All the other children who knew her thought Maggie a wonderfully fortunate little girl. She was sometimes spoken about as the "Little Princess of Tower Hill," for Tower Hill was the name of her father\'s place, and Maggie was his only child. The children in the village close by spoke of her with great respect, and looked at her with a good deal of longing and also no slight degree of envy, for while they had to run about in darned and shabby frocks, Maggie could wear the gayest and daintiest little dresses, and while they had to trudge sometimes even on little bare feet, Maggie could sit by her mother\'s side and be carried rapidly over the ground in a most delicious and luxurious carriage, or, better still, she might ride on her white pony Snowball, followed by a groom. The poor children envied Maggie, and admired her vastly, and the children of those people who, compared to Sir John Ascot, Maggie\'s father, might be considered neither rich nor poor, also thought her one of the most fortunate little girls in existence. Mag-gie was nearly eight years old, and from her very earliest days there had been a great fuss made about her. At the time of her birth bonfires had been lit, and oxen killed and roasted whole to be given away to the poor people, and Sir John and Lady Ascot did not seem at all disappointed at their baby being a girl instead of a son and heir to the old title and the fine old place. There was a most extraordinary fuss made over Maggie while she was a baby; her mother was never tired of visiting her grand nurseries and watching her as she lay asleep, or smiling at her and kissing her when she opened her big, bright blue eyes. Views: 103
The
private story of the world's most famous jockey. Lester Piggott, by the world's
most famous writer of racing thrillers. The inside story of the figure that
racegoers have cheered for thirty-seven years, yet hardly know. The unpublished
facts behind the punishments for rough riding in his youth, and the truth about
the accusations of stealing other jockey's mounts. Lester has never defended
himself against untrue press reports, and because of his reticence, been much
misunderstood. This book sets the record straight. Views: 103
A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers. Gene Hawkins is a fixer for his boss Mr Keeble: if Keeble has a problem, Gene goes and fixes it. It's that simple. Sometimes it requires the Luger he carries - mostly it doesn't. Now Keeble has summoned Gene back from a long-overdue holiday. It seems that a very expensive stallion has been taken in Kentucky. It's the third high-value kidnapping in a few years. Keeble wants his horse back. Gene is asked to go out there and find it. But what Gene doesn't know is that he's about to get involved with blackmailers and murderers. Looks like that Lugar will see some use... Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror 'Dick Francis's... Views: 103
In the new Masterpiece Adventure Trouble at School for Marvin & James, the third in a series for younger readers from bestselling author Elise Broach, Marvin the beetle is off to school with James for the very first time! Everything runs smoothly on this big adventure until the bell rings after lunch and Marvin gets separated from James. In fact, he gets accidentally thrown away! Will Marvin make it back home to his family? How will James find him?This young chapter book for emergent readers captures the miniature world of Marvin the Beetle and his special friend James.A Christy Ottaviano Book Views: 103
Psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis search for answers to a brutal, decades-old crime in this electrifying psychological thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis is a master detective. He has a near-perfect solve rate and he’s written his own rule book. Some of those successes—the toughest ones—have involved his best friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. But Milo doesn’t call Alex in unless cases are “different.” This murder warrants an immediate call. Milo’s independence has been compromised as never before, as the department pressures him to cater to the demands of a mogul: a hard-to-fathom, megarich young woman who is obsessed with reopening the coldest of cases—the decades-old death of the mother she never knew. The facts describe a likely loser: a mysterious woman found with a bullet in her head in a torched Cadillac that has overturned on infamously treacherous Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witnesses, no apparent motive. And a slew of detectives have already worked the case and failed. But as Delaware and Sturgis begin digging, the mist begins to lift. Too many coincidences. Facts turn out to be anything but. And as they soon discover, very real threats lurking in the present. This is Delaware/Sturgis at their best: traversing the beautiful but forbidding place known as Los Angeles and exhuming the past in order to bring a vicious killer to justice. Views: 103
Along with gifts, treats, and holiday cheer, this Christmas there's an extra kick to the hot cocoa . . . A Christmas-themed escape game seems like the perfect pre-holiday treat for bookstore café owner Krissy Hancock and her best friend. But one of the beverages doesn't sit so well with someone . . . When the host is found dead in a pool of hot cocoa, it's up to Krissy and her team to catch the killer—or escape before getting killed.Previously published in Christmas Cocoa Murder Views: 103
New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns to another utterly irresistible branch on her beloved Cynster family tree in And Then She Fell.Set in Regency England, London's Henrietta Cynster, known as "The Matchbreaker" has a special talent for making sure that bad marriages never happen. After breaking up one ill-suited couple, Henrietta is obligated to find the perfect bride for the debonair James Glossup. The assignment proves to be a challenging one for the single-minded Henrietta, who believes that finding love isn't in her own stars. But Henrietta discovers--in spite of her personal denials of love--that both she and James are indisputably drawn to each other.Fans of Stephanie Laurens's Cynster books and readers of smart and compelling historical romances will be transported and entertained by And Then She Fell. Views: 102
Explore the darker side of London with Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, in a box set of the first three Halloween Sherlock novelettes.The Case of the Snow-White LadyThere is no such thing as a vampire … or is there?Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to Dartmoor by an old schoolfriend of Watson’s, Bill Holcombe. His sixteen year old daughter Amelia, who died a month previously, has been seen wandering the village at night. Witnesses swear that she catches animals and sucks their blood. The whole neighbourhood fears the ‘Snow-White Lady’, and Holcombe is desperate to prove she is not a vampire.The great detective's famous scepticism is put to the test in a mystery where boundaries blur between the living and the dead…Sherlock Holmes and the Deathly FogWho can fight a deathly fog?Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned into the heart of London’s slums by perhaps his strangest client yet. Children are vanishing without a trace, and the only connection is the thick fog which conceals their disappearance.Are the children alive or dead? Can the great detective discover the truth? And will the mysterious woman in black help or hinder him?The Case of the Curious CabinetA riddle with death at its heart…When Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to Norfolk to unlock the secret of an ebony puzzle cabinet bequeathed to their client, they discover that the cabinet is merely the beginning of the mystery. A man has died…but was it murder? Can the great detective solve the case - and open the cabinet - before time runs out? Views: 102
