A Disgusting Supermarket of Death collects hard-boiled shorts about satanic Christmas movies, performance art euthanasia, child sacrifice skincare, and other demented goodness from Jim Harberson, co-author of Markosia’s acclaimed graphic novel, Stay Alive.

Scores are dead or injured. But who was the killer’s true target? On a misty morning in the Lake District, two men depart by helicopter from a private estate. Below, they see the stunning views of Wast Water, with Scafell Pike ahead, where fell runners are competing atop England’s highest mountain. It’s at this moment that the pilots lose control, and crash into the mountain top. Runners and bystanders are caught in the devastation. This is the scene that greets DI Kelly Porter. She attempts to coordinate the rescue efforts, though it’s clear many won’t make it, including occupants of the helicopter. Three are dead, and the fourth is badly injured. When it emerges that the survivor is none other than the Right Honourable Lord Donald Reilly, and the person who chartered the flight was notorious billionaire Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig, the media frenzy is intense. Reilly is high up in government, and his contact with the magnate provokes speculation. When it is learned that the helicopter had been tampered with, Kelly and her team can’t afford to make a single mistake. Who was the intended victim, and why? With the scrutiny of the government, the public and the press on her, just how confident can she be that the trail of evidence is leading her to the right conclusion? Don’t miss the stunning return of DI Kelly Porter in this tenth instalment from million copy bestseller Rachel Lynch. A must-read for fans of Angela Marsons, Patricia Gibney and L. J. Ross. Praise for Sudden Death ‘A great mix of mystery, intrigue and murder made me keep turning the pages as quick as I could. I just love the style of Rachel Lynch’s writing, keeps me hooked from the first page. I 100% recommend this book and author.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘Sudden Death is another excellent instalment in the series. So well written that you feel completely immersed... At times I had to remember to breathe!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘This was an exciting police procedural that as always left me waiting for the next instalment.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘I love the beautiful and dramatic Lake District settings featured in these novels, and as usual really enjoyed Rachel Lynch's plotting and writing style.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘Amazing jaw dropping book... the action starts right on the very first page...’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘This series gets better with each new book. I can't wait to read more.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘I absolutely love this series and couldn’t wait to start reading this and it didn’t disappoint.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘An out and out belter of a read... kept me gripped throughout. This is a series that I have loved from book one... the brilliant writing of Rachel Lynch never ceases to keep me glued to my Kindle.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘Great writing and premise. Amazing characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep you guessing...’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘The Kelly Porter series is one of my favourite crime series. A cracking, intriguing crime mystery, brilliant characters, and the perfect setting.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘A page turner from the start. This is an excellent series, each new storyline is welcomed, and, once again, I happily highly recommend it.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review ‘A cracking good read. This series is a favourite of mine and never fails to deliver a proper unputdownable read.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review

In Shadow Man, Cody McFadyen took the suspense thriller where other writers have feared to tread. He introduced readers to a heroine every bit as dark and edgy as the serial killers she hunts: Special Agent Smoky Barrett. Now, in his latest novel, McFadyen brings Agent Barrett back to track down a killer who breaks all the rules. “I want to talk to Smoky Barrett or I’ll kill myself.” The girl is sixteen, at the scene of a grisly triple homicide, and has a gun to her head. She claims “The Stranger” killed her adoptive family, that he’s been following her all her life, killing everyone she ever loved, and that no one believes her. No one has. Until now. Special Agent Smoky Barrett is head of the violent crimes unit in Los Angeles, the part of the FBI reserved for tracking down the worst of the worst. Her team has been handpicked from among the nation’s elite law enforcement specialists and they are as obsessed and relentless as the psychos they hunt; they’ll have to be to deal with this case. For another vicious double homicide reveals a killer embarked on a dark crusade of trauma and death: an “artist” who’s molding sixteen-year-old Sarah into the perfect victim—and the ultimate weapon. But Smoky Barrett has another, more personal reason for catching The Stranger—an adopted daughter and a new life that are worth protecting at any cost. This time Smoky is going to have to put it all on the line. Because The Stranger is all too real, all too close, and all too relentless. And when he finally shows his face, if she’s not ready to confront her worst fear, Smoky won’ t have time to do anything but die.

The Handbook of the Sociology of Death, Grief, and Bereavement sets issues of death and dying in a broad and holistic social context. Its three parts explore classical sociology, developments in sociological thought, and the ways that sociological insights can be useful across a broad spectrum of grief-related topics and concerns. Guidance is given in each chapter to help spur readers to examine other topics in thanatology through a sociological lens. Scholars, students, and professionals will come away from the handbook with a nuanced understanding of the social context –cultural differences, power relations, the role of social processes and institutions, and various other sociological factors – that shape grief experiences.

