Towering live oaks guard old secrets and powerful forces that even the spirited Bay Tanner can't control. . . . A freak summer storm has Bay Tanner, sometime private investigator, cooped up with her ailing father at his antebellum mansion near Hilton Head. Desperate for a distraction, Bay recovers a cooler bobbing along on the incoming tide. What she discovers inside will plunge her into a world of ancient magic where the power of the "root" has held sway since the days of the slave row. Suddenly, mysterious people and strange incidents, including a near-fatal accident, force her to realize that she may have unleashed something she can neither understand nor escape. Meanwhile, her investigation into the simple case of a runaway wife turns deadly. The police are eager to nail the wealthy, prominent husband for murder, but Bay's instincts tell her there's more to the story. Sheriff's Sergeant Red Tanner, her late husband's brother, warns her off the case, but Bay's never been good at taking orders. Soon she's working full-time to defend her client, who may not be as innocent as Bay would like to believe. Time and again, every trail leads back to a mystical commune in the tangled backwoods of Beaufort County and to one of its leaders, a charismatic woman who believes in the real and malevolent power of the old ways. To find a killer, Bay must travel to the heart of this woman's world—and not everyone will escape the spell of Sanctuary Hill.

Listed on the national register of historic places in 1973, Crown Hill cemetery has been a vital part of the Indianapolis community dating back to its first interment, Lucy Ann Seaton, on June 2, 1864. since then, Crown Hill has grown from a "rural cemetery" into the nation's third largest private cemetery and is a community treasure that serves a broad range of needs and stands as a monument to the memories of hundreds of famous Hoosiers and the thousands more who selected Crown Hill as their final resting place. Published by the Indiana Historical Society Press in cooperation with the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, Crown Hill examines the cemetery's complete history and places its story in the larger historical context of the development and growth of american landscape architecture. In addition, the book includes vignettes of the famous families and individuals buried and/or entombed at Crown Hill and numerous photographs.

Seven years ago, Moriyah was taken captive in Jericho and branded with the mark of the Canaanite gods. Now the Israelites are experiencing peace in their new land, but Moriyah has yet to find her own peace. Because of the shameful mark on her face, she hides behind her veil at all times and the disdain of the townspeople keeps her from socializing. And marriage prospects were out of the question . . . until now. Her father has found someone to marry her, and she hopes to use her love of cooking to impress the man and his motherless sons. But when things go horribly wrong, Moriyah is forced to flee. Seeking safety at one of the newly-established Levitical cities of refuge, she is wildly unprepared for the dangers she will face, and the enemies--and unexpected allies--she will encounter on her way.

In the quiet safety of the Bluebird Ranch, old promises resurface and unexpected love brings new hope. Though tragedy has wrecked her life, Allie Siders holds on to the hope that her five-year-old daughter, Betsy, will speak again. But with a stalker out for revenge, all Allie can think about now is their safety. She must sever all ties and abandon life as she knows it. She heads to the peaceful Bluebird Ranch, nestled deep in Texas hill country, and to the only person who can help them. The ranch is a sanctuary for abused horses, and also for troubled youths: the perfect place for Betsy to grow and recover. Ranch owner Elijah DeAngelo eagerly welcomes the duo. But Rick Bailey—the ranch foreman and DeAngelo's right hand man—hasn't decided to let his guard down . . . yet. Promises made long ago soon force Rick and Allie to work together to escape danger. Will they discover love along the way?

In 1797 the bloodiest mutiny ever suffered by the Royal Navy took place on the British frigate HMS Hermione off the coast of Puerto Rico. Jonathan Robbins, a reputed American sailor who had been impressed into service, made his way to American shores. President John Adams bowed to Britain’s request for his extradition. Convicted of murder and piracy by a court-martial in Jamaica, Robbins was hanged. Adams’s catastrophic miscalculation ignited a political firestorm, only to be fanned by Robbins’s failure to receive his constitutional rights of due process and trial by jury by an American court. American Sanctuary brilliantly lays out in riveting detail the story of how the Robbins affair, amid the turbulent presidential campaign of 1800, inflamed the new nation and set in motion a constitutional crisis, resulting in Adams’s defeat and Thomas Jefferson’s election as the third president of the United States. Robbins’s martyrdom led directly to the country’s historic decision to grant political asylum to foreign refugees—a major achievement in fulfilling the promise of American independence.

