Snowball--an aptly named bundle of feline fluff--is thankful to be spending her first Christmas in the comfort of Weber Haus, the Victorian B&B run by Miss Tilly.  Emily Diemer, who cooks for the guests, dotes on Snowball, but she's not thrilled about another new arrival at the...  more

Snowball--an aptly named bundle of feline fluff--is thankful to be spending her first Christmas in the comfort of Weber Haus, the Victorian B&B run by Miss Tilly.  Emily Diemer, who cooks for the guests, dotes on Snowball, but she's not thrilled about another new arrival at the B&B: Miss Tilly's nephew, Lukas. Which is odd, because Snowball's animal instincts tell her that Lukas and Emily should definitely be friends. Everything Emily needs is in this quaint community -- including, she hopes, the chance to open her own bakery one day. She doesn't think much of Lukas for leaving his aging aunt to struggle while he jets around the world taking photographs. But now that he's here, helping to spruce up the property and getting mixed up in Snowball's antics, she begins to soften a little. Until she learns what he has planned . . . Lukas is going to sell Weber Haus so that Miss Tilly can retire. But Snowball is certain that this B&B, and these people, are supposed to be her forever home. Somehow she has to get these stubborn humans to see things through the wisdom of a cat's eye and a kitten's loyal, loving heart . .

This collection investigates the origins of history's most intriguing old-fashioned superstitions, many of which people still find themselves abiding by today. Hundreds of the beliefs passed down through the generations have their foundations in ancestry's efforts to ward off evil,...  more

This collection investigates the origins of history's most intriguing old-fashioned superstitions, many of which people still find themselves abiding by today. Hundreds of the beliefs passed down through the generations have their foundations in ancestry's efforts to ward off evil, which they blamed for hardship, illness, and injustice in times when life was, as often as not, "nasty, brutish, and short."  Black Cats and Evil Eyes sets these superstitions in their historical and social context, explaining how fear of the devil, demons, evil spirits, and witchcraft drove people to arm themselves with rituals and talismans to repel dark forces and allow them to live long and healthy lives. In examining many of our common superstitions, this book illuminates the customs, beliefs, and practices of an ancient, and often darker, human past.

Gossip maven Annabel Hinchby-Smythe is thrilled when she is mistaken for a top interior decorator by recent acquaintance and computer millionaire Arthur Arbuthnot. When he invites her to redecorate his dreary London flat, it gives her an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the reclusive...  more

Gossip maven Annabel Hinchby-Smythe is thrilled when she is mistaken for a top interior decorator by recent acquaintance and computer millionaire Arthur Arbuthnot. When he invites her to redecorate his dreary London flat, it gives her an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the reclusive tycoon's life and provides her with tidbits to feed the gossip columnists. Little does she realize what her deception will lead to; the shabby mansion houses and odd and disagreeable group of relatives, each of whom seems to have a questionable agenda concerning Arbuthnot and his money. Only Sally, a cat rescued from the streets, seems to have a rightful place in Arbuthnot's affections, although she is loathed by everyone else. As Annabel wrestles with the mysteries of material samples, Arbuthnot's relatives contend with each other. His family members are at each other's throats, and the tension in the timeworn mansion is at an all-time high. When the millionaire's corpse is discovered in his inner sanctum, all indications point toward foul play. His greedy relatives are quick to cover up any suggestion of murder, but Annabel is profoundly suspicious. When Arbuthnot's lawyers reveal that Sally, the cat, is the main beneficiary of his will, and whoever looks after her will control his massive fortune, the relatives all scramble to win the feline's affections. All too aware of what this means for the cat's life expectancy, Annabel spirits her away from the conspiring clan. This does not deter them, however; multiple Sally look-alikes are adopted by the Arbuthnot entourage as they try and pass each off as the precious feline. Between posing as a designer, acting as a cat-refuge service, and solving a murder, Annabel has her hands full. The Company of Cats is the usual Marion Babson delight; lighthearted and charming, it will appeal to cat lovers and mystery lovers alike.

