Promoted as the mystery of the year in 1940 The Chuckling Fingers is set at a summer estate on Lake Superior north of Grand Marais. The heroine is Ann Gay, a stenographer in an insurance office, who rushes to the North Shore after learning that her beloved cousin Jacqueline, newly married to a lumbering heir, may be in danger: "Other people may think they’d like to live their lives over, but not me—not if this last week is going to be in it. Out of what has just happened at the Fingers both Jacqueline and I got something worth keeping, but Heaven defend me from ever again having to stand helplessly by while it becomes more and more apparent to almost everyone but me that the person I love most in the world is murderously insane." Views: 23
Review"D.M. Fraser’s manipulation of language shows all the deftness of a skilled surgeon. His technical brilliance is charged here and there with a frisson of misanthropic humour that delights and unsettles." —The Globe and Mail"At once cerebral and sensual, D.M. Fraser’s stories are narrated by a variety of voices that are all, without exception, strong, articulate, and highly original, informed by the author’s sharp sense of irony, his political sensibility, and his irreverent sense of humour." —Books in Canada"D.M. Fraser resides in British Columbia's literary heaven alongside Malcolm Lowry, singing in the highest choirs." —Alan Twigg, BC Bookworld"In a way, the scenes in these stories are all comedic, and gravely serious: they occupy the space between irony and absurdity. Fraser had a beautiful style, which can be seen in these graceful, sonorous sentences. One hopes that this new edition of Class Warfare will inspire a new generation of Canadian writers to follow in his footsteps." —GeistProduct DescriptionA remarkable story collection about the radical anti-establishment of the 1970s by the late D.M. Fraser, one of Canada's most underappreciated writers. Comprised of assertive missives and richly hued character studies, Class Warfare is a gloriously written call to arms firmly rooted in the politics and culture of the 1970s; a paean to the disenfranchised about the possibilities of "the sweetness of life." First published in 1976 but never before released in the United States, Class Warfare includes an introduction by Arsenal Pulp Press' co-founder Stephen Osborne.D.M. Fraser was Arsenal Pulp Press' editor until his death in 1985 at age thirty-eight.We would have slept forever, if it had been possible; but it was not possible. The noise of gunfire woke us. The siren in the street, the crack of truncheon on skull, the groaning of muscle and crashing of blood, in all the unrewarded labours of the world, woke us. The shouts of the dying penetrated into that sleep, dragged us half-blind and staggering out of the lovely dreams, the sheltered nests we thought were ours by right, into this wakefulness, this cold and unforgiving daylight. There was no other choice. Views: 23
Trouble struck the schooner Griselda at 9:40 on an April evening. It was not the fault of the weather or the sea or the soundness of her hull. The trouble was human. A woman. Her name was Julia Parks, though in the beginning she insisted it was Lambert.It was hard to blame Howard Crane for bringing her aboard, because Julia always got what she wanted. What she wanted in this case was money. Keith Lambert's—her ex-husband's—money. That there were others too who wanted it was one of the first things that came to the minds of the Barbados police the next morning when Julia was found suffocated in her cabin. But the only trail they had to follow was one of tangled lives and tangled motives that led to jealousy, blackmail, native secrecy, and sudden death — all against the peaceful tropical background of picturesque Barbados.Here is another of the highly polished, tightly knit, and suspenseful mysteries that have made George Harmon Coxe for almost twenty... Views: 22
Uncle Henry has a history of heart trouble and doesn't wake up one morning. No one, even his physician, is surprised. But dear Aunt Gertrude, listening to Intuition, suspects Foul Play and insists on an autopsy. Since Aunt Gertrude is a cross between a battleship and a Victorian bulldog, an autopsy she gets. Surprise! Uncle Henry was, indeed, poisoned. The problem is that all of his relations have a motive. You see, Uncle Henry was not well liked at all; he took positive delight in thwarting his erstwhile relatives. They included two sisters, one sister-in-law, a niece, two nephews, and an attending physician who all had reason to hate him, and all benefited in one way or another from his unlamented passing. Views: 22
The plague struck, and ninety percent of Earth's population died. Those who survived tried to maintain some sort of civilization… which meant more killing, as it turned out. But bit by bit, generation by generation, people began to succeed. With occasional setbacks. Views: 22
Madame Rosika Storey is a detective living near Gramercy Park, NY, created in the mid-1920s by Canadian born Hulbert Footner. Storey's secretary, companion and gushing admirer, Bella Brickley narrates through five novels and thirty short stories as her hero solves crimes and straightens out people's problems. The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection calls her, "a stunningly beautiful young woman who describes herself as 'a practical psychologist--specializing in the feminine."
