The tenth Commissario Ricciardi Neapolitan mystery is "endlessly surprising... a delicate balancing act between love and pain, horror and beauty."--ThrillerNord Christmas has just passed and the city is preparing to celebrate New Year when, on the stage of a variety show, famous actor Michelangelo Gelmi fires a gun at his wife, Fedora Marra. The shooting itself would be nothing strange: it is repeated every evening as part of their performance. But this time, someone replaced one of the blanks with a real bullet. Gelmi swears his innocence, but few believe him. Approaching old age and with a career in decline, the actor has become increasingly dependent on his wife, much younger than him and at the height of her fame. However, rumor has it that she had fallen in love with another man and was preparing to leave Gelmi. A straightforward case of infidelity and marital jealousy? Commissario Ricciardi has more than one doubt. A mystery made darker by the sudden fog that envelops an almost gothic Naples, Commissario Riccardi's latest adventure will enrapture readers until its final, dramatic act.

Here's the newest twist on the familiar tale of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow.I don't know why she swallowed some snow.Perhaps you know.This time, the old lady is swallowing everything from snow to a pipe, some coal, a hat, and more! With rollicking, rhyming text and funny illustrations, this lively version will appeal to young readers with every turn of the page. And this time, there's a surprise at the end no reader will be able to guess!

From the bestselling author of The Robin, The Wren and The Twelve Birds of Christmas. With around 700,000 breeding pairs, the swallow is one of the most familiar birds in Britain. Though we consider the swallow to be 'our' bird, we also share this beloved creature with millions of others across the globe. Whilst we see it on a daily basis for half the year, the swallow then flies south to Africa, living on only in our memory in the long, dark winter. In The Swallow Stephen Moss documents a year of observing the swallow close to home and in the field to shed light on the secret life of this extraordinary bird. We trace the swallow's life cycle and journey, including the epic 12,000-mile round trip it takes every year, to enable it to enjoy a life of almost eternal sunshine, and the key part the swallow plays in our traditional and popular culture. With beautiful illustrations throughout, this captivating year-in-the-life biography reveals the hidden secrets of this charismatic and beautiful bird. PRAISE FOR STEPHEN MOSS: 'A superb naturalist and writer' Chris Packham 'Inspired, friendly and blessed with apparently limitless knowledge' Peter Marren 'Moss has carved out an enviable niche as a chronicler of the natural world' Daily Mail

This reference guide gives general details about the swallows and martins of the world. These include appearance, the basic coloration and differences between the sexes and immatures and the function of other areas of colouring. Several species within the same geographical area are often segregated by feeding in different habitats or at different heights or by eating different size-classes of insects. The two sub-families, one being the two river martins, the other containing about 72 species mainly in the genus hirundo, are dealt with, including their distribution and migration patterns. Feeding, courtship and breeding habits are considered, together with details of nesting sites, clutch size, incubation and life-span. Finally, the population sizes of the various species are examined, noting that whilst many have expanded their range by using man-made structures, forest species probably remain small and one species, the Red Sea swallow is known from only one specimen. The book follows the same approach, style and presentation as The Herons Handbook published in 1985. It is illustrated by the winner of the prestigious British Birds Illustrator of the Year Award and the author has contributed to many scientific papers and journals including BBC's Wildlife Magazine.

Follows the adventures of two groups of children who spend a winter holiday by a great lake next to the mountains.

The swallows have always feared Winter. For them it is a time of dying and decay. A time they have always fled from, seeking the warmth and safety of the southlands. But this year is to be different. The swallows' wise and venerable leader, Creakwing, announces that he is now too old and infirm to undertake the epic journey across thousands of miles of land and sea. He intends to remain in the northlands during the cold dark months of Winter and try to survive alone. Knowing that for him this will mean almost certain death, a group of young swallows devise a daring plan to rescue their leader. Many other birds are enlisted to help in the plan. Among them, the thieving jackdaws, a captive yellow bird, a brilliantly ingenious blue tit, a wise old owl who is not as wise as he thinks he is.... and finally, out in the icy wastes of ocean the mysterious storm petrels. There will be triumph and tragedy during the long and dangerous journey, an epic Crossing about which the bardic swallows will tell tales and sing songs for generations to come. 'Creakwing's Crossing' is a stirring tale in a literary tradition stretching from Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in The Willows' to 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams in the present day. It is also a tale to remind us that though the boundaries created by Man continue to create tensions and conflict, the natural world observes no frontiers, and the swallows continue to move through the sky as freely as they have always done, in the ancient mystery of migration.