A brilliant but socially inept robotics engineer builds her own wedding date--and learns more about love than she ever expected--in this hilarious and heartwarming debut novel. Dating is hard. Being dateless at your perfect sister's wedding is harder. Meet Kelly. Twenty-nine, go-getter, a...  more

A brilliant but socially inept robotics engineer builds her own wedding date--and learns more about love than she ever expected--in this hilarious and heartwarming debut novel. Dating is hard. Being dateless at your perfect sister's wedding is harder. Meet Kelly. Twenty-nine, go-getter, a brilliant robotics engineer, and perpetually single. So when her younger sister's wedding looms and her attempts to find a date become increasingly cringeworthy, Kelly does the only logical thing: she builds her own boyfriend. Ethan is perfect: gorgeous, attentive, and smart--all topped off by a mechanical heart endlessly devoted to her. Not to mention he's good with her mother. When she's with him, Kelly discovers a more confident, spontaneous version of herself--the person she'd always dreamed she could be. But as the struggle to keep Ethan's identity secret threatens to detonate her career, Kelly knows she has to kiss her perfect man good-bye. There's just one problem: she's falling for him.

What The Vatican Doesn't Want You To Know:The lies. The conspiracies. The cover-ups. The truth.Deep behind the walls of the world's holiest site is a dense network of lies, corruption, and conspiracies fueling the Vatican's vast and unchecked influence on world events. From the Holy Orders that...  more

What The Vatican Doesn't Want You To Know:The lies. The conspiracies. The cover-ups. The truth.Deep behind the walls of the world's holiest site is a dense network of lies, corruption, and conspiracies fueling the Vatican's vast and unchecked influence on world events. From the Holy Orders that defied the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" to the scandals splashed across international headlines, the Vatican is no longer shrouded in mystery, legend, and secrecy. It's all here:The shocking and unsolved murder of the corrupt Vatican financier known as "God's Banker"Real-life exorcism--and shocking rumors of SatanismThe Vatican's startling views on extraterrestrials and end-of-world prophesiesThe Vatican's hidden ties to Nazi Germany and the MafiaThe bizarre rituals of the ultraconservative Opus DeiThe Vatican's ruthless 500-year war with the FreemasonsPope Pius XII's anti-Semitic indifference to the plight of Europe's Jews and the HolocaustAnd much more!This utterly fascinating, unflinching account is the most definitive exposé ever written about the most secretive institution in the world.H. Paul Jeffers is the author of The Bilderberg Conspiracy, Freemasons: Inside the World's Oldest Secret Society and Freemasons in America: Inside the Secret Society, among fifty other books. He has appeared on C-SPAN, Fox News, and The History Channel.

It’s all in a day’s work for Tara Holloway, the U.S. Treasury’s latest, greatest, soon-to-be-skinniest weapon against the biggest, richest tax cheats in the nation… When she joined the Criminal Investigations Division, Tara knew she’d be investigating some very...  more

It’s all in a day’s work for Tara Holloway, the U.S. Treasury’s latest, greatest, soon-to-be-skinniest weapon against the biggest, richest tax cheats in the nation… When she joined the Criminal Investigations Division, Tara knew she’d be investigating some very real crooks. Forget about waitresses hiding tips from the IRS or babysitters not declaring income! Tara and her partner, Eddie, are going after one of country’s richest, dirtiest felons. Being on a diet doesn’t help Tara’s mood much. Hopefully, by the time the investigation is over, she’ll be sitting somewhere in a string bikini, far, far away…

The moment I?d scanned the outside of the building, I turned to Bruno and said, ?First impressions, it looks straightforward.? Looking back, I can?t help but wonder what I was thinking. I mean, put that line at the opening of a crime novel and it?s practically a guarantee that everything is...  more

The moment I?d scanned the outside of the building, I turned to Bruno and said, ?First impressions, it looks straightforward.? Looking back, I can?t help but wonder what I was thinking. I mean, put that line at the opening of a crime novel and it?s practically a guarantee that everything is about to get complicated.Charlie Howard?globe-trotting mystery writer, professional thief, and poor decision maker?is in Paris. Flush with the success of his latest book reading, not to mention a few too many glasses of wine, Charlie agrees to show a complete novice how to break into an apartment in the Marais. Fast-forward twenty-four hours and Charlie?s hired to steal an ordinary-looking oil painting?from the exact same address.Mere coincidence? Charlie figures there?s no harm in finding out?until a dead body turns up in his living room and he finds himself evading the law while becoming caught up in a quite outrageous heist. And that?s before Charlie?s literary agent, Victoria (who?s naive enough to assume that he looks like his author photo), finally decides they should meet face-to-face.Nobody ever said a life of suspense was easy, but Charlie, the most disarmingly charming burglar since Cary Grant, soon finds things are getting way out of control.

