Andrew Nicoll: 5 books

"A mystery that touches the heart, with characters caught in a world that's harsh but trembles with tender emotions. A beautiful story." JAMES NAUGHTIE, BBC Radio 4 When the door opened and he came out, there came with him the stench of a dead thing, the sweet, sulphurous, warm, rotten...

Otto Witte. Acrobat of Hamburg. King of Albania. Sitting in his caravan, drinking what is left of his coffee (dust), Otto has narrowly escaped death at the hands of allied bombs. Convinced his luck has run out and he will not see morning, he decides to record the story of his life for the poor...

Caterina is beautiful, sensuous, gifted - a woman alive with possibility. When she walks into a room, no one can look away. Luciano Valdez - celebrated writer and respected university lecturer whose life is teetering on the edge of despair - believes Caterina to be the most astonishing woman...

In a busy little city in a forgotten corner of the Baltic, in an office on the square, the beloved mayor of Dot lies on his office floor, peering beneath his door. Tibo Krovic has come to work from his house down at the end of a blue-tiled path. He’s taken, as usual, the tram seven stops, and walked...

Lie. Cheat. Bargain. Fight. Accept. Bribe. Conquer. Evade.   No matter what humanity tries, Death always wins.  Or does it?   Discover the answer in The Death of All Things, where twenty-two...