"A haughty victim with a houseful of enemies makes for a jaunty murder-mystery in mid-century America"--Back cover

Hazel killed Dr. Julius. Took his head clean off Or did she? Hazel was a category 4 hurricane that hit the Carolinas and Virginia in the fall of 1954. In its wake, scores of people lay maimed and dead. In the harried days of recovery, Virginia's Fluvanna County coroner ruled Dr. Julius' death an ""act of God."" But some in his family didn't hold the Almighty culpable. They thought it was murder. ""Hazel didn't do it Someone killed him "" the doctor's daughter insisted in her plea to Harry to investigate the matter, one the police considered closed. He was skeptical, but how could he refuse her? She was just 9 years old.

After gaining fanfare for cracking the sensational Madison Murder case, Harry Bittercress, a former army MP, sees his private eye career take off. ""Good cases are finally comin' my way "" he enthuses to Cardamine, his wife of nearly seven years. She's an American-born, Oxford-educated woman of British and Jamaican parentage ? atypical for Virginia of the 1950s. But it doesn't end there. When housework is done, she doesn't pick up the Ladies Home Journal; she pores over literature, philosophy, mathematics, and social and physical science journals. Oh, and did I mention she makes a living as a psychic reader and advisor? Like I said: atypical. Cardamine counterbalances Harry's street smarts and roughhewn gumshoe work with her keen intellect and encyclopedialike knowledge. He's going to need her help when an oddball case comes in over the transom: solving a murder that hasn't happened yet His client calmly states, ""Someone's going to kill me. Afterwards, I want you to catch him.""

At an after-dinner dance amid music and merriment, the tempo stops with the flash and bang of a pistol going off. A man is shot dead - a daring act of murder in close quarters. It shouldn't take long for Harry, a private eye, to finger the killer. But he's not there; his wife Cardamine is. It's up to her to help the authorities follow clues, avoid red herrings, and nab the killer. But like a tango, this case takes a quick turn. She becomes the prey and must run a maze of death to escape a killer. Don't be a wallflower; get onto the dance floor with Cardamine. But watch out for Death cutting in.

The enormous popularity of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy has raised awareness of other contemporary European authors of crime fiction. As a result, several of these novelists now reach a receptive American audience, eager for fresh perspectives in the genre. This critical text offers an introduction to current European crime writing by exploring ten of the best new crime nd mystery authors from Sweden (Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell), Norway (Karin Fossum and Jo Nesbo), Iceland (Arnaldur Indridason), Italy (Andrea Camilleri), France (Fred Vargas), Scotland (Denise Mina and Philip Kerr), and Ireland (Ken Bruen), who are reshaping the landscape of the modern crime novel. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Menacing tokens of doom appear at a woodland resort: a noose in the attic, blood in the lobby, and an open grave in the cellar. The only thing missing? A corpse. But for how long? Guests gaily dismiss these incidents as Halloween pranks, but not everyone is so sure. Someone knows that current events echo a previous, undiscovered murder. Private eye, Harry Bittercress, and his psychic wife, Cardamine, must uncover and solve that murder to have any hope of averting another.

An unlikely group of burglars and their ringleader loot the vault at Commonwealth Bank & Trust. They pull it off without a hitch. Almost. A clue is found at the scene and a night guard is killed - bludgeoned to death. Police interrogate suspects but nobody cracks. Do they have the wrong suspects? Is the clue a red herring? A year later, no one's under arrest, the money hasn't surfaced, and the guard lies unavenged in his grave. "I want you to find his killer and the stolen money!" the bank president tells Harry. Can he do what the police couldn't? Maybe so, but not without help from his wife, Cardamine - even if he doesn't welcome it.

Nostalgic recollections of wartime Britain often forget that when the blackout was enforced at night in an attempt to foil Nazi bombers a crime wave, cloaked by the inky black darkness, ensued on many of our streets. There were petty crimes, robberies, sexual assaults and, as The Blackout Murders reveals, some horrific murders took place on our home front during the Second World War. Some of them still rank among the most shocking crimes in modern British history. Some of the murders recounted within the pages of this book remain infamous, others are almost forgotten and some remain unsolved to this day. Several cases have new light shed on them from recently released archives and records uncovered by the author. Every case has been carefully selected for its reflection of wartime conditions and each one has a powerful, poignant and tragic story to tell. Readers will gain insights into the darker narrative of our home front and learn about some of the men and women who strove to maintain law and order under the most challenging circumstances. Others innovated and developed ground-breaking forensic techniques to identify bodies, recognize if foul play had occurred and as a direct result brought murderers to justice who may otherwise have gone undetected and unpunished. Anyone reading The Blackout Murders will never look at Britain's Home Front during the Second World War in the same way again.

Set in London, A Game of Murder features a young Scotland Yard CIT officer who is on leave when his father dies in a golfing accident. But Harry Dawson won’t let the mystery go, for mystery it is. Who is the young man seen on the golf links? Why is everyone so interested in a dog collar? What is the connection with the man in the pet shop? Is it really possible that the housekeeper’s nephew can be inept as he seems? And where is the housekeeper? Francis Durbridge’s twisting, turning plot drips suspense on every page, quickening into a flood of action and mystery that keeps the reader guessing till the very end.

Answers to the Burning Questions Christian Parents, Educators, and Others Are Asking about Harry Potter. In the world of publishing, few successes have equaled that of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series—magical stories centered on one boy’s adventures at Hogwarts, a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Yet this popular series presents a perplexing—even divisive—challenge to the Christian community. Although the books present a clear picture of the epic battle between good and evil, they appear to support the use of magic and have had a controversial impact on our culture. As a result, many of us are wondering, “How should I respond to this Harry Potter thing?” Find out what the Harry Potter books really say about witchcraft and wizardry. Hear what Christians on both sides of the debate are saying about Harry Potter—and decide what you believe. Learn how you can use the series to protect your child from real occult influences. In What’s a Christian to Do with Harry Potter?, you’ ll explore the valid concerns some Christians have about the series, sort out the fact and fiction at the center of the debate, discover biblical answers that may surprise you, and learn how you can tap into this powerful cultural phenomenon to help advance the kingdom of God. This book has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any person or entity that created, published, or produced the Harry Potter books or related properties.