His great battles against the sea raiders in the Nile Delta have left Pharoah Tuthmosis II frail, but he finds solace in victory and in the welcome he is sure to receive on his return to Thebes. Across the river from Thebes, however, there are those who do not relish his homecoming, and a group...  more

His great battles against the sea raiders in the Nile Delta have left Pharoah Tuthmosis II frail, but he finds solace in victory and in the welcome he is sure to receive on his return to Thebes. Across the river from Thebes, however, there are those who do not relish his homecoming, and a group of assassins has taken a witch to pollute the Pharaoh's unfinished tomb. Reunited with his wife, Hatusu, and his people, Tuthmosis stands before the statue of Amun-Ra, the roar of the crowd and the fanfare of trumpets ringing in his ears. But within an hour he is dead and the people of Thebes cannot forget the omen of wounded doves flying overhead. Rumours run rife, speculation sweeps the royal city and Hatusu vows to uncover the truth. With the aid of Amerotke, a respected judge of Thebes, she embarks on a path destined to reveal the great secrets of Egypt.

Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead... The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount...  more

Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead... The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith’s passing. But Natalka had a reason to be at the police station: while clearing out Peggy’s flat, she noticed an unusual number of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy. And each psychological thriller included a mysterious postscript: PS: for PS. When a gunman breaks into the flat to steal a book and its author is found dead shortly thereafter -- Detective Kaur begins to think that perhaps there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all. And then things escalate: from an Aberdeen literary festival to the streets of Edinburgh, writers are being targeted. DS Kaur embarks on a road trip across Europe and reckons with how exactly authors can think up such realistic crimes . . .

Vaudeville actress Leah Randall took on her most daring role ever when she impersonated missing heiress Jessie Carr in order to claim Jessie's inheritance in "The Impersonator." Now that the dust has settled around that tumultuous time in her life, Leah has adopted Jessie's name as her own and...  more

Vaudeville actress Leah Randall took on her most daring role ever when she impersonated missing heiress Jessie Carr in order to claim Jessie's inheritance in "The Impersonator." Now that the dust has settled around that tumultuous time in her life, Leah has adopted Jessie's name as her own and moved to Hollywood, where she's taken a modest but steady job in the silent film industry.Jessie's thrilled when Bruno Heilmann, a movie studio bigwig, invites her to a party. She's even more delighted to run into a face from her past at that party. But the following day, Jessie learns that sometime in the wee hours of the morning both her old friend and Bruno Heilmann were brutally murdered. She's devastated, but with her skill as an actress, access to the wardrobes and resources of a film studio, and a face not yet famous enough to be recognized, Jessie is uniquely positioned to dig into the circumstances surrounding these deaths. But will doing so put her own life directly in the path of a murderer?With "Silent Murders," MB/MWA First Crime Novel Competition winner Mary Miley has crafted another terrifically fun mystery, this time set in the dizzying, dazzling heart of jazz-age Hollywood.

It's September, 1811. Death stalks the sons of Regency England's most powerful families. Partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed in their mouths, the bodies are found dumped in public places at dawn. When the grisly remains of the eldest son of Alfred, Lord Stanton, are...  more

It's September, 1811. Death stalks the sons of Regency England's most powerful families. Partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed in their mouths, the bodies are found dumped in public places at dawn. When the grisly remains of the eldest son of Alfred, Lord Stanton, are discovered in Old Palace Yard beside the House of Lords, local magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help. Ranging from the gritty world of London's docks to the luxurious drawing rooms of Mayfair, Sebastian confronts his most puzzling -- and disturbing -- case yet. With the help of his trusted allies -- his young servant Tom, the Irish doctor Paul Gibson, and his lover Kat Boleyn -- Sebastian struggles to decipher a cryptic set of clues that links the scion of a banking family and a lord's heir to the son of a humble Kentish vicar. For as one death follows another, Sebastian comes to believe that the murderer has both a method and a purpose to his ritualized killings, and that the key to it all may lie in the enigmatic stanzas of a haunting poem... and in a secret so dangerous that men are willing to sacrifice their own children to keep the truth from becoming known.

