english, anglais, level 6, niveau 6, crime, mystery, mystère, fiction, littérature de Grande Bretagne, Brittish literature 

Patrick Aldermann, an accountant with a company that makes toilets, is passionate about his roses, which he prunes ruthlessly, 'deadheading' any blossoms a minute past their prime so as to make space for the younger blooms. Not much of a gardener, Dalziel views Patrick as a strong contender for the title of Most Boring Man in Yorkshire. Pascoe, though, has noticed that senior executives at the toilet company 'gentlemen, you might say, just a minute past their prime' have an unlucky habit of dying. And when they do, it's all but inevitably Patrick who, like a lucky young bloom, is poised to take their place 

"Oxford Bookworms" offer students at all levels the opportunity to extend their reading and appreciation of English. There are six stages, taking students from elementary to advanced level. At the lower stages, many of the texts have been specially written for the series, to provide elementary and lower-intermediate students with an introduction to real reading in English. At the higher stages, most of the books have been adapted from works originally published for native speakers. The language controls used in "Oxford Bookworms" are based on a syllabus specially created for the series by Tricia Hedge. This takes account of the more traditional approaches to grading and recent research into the nature of reading difficulty. The approximate vocabulary count for each stage is: Stage 1 - 400 words; Stage 2 - 700 words; Stage 3 - 1000 words; Stage 4 - 1400 words; Stage 5 - 1800 words; Stage 6 - 2500 words. All stages have exercises for classroom or private use, plus a supporting glossary to help students with vocabulary. Illustrations are used, especially at the lower stages, to help comprehension.