Death and Life of Nature in Asian Cities explores the encounter between two processes that are unfolding in diverse patterns across Asia—the rapid urbanization of Asia across big cities, smaller towns, and the newest urban concentrations; and the contentious debates and novel schemes by which nature is figured and emplaced in cities and their conurbations. Contemporary Asian cities displace nature by causing its death and withering, but also embrace it through acts of renewal and the pursuit of sustainability. Contributors in this volume gather case studies from across Asia to address projects of urban greening and reimagining nature in urban life. The book illustrates how the intersection of urban growth and urban nature is a place rich with fresh ideas about urban planning, governance, and social life. This book illuminates a continuing process of discovery and regeneration through which urban natures may well be moving from taken-for-granted infrastructures to more consciously experienced sites of interplay between non-human life and materials, and daily human life experiences. Debates and efforts to recover nature in the city provoke moral and ethical evaluations of the human ecology of city life, and direct ecologies of urbanism into new avenues like aesthetics, care, perception, and stewardship. “This fascinating collection of essays brings together a series of cutting-edge insights into Asian cities caught in the maelstrom of global environmental change. A particular strength of this book is its commitment to forms of interdisciplinary dialogue and conceptual engagement that unsettle existing geographies of knowledge.” —Matthew Gandy, University of Cambridge; author of Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellations in Urban Space “This impressive collection on urban ecologies moves beyond the anthropocentric city to expand our understanding of cities as multispecies spaces of active collaboration, decay, and regeneration, offering new possibilities for the flourishing of urban life—both human and non-human—and the design of more just and sustainable cities for all.” —Christina Schwenkel, University of California, Riverside; author of Building Socialism: The Afterlife of East German Architecture in Urban Vietnam

The great financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing global economic and financial turmoil have launched a search for "models" for recovery. The advocates of austerity present the Baltic States as countries that through discipline and sacrifice showed the way out of crisis. They have proposed the "Baltic model" of radical public sector cuts, wage reductions, labor market reforms and reductions in living standards for other troubled Eurozone countries to emulate. Yet, the reality of the Baltic "austerity fix" has been neither fully accepted by its peoples, nor is it fully a success. This book explains why and what are the real social and economic costs of the Baltic austerity model. We examine each of the Baltic States by connecting national level studies within a European and global political economy, thereby delivering comparative breadth that supersedes localized understandings of the crisis. Thus for each of the three Baltic states, individual chapters explore the different economic and social dimensions of neo-liberal post-communism and the subsequent wider global economic and financial crisis in which these newly financialized economies have found themselves especially vulnerable. The "austerity model" adopted by Baltic national governments in response to the crisis reveals the profound vulnerabilities created by their unwavering commitment to liberalized economies, not least in terms of the significant "exit" of their labor forces and consequent population loss. This book looks beyond basic financial metrics claiming a success story for the Baltic austerity model to reveal the damaging economic and social consequences, first of neo-liberal policies adopted during transition, and latterly of austerity measures based on "internal devaluation." Combined these policies undermine the possibility of longer-term recovery and even social and economic sustainability, not to mention prospects for successful integration in the now-faltering European project that has departed from its "Social Model" roots.

Death Metal is among the most despised forms of violently themed entertainment. Many politicians, conservative groups and typical Americans attribute youth violence and the destruction of social values to such entertainment. The usual assumptions about the Death Metal scene and its fans have rarely been challenged. This book investigates the demographic trends, attitudes, philosophical beliefs, ethical systems, and behavioral patterns within the scene, seeking to situate death metal in the larger social order. The Death Metal community proves to be a useful microcosm for much of American subculture and lends insight into the psychological and social functions of many forbidden or illicit entertainment forms. The author's analysis, rich in interviews with rock stars, radio hosts, and average adolescent fans, provides a key to comprehending deviant tendencies in modern American culture.

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in The Dead Ringer. The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community. As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop’s ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found... Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him—and his reputation—down?

"Philip Sorgen is not really dead-- it's just that since he received his poetic license he has been dying to use it. Philip has been an actuarial trainee at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, a Sp4 in the U.S. Army reserve and then for thirty-four rewarding years a mathematics teacher at Great Neck North High School. He plays the piano by ear, composes music (with a pencil) and has tennis elbow, which is a lot less severe than tennis balls. He is the husband of one, a father of two and a grandfather of three. This is the story of his life."--Back cover

In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store What does it take to run the American supermarket? How do products get to shelves? Who sets the price? And who suffers the consequences of increased convenience end efficiency? In this alarming exposé, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively readable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation in which we learn: • The secrets of Trader Joe’s success from Trader Joe himself • Why truckers call their job “sharecropping on wheels” • What it takes for a product to earn certification labels like “organic” and “fair trade” • The struggles entrepreneurs face as they fight for shelf space, including essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business • The truth behind the alarming slave trade in the shrimp industry The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and exploitation required to make this everyday miracle continue to function. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries delivers powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and the social costs therein.