The quaint Midwestern town of Serenity is about to hit the small screen. Brandy Borne and her dramatically ditzy mother, Vivian, will be starring inAntique Sleuths, a reality TV show based on the duo's antiquarian adventures--and their troubling talent for solving deadly crimes. What better...  more

The quaint Midwestern town of Serenity is about to hit the small screen. Brandy Borne and her dramatically ditzy mother, Vivian, will be starring inAntique Sleuths, a reality TV show based on the duo's antiquarian adventures--and their troubling talent for solving deadly crimes. What better shooting set than a creepy old house, the site of a 60-year-old unsolved axe murder? The location is perfect until Bruce Spring, the show's producer, meets a fatal axe-ident, mortally mauled just like the home's previous owner.  The first suspect on the chopping block seems typecast for the role of killer--he was found at the scene of the attack, clutching a stained axe. But as Brandy and Vivian chop around for clues, plenty of other suspects stick out their necks... It seems the show's cameraman clashed with Bruce--could he be the culprit? What about the acrimony between Andrew, the harried homeowner, and Bruce, whose dirt-digging documentary all but accused Andrew of the original unsolved crime? And who's driving that blood-red Toyota that keeps making unscripted cameo appearances? If Brandy and Vivian are going to get to the bottom of this mystery, they'll have to be extra careful not to wind up on the cutting room floor--in pieces!

London milliner Vivian Tremont and her American cousin and partner, Scarlett Parker, tip their caps to their beloved shop on Portobello Road in Notting Hill and set off for Paris, where Viv can’t wait to teach a hat-making class. But she has another reason to travel to the City of Light:...  more

London milliner Vivian Tremont and her American cousin and partner, Scarlett Parker, tip their caps to their beloved shop on Portobello Road in Notting Hill and set off for Paris, where Viv can’t wait to teach a hat-making class. But she has another reason to travel to the City of Light: to find the man she impulsively eloped with years ago and have their marriage annulled.   William Graham is not only handsome and charming, but he also has a glamorous job as an insurance investigator who works with priceless pieces of art, most recently a small Renoir that has been discovered in a junk shop. But when both Will and the masterpiece suddenly disappear, it’s up to the ladies from London to follow the trail of clues. They’ll need to hold on to their chapeaux, however, because someone is a master in the art of deception...

Hired to assess the value of broken and missing antiques following a suspicious burglary at a Virginia manor house, intrepid appraiser and amateur sleuth Sterling Glass finds that her job is more complicated than she'd anticipated. The antiques, she realizes, are not always what they seem:...  more

Hired to assess the value of broken and missing antiques following a suspicious burglary at a Virginia manor house, intrepid appraiser and amateur sleuth Sterling Glass finds that her job is more complicated than she'd anticipated. The antiques, she realizes, are not always what they seem: some are worth tens of thousands, others are well-done replicas. Whether the well-traveled and well-heeled couple who once owned Wynderly could have been trafficking in fakes is what Sterling must unravel from the secret rooms, hidden treasures, uncovered diaries, and convoluted trail of paperwork and provenance. As our sharp-witted heroine sifts through details doled out by the museum's curators, board members, and the town's local residents, she discovers that objects, unlike people, do not lie. The Big Steal is a delightful mystery that enhances readers' antiques acumen and provides an easy guide to identifying the most popular styles and periods in an illustrated appendix.

The British Midlands. It’s called the “Black Country” for a reason. Bad things happen there. — When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village—and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird’s nest—the local constable sends for help...  more

The British Midlands. It’s called the “Black Country” for a reason. Bad things happen there. — When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village—and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird’s nest—the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard’s new Murder Squad. Fresh off the grisly 1889 murders of The Yard, Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they’re about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it. Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave. . . .  

The world has changed around Wyatt Earp since his glory days as a lawman in the wide-open towns of the Western frontier. Now in his golden years, he's a private detective in Los Angeles -- and the mistress of his late partner Doc Holliday wants him to help turn Doc's errant son away from...  more

The world has changed around Wyatt Earp since his glory days as a lawman in the wide-open towns of the Western frontier. Now in his golden years, he's a private detective in Los Angeles -- and the mistress of his late partner Doc Holliday wants him to help turn Doc's errant son away from the shady path he's chosen to walk in New York City. And there's another good reason for Earp to mount an iron horse headed for the wild, wild East: a reunion with his old friend Bat Masterson, who's traded in his shooting iron for a sportswriter's pen. But a new breed of big city badmen roars in the '20s -- organized cold-killers toting machine guns in lieu of six-shooters. And in the midst of the Jazz Age glitter, two aging, legendary enforcers could be headed for their final showdown with a brutal, hot-headed young gangster . . . named Al Capone.

