A living man is rescued from a coffin on its way to the cemetery—in a puzzling whodunit with an “interesting exploration of Victorian mourning practices” (Kirkus Reviews). One of Victorian London's most respected undertakers, Violet Harper has the new duty of accompanying coffins from various undertakers on the London Necropolis Railway for respectful funerals and burials in Surrey. But on her fateful first trip, the mournful silence of the train is shattered by the shrill ringing of a coffin bell—a device that prevents a person from being buried alive. Inside the coffin Violet finds a man wide-eyed with fear, claiming he was falsely interred. When a second coffin bell is rung on another trip, Violet grows suspicious. She voices her qualms to Inspector Hurst of Scotland Yard, only to receive a puzzling reply that, after all, it is not a crime to rise from the dead. But Violet's instincts are whispering that all is not well on the London Necropolis Railway's tracks. Is this all merely the result of clumsy undertaking, or is there something more sinister afoot? Determined to get to the heart of the matter, Violet uncovers a treacherous plot and villains who will stop at nothing to keep a lid on her search for the truth . . .

While grief is suffered in all cultures, it is expressed differently all over the world in accordance with local customs and beliefs. Music has been associated with the healing of grief for many centuries, with Homer prescribing music as an antidote to sorrow as early as the 7th Century BC. The changing role of music in expressions of grief and mourning throughout history and in different cultures reflects the changing attitudes of society towards life and death itself. This volume investigates the role of music in mourning rituals across time and culture, discussing the subject from the multiple perspectives of music history, music psychology, ethnomusicology and music therapy.

"At a time when each Society had its own medium of propogation of its researches ... in the form of Transactions, Proceedings, Journals, etc., a need was strongly felt for bringing out a journal devoted exclusively to the study and advancement of Indian culture in all its aspects. [This] encouraged Jas Burgess to launch the 'Indian antiquary' in 1872. The scope ... was in his own words 'as wide as possible' incorporating manners and customs, arts, mythology, feasts, festivals and rites, antiquities and the history of India ... Another laudable aim was to present the readers abstracts of the most recent researches of scholars in India and the West ... 'Indian antiquary' also dealt with local legends, folklore, proverbs, etc. In short 'Indian antiquary' was ...entirely devoted to the study of MAN - the Indian - in all spheres ... " -- introduction to facsimile volumes, published 1985.