Serrailler must confront his demons as Lafferton experiences a series of shocking crimes in this 10th book in Susan Hill’s shattering crime series Susan Hill stuns readers once again in The Benefit of Hindsight, the 10th book in her celebrated mystery series. Now recuperated after the violent incident that cost him his arm—and nearly his life—DCS Serrailler has returned to work, though he prefers to spend his spare time sketching the medieval angels being restored on the cathedral roof. With crime rates down, Lafferton has been quiet, until one night when two men open their front door to a distressing scene. Serrailler makes a serious error of judgment when handling the incident, and the stress of this, combined with the ongoing trauma of losing his arm, takes its toll. In the tradition of the fabulous mysteries of Ruth Rendell and P. D. James, The Benefit of Hindsight is Susan Hill’s best work yet—a chilling new addition to a highly acclaimed series.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gossip Girl series brings her sharp-eyed and irresistible wit to this “quirky novel of lovable misfits” (Publishers Weekly) chronicling a year in the lives of four families in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood as they seek purpose and community—until one unforgettable night at a raucous neighborhood party knocks them to their senses. Welcome to Cobble Hill. In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones—everywhere. A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehouse full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a ten-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn. “Breezy, witty, and compulsively fun to read” (Kirkus Reviews), Cobble Hill is highly entertaining portrait of contemporary family life and the colorful characters who call Brooklyn home.

The book is the first detailed study on the Nusayri-Alawi community of Cilicia available in a Western language. The Alawis are an Arabic speaking religious minority of ca. 300,000 people living in the Turkish provinces of Adana and Mersin. The book contains chapters devoted to the history of Alawi settlement, the community's identity and social structures, and prejudices they have to face from the majority population. Also covered are religious practices like feasts and beliefs like metempsychosis. The heart of the book is an analysis of the numerous Alawi sanctuaries. Long-term field research enabled the authors to document a vital, highly mobile practice of saint veneration performed at continuously changing sacred places. Besides a catalogue of nearly 200 shrines and several detailed case-studies there are chapters on the age and origins of the sacred places, the rites performed there, and the structure of the pilgrims. A major aim of the study is to present the local Alawi saint veneration in a broader Islamic context by describing the "sacred landscape", analyzing current changes and tendencies, and discussing the paramount role of women in the practice of saint veneration and in the perceived sacredness of the holy places.

While the rest of the world scratches its head, life in Zimbabwe lurches on one way or the other. Bookey Peek's sequel to her captivating book ALL THE WAY HOME takes us back to Stone Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, where comedy, tragedy and the antics of "the meanest animal in the world" make every day an experience. In WILD HONEY, Bookey takes the reader back to Stone Hills and the rich experiences this beautiful sanctuary offers. The history of the Matobo hills, daily life of the rangers and their experiences, confronting poachers, dealing with life and death, fighting bush fires and dealing with the loss of a family member to AIDS, to name a few. Poombi, the star of ALL THE WAY HOME, is still alive with her piglets which she successfully rears wild. But Poombi meets a tragic end leaving the Stone hill community bereft. Fortuitously, on a visit to their friends' taxidermy studio Bookey and Richard meet what will become their next Stone hills orphan and charmer; a noisy, smelly occupant of a shoe box - an orphaned honey badger or ratel as they are called in Zimbabwe. Described by Robert Ruark as 'the meanest animal in the world' this delightful little monster stole Richard and Bookey's hearts and minds, when his original owners asked them to take him over when they went on holiday. The story evolves as we follow Bookey's vain attempts to discipline and house train Badge; an animal with a mind of it's own. It is a tale of hilarity, charm and poignancy set against the menacing fear of land grabs, election intimidation and problems of daily living in Zimbabwe.