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV MEETS MARILYN MONROE In an attempt to soothe growing cold war tensions between America and Russia, Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits the U.S. to see all that his "enemy" has to offer.  Top of his to-do list?  A trip to DisneyLand and an introduction to...  more

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV MEETS MARILYN MONROE In an attempt to soothe growing cold war tensions between America and Russia, Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits the U.S. to see all that his "enemy" has to offer.  Top of his to-do list?  A trip to DisneyLand and an introduction to sexual icon Marilyn Monroe. Thanks to the impossible security requirements, DisneyLand is out of the question. Marilyn, on the other  hand, jumps at the chance to put on a show for the Russian official. During her appearance, she overhears the details of an assassination plot designed to spark an atomic holocaust and devastate both superpowers. When the Secret Service refuses to believe her, Marilyn risks everything to whisk Khrushchev away to safety -- in the happiest place on Earth. With U.S. agents and the KGB hot on their trail, Marilyn and Khrushchev enjoy the thrills of the amusement park while fighting to stay one step ahead of the assassins and prevent the horrors of an unprecedented war that would annihilate millions.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. She...  more

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy's bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda's twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda's life. She doesn't hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy -- and one final scavenger hunt. When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books -- now as its owner -- she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store's shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy's last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy's past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda's mother has kept hidden -- and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.

Who would suspect antiquarian bookseller Georgia Fenchurch of leading a double life -- as a private investigator for the clandestine Archivist Society in Victorian London? When England's national security is compromised, Georgia must pose as a titled lady to root out a spy... A cousin of...  more

Who would suspect antiquarian bookseller Georgia Fenchurch of leading a double life -- as a private investigator for the clandestine Archivist Society in Victorian London? When England's national security is compromised, Georgia must pose as a titled lady to root out a spy... A cousin of Georgia's dear friend, Lady Phyllida Monthalf, is brutally murdered in her home during the theft of blueprints of a new battleship designed by her husband -- who now stands accused of her murder... and treason. The Duke of Blackford, in service to Whitehall, enlists Georgia and the Archivist Society to assist in the investigation. Playing the part of the duke's new paramour, Georgia gains entry into the upper echelons of London's elite, where amidst elegant dinners and elaborate parties a master spy schemes to lay hands on the stolen plans. The duke is no stranger to the world of international espionage, but Georgia is out of her element in more ways than one. She must not allow her genuine attraction to the duke -- or her obsession with finding her parents' killer -- to distract her from her role. But when a mysterious stranger threatens to expose her, the counterfeit lady may be in real trouble...

Las Vegas, 1960. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford are the Kings of Cool -- the Rat Pack. Ocean’s 11 is their first movie together and they have taken Sin City by storm -- filming during the day and cavorting onstage at the Sands Casino at...  more

Las Vegas, 1960. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford are the Kings of Cool -- the Rat Pack. Ocean’s 11 is their first movie together and they have taken Sin City by storm -- filming during the day and cavorting onstage at the Sands Casino at night. It’s clear not everyone is charmed, however, when Dean begins receiving anonymous threatening letters. Eddie Gianelli, also called Eddie G., is a pit boss at the Sands. After twelve years, he’s got the whole town wired. But he’s still surprised when Joey Bishop drops by his table and invites him to meet with Frank in the Rat Pack’s private steam room. Frank asks Eddie to find out who’s been sending the threats, as a favor to him and Dean. Eddie wants to politely decline, but caught between his boss, Jack Entratter’s, not-so-subtle nudging and being utterly starstruck by Dino, he agrees to look into it. He gets help from his P.I. best friend and a Jewish torpedo from Brooklyn. A few dead bodies and bruised ribs later, he remembers why he was reluctant. In a city of gamblers, Eddie has become the highest roller of all. The game is murder, and the stakes just may be his own life.

