Crimes of Cymru: Classic Mystery Tales of Wales


Book Description

"Ahoy, my lad!" he bellowed back. "I didn't expect you so early. Come for a dip! The water's fine. Everything is—" Then it happened. Mystery and murder run amok amidst ominous peaks and icy lakes. In hushed valleys, venom flows through villages harboring grievances that span generations. The landscapes and locales of Wales ("Cymru," in the Welsh language) have fired the imagination of some of the greatest writers in the field of crime and mystery fiction. Presenting fourteen short stories first published in 1909 through the 1980s, this new anthology celebrates a selection of beloved Welsh authors Cardiff's Roald Dahl and Abergavenny's Ethel Lina White, as well as lesser-known yet highly skilled writers including Cledwyn Hughes and Jack Griffith. Alongside these home-grown tales, this collection also includes a handful of gems inspired by, or set in, the cities and wilds of Wales by treasured authors with an affinity for the country, such as Christianna Brand, Ianthe Jerrold, and Michael Gilbert.




Suddenly at His Residence


Book Description

While the Blitz bombards London, the boisterous grandchildren of Sir Richard March have descended upon Swanswater Manor in Kent for a family gathering and the finalising of the patriarch's will. Disgruntled by the behaviour and life choices of his heirs, March seems poised to deny all of them their inheritance and heads out to his lodge to make arrangements — only to be discovered dead the next morning with strychnine in his blood. With evidence at the crime scene suggesting that nobody could possibly have entered the lodge to murder March, Inspector Cockrill— the "Terror of Kent"— has the challenge of finding any plausible solution for this impossible crime before death comes to darken the doors of Swanswater once more.




Someone from the Past


Book Description




Shakespeare and the Human Mystery


Book Description

This vibrant and moving book investigates the mystery of our human nature, illuminating how Shakespeare's characters may be seen as expressions of what is deepest in us. Philip Newell introduces us to 'archetypes of the soul, ' such as the king and queen (seen for example in King Lear and Lady Macbeth); the lover and the friend (Juliet and Sir John Falstaff); the judge and the warrior (Shylock and King Henry IV); the seer and the mage (Hamlet and Pericles); and the fool and the contemplative (Bottom and King Richard II). The author's hope is that as we glimpse the depths of human nature through Shakespeare's eyes--take part in the journaling exercises included--we will become aware of a healing flow between our unconscious depths and conscious mind, enabling us to reconnect to what is truest in us and in all people. +




Bats in the Belfry


Book Description

A mysterious disappearance is at the center of Bats in the Belfry. Shortly after waving away a telephone request from a persistent caller named Debrette, Bruce Attleton leaves his home in Regent’s Park for Paris. He never arrives, but his suitcase turns up in a sculptor’s studio slated for renovation. After Attleton’s friend Neil Rockingham takes his concerns to DCI Macdonald, Macdonald soon discovers a corpse secreted in the studio. Unfortunately, the absence of a head or hands makes it hard to tell whether Debrette killed Attleton, Attleton killed Debrette, or some unrelated parties got involved. The possibilities seem endless, and that’s just if the body is really Attleton’s. The mystery is so complex, in fact, that Lorac requires the services of some aggressively facetious suspects, a low-key lead detective who’s a welcome change of pace, and an army of nondescript and interchangeable satellite police officers. Ah, those were the days.




Continental Crimes


Book Description

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "As with the best of such compilations, readers of classic mysteries will relish discovering unfamiliar authors, along with old favorites such as Arthur Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton." --Publishers Weekly STARRED review A man is forbidden to uncover the secret of the tower in a fairy-tale castle by the Rhine. A headless corpse is found in a secret garden in Paris--belonging to the city's chief of police. And a drowned man is fished from the sea off the Italian Riviera, leaving the carabinieri to wonder why his socialite friends at the Villa Almirante are so unconcerned by his death. These are three of the scenarios in this new collection of vintage crime stories. Detective stories from the golden age and beyond have used European settings--cosmopolitan cities, rural idylls and crumbling chateaux--to explore timeless themes of revenge, deception, murder and haunting. Including lesser-known stories by Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, J. Jefferson Farjeon and other classic writers, this collection reveals many hidden gems of British crime.




He who Whispers


Book Description

"Outside the little French city of Chartres, industrialist Howard Brookes is found dying on the parapet of an old stone tower. Evidence shows that it was impossible for anyone to have entered at the time of the murder ... the mystery remains unsolved for years until a series of coincidences brings things to a head in post-war England, where amateur sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell is on the scene to work out what really happened"--Description from Amazon.com (viewed Dec. 19, 2012).




Art in the Blood (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, Book 1)


Book Description

London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing and back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend – until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris.




Who Killed the Curate


Book Description

When Lady Lupin turned her back on the gay society life to marry the Vicar of Glanville, she didn't expect she'd have to turn detective in this comic detective novel first published in England in 1944 and set at Christmas 1937.




Directors in British and Irish Cinema


Book Description

A guide to directors who have worked in the British and Irish film industries between 1895 and 2005. Each of its 980 entries on individuals directors gives a resume of the director's career, evaluates their achievements and provides a complete filmography. It is useful for those interested in film-making in Britain and Ireland.