Download or read book The Word Detective written by John Simpson and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can you drink a glass of balderdash? What do you call the part of a dog's back it can't scratch? And if, serendipitously, you find yourself in Serendip, then where exactly are you? The answers to all of these questions -- and a great many more -- can be found in the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary, the definitive record of the English language. And there is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments than the former chief editor of the OED, John Simpson. Simpson spent almost four decades of his life immersed in the intricacies of our language, and guides us through its history with charmingly laconic wit. In The Word Detective, an intensely personal memoir and a joyful celebration of English, he weaves a story of how words come into being (and sometimes disappear), how culture shapes the language we use, and how technology has transformed not only the way we speak and write but also how words are made. Throughout, he enlivens his narrative with lively excavations and investigations of individual words -- from deadline to online and back to 101 (yes, it's a word) -- all the while reminding us that the seemingly mundane words (can you name the four different meanings of ma?) are often the most interesting ones. But Simpson also reminds us of the limitations of language: spending his days in the OED's house of words, his family at home is forced to confront the challenges of wordlessness. A brilliant and deeply humane expedition through the world of words, The Word Detective will delight and inspire any lover of language.

Download or read book Detective written by Kathy Burke and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stay familiar with the toxicology of metals in the environment and in humans. Here is your most up-to-date source.

Download or read book Talking About Detective Fiction written by P. D. James and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: P. D. James, the undisputed queen of mystery, gives us an intriguing, inspiring and idiosyncratic look at the genre she has spent her life perfecting. Examining mystery from top to bottom, beginning with such classics as Charles Dickens's Bleak House and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, and then looking at such contemporary masters as Colin Dexter and Henning Mankell, P. D. James goes right to the heart of the genre. Along the way she traces the lives and writing styles of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, and many more. Here is P.D. James discussing detective fiction as social history, explaining its stylistic components, revealing her own writing process, and commenting on the recent resurgence of detective fiction in modern culture. It is a must have for the mystery connoisseur and casual fan alike.

Download or read book Time to Be in Earnest written by P. D. James and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1997, P. D. James, the much loved and internationally acclaimed author of mysteries, turned seventy-seven. Taking to heart Dr. Johnson's advice that at seventy-seven it is "time to be in earnest," she decided to undertake a book unlike any she had written before: a personal memoir in the form of a diary. This enchanting and highly original volume is the result. Structured as the diary of a single year, it roams back and forth through time, illuminating James's extraordinary, sometimes painful and sometimes joyful life. Here, interwoven with reflections on her writing career and the craft of crime novels, are vivid accounts of episodes in her own past — of school days in 1920s and 1930s Cambridge . . . of the war and the tragedy of her husband's madness . . . of her determined struggle to support a family alone. She tells about the birth of her second daughter in the midst of a German buzz-bomb attack; about becoming a civil servant (and laying the groundwork for her writing career by working in the criminal justice system); about her years of public service on such bodies as the Arts Council and the BBC's Board of Governors, culminating in entry to the House of Lords. Along the way, with warmth and authority, she offers views on everything from author tours to the problems of television adaptations, from book reviewing to her obsession with Jane Austen. Written with exceptional grace, this "fragment of autobiography" has already been received with enthusiasm by British reviewers and readers. The thousands of Americans who have enjoyed P. D. James's novels will be equally charmed. Diary or memoir or both, Time to Be in Earnest is a delight.

Download or read book Murder for Pleasure written by Howard Haycraft and published by Dover Publications. This book was released on 2019-02-13 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Genuinely fascinating reading."—The New York Times Book Review "Diverting and patently authoritative."—The New Yorker "Grand and fascinating … a history, a compendium and a critical study all in one, and all first rate."—Rex Stout "A landmark … a brilliant study written with charm and authority."—Ellery Queen "This book is of permanent value. It should be on the shelf of every reader of detective stories."—Erle Stanley Gardner Author Howard Haycraft, an expert in detective fiction, traces the genre's development from the 1840s through the 1940s. Along the way, he charts the innovations of Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the modern influence of George Simenon, Josephine Tey, and others. Additional topics include a survey of the critical literature, a detective story quiz, and a Who's Who in Detection.

Download or read book The Cold Cold Ground written by Adrian McKinty and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles — and of a cop treading a thin, thin line —from The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Adrian McKinty. “McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.” —Tana French Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn’t matter which side he’s on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.

Download or read book Recollections of a Detective Police officer written by William Russell and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Memoirs of Vidocq Principal Agent of the French Police written by Eugène François Vidocq and published by . This book was released on 1853 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Mysterious Affair at Styles written by Agatha Christie and published by Ryerson Press ; New York : J. Lane ; London : J. Lane, 1920 (New York : J.J. Little & Ives). This book was released on 1920 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heiress of Styles has been murdered, dying in agony from strychnine slipped into her coffee. And there are plenty who would gain from her death: the financially strapped stepson, the gold digging younger husband, and an embittered daughter-in-law. Agatha Christie's eccentric and hugely popular detective, Hercule Poirot, was introduced to the world in this book, which launched her career as the most famous and best loved of all mystery writers.

Download or read book The Essential Elements of the Detective Story 1820 1891 written by LeRoy Lad Panek and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-02-19 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until recently, only a privileged few could read the rare, early writings that formed the basis of detective fiction in America and made it one of the most popular literary genres of the 19th century. Drawing on the unprecedented access provided by digital collections of period newspapers and magazines, this book examines detective fiction during its formative years, focusing on such crucial elements as setting, lawyers and the law, physicians and forensics, women as victims and heroes, crime and criminals, and police and detectives.

