Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her ghostly companion must solve the case of a literary killer in this Haunted Bookshop mystery from Cleo Coyle, writing as Alice Kimberly. Pen has just received an extremely rare collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete works. Rumor has it a secret code, trapped within the books’ leather-bound pages, leads to buried treasure. Well, it looks like they got the buried part right—because, as Pen sells off the valuable volumes, everyone who buys...dies. Once these books go missing from their owners’ cold hands, Pen will need resident ghost and hard-boiled P.I. Jack Shepard to help crack the case. The police are skeptical that the deaths involved foul play—so it’s up to them to unravel these shocking endings...
This book brings a new lens to the work of Agatha Christie through a series of close readings which challenge the official solutions by Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. This book's approach interweaves two core ideas: first, it explores the importance of French critic Pierre Bayard’s self-styled ‘detective criticism’; second, it takes detective criticism in a new direction by refocusing on the beginnings of Agatha Christie’s novels. In this way, the book counters the end-orientation that has traditionally dominated the reading experience of, and critical response to, detective fiction by exploring the potential of the beginning to host other interpretations and stories. Offering a new way of reading detective fiction, this book is a mixture of narratology and detective criticism, and deploys it in the form of radical new readings of a number of Christie’s most famous works. This illuminating text will interest students and scholars of crime and detective fiction, literary studies and comparative literature.
Ghost stories from SLC have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery! The haunted history of Salt Lake City comes to life--even when the main players are dead. Crash a party at the Devereaux Mansion--thrown by the ghosts. Or sense the paranormal vibes in the kitchen of Whiskey Street Cocktails and Dining. Have you heard about Girl Scout troop that was haunted by a mysterious apparition while touring the Fort Douglas Military Museum? Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.
From USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Fischetto comes the next hauntingly entertaining Gianna Mancini mystery! Ghost whisperer, Gianna Mancini, has been communicating with the dearly departed since she was a child. It’s been a lonely gift that she’s kept hidden from everyone other than family and a few close friends. As far as the rest of the world knows, ghosts aren’t real. Until now… When dance instructor, Nadia Petrov, is killed and falls into a mirror during her collapse, her spirit seeps into the glass and can be seen by anyone who passes. Much like Bloody Mary, she jumps from mirror to mirror, but unlike the urban legend, Nadia delights in scaring and then cackling at those unfortunate enough to be around—earning her new nickname, Screama Ballerina. Gianna has no intention of getting involved in solving Nadia’s death until the police question Gianna’s fifteen-year-old niece, who’s clearly lying about something. Now, Gianna must figure out who had it in for the controlling dancer in order to clear her niece’s name and help Screama Ballerina move on. But the killer will stop at nothing to shut Gianna up for good... Gianna Mancini Mysteries: Lipstick, Lies & Dead Guys (book #1) Miniskirts, Mai Tais & Dead Guys (book #2) Cupcakes, Butterflies & Dead Guys (book #3) Stilettos, Bow Ties & Dead Guys (book #4) Diamonds, Pies & Dead Guys (book #5) Ghosts, Private Eyes & Dead Guys (book #6) Balloons, Allies & Dead Guys (book #7) Tutus, Fries & Dead Guys (book #8) Christmas, Spies & Dead Guys (short story in the "Cozy Christmas Shorts" collection) What critics are saying about the Gianna Mancini Mysteries: "Quirky but oh so fun cozy mystery. If you like your cozy mysteries on the humorous side, then look no further!" —Fresh Fiction "Jennifer Fischetto serves up a delicious cozy mystery with this fun ghost story. If you are a fan of the genre this is a fun read that will leave you with a smile." —Night Owl Reviews
2012 Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award — Shortlisted 2010 Cybils Award — Shortlisted A Victorian garden, a fishing lure, and a ghost named John Absolutely nothing is going right for Max Green. His parents have just uprooted their family from Vancouver to the bleak suburbs of Toronto, he has no friends, and everybody at his new high school is ignoring him. To make matters worse, he’s in love with an older girl who’s completely out of his league. When Max discovers a local library rumoured to be haunted by ghosts, he’s immediately drawn to it. With the help of some cryptic messages, he begins to piece together the identity of the teenage ghost and the mysterious chain of events that have connected its spirit to the building for more than a century. But just who was John, anyway? Why has he chosen to contact Max? And what does an old fishing lure have to do with solving the mystery?
