The Habit of Murder

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751562629
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk's cases with beautiful new series-style covers. ------------------------------------ The twenty third chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew. In 1360 a deputation from Cambridge ventures to the Suffolk town of Clare in the hope that the wealthy Elizabeth de Burgh has left a legacy to Michaelhouse. Yet when they arrive they discover that the report of her death is false and that the college seems destined for bankruptcy. Determined to see if some of its well-heeled citizens can be persuaded to sponsor Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and Master Langelee become enmeshed in the town's politics. They quickly discover that a great many other people in Clare have recently met untimely deaths. These killings, combined with the arrogance Lady de Burgh has shown over the refurbishment of the church and the grotesque behaviour of some of her entourage, have created a dangerous restlessness in the town: an atmosphere intensified when yet more murders occur. One of the victims is a fellow traveller of the Michaelhouse contingent, and Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael feel honour-bound to identify his killer. It is a hunt which takes them deep into Clare's murky foundations and which threatens their own survival as well as that of their beloved college. 'A first-rate treat for mystery lovers' (Historical Novels Review) 'Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place' (Choice)

The Sanctuary Murders

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 075156267X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
The twenty-fourth chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew. In 1360 Edward III issues a call to arms, as sporadic attacks by the French threaten to turn into a full-blown invasion. In Cambridge, fear of the enemy is magnified by the belief that foreign agents are lurking in the area. Tension runs ever higher as rumours and ignorance fan the flames of suspicion amid preparations for war. And then the first murder occurs - of a French scholar living in the town. At Michaelhouse, Brother Michael is now Master, but his reach of power in the University is under threat by the election of a new Chancellor and his cohort of dubious advisors. Soon, the Colleges begin to squabble amongst themselves, as well as with the town that never wanted a University in the first place. Amidst this atmosphere of swelling distrust, physician Matthew Bartholomew is called upon to investigate mysterious deaths in a nearby hospital. He quickly realises that there is something odd about the inmates and their keepers - something dark and deadly, which seems to be connected to the growing number of murders in the town. Pressure mounts as the University and the town clamour for answers, leading Bartholomew and Michael in a frantic quest for a solution before the powder-keg of animosity in Cambridge is ignited. 'A first-rate treat for mystery lovers' (Historical Novels Review) 'Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place' (Choice)

Killer Addiction: When Murder Becomes A Habit

Author: Mike Dowsett
Publisher: DowCorp Press
ISBN: 0648847454
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Addiction is a cruel master and a vicious servant. A cold-blooded killer is roaming the dark underbelly of Washington DC, stalking addicts of various dependencies to feed an addiction of his own… murder. The line between good and evil is not as simple as black or white; it is blurred by compulsion, redemption, justice, recovery and relapse. Control is an illusion. The Addict Killer is a brutal serial murderer whose victims are all tied with a common thread. A violent killing spree begins with a heroin addict, drawing a man into a hunt through a series of elaborately staged and grisly murders. At each turn, he discovers another victim killed in a manner fundamentally linked to the nature of their addiction. But the tables are turned in the pursuit of the sadistic psychopath as the hunter becomes the hunted, leading to a terrifying conclusion with lives left hanging in the balance.

The Mersey Monastery Murders

Author: Brian L. Porter
Publisher: Next Chapter
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Book Description
When a monk is found poisoned at St. Emma's Priory, the Chief Constable - a friend of the Prior - insists that Andy Ross and his team handle the investigation. The case turns out to be more complex than they first thought. After a second victim is found with a pitchfork thrust through his body, Ross discovers that to solve the case, they must reopen a cold case from years ago. When connections to the old East German Secret Police - the Stasi - are revealed, Ross realizes that nothing is as it seems in The Mersey Monastery Murders.

The Killing Habit

Author: Mark Billingham
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 0751566934
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 438

Book Description
'One of the great series of British crime fiction' The Times From multi-million-copy number one bestseller Mark Billingham comes a twisting, unbearably gripping DI Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner thriller inspired by a dramatic real-life case. How do you catch a killer who is yet to kill? We've all heard about the signs: coldness, cruelty, lack of empathy. DI Tom Thorne knows the psychological profile of a psychopath all too well, so when pets start disappearing on suburban London streets, he sees a chance to stop a future murderer. Others are less convinced, so Thorne relies on DI Nicola Tanner to help him solve the case, before the culprit starts hunting people. The journey brings them face to face with a killer who will tear their lives apart. ---------- 'A new Mark Billingham is always a treat and The Killing Habit hurls the reader straight into the action. Thoroughly enjoyable for being so very real' SUSIE STEINER 'Mark Billingham on superb form. A finely paced and polished procedural, with twists and turns galore and an ending that will chill your soul' CARA HUNTER 'An unconventional literary superstar' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'As ever with Billingham, a rich cast of characters and tense situations are marshalled with panache, leading to a final terrifying encounter' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Thorne is a terrific invention' IRISH INDEPENDENT ________________

A Masterly Murder

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 9780751525366
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 572

Book Description
The aged and saintly master of Michaelhouse is to retire and Runham all but declares himself the new master. Unpopular though he is, his murder spurs Matthew Bartholomew into investigating the crime and several others like it.

