Alan Beechey: 4 books

Who can afford not to understand the USA? Many facets of American life have been embraced around the world, yet the sense of "just like in the movies" familiarity that first-time visitors often feel can be misleading. Underneath the gleaming smile of American popular culture lies a rich...

Scotland Yard is hunting the worst kind of serial killer - one with a sense of humor. When children's book author Oliver Swithin, reluctant creator of the notorious "Finsbury the Ferret," finds an old friend's body floating in a Trafalgar Square fountain, he can't convince the police...

If a blackmail letter drives a man to suicide, is the sender guilty of murder? "Yes," says Oliver Swithin, author of bestselling Finsbury the Ferret children's stories and amateur sleuth, who is on holiday in an ancient village. A midnight streak with his naked girlfriend - Scotland...

What holy terror spiked the sacraments with strychnine? When a teenage girl disappears from a north London suburb a few days before Christmas, Detective Sergeant Effie Strongitharm puts would-be cult leader and reputed exorcist Nigel Tapster on her list of people to be questioned. But...