When irascible farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, at first it seems like an accident - despite the fact that he was widely disliked. Only his daughter Lilah is prepared to defend his memory. And when, slowly, Lilah begins to suspect foul play, no one is eager to help her investigate. Suspicion becomes certainty when two more deaths occur - and both of them are unmistakably murder. The difficulty lies in discovering who, among Guy's many enemies, hated him enough to want him dead - and who went on killing to conceal the truth. There is certainly no shortage of suspects and it falls to local policeman Den Cooper to investigate the mysterious deaths.

The uncertainty of ones life and the inevitability of death is a dilemma that has tormented the human mind in all ages. One way of resolving the conundrum has been to imagine, if not firmly believe, that the individual self is immortal and deathless, notwithstanding the fact that the physical body must perish. If nothing, it weans one away from the fear of death towards an earnest hope in a blissful afterlife. Living in Death is a scholarly critique on the death poetry of Emily Dickinson and T. S. Eliot. By deftly comparing their styles, diction, and motifs, Dr. T. D. Peter unravels the beauty of contemplating and courting the compelling presence of death as an unshakeable ontological reality. The author looks through the mirror of the death poetry of two signature poets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuriesthe former, an inimitable and indwelling poetic genius who defies classification and transcends time and trends; the latter, a trail-blazing and celebrated scion of modern classical poetry who impresses with his erudition and edification, imagism, and symbolism. He finds more by way of contrast than similarity in their strikingly opposite life lines and, no less, to their varying allegiance to faith and reason, religion and spirituality.

A century after Leo Tolstoy's death, the author of War and Peace is widely admired but too often thought of only with reference to his realism and moral sense. The many sides of Tolstoy revealed in these essays speak to readers with astonishing force, relevance, and complexity. In a lively, challenging style, leading scholars range over his long life, from his first work Childhood to the works of his old age like Hadji Murat, and the many genres in which he worked, from the major novels to aphorisms and short stories. The essays present fresh approaches to his central themes: love, death, religious faith and doubt, violence, the animal kingdom, and war. They also assess his reception both in his lifetime and subsequently. Setting new agendas for the study of this classic author, this volume provides a snapshot of more current scholarship on Tolstoy.

Kickass Magical Enforcement Agent Kate Prospero must balance a dangerous Brazilian cartel, her troubled teenage brother, and a complex chemistry with her partner in this gritty fantasy thriller. After the grisly murder of a dirty magic coven leader, Kate and The Magical Enforcement Agency team up with the local police to find the killer. When a tenacious reporter sticks her nose in both the investigation and Prospero's past in the covens, old ghosts resurface. As the infighting between covens turns ugly, an all-out war brews in the slums of Babylon. Deadly Spells is the third novel in the Prospero's War urban fantasy series that started with Dirty Magic and Cursed Moon.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. Peter Robinson’s new book provides a practical contribution for anyone considering how to prepare for their end of life, including those from LGBTQ+ communities.

A brand-new collection of twelve short stories, featuring the popular characters from Rebecca Tope's Cotswold mystery novels. A suspicious funeral, a fatal encounter at a garden centre of all places, and a country walk marred by the discovery of a hidden corpse, are just some of the perplexing situations with which Thea Osborne, her friends and a further cast of characters must contend. In this expanded view of the world of her popular books, Tope reminds us that death and crime will visit even the most idyllic country villages.

Summer has come to the Lake District town of Windermere, where Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown runs her own florist shop. But there's no time for her to stop and smell the roses with the shop struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However, Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend, Ben Harkness - responsible for calling and alerting her of the discovered body - is now missing and thought to be kidnapped. Caught up in both a murder and kidnapping investigation, Simmy begins chasing clues left by the missing Ben. With many suspicious characters bustling in and out of the hotel, while simultaneously trying to cope with her father's encroaching dementia, solving the puzzle seems a grueling challenge, but Simmy is compelled to uncover the truth...

When Thea Osborne agrees at the last minute to house-sit for Oliver Meadows as a favour to her mother, she expects a few days of peace with her spaniel, Hepzie. Uncomfortable with the news of her mother's sudden involvement with an old flame, and Thea herself unsure of how to deal with her feelings for Drew Slocombe, she hopes that some time alone in the historic town of Winchcombe will help to clear her head. But, as usual, Thea quickly finds herself at the centre of a dark mystery when she discovers a dead body in the gardens of the house.

Thea Osborne's latest house-sitting assignment is a little different to the rest. Along with her spaniel, Hepzie, Thea finds herself in the village of Chedworth. She is tasked with creating an inventory of Rita Wilshire's possessions, requested by her son, Richard Wilshire, after moving her into a care home. All goes to plan, until Thea and her fiancé, Drew Slocombe, find Richard dead in a barn. When family members come knocking, Thea and Drew struggle to give them answers. The Wilshire family has its own past and, whilst Thea knows it is not really her business, she cannot help but become involved in the case. Was Richard's death suicide? Or something more sinister? When the clues lead them in circles, Thea's relationship with Drew is put to the test. But there is a crime to solve, and neither of them is willing to give up just yet.

Winter has arrived in the town of Windermere, and has bought with it the death of Frances Henderson, the best friend of Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's mother. Having known the Henderson family all of her life, Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion at being bequeathed something in Frances's will. When Frances's husband is violently murdered in his home, Simmy must face the fact that the family she was once so close to as a child, holds some dark and sinister secrets.