Download or read book Wells Fargo Detective written by Richard H. Dillon and published by . This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of his award-winning biographies, Meriwether Lewis and Fool's Gold, acclaimed historian Richard Dillon recreates the life of one of frontier America's most gifted lawmen, James B. Hume. Dillon paints a vivid picture of Hume, the greatest of Wells, Fargo and company's detectives, who ranged all over the West in search of robbers of the firm's express shipments. Formerly a sheriff in California's Mother Lode gold mining country, Hume did not operate in the usual manner of most western lawmen. Instead of using his gun in apprehending badmen, this courageous lawman preferred to rely on his brains. In collaboration with famed San Francisco policeman Isaiah Lees, Hume pioneered scientific detection in law enforcement in the American West-a science later known as criminology. In one of history's most fascinating arrests, Hume used a laundry mark to track down Black Bart, the poetry writing stagecoach robber. "Dillon...has written a colorful biography of an Indiana farm-boy, James Hume, who heeded the 'Go West' cry of his time...Dillon's portrait of the man is remarkably human and rounded." -Publishers Weekly "In a fast-paced story, historian Dillon gives life to this remarkable Wells, Fargo detective. While all the excitement of the chase is here, Dillon also gives a sensitive view of the whole man." -American West "Richard Dillon always writes with an adroit selection of words and phrases. In Wells, Fargo Detective he adds sardonic humor by reprinting extracts from the amazingly cold and stormy love letters Hume wrote his 'intended.'" -Arizona and the West "This biography by Richard Dillon reads as smoothly as a novel. He used James Hume's own letters and diaries...He not only relates the fascinating events of Hume's public life but mines his personality as well and finds a heroic and likable figure." -Carmon Friedrich

Download or read book A Cowboy Detective written by Charles A. Siringo and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Ascent of the Detective written by Haia Shpayer-Makov and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2011-09-29 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. The Ascent of the Detective redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard. The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socioeconomic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of 'un-English' values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.

Download or read book The Bedside Bathtub Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie written by Dick Riley and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2001-09-01 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 400,000 copies sold! If you are a mystery buff, an Agatha Christie fan, an occasional Christie reader or an acquaintance of any of the above, this book is for you and all your fortunate friends The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie, on the 25th anniversary of Agatha Christie's death, continues as a grand salute to the queen of mysteries. It is filled with wonderful and surprising things about her books, her characters, the movies and plays based on them, and Dame Agatha herself. Original contributions by some sixty writers celebrate the Christie touch. Take your pick among thse intriguing features and speculations: -Surviving an English country weekend - if you had the advice of Hercule Poirot - A guide to the Christie poisions, as well as the cruder methods of genteel mayhem - The "other" Agatha Christie who wrote romantic novels - A murder victim's (!) first-person account of a Christie Mystery Weekend - The Hercule Poirot Double-Crostic and other puzzles That's a taste. There's much more - and witty plot summaries of all Christie's novels, plays, and many of her short stories. (But no endings, of course!) This treasury is more than entertainment - it is also a personal reference work for Christie fans. And there are scores of movie posters, film stills, illustrations and a Christie mystery map, too.

Download or read book The Notting Hill Mystery written by Charles Felix and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2020-12-17 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Source documents compiled by insurance investigator Ralph Henderson are used to build a case against Baron "R___", who is suspected of murdering his wife. The baron's wife died from drinking a bottle of acid, apparently while sleepwalking in her husband's private laboratory. Henderson's suspicions are raised when he learns that the baron recently had purchased five life insurance policies for his wife. As Henderson investigates the case, he discovers not one but three murders. Although the baron's guilt is clear to the reader even from the outset, how he did it remains a mystery. Eventually this is revealed, but how to catch him becomes the final challenge; he seems to have committed the perfect crime.

Download or read book Murder on the Levels written by Frances Evesham and published by Boldwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2020-05-11 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Libby's chocolates sell like hot cakes... until people begin to die. When a group of cyclists, all customers at the bakery in small town Exham-on-Sea, are poisoned, suspicion falls on the shop itself, and Libby’s food. In partnership with attractive, blue-eyed Max Ramshore and his huge sheepdog, Bear, Libby Forest sets out to uncover the poisoner and save the bakery. But who can she trust when even her deceased husband wasn’t all he seemed? f you love murder mysteries, clever animals, cake and chocolate, take a trip to leafy Somerset in the second story in the Exham-on-Sea murder mystery series, as Libby digs deeper into the lives of the close-knit seaside community, with Bear at her side For lovers of Agatha Christie novels, Midsomer Murders, pets and cake, the green fields, rolling hills and sandy beaches of England's West Country are a perfect setting for crime, intrigue and mystery.THE EXHAM-ON-SEA MURDER MYSTERIES: 1. Murder at the Lighthouse 2. Murder on the Levels: 3. Murder on the Tor: 4. Murder at the Cathedral 5. Murder at the Bridge 6. Murder at the Castle 7. Murder at the Gorge 8. Murder at the Abbey Other Books by Frances Evesham in the Ham Hill Murder Mystery series A Village Murder A Racing Murder A Harvest Murder Here's what readers are saying about the series: 'This is a perfect short, cosy mystery.' 'It makes you wonder if English country villages are safe places to live. But I certainly would given half a chance.' 'With every book, I grow more fond of Libby and Exham; this time it already felt like coming home.' 'If you like Miss Marple this amateur sleuth will enthral you.'

Download or read book Autobiography of an English detective by Waters written by William Russell (miscellaneous writer.) and published by . This book was released on 1863 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: