Download or read book The Ghost Orchid written by Carol Goodman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2006-01-31 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her enthralling novels of literary suspense, Carol Goodman writes stories that resonate with emotion set in lush landscapes that entice the senses. Now, with The Ghost Orchid, a narrative that seamlessly weaves together the past and the present, Goodman creates her most lyrical and haunting work to date. For more than one hundred years, creative souls have traveled to Upstate New York to work under the captivating spell of the Bosco estate. Cradled in silence, inspired by the rough beauty of overgrown gardens and crumbling statuary, these chosen few fashion masterworks–and have cemented Bosco’s reputation as a premier artists’ colony. This season, five talented artists-in-residence find themselves drawn to the history of Bosco, from the extensive network of fountains that were once its centerpiece but have long since run dry to the story of its enigmatic founder, Aurora Latham, and the series of tragic events that occurred more than a century ago. Ellis Brooks, a first-time novelist, has come to Bosco to write a book based on Aurora and the infamous summer of 1893, when wealthy, powerful Milo Latham brought the notorious medium Corinth Blackwell to the estate to help his wife contact three of the couple’s children, lost the winter before in a diphtheria epidemic. But when a séance turned deadly, Corinth and her alleged accomplice, Tom Quinn, disappeared, taking with them the Lathams’ only surviving child. The more time she spends at Bosco, the more Ellis becomes convinced that there is an even darker, more sinister end to the story. And she’s not alone: biographer Bethesda Graham uncovers stunning revelations about Milo and Corinth; landscape architect David Fox discovers a series of hidden tunnels underneath the gardens; poet Zalman Bronsky hears the long-dry fountain’s waters beckoning him; and novelist Nat Loomis feels something lingering just out of reach. After a bizarre series of accidents befalls them, the group cannot deny the connections between the long ago and now, the living and the dead . . . as Ellis realizes that the tangled truth may ensnare them all in its cool embrace.

Download or read book The Ghost Orchid written by Jonathan Kellerman and published by Random House. This book was released on 2024-11-26 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis confront a baffling, vicious double homicide that leads them to long-buried secrets worth killing for in the riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense” (Los Angeles Times). LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis sees it all the time: Reinvention’s a way of life in a city fueled by fantasy. But try as you might to erase the person you once were, there are those who will never forget the past . . . and who can still find you. A pool boy enters a secluded Bel Air property and discovers two bodies floating in the bright blue water: Gio Aggiunta, the playboy heir to an Italian shoe empire, and a gorgeous, even wealthier neighbor named Meagin March. A married neighbor. An illicit affair stoking rage is a perfect motive. But a “double” in this neighborhood of gated estates isn’t something you see every day. The house is untouched. No forced entry, no forensic evidence. The case has “that feeling,” and when that happens, Milo turns to his friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. As Milo and Alex investigate both victims, they discover two troubled pasts. And as they dig deeper, Meagin March’s very identity begins to blur. Who was this glamorous but conflicted woman? Did her past catch up to her? Or did Gio’s family connections create a threat spanning two continents? Chasing down the answers leads Alex and Milo on an exploration of L.A.’s darkest side as they contend with one of the most shocking cases of their careers and learn that that some secrets are best left buried in the past.

Download or read book Royal Orchid The Death Hunters written by Denika Mead and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-04 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vengeful dragon.A magician lurking in the shadows.A ragtag team fighting to stop the planet from plunging into turmoil.When fourteen-year-old Ivy falls through a portal into Ghost Orchid, she is scared and alone. Then, she meets a group of teen rebels fighting to save the icy wasteland. But are they really the good guys? Or are they as crazy and dangerous as they seem?Struggling to understand her place in this strange world, she listens to a slithery voice in her head which promises a way out - a way home. But is she prepared to abandon her new friends, her kea and snow-mouse? Or will she stay and fight to stop Ghost Orchid and Earth from descending into chaos?

