This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together a selection of rare tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922. At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the Golden Age, that period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public’s imagination.

Stephen Munro, a demobbed army officer, reconciles himself to taking a job as a footman to make ends meet. Employed at Wintringham Hall, the delightful but decaying Sussex country residence of the elderly Lady Susan Carey, his first task entails welcoming her eccentric guests to a weekend house-party, at which her bombastic nephew—who recognises Stephen from his former life—decides that an after-dinner séance would be more entertaining than bridge. Then Cicely disappears!

Twelve BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of short stories by the Queen of Crime. First broadcast in the early 2000s, the stories were adapted and brought up-to-date for a contemporary audience. The stories are 'Philomel Cottage'; 'Swan Song'; 'Magnolia Blossom'; 'Witness for the Prosecution'; 'The Gates of Baghdad'; 'The Hounds of Death'; 'In a Glass Darkly'; 'The Dressmaker's Doll'; 'The Case of the Perfect Carer'; 'The £199 Adventure'; 'The Gypsy'; and 'The Last Seance'. Duration: 6 hours approx.

In The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish listeners.

The fascinating, true origin story of baseball - how America’s first great sport developed and how it conquered a nation.