Mystery/Crime. 65131 words long. Views: 6
In this collection, Ursula K. Le Guin, winner of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award, presents a world where there’s a better way of changing planes. Missing a flight, waiting in an airport, listening to garbled announcements—who doesn’t hate that misery? But Sita Dulip from Cincinnati finds a method of bypassing the crowds at the desks, the long lines at the toilets, the nasty lunch, the whimpering children and punitive parents, the bookless bookstores, and the blue plastic chairs bolted to the floor. A mere kind of twist and a slipping bend, easier to do than to describe, takes her not to Denver but to Strupsirts, a picturesque region of waterspouts and volcanoes, or to Djeyo where she can stay for two nights in a small hotel with a balcony overlooking the amber Sea of Somue. This new discovery—changing planes—enables Sita to visit bizarre societies and cultures that sometimes mirror our own and sometimes open doors into the alien. Illustrated by Eric Beddows, Le Guin’s account of her travels is by turns funny, disturbing, and thought provoking. Views: 6
Murder's on the ticket when intrepid poodle breeder Melanie Travis travels to Maryland for a world-famous dog show where the competition isn't the only thing that's cutthroat. . . There are dog shows. And then there's The Poodle Club of America National Specialty Dog Show. For poodle purists, it's the pinnacle of the season, drawing competitors and spectators from all over the world. Once in Maryland, Melanie is put to work selling raffle tickets by the co-chairs of the raffle committee, Betty Jean and Edith Jean Boone. Sixty-ish steel magnolias from the South, the reclusive sisters make few appearances. But this year, they have a silver Toy puppy that has already caused quite a buzz on the show circuit. While the poodles remain well behaved, it's their owners and handlers who start acting up. And when Betty Jean is found dead at the host hotel, murder takes center stage. But this is the PCA--and the show must go on. As Edith Jean staunchly resumes her duties, Melanie starts searching for clues, and comes up with a compelling cast of suspects whose actions prove that in the dog-eat-dog world of showing, a life can be as easily lost as a blue ribbon. And that unlike cats, dogs--and their owners--have only one to risk. . . Views: 6
Recipes sizzle and intrigue simmers when the Gourmet Detective takes a ride on the twenty-fifth anniversary journey of the world-famous Danube Express. The stately railroad starts its route in the Alps and cuts through Austria, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia before pulling up on the shores of the Black Sea in Romania. Along the way, its passengers—hailing from Europe’s business and social elite—sample the best and most enticing foods those countries’ cuisines have to offer, dishes as unfamiliar and exotic as they are delicious. . . . From Germany, braised lamb with rutabagas, or roast duck—its skin as crackly as phyllo and the meat juicy and flavorful, served with Savoy cabbage, leeks, carrots, onions, and celery . . . From Austria, stuffed breast of veal with buttered chestnuts, served with braised fennel, watercress, and tarragon . . . From Hungary, Libermaj, a goose liver pâté seasoned with paprika, pimentos, and scallions, blended with hard-boiled eggs and white wine . . .From the Balkans, escallopes of veal cooked Dubrovnik style—simmering in onions and mushrooms that have been sautéed in butter and seasoned with thyme and bay leaves . . . All complemented by some of the finest wines and brandies in the world!The Gourmet Detective is aboard to see how it’s done; he’s been hired by another luxury rail line to sit back, relax, fill his face, and take notes. But nothing is ever easy—or safe—where food, money, and celebrity meet, and this trip is no exception. When a celebrated Hungarian stage actress vanishes from the moving train, the Gourmet Detective finds himself enlisted in a desperate search for her abductor, or killer, and for answers in a bizarrely unfolding mystery that, as usual, centers on humanity’s most consuming passion: food!As the Danube Express chugs into the night, haute cuisine, fine wine, and murder become the main orders of business on this fun and fascinating foray through a world of mouth-watering delights.From Publishers WeeklyKing (Eat, Drink and Be Buried, etc.) delivers mixed results in the seventh outing for his Gourmet Detective, this time aboard a luxury train. The journey begins in Munich, winds its way through the Alps, with stops in Austria, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia, the final destination being the Black Sea coast of Romania. The passengers sample the best of each locale's cuisine, while the Gourmet Detective observes the workings of the high-class excursion. Before long his reputation as an amateur sleuth, albeit one who's worked with the pros of Scotland Yard, gets him involved in the disappearance of a glamorous Hungarian actress. Has she been abducted from the train? Has she been murdered? Or is it some bizarre publicity stunt? Then a body turns up and things get even stranger. As the Gourmet Detective and the head of security work to stop the killer from striking again, the train moves forward more smoothly than the plot. An engaging travelogue and the good food, evoked in the attractive jacket art, compensate only partly for stilted prose and an unconvincing mystery that feels grafted on. Comparisons to Agatha Christie's classic Murder on the Orient Express are inevitable, but King's novel limps along a distant second. