Written by celebrated author M. M. Kaye, Death in Kenya is a wonderfully evocative mystery...
When Victoria Caryll is offered a position at Flamingo, her aunt's family estate in Kenya's Rift Valley, she accepts-knowing full well that the move will give her a chance to see Eden DeBrett once again, the man she was previously engaged to. But she doesn't realize that coming to her aunt's home will introduce her to an unstable region still recovering from the bloody Mau Mau revolt, and to a household thrown into grief by a recent murder. Distinguished by its mystery, romance, and exotic setting, Death in Kenya is as graceful as it is chilling-it is the beloved novel of one of our finest and most accomplished writers. Views: 181
Introducing Will Somers, the king's jester but nobody's fool in this exuberant, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining mystery set in Tudor England – the first in a new series from the author of the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series.1529, London. Jester Will Somers enjoys an enviable position at the court of Henry VIII. As the king's entertainer, chief gossip-monger, spy and loyal adviser, he knows all of the king's secrets – and almost everyone else's within the walls of Greenwich Palace.But when Will discovers the body of Spanish count Don Gonzalo while walking his trusted sidekick Nosewise in the courtyard gardens, and a blackmail note arrives soon after demanding information about the king, is one of his own closely guarded secrets about to be exposed? Trouble is afoot at the palace. Are the king's enemies plotting a move against him? Will must draw on all his wit and ingenuity to get to the bottom of the... Views: 181
Meet the baddest belles of London city. They were known as the fatales, once. Investigators and spies; killers and thieves; con artists and vigilantes — they fought fire with fire, did what had to be done, to make things right. Until the mission that broke them. Many decades later, the fatales have scattered to the winds. Fionn's the queen of London haute couture. Thetai's the star of the power metal scene. And Daix? Could be anything. Anywhere. It'll take a lot to bring them back together. When a model goes missing from a catwalk show, Fionn's frantic. The girl was a friend — and a fellow selkie. And she won't be the last to vanish. To catch the monster responsible, Fionn needs backup. It's time for the fatales to reunite, but can they get it together after eighty years apart? And will it be enough to face down an old enemy straight out of their murky, half-forgotten past?... Views: 181
"A dramatic short story of justice both old and new from the New York Times–bestselling author of Cold Wind.
The West is not the way it’s portrayed in the movies. But when a man from the East brings trouble for Nate Romanowski and his friend Joe Pickett, a little frontier-style justice may be just what’s called for. An exciting new addition to the series that People hails for “combining harrowing adrenaline rushes with complex morality, humor, and a landscape described so vibrantly it seems to have a life all its own.” Views: 181
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Alan Bradley's A Red Herring Without Mustard, discussion questions, and an essay by the author.Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Exclusive: An Essay by Alan Bradley Flavia de Luce walked into my life one winter day, parked herself on a campstool, and refused to be budged.It took me quite a while to realize that she wasn’t even faintly interested in the mystery novel I was attempting to write at the time: the one into which she had wandered. I found out quickly enough that Flavia wanted her own book--and that was that.And it was just the beginning. There were still more problems to come.The first was this: Flavia lived in 1950, while I was writing about her in 2006 and 2007.As an author, it’s not as easy as you might think projecting--and keeping--your mind in a different century from your body--not without forever being yanked back into the present by everyday annoyances such as frozen water pipes, expiring license plates, incessantly barking dogs, and the need to shop for food.Another problem was this: I lived on Canada’s west coast, where the clocks are set to Pacific Time, while Flavia lived in Bishop’s Lacey, England, which is on Greenwich Mean Time--a difference of nine hours. In practical terms, this meant that Flavia was raring to go every day just as I was getting ready for bed. Because there was no point in either of us being tired and cranky, we finally managed to work out a compromise in which I began awakening at 4:00 a.m. to write, while Flavia (rather impatiently) hung around until after lunch, waiting for me to show up.As The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie progressed, I soon learned that Flavia wouldn’t be pushed around--especially by me. Because she had so many of her own ideas, she had little patience with mine. Occasionally, if I were tired, I’d find myself trying to put words in her mouth: to push her, as it were. But Flavia would have none of it."Blot that," she seemed to be saying. "Let’s back up and start again."And of course we did.Then there was the problem of the chemistry. While Flavia knew everything about chemistry that could be known, my own knowledge of the subject could be put into a thimble with room left over for a finger. If I protested that I was in doubt about the precise details of one of her more bizarre chemical