One of the rarest mysteries in the author’s Sergeant Beef series, Case with Four Clowns, which has only been published once in the US—more than fifty years ago - is now available in paperback for the first time.
It is regarded by critics as one of Leo Bruce’s most baffling mysteries. A murder is yet to be committed—that much is certain—but who will be the victim? And who will be the murderer? It is Sgt. Beef’s job to discover these facts, if he can, in time to prevent the deed from being done.
But when he reaches the small traveling circus where the murder is to take place, he finds that practically everyone there is seething with hatred, each has a motive which might make him a killer; and any one of a dozen people could easily be the victim.
The doughty Sgt. Beef has broken some pretty tough cases, and this one—with mystery entagled within mystery—stirs the bulldog within him. The clues are there, but unless the reader is very astute, he or she will overlook them; but Sgt. Beef misses nothing. Views: 37
Review"_The Tin Ticket_, written by Harvard-educated genders affairs expert Deborah J. Swiss and published by Berkley, is a wonderful book. It illuminates a part of history that long has been overlooked, in a manner that holds the reader fast to his or her seat from the exciting introduction to the present day end of the story. In the early nineteenth century, the British government sought to build up the working class of their new Australian colony, where men outnumbered women nine to one. They did this by enforcing an old law which allowed the deportation of women convicted of petty crimes, and packed them into filthy, disease-infected slave ships that carried the ones who survived to the other side of the world . The Tin Ticket (named for the card of tin tied around the necks of the convicts) is told through the eyes of the women and children shipped to Van Diemen's Land, later to be renamed Tasmania, whose horrendous journey of four months and miraculous survival has long been neglected by history books. Agnes McMillan was one of thousands of children punished for a trivial crime by being shipped to the harsh, remote land. The book explores Agnes' background, in which her father abandoned her and her mother died when Agnes was twelve years old, and she had no choice but to turn to the streets. The starving child was driven to steal scraps of food to stay alive, which resulted in her and her close friend Janet being caught and condemned to the horrible passage to Australia. The closeness of their relationship, the humor they found together, and their ingenuity helped the girls live through unimaginable hardships and humiliation. The author tells us that the descendants of the girls believe that similar characteristics typify the Australian character today. Swiss follows the lives of Agnes, Janet, and Ludlow, as well as that of Elizabeth Fry, the great pioneering Quaker reformer who fought to make the lives of the women convicts more bearable. These women broke the chains of bondage to establish a society one hundred years ahead of the rest of the world, in which equality of men and women was established. Discarded by their homeland and neglected by history, these women, by sheer force of will became the heart and soul of the new nation." -_Midwest Book Review_, Alma H. Bond, Ph.D., Reviewer "The Irish feature in disproportionate numbers among the convicts transported to Australia. The number of female Irish convicts rose considerably in the aftermath of the great Irish Famine, a period which also saw the transportation of more than 4,000 Irish orphans girls as "breeding stock" for the new colony. Deborah Swiss brings new light and insight into the story of female convicts transported to Australia and in telling this story through the lives of a number of individual women brings home to us both the tragedy and the triumph of these resilient women." -Máirtín Ó Fainín, Ambassador of Ireland "Deborah Swiss eloquently and engagingly uncovers a buried and important piece of Australian "herstory," convicted women who endured injustice, cruelty, and hardship. Even more than that, Swiss skillfully illuminates their essence in their extraordinary resilience, determination, and courage. An inspiration to all." -Birute Regine, author of Iron Butterflies: Women Transforming Themselves and the World. "_The Tin Ticket_ powerfully illustrates the unimaginable vulnerability and desperation that came with being poor and female two hundred years ago in Britain. But the stories of the women in this book are not too different from those of the millions who are trafficked across continents even today for cheap labor or sex. And like these women, the founding mothers of Australia exemplify the same remarkable resilience and resourcefulness that women show to pull themselves and their families out of adversity. The Tin Ticket tells their story, and enriches our shared history as women and as human beings." -Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President, Women Thrive Worldwide "History books far too often scant the stories of women, of the poor, and of those swallowed up in the prison system. Deborah Swiss has broken this triple barrier to bring us a moving and fascinating story -- both of forgotten people who were ruthlessly exploited, and of a remarkable woman who did much to help them." -Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost and Bury the Chains, co-founder of Mother Jones. Product DescriptionHistorian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking, horrifying, and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery-who created the most liberated society of their time. Agnes McMillan and Janet Houston were convicted for shoplifting. Bridget Mulligan stole a bucket of milk; Widow Ludlow Tedder, eleven spoons. For their crimes, they would be sent not to jail, but to ships teeming with other female convicts. Tin tickets, stamped with numbers, were hung around the women's necks, and the ships set out to carry them to their new home: Van Diemen's Land, later known as Tasmania, part of the