Alexander McCall Smith is the author of over sixty books on a wide array of subjects. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and served on national and international bioethics bodies. Then in 1999 he achieved global recognition for his award-winning series The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and thereafter has devoted his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels. His books have been translated into forty-five languages. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Elizabeth, a doctor. Views: 15
In the dark days of the Blitz, crime goes undercover … Undertaker Francis Hancock has seen the worst that humanity can do to itself. Why then does the murder of a young gypsy girl in Epping Forest move him so much? Travellers, gypsies, the homeless, deserters and German spies inhabit this stretch of open ground that was once her home. Francis knows it’s not wise to delve into this human melting pot, but he is drawn to the exotic customs of the gypsies, their music and magic. But as he investigates the girl’s murder further, the death toll rises and Francis uncovers a much bigger conspiracy, at the heart of which lies something even Adolf Hitler is prepared to kill for … Views: 15
The latest mystery in Andrea Camilleri's internationally bestselling Inspector Montalbano series With their dark sophistication and dry humor, Andrea Camilleri's classic crime novels continue to win more and more fans in America. The latest installment of the popular mystery series finds the moody Inspector Montalbano further beset by the existential questions that have been plaguing him of late. But he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man-shot at point-blank range in the face with his pants down-commands his attention. Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, some dirty cocaine, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigàta.Read translator Stephen Sartarelli's post on the Penguin Blog. Views: 15
From Publishers Weekly The war between the Catholic Church and the Gnostic insurgency drags on in this ponderous Da Vinci Code knockoff. The latest skirmish erupts when horsemen dressed as knights raid New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, lopping off heads and firing Uzis as they go. Their trail leads FBI agent Sean Ryan and fetching archeologist Tess Chaykin to the medieval crusading order of the Knights Templars. Anachronistic Gnostic champions of feminism and tolerance against Roman hierarchy and obscurantism, the Templars, they learn, discovered proof that Catholic dogma is a "hoax" and were planning to use it to unite all religions under a rationalist creed that would usher in world peace. Screenwriter and first-time novelist Khoury spices up the doctrinal revisionism with Da Vinci–style thriller flourishes, including secret codes, gratuitous but workmanlike action scenes and a priest–hit man sent out by the Vatican to kill anyone who knows anything. The narrative pauses periodically for believers-vs.-agnostics debates and tutorials on everything from the Gospel of Thomas to alchemy. Though long-winded and sophomoric, these seminars are a relief from Tess and Sean's tedious romance, which proceeds from awkward flirtations as they listen to Sean's mix CD to hackneyed intimacies about childhood traumas. The novel's religious history is as dubious as its conspiracy plot, but anti-clericalists—and Catholics taking a break from the church's real headaches—could unwind with it. Views: 15
In the majestic silence of Chartres cathedral, Deveraux--code name November Man--receives his assignment: help Czechoslovakias' cultural liaison cross over to the West. A hard enough job, even without the added complicatin of an act of God. For in a humble Chicago parish church, the sacred statue of the Infant of Prague is found weeping real tears. A visiting Czech child star actress, transfigured by the wondrous event, declares, on live television, her intent to remain in American in the name of Christ and freedom. Only an operative as cynical and seasoned as the November Man can sense the sinister link between two dramatic, yet apparently unrelated defections. A miracle has plunged him into a vast global adventure. And it will take a miracle to get him through it alive. The defection of a highly visible Czech sparks an international crisis, and the November Man is caught in the middle. Views: 15
Rose: Bride of Colorado is 38th in the unprecedented 50-book American Mail-Order Bride Series.When Colorado rancher Charlie Halstead’s father threatens to disinherit him if he doesn’t get married, and not one woman in Cedar Valley can hold his attention, he does what his best friend did – he advertises for a wife.To escape a family scandal, Boston socialite Rose Winchester left home and took a job in a garment factory. But after a fire, she is left with no means to support herself and is forced to become a mail-order bride.Although neither Charlie nor Rose expects their relationship to develop into anything more than friendship, love blossoms between them, but their fragile relationship is tested when secrets from the past threaten to tear them apart. Views: 15
