Download or read book The Case of the Dotty Dowager written by Cathy Ace and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A gratifying contemporary series in the traditional British manner with hilarious repercussions. Cozy fans will anticipate learning more about these WISE ladies” - Library Journal Starred Review Meet the Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. The first in a new series. Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. She claims to have seen a corpse on the dining-room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat. Worried enough to retain the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency – one is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English – Henry wants the strange matter explained away. But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate, set in the rolling Welsh countryside near the quaint village of Anwen by Wye, is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen . . .

Download or read book Her Royal Spyness written by Rhys Bowen and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-07-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE FIRST ROYAL SPYNESS MYSTERY! The New York Times bestselling author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries turns her attentions to “a feisty new heroine to delight a legion of Anglophile readers.”* London, 1932. Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the English throne, is flat broke. She's bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed. London is a place where she'll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH—oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name...

Download or read book An Old Money Murder in Mayfair written by Sara Rosett and published by Sara Rosett. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Midnight treasure hunts, fancy-dress parties, and a blue-blooded murder . . . November, 1923. Olive’s school chum, Gigi, invites Olive to London because Gigi’s dotty grandmother fears for her life—or so she’s said to Gigi. However Olive is surprised to find that the dowager is far from muddled. The sharp and imperious matriarch refuses to admit to her worries and sends Olive on her way. Without a client or case, Olive is swept into the glittering lifestyle of the “fast set,” and their decadent excess. But then among the cocktails and champagne, a murderer strikes during a frivolous party game, and Olive realizes the dowager’s fears were well-founded. Can Olive unmask the upper crust culprit before the party’s over for a Bright Young Person? An Old Money Murder in Mayfair is the fifth installment in the popular High Society Lady Detective series from USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett. Join Olive and her dapper sleuthing partner, Jasper, as they navigate the extravagant parties of the Bright Young People as well as their own budding relationship . . .

Download or read book The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer written by Cathy Ace and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2016-02-01 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency are back in a witty and intriguing new mystery. The Anwen Morris Dancers are to play a pivotal role in the imminent nuptials of Henry, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth. But it looks as though the wedding plans might go awry unless Mavis, Annie, Carol and Christine can help Althea, the Dowager Duchess, by finding a missing Morris man and a set of ancient and valuable artefacts in time for her son’s wedding. Anwen-by-Wye might look like an idyllic Welsh village where family values reign and traditions still mean something in a modern world, but what will the WISE women find when they peer behind the respectable net curtains?

Download or read book When a Marquis Chooses a Bride written by Ella Quinn and published by Zebra Books. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unconventional woman might be the perfect match for a stuffy Englishman in the continuation of this USA Today–bestselling Regency romance series. The Dowager Lady Worthington isn’t quite sure what to make of country-girl Dorothea Stern. As the granddaughter of the Duke of Bristol, Dotty is schooled in the ways and means of the nobility. But her sharp wit and outspoken nature has everyone in a tizzy. Especially their cousin, Dominic, the Marquis of Merton. Prematurely stuffy, Dom was raised by his cheerless uncle to be wary of a host of things, including innovation, waltzing, and most perilous of all: true love. Still, there’s something about Dotty, beyond her beauty, that Dom cannot resist. But the odds are against him if he intends to win her as his bride. Will he choose loyalty to his family—or risk everything for the one woman he believes is his perfect match… “A classic Regency romp! Perfect for fans of Grace Burrowes.”—Caroline Linden, USA Today bestselling author “A strong continuation of an appealing series.”—Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Never Resist a Rake written by Mia Marlowe and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can he fool his new family? John Fitzhugh Barrett, surprised to learn he is heir to a marquessate, is determined his new status won't mean giving up his freedom. But as families from all over England descend upon Somerfield Park for the shooting season, their unmarried daughters are lining up to bag the newest trophy buck-him. Or is he only fooling himself? John's instinct for self-preservation inspires him to divide his attentions between a scandalous young widow, and the safely ineligible Rebecca Kearsey, daughter of a destitute baron. The charade gives John the illusion of controlling the game but when he loses his heart to the beautiful Rebecca, all bets are off. Praise for A Rake by Any Other Name: "Marlowe shines with a delightful and delicious comedy of errors...Regency fans will love this page-turner." -RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

