John Martin

THESE TWO PENSIONERS would normally be the last two people in town to worry the former mayor is missing. Especially not now when they are busy planning their trip to Ireland to retrace family roots. But when, the nasty old mayor disappears, someone starts stealing local landmarks in the quirky little town, and no-one else seems to be overly concerned, the two octogenarians, Oodles and Wish-Wash, go from being unlikely tourists to unlikely sleuths....

Guess who makes a surprise appearance? They would have known he was still alive if they had licked him! Major B.S. will have to find out the hard way just what the British were doing on Mad Bill's Island in World War 2. All he really wants is to get off the island he was so keen to get to, so it's going to come as surprise. This black comedy wraps up the Funny Capers DownUnder series.

This bundle of three novels takes you on a rollercoaster ride of humour and mystery that finally reveals a dark secret from World War 2.Most of the story occurs on an uncharted island off the east coast of Australia ruled by a cranky hermit called Mad Bill.But the series actually starts in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1974, when a lawyer legs it from angry gangsters.He makes it to the island and decides he'll be safe there.But he didn't count on so many visitors.Follow...

When two gangsters visit barrister William Clarin, they think he's called The Magician because he can make charges go away. But, the truth is he's only got that nickname because his hobby involves making rabbits vanish! He has to leg it, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong in this slapstick comedy. He finds himself out-gunned, out-muscled and out-ranked on the high seas. He really has to pull something special out of his hat this time.

FORMER MAYOR James Northan isn't on speaking terms with Windy Mountain's other two old men.So it comes as an unpleasant surprise for him when he is forced into sharing a house with them for three months.It's so he can stay safe from this awful pandemic (that he denies).But while he resigns himself to a future of face masks, hand-sanitiser and a life of much less luxury than he is used to in the company of two buffoons, he gets more unpleasant surprises.Never...

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia left stockpiles of chemical weapons scattered across its former empire in Eastern Europe. Now, awash in petro dollars, and with the United States attention diverted to other trouble spots, the Kremlin is ready to regain its past glory and recover those weapons. A forgotten base, isolated in Moldova, seems to be the perfect place to use as a transfer point. The 289th Engineers, needing to rest, rebuild and...

Three old men hope to trace their roots and claim an inheritance in mother Ireland. Not everything goes to plan! 1. BLOKES ON A PLANE Two old-age pensioners go from being unlikely tourists to unlikely sleuths when the former mayor disappears and someone starts stealing landmarks in Windy Mountain. These octogenarians are supposed to be planning their trip to Ireland to retrace family roots. But it's time to break out the walkie-talkies and cow-camouflage...

Two old scallywags break a silly law to "prove" the extinct Tasmanian Tiger lives on.But that's just for starters in this six-novel bundle based on the island of Tasmania at the bottom of Australia.The two octogenarians don't just want to alter the course of ecological history. They also want to make sure the former mayor gets what he deserves.They take a detour to Ireland, where one of them inherits a castle and descends into a whole lot of trouble,...

As generations have learned from these ancient animal stories, fine feathers don't necessarily make fine birds, slow and steady helps win the race, and it's a mistake to count your chickens before they're hatched. Twenty-four timeless fables, recounted in verse, are complemented by distinctive wood engravings featuring black-and-red silhouettes of the legendary creatures. Readers of all ages will delight in tales of the lordly lion whose generosity...

"Winner of the 2010 Theory Prize, American Sociological Association" John Levi Martin is professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. Social Structures is a book that examines how structural forms spontaneously arise from social relationships. Offering major insights into the building blocks of social life, it identifies which locally emergent structures have the capacity to grow into larger ones and shows how structural tendencies associated...