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The Fingerprint (The Miss Silver Mysteries #30)
by Patricia WentworthWhen a suicide seems suspicious, governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver steps in to assist Scotland Yard. Frank Abbott&’s vacations never last very long, and his trip to Field End is no exception. He has hardly enjoyed a moment of Jonathan Field&’s hospitality before tragedy strikes. A niece ventures into old Jonathan&’s study at night to ask him a question, and finds him stone cold with a revolver by his hand. An obvious suicide, it seems, but Inspector Abbott is not so sure. He asks his friend Maud Silver, the brilliant detective, for assistance. She agrees it must be murder. But who is the killer? Assisting their investigation is the dead man&’s strange habit of fingerprinting all who come to visit. But there are fingerprints all over the house, and solving this murder will require Miss Silver&’s particularly delicate touch.
The Wisdom of Karl Marx (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesAn A-to-Z reference of the great social reformer&’s own words Among modern philosophers, few have had a greater impact on history than Karl Marx. Now this easy-to-use introduction to the nineteenth-century theorist breaks down his work into definitions of his terms and concepts, including Bourgeois State, Classless Society, and Freedom of the Press. Accompanied by an insightful introductory essay that puts the included excerpts from his works in context, The Wisdom of Marx is essential reading for an understanding of the man whose work incited far-reaching social and economic change.
A Few Minutes Past Midnight (The Toby Peters Mysteries #21)
by Stuart M. KaminskyPI Toby Peters comes to the aid of Charlie Chaplin when the Little Tramp becomes a big target in this &“ingenious&” mystery from the Edgar Award winner (Kirkus Reviews). In 1943, Charlie Chaplin is far from the most popular man in America. His communist sympathies and romantic indiscretions with young women have enraged everyone from right-wing radicals and the Ku Klux Klan to furious fathers. But when a knife-wielding intruder breaks into his house one night, the maniac isn&’t talking politics. He demands Chaplin stop making his latest black comedy about a man who murders wealthy women for their money—and specifically tells him to stay away from one Fiona Sullivan. Who? Chaplin turns to the shamus to the stars, Toby Peters, to keep him from harm and apprehend his nocturnal visitor. Peters&’s lead on Fiona comes from a most unlikely source—his landlady, Mrs. Irene Plaut, knows the woman. Rallying his crew of diminutive Gunther Wherthman, wrestler Jeremy Butler, and dentist Sheldon Minck, Toby&’s determined to catch the midnight madman before Chaplin is silenced forever. In the twenty-first book in his long-running series, the Edgar Award–winning author offers an &“ingenious twist on the old serial killer chestnut, with the usual manic Peters ménage obbligato&” (Kirkus Reviews).
Death in High Heels (The Inspector Charlesworth Mysteries #1)
by Christianna BrandInspector Charlesworth investigates a strange murder in a dress shopThe sales room at Christophe et Cie is staffed by five young women. Each is beautiful in her own way—and each could be a murderer. One morning, two of the women purchase some oxalic acid to clean a stain off a Panama hat. No one knows how the poison gets into Miss Doon&’s system, but it doesn&’t take long to kill her. When Inspector Charlesworth steps into the little shop, he finds a dozen motives and no clear solution. Everyone in the shop was jealous of Miss Doon, for as the owner&’s girlfriend she was the favorite to head up the store&’s new Riviera branch. Romantic feelings for his chief suspect sidetrack Charlesworth, and it takes a second murder to put him back on the trail of the killer.
Adultery & Other Choices: Stories (Narrativas Contempor Ser.)
by Andre Dubus IIIThis &“haunting and subtle&” collection of short stories offers a compassionate portrayal of man&’s journey from childhood to maturity (Publishers Weekly). For the adolescents in Part One of Andre Dubus&’s Adultery & Other Choices, youth is characterized by humiliation, alienation, and disappointment: A son struggles to connect with his distant father, and later he must overcome a schoolyard bully. Then, for the soldiers that inhabit Part Two, service is synonymous with sacrifice, as marriages and limbs falter and fail. But for the bitterly lonely wife of a promiscuous professor, a hopeless affair with a dying ex-priest provides her with the strength necessary to retake control of her life. In the aptly titled follow-up to Separate Flights, Dubus expertly traces the arc of human life, and honors the men and women he portrays with such faithful veracity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Andre Dubus including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s estate.