In late medieval Catholicism, mourners employed an array of practices to maintain connection with the deceased—most crucially, the belief in purgatory, a middle place between heaven and hell where souls could be helped by the actions of the living. In the early sixteenth century, the Reformation abolished purgatory, as its leaders did not want attention to the dead diminishing people's devotion to God. But while the Reformation was supposed to end communication between the living and dead, it turns out the result was in fact more complicated than historians have realized. In the three centuries after the Reformation, Protestants imagined continuing relationships with the dead, and the desire for these relations came to form an important—and since neglected—aspect of Protestant belief and practice. In Speaking with the Dead in Early America, historian Erik R. Seeman undertakes a 300-year history of Protestant communication with the dead. Seeman chronicles the story of Protestants' relationships with the deceased from Elizabethan England to puritan New England and then on through the American Enlightenment into the middle of the nineteenth century with the explosion of interest in Spiritualism. He brings together a wide range of sources to uncover the beliefs and practices of both ordinary people, especially women, and religious leaders. This prodigious research reveals how sermons, elegies, and epitaphs portrayed the dead as speaking or being spoken to, how ghost stories and Gothic fiction depicted a permeable boundary between this world and the next, and how parlor songs and funeral hymns encouraged singers to imagine communication with the dead. Speaking with the Dead in Early America thus boldly reinterprets Protestantism as a religion in which the dead played a central role.
From New York Times bestselling author Angie Fox Sometimes Verity Long would like to forget that she lives with the ghost of a 1920s gangster. But the reluctant housemates must once again work together when a dead detective blackmails Frankie into helping him solve a Great Gatsby-era cold case. Before she can say “bathtub gin,” Verity is dragged straight into a raging, otherworldly house party. Worse, every guest is hiding something. Meanwhile, Ellis Wydell, Verity’s living, breathing boyfriend needs Verity’s help with a police case of his own. After a dead body is discovered near the pecan orchard, Verity gives her insights, thinking her job is done. But when mysterious pecan pies start arriving at her house, she wonders who might be thanking her…or stalking her. Between hard-living ghosts and sugar-laden desserts, Verity has her work cut out for her. But will she uncover the secrets behind the pecan pies and dead guys? Or has she stumbled upon a recipe for disaster? What Reviewers are saying… 5 Stars! “I could not put this down.” 5 Stars! “The setting was in a fabulous mansion with glamorous characters, the story was complex, and as usual Verity and Frankie were up to their ears in suspects.” 5 Stars! “I had such a difficult time holding back the tears. It hit me to the core and felt like I was sitting there witnessing it all myself instead of reading about it. I went back and re-read the ending over and over!” 5 Stars! “One of the best series I've ever read.” Rating: Clean and Wholesome Paranormal Cozy Mystery Romance (with a cute pet skunk!)
Want to identify fiction books that boys in grades three through nine will find irresistible? This guide reveals dozens of worthwhile recommendations in categories ranging from adventure stories and sports novels to horror, humorous, and science fiction books. In Get Those Guys Reading!: Fiction and Series Books that Boys Will Love, authors Kathleen A. Baxter and Marcia A. Kochel provide compelling and current reading suggestions for younger boys—information that educators, librarians, and parents alike are desperate for. Comprising titles that are almost all well-reviewed in at least one major professional journal, or that are such big hits with kids that they've received the "stamp of approval" from the most important reviewers, this book will be invaluable to anyone whose goal is to help boys develop a healthy enthusiasm for reading. It includes chapters on adventure books; animal stories; graphic novels; historical fiction; humorous books; mystery, horror, and suspense titles; science fiction and fantasy; and sports novels. Within each chapter, the selections are further divided into books for younger readers (grades 3–6) and titles for older boys in grades 5–8. Elementary and middle school librarians and teachers, public librarians, Title One teachers, and parents of boys in grades 3–9 will all benefit greatly from having this book at hand.