Download or read book The Ghost Orchid written by Carol Goodman and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thriller.

Download or read book The Ghost Orchid Ghost written by Doug Alderson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida's famous swamps—from the Everglades to Mosquito Lagoon to Tate's Hell—serve as fitting backdrops for these chilling original stories. Maybe it's because they are often wet, shadowy places of wild beauty where few people dare to penetrate. They are havens for snakes, alligators, black bears, wildcats, and who knows what. People on the run have often hidden in swamps, while others have gotten lost in the watery expanses; the swamp can be a refuge or a nightmare. Mysterious things just happen in swamps. Maybe it's because they are often wet, shadowy places of wild beauty where few people dare to penetrate. They are havens for snakes, alligators, black bears, wildcats, and who knows what. People on the run have often hidden in swamps, while others have gotten lost in the watery expanses; the swamp can be a refuge or a nightmare. Where else can you find a ghost baby, or an angry specter, or a lost soul? How about a ghost who is obsessed with the ghost orchid, or an alluring snake woman? Throw in a skunk ape or two and you've got the ingredients for many entertaining hours sharing these stories around a campfire or reading them to yourself or out loud. From the Author's Notes at the end of each story, you can learn a thing or two about Florida's swamps, creatures, and history, along with storytelling tips. Florida is rich in history, natural beauty, and ecological and cultural diversity. To protect what is special about our state it is important to educate the people who live here and our visitors. In this unique book you'll find tales of mystery and intrigue interwoven with important facts and lessons of natural history. Who but a naturalist can really scare you about what lurks in the swamp? Doug Alderson has been there and knows. In writing tales for this book, Doug Alderson drew upon many years of entertaining young people as a summer camp counselor and storyteller, and also from decades as a swamp explorer. He is a former associate editor of Florida Wildlife magazine. To learn more about his writing and photography, check out his website at www.dougalderson.net.

Download or read book The Murderer s Daughter written by Jonathan Kellerman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2016-06-28 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the creator of the acclaimed Alex Delaware series comes a tour de force standalone novel that illustrates perfectly why “Jonathan Kellerman has justly earned his reputation as a master of the psychological thriller” (People). Includes bonus material! A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches—perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars: Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, Grace still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance. Both Grace and her newest patient are stunned when they recognize each other from a recent encounter. Haunted by his bleak past, mild-mannered Andrew Toner is desperate for Grace’s renowned therapeutic expertise and more than willing to ignore their connection. And while Grace is tempted to explore his case, which seems to eerily echo her grim early years, she refuses—a decision she regrets when a homicide detective appears on her doorstep. An evil she thought she’d outrun has reared its head again, but Grace fears that a police inquiry will expose her double life. Launching her own personal investigation leads her to a murderously manipulative foe, one whose warped craving for power forces Grace back into the chaos and madness she’d long ago fled.

Download or read book Blood Orchids written by Toby Neal and published by Neal Enterprises INC. This book was released on 2011-11-27 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Murder at the Mansion written by KJ Cornwall and published by Hendry Publishing . This book was released on 2024-04-30 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a wealthy widow's life is put in danger and a mysterious amulet holds the key to the culprit, Jessie Harper and George Jenkins of the Dale Street Private Investigations Agency must use their wits and the help of Khan, a talking cat with magical powers, to unravel the mystery and save her. It's the 1930s in Liverpool, England and Jessie Harper and George Jenkins are partners in the Dale Street Private Investigations Agency, a small but successful business that specialises in solving crimes that the police can't or won't handle usually because of paranormal connections to the crimes. They are hired by Lady Evelyn Montague, a wealthy and eccentric widow who lives in a mansion on the outskirts of Liverpool. She claims that someone is trying to kill her and that she has received several threatening letters. With the help of Khan, Jessie’s feline companion. who is a talking cat with magical powers, they must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again. Along the way, they must deal with a host of suspects, including Lady Evelyn's greedy relatives, her shady lawyer, her mysterious maid, and her eccentric friends. They will also have to face their own feelings for each other, which they have been hiding for a long time. With help from Detective Sergeant Bill Roberts of the Liverpool City Police and using their wits, Jessie and George must find out who is behind the plot and what is the secret of the mysterious amulet before it's too late. Book 3 in the Jessie Harper Paranormal Cozy Mystery series.