Tour de Force: An Inspector Cockrill Mystery (book Six) (The Inspector Cockrill Mysteries #6)
by Christianna BrandInspector Cockrill&’s dull vacation is jolted by a Mediterranean murderFrom the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group bores: the dullards of England whom he had hoped to escape by going to Italy. He gives up on the trip immediately, burying his nose in a mystery novel to ensure that no one tries to become his friend. But not long after the group makes landfall at the craggy isle of San Juan el Pirata, a murder demands his attention. The body of a woman is found laid out carefully on her bed, blood pooled around her and fingers wrapped around the dagger that took her life. The corrupt local police force, impatient to find a killer, names Cockrill chief suspect. To escape the Italian hangman, the detective must find out who would go on vacation to kill a stranger.
Between Night and Morn
by Kahlil GibranA selection of early works by bestselling author Kahlil Gibran offers an accessible introduction to his beautiful language and inspiring worldview The prolific writings of Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, continue to inspire a devoted international following and have transformed modern Arabic literature. In this volume of early writings, Gibran&’s simple yet lyrical style crosses from prose to poetry and yields insight into his dedication and inner vision of beauty, including the tale of a strange hermit in &“The Tempest,&” the discovery of love lost to war in &“The Mermaids,&” and the long voyage of sea and soul in the prose poem &“Between Night and Morn.&” From scathing indictments against worldly wrongs to tender spiritual exultations, Between Night and Morn powerfully evokes the mood and magnetism of Gibran.
This Quiet Dust: And Other Writings (Vintage International Ser.)
by William Styron&“Thoughtful, candid&” essays from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Sophie&’s Choice (The Christian Science Monitor).This Quiet Dust is a compilation of William Styron&’s nonfiction writings that confront significant moral questions with precision and vigor. He examines topics as diverse as the Holocaust, the American Dream, and the controversy that raged around his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Confessions of Nat Turner. In each entry, Styron expertly wields his powers of insight to slice through the most complex issues. This Quiet Dust offers a window into the philosophical underpinnings of Styron&’s greatest novels and is the ideal entry for readers seeking a greater understanding into the work of one of America&’s most celebrated authors. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.
The Wisdom of Bertrand Russell (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesAn A-to-Z compendium of Russell&’s writingOne of the great minds of the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell explored philosophy, mathematics, and a variety of other intellectual, political, historical, and social issues in his lifetime. In this indispensable and easily accessible guide, drawn from his books and essays, readers will find Russell&’s fundamental principles, from objectivity to ontological arguments to logical certainty, in his own words. Russell also explored topics such as war, evil, and the purpose and goal of human existence. Russell&’s intellect transcends time and remains a relevant source of inspiration and thought today.
Silent Thunder (The Amos Walker Mysteries #9)
by Loren D. EstlemanDetroit PI Amos Walker attempts to clear the name of a woman accused of murdering her husbandConstance Thayer probably isn&’t a nice woman. If she was, she wouldn&’t have shot her husband to death. But just because she has a taste for nightlife—drinking, clubbing, and the finest hard drugs—doesn&’t mean her husband didn&’t deserve it. An automobile magnate in a city where internal combustion still reigns supreme, Doyle Thayer Jr. was a wife-beater with a collection of assault weapons that could furnish an army. At least that&’s the story spun by Amos Walker&’s new client, a large investigatory outfit hired by Mrs. Thayer to clear her name. Walker&’s job is to get the dirt on her late husband, to learn enough about him that her shooting looks like an act of heroism. And please, his new bossbegs, don&’t make any waves—a sure sign that the man doesn&’t know Amos Walker. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Loren D. Estleman including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
Good Behavior: A Dortmunder Novel (The Dortmunder Novels #6)
by Donald E. WestlakeA hapless thief is drafted by a gang of nuns in need, in a novel by an Edgar Award winner who &“has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists&” (San Francisco Chronicle). It was supposed to be a simple caviar heist. Dortmunder is almost in the building when the alarm sounds, forcing him up the fire escape and onto the roof. He leaps onto the next building, smashing his ankle and landing in the den of the worst kind of creature he can imagine: nuns. Although decades removed from his Catholic orphanage, Dortmunder still trembles before the sisters&’ habits. But these nuns are kinder than the ones he grew up with. They bandage his wound, let him rest, and don&’t call the cops—for a price. The father of the youngest member of their order, disgusted by their vow of silence, has kidnapped his daughter, locked her in a tightly guarded penthouse apartment, and is attempting to convince her to renounce her faith. The nuns ask Dortmunder to rescue the girl. It&’s an impossible assignment—but one he cannot refuse.