How to Book a Murder

Author: Cynthia Kuhn
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 1643858602
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Kate Carlisle, in Agatha award-winning author Cynthia Kuhn’s series debut, small-town bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is out to close the book on a killer intent on crashing the party. To help save her family’s floundering Colorado bookstore, Starlit Bookshop, newly minted Ph.D. Emma Starrs agrees to plan a mystery-themed dinner party for her wealthy, well-connected high school classmate Tabitha Baxter. It’s a delightful evening of cocktails and conjecture until Tabitha’s husband, Tip—hosting the affair in the guise of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin—winds up murdered. In a heartbeat, Emma and her aunt Nora, a famous mystery writer, become suspects. Emma is sure the party’s over for Starlit events, until celebrated author Calliope Nightfall, whose gothic sensibilities are intrigued by the circumstances, implores the bookseller to create a Poe-themed launch event for her latest tome. Throwing a bash to die for while searching for additional clues is already enough to drive Emma stark raven mad, but another shocking crime soon reveals that Silvercrest has not yet reached the final chapter of the puzzling case. Someone in this charming artistic community has murder on the mind, and if Emma cannot outwit the killer, she and her beloved aunt will land behind bars, to walk free nevermore.

The Murder Book

Author: Mark Billingham
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751577294
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 351

Book Description
TOM THORNE IS BACK . . . AND SO IS HIS WORST NIGHTMARE A gripping, grisly read. Mark Billingham is a terrific crime writer' ----- ANTHONY HOROWITZ Tom Thorne has it all. In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. He finally has a love life worth a damn and is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life... He has everything to lose. Hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. And he'll do anything to keep it. Finally, Thorne's past has caught up with him and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he must do the unthinkable. PRAISE FOR MARK BILLINGHAM 'Mark Billingham is a master of psychology' Ian Rankin 'Fast-paced and twisting' Paula Hawkins 'At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize' The Times

Big Trouble

Author: J. Anthony Lukas
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439128103
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 884

Book Description
Hailed as "toweringly important" (Baltimore Sun), "a work of scrupulous and significant reportage" (E. L. Doctorow), and "an unforgettable historical drama" (Chicago Sun-Times), Big Trouble brings to life the astonishing case that ultimately engaged President Theodore Roosevelt, Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the politics and passions of an entire nation at century's turn. After Idaho's former governor is blown up by a bomb at his garden gate at Christmastime 1905, America's most celebrated detective, Pinkerton James McParland, takes over the investigation. His daringly executed plan to kidnap the radical union leader "Big Bill" Haywood from Colorado to stand trial in Idaho sets the stage for a memorable courtroom confrontation between the flamboyant prosecutor, progressive senator William Borah, and the young defender of the dispossessed, Clarence Darrow. Big Trouble captures the tumultuous first decade of the twentieth century, when capital and labor, particularly in the raw, acquisitive West, were pitted against each other in something close to class war. Lukas paints a vivid portrait of a time and place in which actress Ethel Barrymore, baseball phenom Walter Johnson, and editor William Allen White jostled with railroad magnate E. H. Harriman, socialist Eugene V. Debs, gunslinger Charlie Siringo, and Operative 21, the intrepid Pinkerton agent who infiltrated Darrow's defense team. This is a grand narrative of the United States as it charged, full of hope and trepidation, into the twentieth century.

The Chancellor's Secret

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751579475
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
In 1360, the Great Bridge over the River Cam is close to collapse. To repair it will cost the town and the University dear, especially if its rotten wood is replaced by more durable stone. As arguments rage over raising the money other, equally heated, differences are coming to the boil over the election of a new Chancellor. While the majority support Brother Michael for the post, at least one of his opponents aims to seize it by fair means or foul. Then the discovery of a body under the bridge and the disappearance of two scholars throws a more sinister shadow over both disputes. Matthew Bartholomew, the University's Corpse Examiner, already has his hands full: due to marry in under a fortnight, he is determined to conclude his teaching duties and deal with an outbreak of the summer flux before relinquishing his official duties. With more deaths, an 'accident' at the bridge and an increasing stench of corruption over the financing of the bridge's repairs, he realises he owes more to his soon-to-be former colleagues than to his future life as a secular doctor. But will there be enough time for him to unveil the identities of those who seek to undermine both the town and the University, or will he prove powerless to protect those he loves from death or disgrace or worse?