscathed and un-Santa-Claused!

Be it horror or sci-fi, cartoons or comic books, video games or Bond movies, no matter what we're into, geeks of the world have two things in common: intense and unconditional enthusiasm, and the relentless urge to know every last thing about the objects of our affection. Vintage Geek will not only test your trivia chops, but also celebrates a varied selection of 20th century fandoms, from fifties Sci-Fi cinema, sixties Star Trek, Tom Baker's Doctor Who and eighties Action Classics to Hanna-Barbera, 2000 AD, Star Wars, Spielberg, Disney, Marvel, Atari, The Twilight Zone and much more besides. With a foreword from Emmy Award-winning Simpsons writer and producer Mike Reiss, Vintage Geek also features a fabulous fifty celebrity questions from the likes of John Carpenter, George Takei, Sam Neill, Mark Millar, Tom Savini, Mark Hamill, Pat Mills, Yeardley Smith and Sam J. Jones.

When Kenny Thorpe, a contestant on Expose TV's Big Blubber, the hot new celebrity weight-loss show, is murdered on live television in front of 3 million viewers, the case seems pretty watertight. But Cherry Hinton knows there's more to this than meets the eye.

An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose to a lady he rescued from mishap when he is sent to Paris by his firm. This gentle comedy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal.

Mr Edgar Finchley, unmarried solicitor's clerk, aged 45, is told to take a holiday for the first time in his life. He decides to go to Margate. But Fate has other plans in store... This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.

When players in Stockwell Park Orchestra fear they may be getting out of touch with their local community, they invite schoolchildren to join them for a season. Supercilious Oakdean College pupils have never mixed with the rough Sunbridge Academy kids, and when things go missing and rumours spread, the situation threatens to turn ugly.

Sir Humphrey is playing Father Christmas at the local hospital, but he won't be able to buy toys for the children. Meanwhile, a plan to attract paying guests to the Hall descends into chaos when actors playing a resident ghost spend too long in the pub. Events somehow work themselves out - in the most unexpected manner...

"I am in great danger..."This letter is received by three eminent citizens of Flaxborough, including the Chief Constable. So when one of the town's charity workers is found the wrong way up in her pond, a connection seems likely. Witty and wicked, Colin Watson's tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast and laugh-out-loud wordplay.

Whatever can have happened to Lil?When Lilian Bannister vanishes, a link is traced to a local lonely hearts agency. Flaxborough'sD.I. Purbrightand Sergeant Sid Love follow the trail to a rendezvous with Daisy Teatime... Witty and wicked, Colin Watson's tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay.

The gripping sight of four burly policemen manhandling a bath down the front path of a respectable villa isn't one the residents of Flaxborough see every day.Net curtains twitch furiously, and neighbours have observations to make to Chief Inspector Purbright and Sergeant Love about the inhabitants of 14, Beatrice Avenue. Nice Gordon Periam, the mild-mannered tobacconist, and his rather less nice (in fact a bit of a bounder) lodger Brian Hopjoy had apparently shared the house amicably.But now neither man is to be found and something very disagreeable seems to be lurking in the drains... Then a couple of government spooks turn up, one with an eye for the ladies - the drama is acquiring overtones of a Bond movie!Witty and a little wicked, Colin Watson's tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay.What people are saying about the Flaxborough series: "Colin Watson wrote the best English detective stories ever. They work beautifully as whodunnits but it's really the world he creates and populates ... and the quality of the writing which makes these stories utterly superior.""The Flaxborough Chronicles are satires on the underbelly of English provincial life, very well observed, very funny and witty, written with an apt turn of phrase ... A complete delight.""If you have never read Colin Watson - start now. And savour the whole series.""Light-hearted, well written, wickedly observed and very funny - the Flaxborough books are a joy. Highly recommended.""How English can you get? Watson's wry humour, dotty characters, baddies who are never too bad, plots that make a sort of sense. Should I end up on a desert island Colin Watson's books are the ones I'd want with me.""A classic of English fiction... Yes, it is a crime novel, but it is so much more. Wonderful use of language, wry yet sharp humour and a delight from beginning to end.""Re-reading it now, I am struck by just how many laugh-out-loud moments it contains. A beautifully written book.""As always, hypocricy and skulduggery are rife, and the good do not necessarily emerge triumphant. Set aside plenty of time to read this book - you won't want to put it down once you've started it!""Colin Watson writes in such an understated, humorous way that I follow Inspector Purbright's investigation with a smile on my face from start to finish.""If you enjoy classic mysteries with no graphic violence and marvellously well drawn characters then give the Flaxborough series a try - you will not be disappointed."Editorial reviews: "Watson has an unforgivably sharp eye for the ridiculous." New York Times"Flaxborough is Colin Watson's quiet English town whose outward respectability masks a seething pottage of greed, crime and vice ... Mr Watson wields a delightfully witty pen dripped in acid." Daily Telegraph"Arguably the best of comic crime writers, delicately treading the line between wit and farce ... Funny, stylish and good mysteries to boot." Time Out"A great lark, full of preposterous situations and pokerfaced wit." Cecil Day-Lewis"One of the best. As always with Watson, the writing is sharp and stylish and wickedly funny!" Literary Review"Flaxborough, that olde-worlde town with Dada trimmings." Sunday Times