British Empire's crown jewel, Australia. Men outnumbered women nine to one there, and few "proper" citizens were interested in emigrating. The deportation of thousands of petty criminals-the vast majority nonviolent first offenders-provided a convenient solution for the government. Crossing Shark-infested waters, some died in shipwrecks during the four-month journey, or succumbed to infections and were sent to a watery grave. Others were impregnated against their will by their captors. They arrived as nothing more than property. But incredibly, as the years passed, they managed not only to endure their privation and pain but to thrive on their own terms, breaking the chains of bondage, and forging a society that treated women as equals and led the world in women's rights. The Tin Ticket takes us to the dawn of the nineteenth century and into the lives of Agnes McMillan, whose defiance and resilience carried her to a far more dramatic rebellion; Agnes's best friend Janet Houston, who rescued her from the Glasgow wynds and was also transported to Van Diemen's Land; Ludlow Tedder, forced to choose just one of her four children to accompany her to the other side of the world; Bridget Mulligan, who gave birth to a line of powerful women stretching to the present day. It also tells the tale of Elizabeth Gurney Fry, a Quaker reformer who touched all their lives. Ultimately, it is the story of women discarded by their homeland and forgotten by history-who, by sheer force of will, become the heart and soul of a new nation. Views: 37
Emily Cannon is not the mail-order bride Luke Becker sent for. The tall, plain teacher has come to Oregon with the veil and gown her sister was to have worn to marry Luke. Widower Luke Becker needs a mother for his young daughter. He accepts Emily as his wife or his girl's sake but offers only his name and shelter to the proud, vulnerable stand-in. Views: 37
From the slums of Cape Town to the palaces of Algiers, through Pygmy villages where pineapples grow wild, to the Gulf of Guinea where the sea blazes with oil flares, across two continents and fourteen countries - this epic journey is nothing to swallows, they do it twice a year. But for Horatio Clare, writer and birdwatcher, it is the expedition of a lifetime. Along the way he discovers old empires and modern tribes, a witch-doctor's recipe for stewed swallow, explains how to travel without money or a passport, and describes a terrifying incident involving three Spanish soldiers and a tiny orange dog. By trains, motorbikes, canoes, one camel and three ships, Clare follows the swallows from reed beds in South Africa, where millions roost in February, to a barn in Wales, where a pair nest in May. Views: 37
When Eden meets Logan, she is immediately drawn to him. But she prefers to be anywhere other than Rainbow Rock--Logan's home town. Logan can't help his attraction to Eden. However, he promised his people that he would marry a desert child, a daughter of the Dineh. Eden clearly does not qualify. Can Logan and Eden have the paradise they both want while still keeping their promises to themselves? Views: 37
A National Book Award nominee! Returning to the same era of his "In a Dark Wood", Cadnum's majestic novel—part mystery, part history—chronicles the pageantry and brutality of the Crusades under King Richard. Edmund, a young apprentice, is awaiting punishment as a counterfeiter when a knight intervenes on his behalf—and compels Edmund to join Richard Lionheart's forces in the Holy Land. There, amidst the savagery of the twelfth-century Crusades, Edmund learns both courage and compassion, and discovers that cruelty is sometimes considered the will of Heaven. Set in medieval England and the war-torn shores of the Middle East, Cadnum's tale weaves together a rich tapestry of storms at sea, the brutality of hand-to-hand combat, and one of the classic horse and lance battles in recorded history—the Battle of Arsuf. Views: 37
*Beyond All Price is a historical novel, based on the life story of Nellie M. Chase, a Union nurse during America's Civil War. She was strong enough to escape from an abusive relationship and resourceful enough to find a job as wardrobe mistress for a theater. The actress with whom she shared a room in a squalid tenement took an overdose of opium in an effort to escape a life of prostitution. Nellie joined the Union Army, because life in the midst of a war seemed safer than the one she had been living. * She found a home with the 100th Pennsylvania Regiment, known as "The Roundheads" because of their religious beliefs. Her skill and compassion led one of her patients to write, "Even here, amid the roar and carnage, was found a woman with the soul to dare danger; the heart to sympathize with the battle-stricken; sense, skill, and experience to make her a treasure beyond all price." * She was equally at home managing a southern plantation full of abandoned slaves, a battlefield operating station, or a 600-bed military hospital. After the war, her deep-seated need to dedicate her life to a worthy cause continued to drive her efforts until she faced an enemy more lethal than war.About the AuthorCarolyn Schriber received her Ph.D. in Medieval History from the University of Colorado. After she retired from a position as a history professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, she turned her attention to her second love, the history of America's Civil War. She offers a fresh perspective and a valuable new approach to some of the issues of the Civil War. * Her previous book, A Scratch with the Rebels, illuminated the depth and diversity of perspectives from both sides of the conflict by examining the impact of a single relatively unknown battle in South Carolina. * Beyond All Price, a historical novel, takes a more personal view. In it she examines the roles of women during the war, the horrors of medical treatments, and the problems presented by newly-freed slaves. * Dr. Schriber now lives near Memphis, Tennessee, where she shares her home with her supportive husband, Floyd Schriber, and four opinionated cats. Views: 37