The author of A Gilded Grave returns to Newport, Rhode Island, at the close of the nineteenth century, where headstrong heiress Deanna Randolph must solve another murder among the social elite. With her mother in Europe, Deanna is staying with the Ballard family, who agree to chaperone her...  more

The author of A Gilded Grave returns to Newport, Rhode Island, at the close of the nineteenth century, where headstrong heiress Deanna Randolph must solve another murder among the social elite. With her mother in Europe, Deanna is staying with the Ballard family, who agree to chaperone her through the summer season and guide her toward an advantageous marriage proposal, or so her mother hopes. Relishing her new freedom, Deanna is more interested in buying one of the fashionable new bathing costumes, joining a ladies bicycling club, and befriending an actress named Amabelle Deeks, all of which would scandalize her mother.   Far more scandalous is the discovery of a young man bludgeoned to death on the conservatory floor at Bonheur, the Ballards sumptuous cottage. Deanna recognizes him as an actor who performed at the birthday fete for a prominent judge the night before. But why was he at Bonheur? And where is Amabelle?  Concerned her new friend may be in danger -- or worse -- Deanna enlists the help of her intrepid maid, Elspeth, and her former beau, Joe Ballard, to find Amabelle before the villain of this drama demands an encore.

The bestselling author of The Dante Club takes us deep into a shadowy era in publishing ruled by a forgotten class of criminals  A golden age of publishing on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: Books...  more

The bestselling author of The Dante Club takes us deep into a shadowy era in publishing ruled by a forgotten class of criminals  A golden age of publishing on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: Books could be published without an author's permission with extraordinary ease. Authors gained fame but suffered financially -- Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few -- but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers got their books on the cheap. The literary pirates who stalked the harbors, coffeehouses, and printer shops for the latest manuscript to steal were known as bookaneers. Yet on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to protect authors and grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers, of course, would become extinct. In The Last Bookaneer, Matthew Pearl gives us a historical novel set inside the lost world of these doomed outlaws and the incredible heist that brought their era to a close. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon two adversaries -- the gallant Pen Davenport and the monstrous Belial -- set out for the south Pacific island. Pen Davenport -- a tortured criminal genius haunted by his past -- is reluctantly accompanied by Fergins, the narrator of our story, who has lived a quiet life of bookselling before being whisked across the world on his friend's final caper. Fergins soon discovers the supreme thrill of aiding Davenport in his quest: to steal Stevenson's manuscript and make a fortune before the new treaty ends the bookaneers' trade forever.  Yet Samoa holds many secrets of its own, and the duo's bookish concerns clash with the island's violent destiny. A colonial war is afoot between the British, American, and German powers; even as Stevenson himself quietly supports native revolutionaries from high in his mountain compound. Soon Pen and Fergins are embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself. Illuminating the heroics of the bookaneers even while conjuring Stevenson himself to breathtaking life, Pearl's The Last Bookaneer is a pageturning journey to the dark heart of a forgotten literary era.

Will, the fledgling playwright and poet, and Tuck, the would-be actor and rest-of-the-time ostler, have been enjoying their lives on and behind the stage...if only it wasn't for the occasional interruptions: plague, the closing of the theater for reasons of law or finance, and the occasional...  more

Will, the fledgling playwright and poet, and Tuck, the would-be actor and rest-of-the-time ostler, have been enjoying their lives on and behind the stage...if only it wasn't for the occasional interruptions: plague, the closing of the theater for reasons of law or finance, and the occasional murder. As luck would have it, the dramatic twosome must once again play detective in a case that involves the fates of those near and dear to their hearts as well as certain hoped-to-have-been-forgotten family members . Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta is all the rage on the London stage, and the young bard wishes to rise to the competition. With companion Tuck at his side, Will makes a sojourn for research purposes into the Elizabethan underworld, where contracts are blood bonds and the quality of mercy is stretched to its very limits. He becomes embroiled in a tangle of unlucky young lovers, anti-Semitism, and rogue justice.

After serving as a nurse in the Crimea, British-born Celia Davies left her privileged family for an impulsive marriage to a handsome Irishman. Patrick brought her to San Francisco's bustling shores but then disappeared and is now presumed dead.  Determined to carry on, Celia partnered...  more

After serving as a nurse in the Crimea, British-born Celia Davies left her privileged family for an impulsive marriage to a handsome Irishman. Patrick brought her to San Francisco's bustling shores but then disappeared and is now presumed dead.  Determined to carry on, Celia partnered with her half-Chinese cousin Barbara and her opinionated housekeeper Addie to open a free medical clinic for women who have nowhere else to turn. But Celia's carefully constructed peace crumbles when one of her Chinese patients is found brutally murdered...and Celia's hotheaded brother-in-law stands accused of the crime. A veteran of America's civil war, detective Nicholas Greaves is intent on discovering the killer of the girl, whose ethnicity and gender render her as powerless in death as they did in life. Nicholas's efforts are complicated by Celia, who has a knack for walking into dangerous situations that may lead to answers...or get them both killed.  For as their inquiries take them from Chinatown's squalid back alleys to the Barbary Coast's violent shipping docks to the city's gilded parlors, Celia and Nicholas begin to suspect that someone very close to them holds the key to a murderous conspiracy...