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
by James GleickNew York Times Bestseller: This life story of the quirky physicist is &“a thorough and masterful portrait of one of the great minds of the century&” (The New York Review of Books). Raised in Depression-era Rockaway Beach, physicist Richard Feynman was irreverent, eccentric, and childishly enthusiastic—a new kind of scientist in a field that was in its infancy. His quick mastery of quantum mechanics earned him a place at Los Alamos working on the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer, where the giddy young man held his own among the nation&’s greatest minds. There, Feynman turned theory into practice, culminating in the Trinity test, on July 16, 1945, when the Atomic Age was born. He was only twenty-seven. And he was just getting started. In this sweeping biography, James Gleick captures the forceful personality of a great man, integrating Feynman&’s work and life in a way that is accessible to laymen and fascinating for the scientists who follow in his footsteps.
Easy Meat (The Charlie Resnick Mysteries #8)
by John HarveyA teenage thug&’s apparent suicide reveals a vicious cycle of violence: &“No one does the British police procedural better&” (Manchester Evening News). Nicky Snape likes robbing old people. The fifteen-year-old snatches shirts from stores, purses from his teachers, and as much money as he can lift from his mother. But for an easy score he knows no better target than the elderly. When he sneaks into the home of Eric and Doris Netherfield, his footsteps wake the old couple. With a piece of steel railing he keeps by the bed for protection, Eric attempts to defend his home. He fails. Nicky fights back, battering them both to within an inch of their lives. Nottingham police inspector Charlie Resnick knows Nicky Snape, and doesn&’t hesitate to arrest him. But what should be the end of the crime is only the beginning, as Snape&’s arrest sparks a chain reaction of rape, suicide, and murder.
The Wisdom of the Koran: The Wisdom Of The Torah, The Wisdom Of The Talmud, The Wisdom Of The Koran, The Wisdom Of Muhammad, And The Wisdom Of Buddha (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesDiscover the beliefs and lessons of Islam&’s sacred textThe Koran, the sacred text at the heart of the second-largest religion in the world, is regarded by Muslims as the exact word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammad. Representing the ultimate authority on almost every issue related to Muslim life, the Koran&’s lessons and parables offer the faithful moral and spiritual guidance. In The Wisdom of the Koran, readers will discover a selection of key chapters such as &“The Night Journey&” and &“The Cave,&” footnotes to convey context and meaning, as well as several stories from Judeo-Christian history. This invaluable anthology is an excellent step toward greater understanding of one of the finest pieces of Arabic prose and the Muslim faith.