Download or read book Sunshine in the Dark written by Susan J. Fernandez and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2022-05-31 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida has been the location and subject of hundreds of feature films, from Cocoanuts (1929) to Monster (2004). Portraying the state and its people from the silent era to the present, these films have explored the multitude of Florida images and cliches that have captured the public's imagination--a nature lover's paradise, a wildlife refuge, a tourist destination, home to the "cracker," and a haven for the retired, the rich, the immigrant, and the criminal. Sunshine in the Dark is the first complete study of how the movie industry has immortalized Florida’s extraordinary scenery, characters, and history on celluloid. Historians Fernández and Ingalls have identified more than 300 films about Florida--many of them shot on location in the state--to analyze how filmmakers from the Marx Brothers and John Huston to Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola have portrayed the state and its people. Prior to the 1960s, cinematic trips to Florida usually brought happy endings in movies like Moon Over Miami (1942), but since the 1970s, films like Scarface (1982) have emphasized the state's menacing aspects. In the authors' analysis of the films, which examines location settings, plotlines, and characters, they find a bevy of Florida stereotypes among the leading characters--from the struggling crackers in The Yearling (1946) to the drug-addicted con man in Adaptation (2002). Featuring more than 100 still photographs from movies, as well as filmographies by year and genre, the book is an encyclopedic resource for movie fans and anyone interested in Florida popular culture.

Download or read book The Murder Book written by Jonathan Kellerman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2002-10-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the psychological thriller. Now L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality—an ice-cold case whose resolution threatens his survival, and that of longtime friend, homicide detective, Milo Sturgis. The nightmare begins when Alex receives a strange package in the mail with no return address. Inside is an ornate album filled with gruesome crime scene photos—a homicide scrapbook entitled The Murder Book. Alex can find no reason for anyone to send him this compendium of death, but when Milo views the book, he is immediately shaken by one of the images: a young woman, tortured, strangled, and dumped near a freeway ramp. This was one of Milo’s first cases as a rookie homicide cop: a vicious killing that he failed to solve, because just as he and his training partner began to make headway, the department closed them down. Being forced to abandon the young victim tormented Milo. But his fears prevented him from pursuing the truth, and over the years he managed to forget. Or so he thought. Now, two decades later, someone has chosen to stir up the past. As Alex and Milo set out to uncover what really happened twenty years ago, their every move is followed and their lives are placed in jeopardy. The relentless investigation reaches deep into L.A.’s nerve-centers of power and wealth—past and present. While peeling back layer after layer of ugly secrets, they discover that the murder of one forgotten girl has chilling ramifications that extend far beyond the tragic loss of a single life. A classic story of good and evil, sacrifice and sin, The Murder Book is a gripping page-turner that illuminates the darkest corridors of the human mind. It is a stunning tour de force. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's Victims.

Download or read book Death on the Doorstep written by Rose Temple and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you enjoyed Midsomer Murders, you will love Rose Temple's Neighbourhood Watch series! The sleepy village of Little Cote was meant to be a quieter pace of life for ex-Met PC Jemima Cotton. But she soon discovers, here a petty rivalry can erupt into full-blown murder . . . After PC Jemima's Cotton's first murder investigation, she knows now to trust no one. She leaves the gifted lasagne's uneaten in her freezer, and won't go near a cake sale either. But when Perry Noble, head of the Little Cote darts club, is found dead on his doorstep, even PC Jemima Cotton can't believe she's found herself involved in yet another murder investigation in this sleepy village. As Jemima starts to investigate, she discovers Perry had his fair share of enemies . . . especially among the darts players themselves. So it's no surprise when the murder weapon is revealed to be a poisoned dart. Jemima used to love playing darts at the Met, so when her boss recommends she join the club, she jumps at the opportunity to get closer to the potential suspects. But several red herrings later, she's none the wiser and realises she might have to search further afield for the killer before they strike again. Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Helen Cox, Betty Rowlands, and the Midsomer Murders series by Caroline Graham. Readers love Death on the Doorstep: 'Another glorious dollop of pure escapism' 'Can't wait for Book 3' 'Keeps you wondering who the murderer is . . . I can't wait for the next one' If you enjoyed Death on the Doorstep, A Fatal Move: Book 3 in the Neighbourhood Watch is OUT NOW!

