The Four Hills of Sealoch


Book Description

The prophecy said the deliverer would come to reestablish the rule of the Thanes. “Knowing no magic, he shall bring magic with him; being of Christ, he shall not be of the Church; being of few years, he shall be the eldest of all.” The priest believes Paul Owens to be the deliverer. If he is right, they will be rid of the devil gang forever. If he is wrong, it could cost him his soul. Paul doesn’t believe he is the answer to anybody’s prophecy, but if he isn’t, what is he doing here? The only way to know for sure is to find the Four Hills of Sealoch, where the Angel of Light and the Angel of Darkness are entombed...but which one will Paul resurrect?




Call the Nurse


Book Description

Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends. In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.




The Three Hostages: Richard Hannay #4


Book Description

The war is over and Hannay is trying to relax in the country when he is approached about three possibly related kidnappings. Several comrades of past adventures are also involved. Fourth in the Richard Hannay series.




Of Mountains and Clouds


Book Description

Sam is a student, happy to drift through life with little care for his actions or the feelings of others. But when Paul Dales, a former school-friend dies, his final wish is that Sam and three other old friends visit Paul's parents in their house on the west coast of Scotland.A few days are all they have to see how Paul lived and what he saw in the world, to share with his parents their memories. As the days go by, Sam is challenged in ways he can't understand by the simple beauty of Paul's short life and the ideas of Paul's father Daniel. As Sam is finally confronted by the inadequacy of his own life, the mountains hold the path to change him for good.




The Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Series, 1-4


Book Description

Mapping the minds of murderers is what Dr. Tony Hill does better than anyone in this award-winning series The Washington Post calls "ambitious" "bone chilling." This Val McDermid collection of the Dr. Tony Hill & Carol Jordan Mysteries includes: The Mermaids Singing The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. The Wire in the Blood Across the country, dozens of teenage girls have vanished. Authorities are convinced they're runaways with just the bad luck of the draw to connect them. It's the job of criminal profilers Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan to look for a pattern. They've spent years exploring the psyches of madmen. But sane men kill, too. And when they hide in plain sight, they can be difficult to find... The Last Temptation when a twisted killer starts targeting psychologists across Northern Europe, Hill is the obvious choice to track the executioner's mental and physical journey. But the killer is about to strike uncomfortably close to home. The next victim is a friend and colleague. And Tony's former partner, Detective Carol Jordan, is directly in the murderer's path... The Torment of Others In a small grim room, the body of a woman is discovered, panic and pain etched in her face. The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of a deeply disturbed young man named Derek Tyler. But there's no way Tyler could have killed the latest victim. He's been locked up in a mental institution since his trial, barely speaking a word. So is there a copycat?







Proceedings


Book Description







Mary Queen of Scots Way


Book Description

This new route crosses central Scotland from coast to coast, passing through many places strongly linked with Mary Queen of Scots. It runs for 107 miles (172 km) from Arrochar on Loch Long to St Andrews on the Fife coast, crosses Loch Lomond by ferry to Inversnaid and then goes through Aberfoyle, Callander, Dunblane, Tillicoultry, Glendevon, Glenfarg, Falkland and Ceres. En route, it passes mountains, lochs and waterfalls; castles, hill forts and aqueducts; and goes through welcoming villages and small towns with friendly pubs and B&Bs. The author has developed the route over the last five years with the goal of avoiding road-walking. Although not waymarked, his directions are detailed and have been widely field-tested. This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy your holiday: detailed route description with photographs and overlays map of the entire route in 6 drop-down panels (1:110,000) practical information about public transport and travel lavishly illustrated, with many colour photographs on water-resistant paper.




Ring of Bright Water


Book Description

This volume weaves together the Scottish otter stories from Gavin Maxwell's three non-fiction books, Ring of Bright Water (1960), The Rocks Remain (1963), and Raven Meet Thy Brother (1969). Maxwell was both an extraordinarily evocative writer and a highly unusual man. While touring the Iraqi marshes, he was captivated by an otter and became a devoted advocate of and spokesman for the species. He moved to a remote house in the Scottish highlands, co-habiting there with three otters and living an idyllic and isolated life – at least for a while. Fate, fame, and fire conspired against this paradise, and it, too, came to an end, though the journey was filled with incident and wonder. Maxwell was also talented as an artist, and his sinuous line drawings of these amphibious and engaging creatures, and the homes they occupied, illustrate his story. This book stands as a lasting tribute to a man, his work, and his passion. It was received and has endured as a classic for its portrait not only of otters but also of a man who endured heartaches and disappointments, whose life embodied both greatness and tragedy. He writes with rare eloquence about his birth, his devotion to the beloved Scottish highlands, and the wildlife he loved, while refusing to ignore the darker aspects of his nature and of nature in its larger sense.