experiments, Flavia would snap her metaphorical fingers and say, "Well, you can look it up in your spare time."Almost from the outset I realized that the tale Flavia had to tell could never be contained in a single book. And that’s how the series was born. Fortunately, my editors were in total agreement!We liked the idea of each book revolving around some now-vanished English custom, or way of life, and of being able, gradually, to get to know the de Luce family, giving each of them the time and the space to--eventually--tell his or her own story.Of course, to convey authentic 1950s voices, the pacing would have to be slower than we are used to in the 21st century. On the other hand, a more relaxed narrative would allow for an additional overall richness of description that might not be found in a more breakneck series of thrillers.But I needn’t have worried: Flavia had her own voice and insisted on being listened to.It was I who had to do the learning. --Alan Bradley(Photo © Shirley Bradley)From BooklistFlavia, the precocious, imaginative, and adorable 11-year-old sleuth, returns for her second adventure. It’s a mystery in itself how a mature male author can pen the adventures of such a young female child and keep readers believing in the fantasy. Flavia’s world is 1950s England—specifically, a very old country house that just happens to have a long-abandoned chemistry laboratory. And Flavia just happens to be fascinated by chemistry—particularly poisons. This helps her solve mysteries because, as Flavia says, “There’s something about pottering with poisons that clarifies the mind.” This time she becomes involved with the members of a traveling puppet show that features the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. When the puppetmaster is mysteriously electrocuted during the show, Flavia knows it can’t be an accident and eventually finds the murderer. The rest of Flavia’s family are also eccentric, to say the least, and add greatly to the overall fun. Thank goodness Bradley is not allowing Flavia to grow up too quickly; we need more sleuths whose primary mode of transportation is a bicycle. --Judy Coon Views: 181
Previously published as The Bid The prisoner who wakes up in a box miles from anywhere. The jailer who doesn't question his job. The shipment of drones stolen from a cargo hub. The terrorists planning a devastating attack on US soil. When drone expert James Chadwick disappears without a trace, Cruxys Solutions investigators Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik are assigned to track his last movements. With few clues to go on, the hunt moves from London to New York, gathering speed as they close in on a horrifying plan to kill the US president and inflict total damage on an Air Force base. The countdown to a new era of destruction has begun. Gonzalez and Vaslik are the only ones who can stop it. Gritty, exciting and full of suspense, The Drone is a terrific thriller perfect for fans of Daniel Silva, Alex Berenson and Harlan Coben.Praise for The... Views: 181
All of Crystalia is in danger. The Prophecy says that only the five princesses can unite to break the Dark Consul’s Power. But what happens when one of them goes missing?Blaze is an Ember Mage, skilled with fire magic and with a temper just as hot. She’s desperate for a way to prove herself but never imagined a royal messenger would come knocking on her door. King Jasper III, ruler of all Crystalia, needs someone who works outside the system to search for his missing heir, and Blaze fits that description perfectly. After all, Princess Sapphire is no damsel-in-distress, so the King is sure something must be terribly wrong.To find the missing princess, Blaze must travel to the worst of all possible places: the Frostbyte Reach—a cold, miserable nightmare of a place for any Ember Mage. On her quest, Blaze soon finds out the situation is far worse than the King feared. The entire mountain is under siege by an army of bloodthirsty orcs who are... Views: 180
Every reader will have their own favourites: the choices run from love at first sight across the train tracks to the cleverest of confidence tricks, from the quirks of the legal profession - and those who are able to manipulate both sides of the bar - to the creative financial talents of a member of Her Majesty's diplomatic service - but for a good cause. In 'Caste-Off', Jamwal & Nisha fall in love while waiting for a traffic light to turn green in Delhi, and in 'Don't drink the water', a company chairman tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St.Petersburg - with unexpected consequences... Views: 180
Do you love DOGS? Do you love CATS? Do you love ADVENTURE? Then put your paws together for DOG SQUAD, the hilarious, crime-fighting middle-grade series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library!When trouble calls . . . it’s Dog Squad to the rescue! But when calamity calls . . . call in Cat Crew! Fred, the loveable stray who became the star of the hit streaming sensation, DOG SQUAD, is back and working on a new show—Cat Crew! But wait a second—there’s something funny about these felines! And something suspicious about their animal trainer. Is this cat crew being electronically controlled?!?! And what exactly is the evil trainer plotting? Can Fred save the day . . .and the cats?! It's time for an all paws on deck top-secret rescue mission! Get ready for book 2 in this action-packed, middle grade series that has kids (and canines) howling with laugher!... Views: 180