Don’t Mention Murder It was a vulgar word in the swank millionaire town of San Valdesto. But knocking off a few citizens here and there seemed more than a grave social error to a tough-minded detective like Joe Puma. It made him sore when he discovered the natives would rather protect a well-bred killer than put up with a low-brow private eye. So he taught them a lesson and his red-blooded tactics set the town’s blue blood to boiling. The Wayward Widow...another mad whirl on a murder-go round with that damsel-chasing knight in amour - Joe Puma.
This study of Castilian widows, based on extensive analysis of literary and archival sources, provides insight into the complex mechanisms lying behind the formulation of gender boundaries and the pragmatic politics of everyday life in the early modern world.
There's power in stories. This is a story of power. Dead bodies aren't unusual in the alleyways of Fenest, capital of the Union of Realms. Especially not in an election year, when the streets swell with crowds from near and far. Muggings, brawls gone bad, debts collected – Detective Cora Gorderheim has seen it all. Until she finds a Wayward man with his mouth sewn shut. His body has been arranged precisely by the killer and left conspicuously, waiting to be found. Cora fears this is not only a murder, but a message. As she digs into the dead man's past, she finds herself drawn into the most dangerous event in the Union: the election. In a world where stories win votes, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to silence this man. Who has stopped his story being told? _______________________________________________________ 'An utterly absorbing tale set in a fascinating world' MICK FINLAY. 'If you love storytelling, you'll love this' S.J. MORDEN. 'It's rare to find such a richly imagined world about the art of myth and storytelling' CHRISTOPHER FOWLER. 'Irresistibly thrilling, weaving together gaslit crime, fantasy and mystery... I can't wait for more' TIM MAJOR. 'There is more than meets the eye in this gripping and inventive debut... Rife with intrigue, deceit and cultural tension' JAMES AITCHESON.
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A “furious and addictive new novel” (The New York Times) about mothers and daughters, and one woman's midlife reckoning as she flees her suburban life. “Exhilarating ... reads like a burning fever dream. A virtuosic, singular and very funny portrait of a woman seeking sanity and purpose in a world gone mad.” —The New York Times Book Review Samantha Raymond's life has begun to come apart: her mother is ill, her teenage daughter is increasingly remote, and at fifty-two she finds herself staring into "the Mids"—that hour of supreme wakefulness between three and four in the morning in which women of a certain age suddenly find themselves contemplating motherhood, mortality, and, in this case, the state of our unraveling nation. When she falls in love with a beautiful, decrepit house in a hardscrabble neighborhood in Syracuse, she buys it on a whim and flees her suburban life—and her family—as she grapples with how to be a wife, a mother, and a daughter, in a country that is coming apart at the seams. Dana Spiotta's Wayward is a stunning novel about aging, about the female body, and about female complexity in contemporary America. Probing and provocative, brainy and sensual, it is a testament to our weird times, to reforms and resistance and utopian wishes, and to the beauty of ruins.
Princess Isabella never imagined it could come to this. Bad enough she faces imprisonment for debts not her own. Even worse that she must make a hasty marriage of convenience with Marcus, the Earl of Stockhaven — the man she'd loved and lost so long ago. But that he now wants revenge by demanding she be his in more than name only...well, that is simply intolerable! As the London gossips eagerly gather to watch the fun, Isabella struggles to maintain a polite distance in her marriage. But the more Isabella challenges Marcus's iron determination, the hotter their passion burns. This time, will it consume them both — or fuel a love greater than they dare dream?
Lord Lucas Kestrel's anger turns to desire when he meets Miss Rebecca Raleigh. He believes that she's one of the scandalous Archangel courtesans, but he quickly discovers that not only is she innocent she is, in fact, the woman he's been seeking.... Lucas has an agenda. He has to get close to Rebecca, court her, even seduce her, to try to discover if she's smuggling secrets that are threatening England's security! But Lucas, the rake without a heart, hasn't bargained on falling in love with the one woman he can't have....
A rake escorts an orphaned young Scottish woman into a thrilling adventure in this historical romance inspired by Stevenson’s classic Kidnapped. If I accept his offer to be his mistress, I could have the finest silks, the best carriage and be transformed from ugly duckling to a pampered, pretty swan! And although I would feel a virtuous pride in turning down the wicked rake, I also have an unmaidenly interest in exactly what the role would entail. . . . Catriona is doing her best to resist the skillful seduction of the scandalous heir to the Earl of Strathconan. But kidnapped and shipwrecked with only this rake as company, her adventure has just begun. . . . Praise for Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress “Cornick crams a lot into this story without making it feel stuffed or frantic. . . . I just adored this story from start to finish. . . . And darn if I don’t want to drop everything and reread it right this minute.” —The Good, the Bad and the Unread
The sight of Cory, Lord Newlyn, rising naked from the Midwinter river, is enough to send ripples of shock through Rachel Odell's carefully ordered life. He has always been a friend, although now she's aware of him as a man--an exceedingly handsome man. But she can't possibly entertain romantic ideas about this adventure seeker...and rogue. It does appear that Cory is waging a deliberate campaign to seduce her. What is his true intent? Can he simply wish to claim his best friend as his bride...?
The English Civil War tests the bonds between a lord and lady engaged to be married in this historical romance. Years before, he had come to Grafton Manor to be betrothed to the innocent and beautiful Lady Anne—a promise that was broken with the onset of war. . . . Now Simon, Lord Greville, has returned as an enemy, besieging the manor and holding its lady hostage. Simon’s devotion to his cause swayed by his desire for Anne, he will not settle for the manor house alone. He will have the lady—and her heart—into the bargain! Yet Anne has a secret that must be kept from him at all costs. . . .