Mike Grost wrote: "Hulbert Footner's tales of Madame Rosika Storey have a period charm. They tend not to be overwhelmingly brilliant as puzzle plots. Footner's tales, from the 1920's and 30's seem oddly old-fashioned for their era. His detective technique would have seemed familiar to Émile Gaboriau in the 1860's: footprints, rooms searched for hidden clues, an obvious suspect and a hidden suspect, mild sorts of financial skullduggery lurking in the background. Footner was good at describing every sort of romantic attraction. He was alert to the emotional feelings of his characters. His characters are oddly, rawly sexual for their eras: one is especially startled by the gigolos in "Wolves of Monte Carlo", but Footner liked to include really handsome, seductive young men in many of his tales. Footner is perhaps a bit influenced by the Jazz Age tradition of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and its emphasis on both romance and sexuality. Madame Rosika in Madame Storey is somewhat unusual as a great detective of the era who happens to be a woman. She works as a paid professional, uses her brains, is universally respected for her skill, and basically plays the same role in her world that Hercule Poirot does in his." Views: 22
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer of children's books, best known for creating the marvelous Land of Oz in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". This fanciful kingdom was catalogued in a series of children's books beginning with the publication of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Baum's Oz series compasses the first fully developed fantasy world created by an American author. In 1900, Baum and Denslow, famous illustrator with whom he shared the copyright, published "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", making it one of the first commercially successful uses of color illustrations in American publishing. Dorothy and her friends soon began their journey toward becoming an integral part of the American consciousness. "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" is Baum's seventh contribution to the set of Oz stories. This tale is the first since the original "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" to send its hero on a quest through Oz. Ojo, a Munchkin boy, along with the Patchwork Girl and others set out to remedy his uncle after he is turned into a marble statue. Views: 22
Time travel is possible, but only forward in time. Visitors from the past are multiple and dangerous as they carry deadly germs people of the future do not have immunity against anymore. So all the time travelers are promptly apprehended and isolated. The head of the institution responsible for isolation of the time travelers is implacable and absolutely inflexible in carrying out his duties. Until one of the time travelers gives him a device allegedly capable of moving people back in time... Views: 22
Richard Jefferies’ “remarkable fantasy novel After London (1885), set in a future in which urban civilization has collapsed after an environmental crisis.” (From Encyclopædia Britannica ). * * * This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Views: 22
During the waning months of World War II, sharp-tongued Eugenia Gates accepts Mary Fredon's invitation to borrow her apartment for an unexpected two-week vacation. Mary herself is away recuperating from her own unexpected development -- her colorless husband Homer apparently has skipped town with Betty, the wife next door who, unlike Mary, shares his interest in Egyptology. Unknown to Eugenia, the disconcerted Mary has also offered the use of the apartment to army sergeant Kendall Smith for his furlough. Eugenia wants to rest, the sergeant wants to party, and Lucy, the batty chaperone Mary sends when she realizes her mistake, is more interested in snooping than in keeping the sergeant from pursuing Eugenia. Other residents of the building join in their partying, including an undertaker only too eager to share the intimate details of his craft and the rakish husband of the straying spouse from next door, who seems more interested in locating a lost eye than in the whereabouts of his wife. Mary returns in time to see a murder committed and to express alarm at her guest's untidy ways, prompting Eugenia to offer a heartfelt soliloquy on the dangers of housework. Besides, why bother about dust and crumbs when bodies are being found under beds, nestled in armchairs, or tucked away in vegetable bins? Views: 22
Every antique dealer is a bit of a detective, following clues to find the trophies that pay the rent, but when Lovejoy takes on the job of tracking down a pair of duelling pistols so rare that he's not even sure actually exist, he needs all the instincts of a detective to pick his way through an unsolved crime.Along the way, he becomes convinced that the weapons do exist but that they have fallen into the hands of a vile murderer. Locating the ancient weapons seems like the least of his problems when Lovejoy then finds himself fighting for his life in a duel to the death!Review“One of the most likable rogues in mystery history” – Chicago Sun-Times --Chicago Sun-Times About the AuthorJonathan Gash is the pen name ofJohn Grant, who also wrote under the name of Graham Gaunt. Born in 1933 in Bolton, Lancashire, Grant trained as a doctor and worked as both a GP and a pathologist. He also served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, where he rose to the rank of Major, and was head of bacteriology at the University of London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His first Lovejoy novel, The Judas Pair, won the Crime Writers' Association prestigious John Creasey award in 1977. Grant lives in Colchester, Essex. Views: 22
Book DescriptionCallahan's Place is the neighborhood tavern to all of time and space, where the regulars are anything but. Pull up a chair, grab a glass of your favorite, and listen to the stories spun by time travelers, cybernetic aliens, telepaths...and a bunch of regular folks on a mission to save the world, one customer at a time.About The AuthorSpider Robinson, winner of three Hugos and a Nebula, was born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, and has been a Canadian resident for 30 years. Holder of a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York, he worked as a folksinger and journalist before publishing his first story in Analog in 1973. He now lives with his wife Jeanne Robinson (co-author of the Hugo- and Nebula-winning Stardance trilogy) on an island outside Vancouver, B.C., where they raise and exhibit hopes. Eleven of his 31 books are set in Callahan's Place, a fabulous tavern founded by a time traveler, where puns flow as freely as beer, and smell far worse. The most recent is Callahan's Con [Tor July 2003]. He has contributed a regular editorial column, "Future Tense," to Canada's national newspaper, The Globe & Mail, since 1995. In 2000, he released Belaboring the Obvious, a CD of original music with the legendary Amos Garrett ("Midnight at the Oasis") on lead guitar, and in 2001 he was a celebrity judge at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. Views: 22
During the American Revolution, a woman fights to save her familySeveral years have passed since American colonists rose up against the tyranny of King George III, yet the war has no end in sight. As the struggle drags on, colonial commander George Washington's army supports itself by seizing land from those loyal to the Crown. In South Carolina, rebel leaders have their eyes on the Mallam estate, whose owner has fled to Jamaica, leaving his daughter Amity to manage the plantation. As a last-ditch effort to save her family's land, she marries Simon Mallam, a cousin and a rebel, then travels to Jamaica to learn if her father is alive or dead.There she finds no less turmoil than she left behind. Her father's sugar plantation, Mallam Penn, is in danger. If the Mallam family is to have any future in the new world, one woman must stave off the armies of two nations. Views: 22