Download or read book The Case of the Unsuitable Suitor written by Cathy Ace and published by Severn House. This book was released on 2018-08-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the village's prodigal son, Huw Hughes, returns and sets his cap at Annie Parker, Annie's colleagues at the WISE Enquiries Agency make it their business to unearth the truth as to why Huw has been widowed three times. Is Annie in danger?

Download or read book Opera in the Age of Rousseau written by David Charlton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-25 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historians of French politics, art, philosophy and literature have long known the tensions and fascinations of Louis XV's reign, the 1750s in particular. David Charlton's study comprehensively re-examines this period, from Rameau to Gluck and elucidates the long-term issues surrounding opera. Taking Rousseau's Le Devin du Village as one narrative centrepiece, Charlton investigates this opera's origins and influences in the 1740s and goes on to use past and present research to create a new structural model that explains the elements of reform in Gluck's tragédies for Paris. Charlton's book opens many new perspectives on the musical practices and politics of the period, including the Querelle des Bouffons. It gives the first detailed account of intermezzi and opere buffe performed by Eustachio Bambini's troupe at the Paris Opéra from August 1752 to February 1754 and discusses Rameau's comedies Platée and Les Paladins and their origins.

Download or read book Wicked written by Gregory Maguire and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens. But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas. Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch.

Download or read book A Thesaurus of English Word Roots written by Horace Gerald Danner and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-03-27 with total page 1007 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Horace G. Danner’s A Thesaurus of English Word Roots is a compendium of the most-used word roots of the English language. As Timothy B. Noone notes in his foreword: “Dr. Danner’s book allows you not only to build up your passive English vocabulary, resulting in word recognition knowledge, but also gives you the rudiments for developing your active English vocabulary, making it possible to infer the meaning of words with which you are not yet acquainted. Your knowledge can now expand and will do so exponentially as your awareness of the roots in English words and your corresponding ability to decode unfamiliar words grows apace. This is the beginning of a fine mental linguistic library: so enjoy!” In A Thesaurus of English Word Roots, all word roots are listed alphabetically, along with the Greek or Latin words from which they derive, together with the roots’ original meanings. If the current meaning of an individual root differs from the original meaning, that is listed in a separate column. In the examples column, the words which contain the root are then listed, starting with their prefixes, for example, dysacousia, hyperacousia. These root-starting terms then are followed by terms where the root falls behind the word, e.g., acouesthesia and acoumeter. These words are followed by words where the root falls in the middle or the end, as in such terms as bradyacusia and odynacusis.. In this manner, A Thesaurus of English Word Roots places the word in as many word families as there are elements in the word. This work will interest linguists and philologists and anyone interested in the etymological aspects of English language.

Download or read book Best Laid Schemes written by Emma Jensen and published by Ivy Books. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Girls grow into ladies, dearest. It happens all the time." "That is not a lady, madam. That is Sibyl Cameron." So says Tarquin Rome, a rather stiff, superbly handsome earl who has been harassed by this irrepressible mishap-prone chit since boyhood. Why then would his mother invite Sibyl to his artfully planned house party? Why, indeed. The lofty earl is hardly likely to notice that the beautiful Sibyl is no longer in pinafores and pigtails--especially since he has invited three Incomparables from which he will choose his bride. But when embarrassing and awkward moments transpire at his gathering, Tarquin can only blame Sibyl. Which hardly explains his increasing desire for her company--and her affection. . . .

