In OSCAR WILDE AND THE NEST OF VIPERS, the fourth in Gyles Brandreth's acclaimed Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series featuring Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, the Prince of Wales asks Oscar to investigate a scandalous crime at the very heart of Victorian high society...'Intelligent, amusing and entertaining' Alexander McCall Smith The story opens in the spring of 1890 at a glamorous reception hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle. All London's haut monde is there, including the Prince of Wales, who counts the Albemarles as close friends. Although it is the first time Oscar and Bertie have met, Oscar seems far more interested in Rex LaSalle, a young actor, who disarmingly claims to be a vampire...However, what begins as a diverting evening ends in tragedy. As the guests are leaving, the Duchess is found murdered, two tiny puncture marks in her throat. No one has entered the house; no one has left. Desperate to avoid another scandal, the Prince of Wales asks Oscar to investigate the crime. What he discovers threatens to destroy the very heart of the Royal Family...ReviewPraise for Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile 'Brandreth's portrait of Oscar Wilde is entirely plausible; plots are ingenious and the historical backgroud is fascinating' -- Scotsman 'Cleverly plotted, intelligent and thoroughly diverting ... This novel is an educated page-turner; a feast of intriguing and light-hearted entertainment' -- Good Book Guide Praise for Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death'Hugely enjoyable' -- Daily Mail 'A cast of historical characters to die for' -- Sunday Times 'A carnival of cliff-hangers and fiendish twists-and-turns ... The joy of the book ... is the rounded and compelling presentation of the character of Wilde ... The imaginary and the factual are woven together with devilish ingenuity. Brandreth also gives his hero speeches of great beauty and wisdom and humanity' -- Sunday Express About the AuthorGyles Brandreth is a writer, performer, former MP and government whip whose career has ranged from hosting Have I Got News For You to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London's West End. Currently a reporter with The One Show on BBC1 and a regular on Radio 4's Just a Minute, his acclaimed Victorian detective stories - The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries - are now being published in nineteen countries around the world and are currently in development for TV. All six books in the series, Oscar Wilde and the Candellight Murders, Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death, Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile, Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers, Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders and Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol are available from John Murray. You can find out more about the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries at www.oscarwildemurdermysteries.com and at www.johnmurray.co.uk and about Gyles at www.gylesbrandreth.net Views: 35
A house on the forested
bank of a Brandenburg lake outside Berlin (once belonging to
Erpenbeck's grandparents) is the focus of this compact, beautiful novel.
Encompassing over one hundred years of German history, from the
nineteenth century to the Weimar Republic, from World War II to the
Socialist German Democratic Republic, and finally reunification and its
aftermath, Visitation offers the life stories of twelve
individuals who seek to make their home in this one magical little
house. The novel breaks into the everyday life of the house and shimmers
through it, while relating the passions and fates of its inhabitants.Elegant and poetic, Visitation
forms a literary mosaic of the last century, tearing open wounds and
offering moments of reconciliation, with its drama and its exquisite
evocation of a landscape no political upheaval can truly change. Views: 35
A heartwarming holiday story from Audrey Couloumbis, the Newbery Honor--winning author of Getting Near to Baby. With beautiful writing and an endearing young narrator so honest and full of hope that you can't help but fall in love with him, Audrey Couloumbis tells a story, of a young boy and the grandfather that he's just getting to know, that will make readers laugh and cry and, most of all, appreciate the gift of family.It's a few days before Christmas when ten-year-old Jake's mom breaks her leg, ending up in the hospital. For as long as Jake can remember, it's been just him and his mom. So with no one else to look after him, the hospital contacts the gruff granddad that Jake only knows through awkward twice-a-year phone calls. When Granddad shows up, he's nothing like Jake expected. And he brings a dog with him--a nightmare dog, Jake thinks at first. But as Jake gets to know his grandfather and a makeshift family of friends and neighbors comes together around... Views: 35
Gabriel Allon returns in the spellbinding new novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. Two families, one terrible secret, and a painting to die for... It has been six months since Gabriel's showdown with Ivan Kharkov. Now, having severed his ties with the Office, Gabriel has retreated to the Cornish coast with only one thing in mind: healing his wife, Chiara, after her encounter with evil. But an unspeakable act of violence once again draws Gabriel into a world of danger when an art restorer is brutally murdered and the newly discovered Rembrandt on which he is working taken. Gabriel is persuaded to use his unique skills to trace the painting and those responsible for the crimes; but, as he investigates, he discovers there are terrible secrets connected to the painting, and terrible men behind them. Before he is done, he will have undertaken a journey through some of the twentieth century's darkest history-and come face-to-face with some of the same darkness within himself. Views: 35
Glory’s job is to lead Valkyrie Unit 401 as they reap the souls of dead soldiers and take them to the Norse afterlife. That’s all fine and dandy when you haven’t got a raging hangover, your crazy love life and the apocalypse to deal with. Views: 35
Dr. Amelia Young has meticulously organized her family plan. Wonderful daughter? Done. Man? Unnecessary. All Amelia has ever needed is carefully selected DNA. So what if the donor turns out to be a ridiculously hot chef with a distracting butt and wicked smile? That only proves she had good taste in genes. Anonymously donating his DNA at a clinic when he was a student is one thing. A strange woman at his door requesting a second deposit is quite another. But when Finn Hawkins realizes Amelia needs another child to save her first-his first-he relents. And when that first kid turns up on his doorstep a few months later, he's in this family deep! Views: 35
Born of an ancient family of clairvoyants, Marley Millet finds that her psychic gift is both unsettling and incredibly dangerous. She never wants to "travel" again — but the choice is not hers to make. After glimpsing the fates of two missing New Orleans jazz singers, Marley knows she has no choice and must speak up before more women disappear. Flinty cop-turned-writer Gray Fisher, who interviewed both chanteuses before they vanished, takes a special interest in Marley's incredible story — and in Marley. Scouring the wild clubs of the French Quarter, Marley and Gray make an unlikely and uneasy team. But their determination is matched only by the heat between them and the evil they have uncovered. Views: 35
A Couple of Stops is a series of short stories designed to be read on short journeys. This book is part of the Light Transports series, ia set of three collections of short stories designed as pocket books for the commuter. The books are compiled with a series of stories that reflect differing lengths of journeys – A Couple of Stops, Commutes and Intercity. Views: 35
Defiance: The Story of One Man Who Stood Up to the Sicilian Mafia Summary:
By Tom Behan
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris
• Number Of Pages: 232
• Publication Date: 2008-01-22
• ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1845115147
• ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781845115142
Product Description:
In 1960's Sicily, the Mafia were everywhere -- and never seen. In the town of Cinisi, known as ‘Mafiopoli’, their power was unspoken, and absolute: ‘it’s in the air that you breathe’ as the locals used to say. One man however, dared to speak out. Like many Sicilians, Peppino Impastato was born into a family with strong Mafia affiliations. When his uncle was brutally murdered in 1963, Peppino decided to dedicate his life to opposing the Mafia. No-one had ever talked about the Mafia in public before, let alone attacked them. Determined to take on the forces of corruption and privilege, Peppino led a people’s movement against the Mafia, launching a national radio station on which he savagely pilloried both the organization and its allies in the Catholic Church. Peppino was punished for his defiance -- he was violently murdered. The spark he lit, however, has not died.
On the anniversary of his death, Italy held its first ever national anti-Mafia rally, and today a new generation of activists inspired by Peppino campaigns for truth and justice. In this compelling book, based on exclusive interviews with members of the Impastato family and those who knew them , Tom Behan takes us inside the murky world of ‘Mafiopoli’, and tells for the first time a tale of courage and resistance in the very heartland of Mafia power. Views: 35