The Red Horseman (Jake Grafton #4)
by Stephen CoontsAs the USSR collapses, thousands of nuclear warheads may end up in the wrong hands in this thriller from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of War. Jake Grafton has been promoted to deputy director of a new US intelligence agency—and the stakes of his commission are higher than ever before. With the Soviet Union on the brink of dissolution, a vast nuclear arsenal is suddenly ripe for the taking by mercenaries, rogue nations, and insane Russian nationalists. Grafton must stop them, and he may have to do it alone—because not everyone supposedly on his side wants him to succeed. From the &“masterful storyteller&” whose blockbuster tales of international suspense include Flight of the Intruder and Liars & Thieves, The Red Horseman is a startling vision of the apocalyptic danger that emerged at the end of the Cold War, a threat that still exists wherever weapons of mass destruction remain poorly secured.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
Nevermore: A Novel
by William HjortsbergSir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini team up to search for a literary-minded killerIt is 1923 and a beautiful young woman has just been found outside a tenement, bones crushed, head ripped from her shoulders. A few stories above, her squalid apartment has been ransacked, and twenty-dollar gold pieces litter the floor. The window frame is smashed. She seems to have been hurled from the building by a beast of impossible strength, and the only witness claims to have seen a long-armed ape fleeing the scene. The police are baffled, but one reporter recognizes the author of the bloody crime: the long-dead Edgar Allan Poe. A psychopath is haunting New York City, imitating the murders that made Poe&’s stories so famous. To Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the killing spree is of purely academic interest. But when Poe&’s ghost appears in Doyle&’s hotel room, the writer and the magician begin to suspect that the murders may hold a clue to understanding death itself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of William Hjortsberg including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
The Scarred Man
by Andrew KlavanA ghost story forces a man to confront the darkest secret of his pastChristmas is lonely for a man with no family, and Mike North is grateful when his boss invites him to spend the holiday at his cabin upstate. But as a blizzard descends and conversation dries up, Mike regrets leaving New York City. Only the arrival of Susannah, his boss&’s daughter, saves him from going mad with boredom. She is quick-witted and beautiful, a perfect antidote to snow-bound tedium, and he begins to fall in love. For Christmas night entertainment, Mike invents a ghost story. It goes all right until Susannah starts to scream. Something in his half-baked melodrama about a Chicago serial killer haunted by a man with a scarred face has touched a nerve. Unknowingly, Mike described a scene that matches Susannah&’s nightmares. Soon, what had been a dream begins to intrude into reality. To understand her terror, Mike digs into his own memory, hoping to unearth the secret that gave birth to the scarred man.
The Innocent Flower (The MacDougal Duff Mysteries #3)
by Charlotte ArmstrongMacDougal Duff falls in with a strange family—and senses murderA sudden cloudburst forces MacDougal Duff to stop his car in front of the home of Mary Moriarty. The history professor turned detective is reclining in his seat, waiting out the torrential rainstorm, when Mary knocks on the car window holding a feverish child and jabbering about a dead woman. After years investigating murders, Mac Duff is not fazed by a dead body, but the sick child moves his heart. He speeds to the hospital, and while the doctor is seeing to the child, he asks Mary about the dead woman. Her name was Brownie, Mary says, and she was poisoned. Unable to resist an interesting death, Mac Duff moves in with the family, pretending to be a distant relation. To his delight, he finds a home corrupted by secrets, whose residents do not hesitate to kill.
The Bridesmaid: To Fear A Painted Devil
by Ruth RendellFrom the New York Times–bestselling author of A Dark-Adapted Eye: A unique psychological thriller about a gentle young man tempted to kill for love. Philip Wardman is disgusted by murder. He cannot tolerate violent films or the local news, and when his friends discuss such things he often leaves the room. At his sister&’s wedding, Philip becomes infatuated with a strange, silver-haired woman named Senta Pelham. They sleep together after the reception, and Philip finds himself falling headfirst into obsessive, all-consuming love. He wants to marry Senta and live an ordinary life—but before they can, she has a murderous idea. To prove the unconventionality of their love, Senta proposes that each of them commit a murder. Shocked by the idea, but unable to resist his beloved, Philip is drawn into a maze of violence and deceit—and is horrified to find that he feels quite at home. &“Subdued tones, stultifying atmosphere, and omniscient narration mark this telling depiction of mutual psychological obsession,&” writes Library Journal. Ruth Rendell was one of the twentieth century&’s finest thriller writers, and The Bridesmaid is one of her most chilling.
Kolchak's Gold
by Brian GarfieldOn the hunt for long-lost gold, a historian attracts murderous attentionTwenty-five million people died during the Russian Civil War. It was a clash between Tsarist loyalists and the new Soviet order, and when the imperialist forces saw defeat in sight, their thoughts turned to their future. Under the command of Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, they loaded the entire Tsarist treasury onto a train, packing millions of worthless banknotes alongside platinum, jewels, and over five hundred tons of gold bullion. As Kolchak retreated, the train disappeared, and the fortune vanished. America&’s foremost historian of Russia, Harry Bristow, is researching a new biography of Kolchak when an ancient veteran of the Russian Civil War gives him a clue to the gold&’s whereabouts. Bristow would like to find the treasure for the sake of historical research, but where gold goes, greed follows—and death is not far behind.