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Back CoverPraise for Peter King’s Gourmet Detective Murder Mysteries“Readers will find the menu descriptions mouthwatering and crave a sample of the shrimp remoulade.” ---Kirkus Reviews on Roux the Day"Fascinating tidbits of the cuisine of England in the Middle Ages." ---St. Petersburg Times on Eat, Drink, and be Buried “[King] introduces the reader to a delightful array of funny characters and mouthwatering recipes.” ---Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on A Healthy Place to Die“Read King because you like a nicely structured mystery. Read him because you love gourmet food. Either way, savor the feast he has prepared.” ---Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Death al Dente“Salivating scenes of Provence’s superb food, coupled with lore about truffles, wine, and aristocracy, add sustenance to Dying on the Vine.” ---Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on Dying on the Vine“The Gourmet Detective is. . . a delight. [The series] provides terrific writing, characters that come to life on the page, and wonderful information on gourmet cooking and the food industry.” ---Stuart M. Kaminsky, author of A Fatal Glass of Beer and A Bullet for a Star, on Spiced to Death“This appealing detective serves up nuggets of culinary trivia and wry foodie humor. King. . . keeps the well-spiced plot bubbling along.” ---People magazine on The Gourmet Detective, a People Beach Book of the Week Views: 6
Victor Pelevin is "the only young Russian novelist to have made an impression in the West" (Village Voice). With A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia, the second of Pelevin's Russian Booker Prize-winning short story collections, he continues his Sputnik-like rise. Like the writers to whom he is frequently compared––Kafka, Bulgakov, Philip K. Dick, and Joseph Heller––he is a deft fabulist, who finds fuel for his fire in society's deadening protocol. In "The Tarzan Swing," a street wanderer converses with a stranger who could be his own reflection; in the title story, a young Muscovite, Sasha, stumbles upon a group of people in the forest who can transform themselves into wolves; in "Vera Pavlova's Ninth Dream," the attendant in a public toilet finds her researches into solipsism have dire and diabolical consequences. As Publishers Weekly noted about this collection, "Pelevin's allegories are reminiscent of children's fairy tales in their fantastic depictions of worlds within worlds, solitary souls tossed helplessly among them." Pelevin––whom Spin called "a master absurdist, a brilliant satirist of things Soviet, but also of things human"––carries us in A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia to a sublime land of black comic brilliance. Views: 6
Can these young coal-miner's daughters survive on their own?Tragedy strikes a small Yorkshire mining town when Sarah Wild's husband dies in a terrible accident. Widowed and destitute, Sarah is forced to remarry to save her daughters, Mary-Anne and Eliza, from the workhouse. But her new husband is a violent drunk and when Sarah tragically dies too, Mary-Anne and Eliza are orphaned. Unable to rely on their drunken step-father, Mary-Anne and Eliza are left to fend for themselves. They are determined to stick together but life becomes complicated when Mary-Anne, the eldest, falls pregnant with the child of a married mine-owner. Scared and unsure what to do, the sisters try to hide Mary-Anne's pregnancy. But such things cannot stay secret for long. . . Views: 6
Imagine The X-Files meets Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series and set in Victorian London and New York City—welcome to The Eternal Files, written by Leanna Renee Hieber, "the brightest new star in literature"(True-Blood.net) London, 1882: Queen Victoria appoints Harold Spire of the Metropolitan Police to Special Branch Division Omega. Omega is to secretly investigate paranormal and supernatural events and persons. Spire, a skeptic driven to protect the helpless and see justice done, is the perfect man to lead the department, which employs scholars and scientists, assassins and con men, and a traveling circus. Spire's chief researcher is Rose Everhart, who believes fervently that there is more to the world than can be seen by mortal eyes. Their first mission: find the Eterna Compound, which grants immortality. Catastrophe destroyed the hidden laboratory in New York City where Eterna was developed, but the Queen is convinced someone... Views: 6
New York Times bestselling author Diane Mott Davidson has taken readers by storm with clever mysteries filled with tantalizing plots and mouthwatering recipes. In her twelfth novel -- her tastiest tale yet -- the ingenious storyteller whips up a rich souffl[HTML_REMOVED] of murder and mischief. The governor of Colorado has commuted the prison sentence of Goldy Schulz's ultra-handsome, ultra-charming, ultra-wealthy, ultra-venal ex-husband, Dr. John Richard Korman, otherwise known to Goldy as the Jerk. He's released, and soon afterward Goldy becomes the victim of threats, rumors, and violence. Then there's a murder and suspicion centers on Goldy. Suddenly, she is faced with the challenge of running her successful catering business while fending off two persistent detectives. Caught in a web of secrets and lies that could tear her family apart, Goldy must use all of her considerable powers of detection to find the real killer before she herself becomes a target. Views: 6
Josh Cooper, top US security field agent, is sent on an inter-agency assignment to London, when a partner in his firm goes missing in suspicious circumstances. Used to working in sole charge of his well-honed team, he clashes heads with the handsome, but pompous Cal, his UK co-operator and superior. Josh's gut tells him something is wrong. He's being kept out of the loop and Cal's agenda is running on a different path.He also has a personal issue to deal with. He's involved in a cyber-relationship with "Charlie", an unknown man who connected with Josh by accident. Their banter has led to deeper respect and a sexual interest, but now Josh is faced with a growing attraction to Cal. Between this conflict and the tension of the mission, Josh's heart and head are overworked and confused. Things can't get much worse.Then Josh discovers the enemies he's seeking have a new target: him. Views: 6
