Dark Deeds and Deep Thinking

Doing for global philosophy what Sapiens did for the history of humankind, How the World Thinks is a brilliantly accessible coalescence of thought and belief from around the world. Far from a dry survey of the world’s philosophies, Julian Baggini’s lively account brings together multiple voices and dissects complex thinking into a clear-sighted, concise precis. The first book to truly contrast and evaluate differing philosophical cultures across the globe, it is at its best in illuminating cross-cultural dialogue, often finding surprising common ground in the process. A triumph of comparative philosophy with widespread relevance for the way we live today.

When a group of old university friends gather together for a luxury New Year retreat in the Scottish Highlands, they’re promised a pampered escape from the rat-race, with some traditional blood-sport thrown in for good measure. Yet, as long-held tensions mount and the snow falls, they soon find themselves caught in the midst of a very different, dangerous game. Merging all the classic elements of Agatha Christie’s isolated island whodunit And Then There Were None with the finest multi-perspective modern thriller, Lucy Foley’s novel ratchets up the tension by ever-increasing degrees. The result is a propulsive, compulsively addictive read that will keep you guessing to the last.

Returning for a second month, Frostheart has already proved to be an instant favourite with readers and booksellers alike. Glittering with wintry wonder, this debut children’s novel takes a sleigh ride into the heart of a magical adventure. With a wonderfully visual sense of storytelling honed by an illustrious illustrating career providing pictures for the likes of Danny Wallace’s Hamish series and modern editions of The Famous Five, Jamie Littler pitches a diminutive Arctic hero and his disagreeable yeti guardian into a rollicking adventure aboard the mighty sleigh Frostheart.

A baby left in brown paper on a Dublin doorstep in 1923, a doctor gunned down on the streets of Mohill in cold blood three months later: an infamous case of corruption and collusion left shrouded in mystery for 100 years.  The work of author Ken Boyle and Tim Desmond, a producer and journalist who investigated the story for the RTÉ documentary, An Unholy Trinity, The Murder of Dr. Muldoon brings together a raft of new archive material - including covert files, military correspondence and inquest reports - as well as first-hand accounts from the Muldoon family to shed new light on the case. The result is both a fascinating piece of true crime history and a shocking revelation of wider Church, State and IRA complicity in the late Civil War era that made its cover-up possible.