Download or read book The Orchid Thief written by Susan Orlean and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower—the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii—a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean—and the reader—will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion. In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the “orchid thief,” Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Orchid Thief “Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean’s] gifts in full bloom.”—The New York Times Book Review “Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.”—Los Angeles Times “Orlean’s snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.”—The Washington Post Book World “Orlean’s gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.”—Boston Sunday Globe “A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.”—The Wall Street Journal

Download or read book An Unexplained Death written by Mikita Brottman and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Unexplained Death is an obsessive investigation into a mysterious death at the Belvedere—a once-grand hotel—and a poignant, gripping meditation on suicide and voyeurism “The poster is new. I notice it right away, taped to a utility pole. Beneath the word ‘Missing,’ printed in a bold, high-impact font, are two sepia-toned photographs of a man dressed in a bow tie and tux.” Most people would keep walking. Maybe they’d pay a bit closer attention to the local news that evening. Mikita Brottman spent ten years sifting through the details of the missing man’s life and disappearance, and his purported suicide by jumping from the roof of her own apartment building, the Belvedere. As Brottman delves into the murky circumstances surrounding Rey Rivera’s death—which begins to look more and more like a murder—she contemplates the nature of and motives behind suicide, and uncovers a haunting pattern of guests at the Belvedere, when it was still a historic hotel, taking their own lives on the premises. Finally, she fearlessly takes us to the edge of her own morbid curiosity and asks us to consider our own darker impulses and obsessions.

Download or read book Orchid Blue written by Eoin McNamee and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2010-11-04 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: January 1961, and the beaten, stabbed and strangled body of a nineteen year old Pearl Gambol is discovered, after a dance the previous night at the Newry Orange Hall. Returning from London to investigate the case, Detective Eddie McCrink soon suspects that their may be people wielding influence over affairs, and that the accused, the enigmatic Robert McGladdery, may struggle to get a fair hearing. Presiding over the case is Lord Justice Curran, a man who nine years previously had found his own family in the news, following the murder of his nineteen year old daughter, Patricia. In a spectacular return to the territory of his acclaimed, Booker longlisted The Blue Tango, Eoin McNamee's new novel explores and dissects this notorious murder case which led to the final hanging on Northern Irish soil.

Download or read book Physiology of Plants Under Stress written by David M. Orcutt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2000-06-27 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second of a two-part treatise describes the phenomena of plants under stress, describing the relationship between plant structure, development, and growth and such environmental stresses as too much or too little water, light, heat, or cold.

Download or read book Ghost written by Katherine Ramsland and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-10-13 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of Prism of the Night takes readers into the world of real-life ghost hunters, revealing their high- and low-tech methods for rooting out spirits.

Download or read book The Haunted Monastery and The Chinese Maze Murders written by Robert Hans van Gulik and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1977-01-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 'The Haunted Monastery', Judge Dee and his wives seek refuge from a violent mountain storm and are plunged into a bizarre series of interrelated crimes. Three women have been murdered in the monastery; Dee has seen something impossible, perhaps supernatural, and inexplicable events flash forth in the dark tangle of corridors and the Taoist Hell - a hall filled with statuary showing realistically the torments of Hell.