Click your heels three times and say, "There's no place like Bloomies!" Katie Chandler's life is pure magic- literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she's seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but...  more

Click your heels three times and say, "There's no place like Bloomies!" Katie Chandler's life is pure magic- literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she's seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she's a wiz at exposing "hokum" pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she's fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job. CEO Merlin (yes, the Merlin) and taps Katie and her special ability to uncover the magical mole. Keeping her feelings in check while sleuthing alongside Owen, Katie is shocked to discover that her immunity to magic is waning, putting her in grave danger. Soon she's surrendering to the charms and enchantments of everyone and everything around her, including a killer pair of red stilettos. Katie must now conjure up her natural instincts to get to the bottom of the break-in, regain her power, and win the wizard of her dreams.

Penniless and thirty-fourth in line to the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch finds herself in a truly draining state of affairs. To escape her hateful brother, Georgie accepts an invitation from the Queen to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. But at the macabre- looking castle,...  more

Penniless and thirty-fourth in line to the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch finds herself in a truly draining state of affairs. To escape her hateful brother, Georgie accepts an invitation from the Queen to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. But at the macabre- looking castle, Georgie finds the bride with blood running down her chin, and a wedding guest is poisoned. Now it's up to Georgie to save the nuptial festivities before the couple's vows become: to love and to cherish, till undeath do them part...

Barcelona, 1945 -- just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer,...  more

Barcelona, 1945 -- just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn't find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

In five interlinked chronological tales (and a prologue), a brilliant cast of medieval sleuths created by Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort, pursues the bloody mystery of a relic powerful and cursed a fragment of the True...  more

In five interlinked chronological tales (and a prologue), a brilliant cast of medieval sleuths created by Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort, pursues the bloody mystery of a relic powerful and cursed a fragment of the True Cross. July, 1100: Jerusalem has fallen to the Crusader armies, the Holy City lies ransacked. Amidst the chaos, an English knight named Geoffrey Mappestone is entrusted with a precious religious relic: a piece of the True Cross, allegedly stained with the blood of Christ. The relic is said to be cursed: anyone who touches it will meet a gruesome end as soon as it leaves their possession. Several decades pass, and the Cross turns up in the possession of a dealer -- robbed and murdered en route to Glastonbury. Investigating the death, Bernard Knight’s protagonist, Crowner John, learns of the relic’s dark history. Oxford, 1269: the discovery of a decapitated monk leads Ian Morson’s academic sleuth William Falconer to uncover a link to the relic. Exeter, 1323. Michael Jecks’ Sir Baldwin Furnshill has reason to suspect the relic’s involvement in at least five violent deaths. Thirty years on, suspicious deaths occur in Cambridge during a contentious debate about Holy Blood relics. Once more, as Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael are to discover, the tainted relic has a crucial part to play. Finally, the relic is dispatched to London, where it falls into the hands of an unscrupulous book dealer -- and where Philip Gooden’s Nick Revill will determine its ultimate fate. An enthralling read, perfect for mystery lovers, history buffs, or anyone who appreciates an intricately plotted tale.

'I'm taking a revolver to Thrackley. You never know with blokes like Carson. I hate these harmless, potty people --they're always up to something.' Jim Henderson is one of six guests summoned by the mysterious Edwin Carson, a collector of precious stones, to a weekend party at...  more

'I'm taking a revolver to Thrackley. You never know with blokes like Carson. I hate these harmless, potty people --they're always up to something.' Jim Henderson is one of six guests summoned by the mysterious Edwin Carson, a collector of precious stones, to a weekend party at his country house, Thrackley. The house is gloomy and forbidding but the party is warm and hospitable -- except for the presence of Jacobson, the sinister butler. The other guests are wealthy people draped in jewels; Jim cannot imagine why he belongs in such company. After a weekend of adventure -- with attempted robbery and a vanishing guest -- secrets come to light and Jim unravels a mystery from his past. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MARTIN EDWARDS