Under the Sea Wind
by Rachel CarsonThis New York Times bestseller by the author of the environmental classic Silent Spring beautifully details the coastal ecosystem of birds and the sea. In her first book, preeminent nature writer Rachel Carson tells the story of the sea creatures and birds that dwell in and around the waters along North America&’s eastern coast—and the delicately balanced ecosystem that sustains them. Following the life cycles of a pair of sanderlings, a mackerel, and an eel, Carson gracefully weaves scientific observation with imaginative prose to educate and inspire, creating one of the finest wildlife narratives in American literature. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rachel Carson including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
The Kremlin Conspiracy
by Brian FreemantleIn the throes of the Cold War, the Soviet Union engineers the financial collapse of the West. The world financial market has become unbalanced. Nations in South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe are trillions of dollars in debt, and a default by any one of them could start a domino effect that would eventually topple the economies of America and Europe. Across the Western hemisphere, economists such as Tom Pike are devising a brilliant plan to head off the collapse. The situation is dire, but with transatlantic cooperation there should be time to stave off disaster. But something is not as it seems. Before long, Tom realizes that the economic turmoil was deliberately created. The culprits are in Moscow, where a plot is in motion to totally destabilize the Western economy. Now Tom must stop the scheme before the dollar collapses. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Brian Freemantle including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
The Wisdom of Buddha: The Wisdom Of The Torah, The Wisdom Of The Talmud, The Wisdom Of The Koran, The Wisdom Of Muhammad, And The Wisdom Of Buddha (Wisdom)
by The Wisdom SeriesDiscover the origins of Buddhism and its tenets from the seminal texts Drawn from the sacred books of Buddhism, this collection reveals the insights and beliefs at the heart of the world&’s fourth-largest religion. Siddhartha Guatama, a sixth-century Hindu warrior prince, renounced the world in his search for the meaning of life and became the Buddha, or &“Enlightened One,&” while meditating at Bodh Gaya. From that moment forward the Buddha sought to share his own enlightenment with all of mankind. Through the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha taught followers to let go of desire and worldly attachments in order to alleviate suffering while embracing practices of meditation, mindfulness, and right conduct. Covering the birth and death of the Buddha, as well as the major tenets of Buddhism, including karma and the middle doctrine, The Wisdom of Buddha offers a profound view of the Buddhist religion and its founder.
The Spiritual Journals of Warren Felt Evans: From Methodism to Mind Cure (Religion in North America)
by Warren Felt EvansWarren Felt Evans (1817–1889) converted to Methodism while at Dartmouth College, became a minister, and spent his Methodist years as a spiritual seeker. His two extant journals, edited and annotated by Catherine L. Albanese, appear in print for the first time and reveal the inner journey of a leading American spiritual pilgrim at a critical period in his religious search. A voracious reader, he recorded accounts of intense religious experience in his journals. He moved from the Oberlin perfectionism he embraced early on, through the French quietism of Madame J. Guyon and Archbishop Fénelon, then into Swedenborgianism, spiritualism, and mind cure with distinct theosophical overtones. His carefully documented journey is suggestive of the similar journeys of the religious seekers who made their way into the burgeoning metaphysical movement at the end of the 19th century—and may shed light too on today's spirituality.
The Resurrection
by John GardnerA passionate portrait of a family&’s attempts to understand the meaning behind personal tragedy When Professor James Chandler learns he is dying from leukemia, he moves his family to his childhood home in Batavia, New York. There, surrounded by loved ones—both new and old—the immediacy of Chandler&’s illness strikes them with new force, and the limitations of his mortality become painfully clear. Rich and moving, and imbued with insight, The Resurrection is a poignant story of love in the face of the ultimate tragedy. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of John Gardner, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Gardner family and the University of Rochester Archives.