Download or read book The Day She Died written by Catriona McPherson and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master storyteller Catriona McPherson weaves a multi award-winning ominous tale of domestic suspense that will keep you guessing until the very end. You love him. You trust him. You shouldn't. Jessica Constable seems fine. She's worked hard at that. She's a survivor, determined to get through each day, even though deep down she knows she can never, ever atone for what she's done. But when Jessie meets sculptor Gus King, on the day his wife goes missing, she feels an unaccustomed - frightening - desire rise up inside her. She likes Gus. She likes his children. And when Gus's wife turns up dead, the police suspecting suicide, he clings so hard she can't stomach letting go. Soon Jessie's sleeping at his house, babysitting his kids. Becoming their new mother. But her unexpected happiness is tainted by unsettling questions. Who does she keep seeing from the corner of her eye? Why is Gus so secretive about his work? And most importantly - what really happened to Gus's wife?

Download or read book Life After Life written by Kate Atkinson and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to? Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in lifeâe(tm)s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

Download or read book India Black and The Widow of Windsor written by Carol K. Carr and published by Titan Books. This book was released on 2014-04-17 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A MADAM OF ESPIONAGE MYSTERY Whether running a brothel or running from danger as a spy for Her Majesty, India Black knows how to use the tricks of her trade. This time she's off to Scotland to ensure that the Queen doesn't end up getting killed... When Queen Victoria attends a séance, the spirit of her departed husband, Prince Albert, insists she spend Christmas at their Scottish home in Balmoral, a deviation from her usual practice. The prime minister suspects that Scottish nationalists are planning to assassinate the Queen, and sends the ever-resourceful India and the handsome British spy French to the Scottish Highlands undercover. French takes the high road, looking for a traitor among the Queen's guests - and India takes the low road, disguised as a servant in case an assassin is hiding among the Queen's staff. For her part, India doesn't need a medium to predict that someone at Balmoral is determined that this Christmas will be her Majesty's last... "Fast, funny and entertaining." RT BOOK REVIEW "Plenty of derring do...close calls and narrow escapes." MYSTERIOUS REVIEWS "Fans of historical murder mysteries should rejoice at the appearance of a second India Black adventure and the prospect of more - the madam comes highly recommended." OPEN LETTERS MONTHLY

Download or read book The Crow Trap A Vera Stanhope Novel 1 written by Ann Cleeves and published by Pan. This book was released on 2001-12-01 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Crow Trap is the first book in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series - which is now a major TV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera. Three very different women come together at isolated Baikie's Cottage on the North Pennines, to complete an environmental survey. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal... Rachael, the team leader, is still reeling after a double betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Anne, a botanist, sees the survey as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace, a strange, uncommunicative young woman, hiding plenty of her own secrets. Rachael is the first to arrive at the cottage, where she discovers the body of her friend, Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide - a verdict Rachael refuses to accept. When another death occurs, a fourth woman enters the picture - the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope...

Download or read book The Wrong Boy written by Cathy Ace and published by . This book was released on 2019-01-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perched on a Welsh cliff, the picturesque hamlet of Rhosddraig has its peaceful façade ripped apart when human remains are discovered. The Dragon's Head, the village pub run by three generations of women, is where layers of deceit are peeled away to expose old secrets and deep wounds... leading to disturbing revelations, and deadly consequences.

Download or read book Dead Lagoon written by Michael Dibdin and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2011-01-06 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A rollicking good tale.' INDEPENDENT 'A first-rate mystery.' WASHINGTON POST AN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY Aurelio Zen returns to his native Venice in an unofficial capacity, to investigate the disappearance of an American millionaire. But he is quickly reminded that, amid the hazy light and shifting waters of the lagoon, nothing is what it seems. As he is drawn deeper into the ambiguous mysteries surrounding the discovery of a skeletal corpse, he is also forced to confront a series of disturbing revelations about his own life. 'Absolutely brilliant . . . made me want to go back to travel in Italy again.' 5* reader review 'I loved this book . . . a good storyline, and enough twists to keep me guessing.' 5* reader review 'Perfect entertainment.' 5* reader review 'My personal favourite in a great series.' 5* reader review PRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES: 'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN 'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES 'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN 'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT 'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR 'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell 'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER 'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review 'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review 'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review 'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review