A Bloody Words Light Mystery 2014 Finalist Spa owner and habitual amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan finds herself at a clerical conference at Gladstone's Library in North Wales. Also attending as a guest speaker is her boyfriend, DCI Gareth Davies, there to give a talk on theft prevention. But behind the ornate red sandstone facade of this most respectable of Victorian buildings, Penny encounters deception, blackmail, and murder. When the bishop's secretary dies of a suspicious case of food poisoning, Davies leads the investigation. At Penny's suggestion, Florence Semble, a friend from Penny's adopted hometown, is invited to the Library to decode the secretary's shorthand notebook in the search for clues. As the conference continues, another body is found in the beautiful Library itself, and Penny must once again search for a killer. Elizabeth J. Duncan's Never Laugh as a Hearse Goes By is a fine entry in a series celebrated for its small-town charm, Welsh flavor, and lovable characters.

A black Labrador retreiver discovers the body of a missing woman at an agricultrual fair. A newcomer to town, a transgender woman, is suspected but amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan believes her to be innocent. Penny sets out to find the real killer, but when a second body is discovered, the case is thrown into confusion and it's up to Penny to figure out what happenend and why.

With a picturesque black and white lighthouse, pebble beaches and stunning views of sea and mountains, the island of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales is the perfect place for an idyllic mid-summer painting holiday. And watercolour artist, businesswoman, and amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan is enjoying the retreat enormously - until she discovers the body of a New Zealand journalist on a secluded beach just as the tide is going out, threatening to take the body with it. The post mortem reveals the victim died from injuries "consistent with a fall from a great height," and the death is ruled accidental. But Penny thinks there's more to the story. Curious how the victim came to such an untimely end at this most inhospitable spot, she uncovers a link to a mysterious disappearance several years earlier. And as her holiday romance with a wildlife photographer turns to love, she learns some truths about herself, too, that surprise her. As the winds of change blow through Penny's own life, she sets sail on a friendly tide for a future she never dreamed possible, in a beautiful place she never imagined

A mainstay of Toronto’s theatrical landscape since 1968, Theatre Passe Muraille (which translates to ‘Theatre Without/Beyond Walls’) has focused on breaking down barriers—between actors and spectators, for example—while developing a populist aesthetic that has found resonance with both rural and urban audiences. In Beyond Walls, Peter Jobin considers the fledgling years of Canada’s longest running alternative theatre in Toronto. It is a roller coaster ride of soaring highs and crushing lows, from sell-out shows and innovative new ideas to morality squad arrests and financial crises. It documents the evolution of the theatre’s focus from its early interest in radical American theatrics to its later, Canadian nationalist direction. Jobin’s investigation shows that, by embracing diversity, collaboration and inclusivity, Theatre Passe Muraille has become a living and breathing representation of the city of Toronto and has helped to change the way Canadian audiences feel about Theatre. The book includes period photographs by Lionel Douglas and Bob Nasmith, and a foreword by dramaturge David Ferry.

An Enchanted Valley is a wonderfully vivid trip through rural France with author Edward Harper and his cultural historian lover as they search for peace, tranquility, and beauty. We had been in the village for six years now. The house was finished. We knew every nook and cranny of the area within a twenty-mile radius. The ebb and flow of the village had become a part of our lives each summer. The ten-year-old daughter of the lascivious school teacher had bloomed into a voluptuous teenager whose boyfriends roared into the village on scooters. Maurin's little dog no longer appeared on our doorsteps as his house stood shuttered and empty, the center of a vicious fight over the inheritance. But much remained the same. Every year the chatelain celebrated his birthday with a picnic and barbecue on the edges of his exotic forest. An immense pig was roasted over a pit and more than a hundred people attended, a mixture of his military comrades including the retired colonel of the regiment and some aging, but still menacing looking, paratroopers in their red berets. Gallons of Burdic in unmarked bottles chilled in ice-filled barrels stood next to tables with great washtubs of salad and gardianne, the superb spiced stew of the region.

When the body of well-liked and respectable Glenda Roberts is discovered at the bottom of a former slate mine, now a busy tourist attraction, pandemonium erupts in the North Wales town of Llanelen. Penny Brannigan finds herself drawn into the investigation when jars of her house-brand hand cream are found among counterfeit inventory Glenda and her sister were selling. Police are convinced that the mine operator whose asthmatic son suffered an almost-fatal attack due to the merchandise is responsible for Glenda's death. But Penny's not so sure. A visit to Glenda's mother only deepens her conviction that a hidden family secret is the real reason for the murder. Elizabeth J. Duncan's Slated for Death is a wonderful traditional mystery with snappy dialogue, lively characters and an enchanting setting.

A Catskills resort’s production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet takes a wickedly ironic turn when the leading lady, Lauren Richmond, is first poisoned and then stabbed. Who would extinguish the life of such a beautiful young thespian? Who wouldn’t? Seems like just about everyone had a motive to pull the ropes on her final curtain call. At the center of this Shakespearian tragedy is Charlotte Fairfax, formerly the costume mistress of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Upstate New York is a long way from the royal stage, but Charlotte is always the queen of her domain. As this small production’s costume designer, she has stitched her way into everyone’s lives, learning more than anyone could possibly imagine about the rise and fall of Lauren Richmond. But curiosity killed the cat. And it might well kill the costume designer. Witty and wise work, Untimely Death, the first in Elizabeth J. Duncan’s charming cozy series, is sure to delight.

Librarians who work with readers will find this well-loved guide to be a treasure trove of information. With descriptive annotations of thousands of genre titles mapped by genre and subgenre, this is the readers' advisor's go-to reference. Next to author, genre is the characteristic that readers use most to select reading material and the most trustworthy consideration for finding books readers will enjoy. With its detailed classification and pithy descriptions of titles, this book gives users valuable insights into what makes genre fiction appeal to readers. It is an invaluable aid for helping readers find books that they will enjoy reading. Providing a handy roadmap to popular genre literature, this guide helps librarians answer the perennial and often confounding question "What can I read next?" Herald and Stavole-Carter briefly describe thousands of popular fiction titles, classifying them into standard genres such as science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and mystery. Within each genre, titles are broken down into more specific subgenres and themes. Detailed author, title, and subject indexes provide further access. As in previous editions, the focus of the guide is on recent releases and perennial reader favorites. In addition to covering new titles, this edition focuses more narrowly on the core genres and includes basic readers' advisory principles and techniques.

In award-winning author Elizabeth J. Duncan's tenth Penny Brannigan mystery set in North Wales, Canadian amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan attends a dinner party at a posh country house--where a historic chair disappears and a waiter is murdered. Artist and spa owner Penny Brannigan has been asked to organize a formal dinner to mark the centenary of the armistice that ended World War One. After dinner, the guests adjourn to the library for a private exhibition of the Black Chair, a precious piece of Welsh literary history awarded in 1917 to poet Hedd Wyn. But to the guests' shock, the newly restored bardic chair is missing. And then Penny discovers the rain-soaked body of a waiter. When Penny learns that the victim was the nephew of one of her employees, she is determined to find the killer. Meanwhile, the local police search for the Black Chair. The Prince of Wales is due to open an exhibit featuring the chair in three weeks, so time is not on their side. A visit to a nursing home to consult an ex-thief convinces Penny that the theft of the Black Chair and the waiter's murder are connected. She rushes to Dublin to consult a disagreeable antiquarian, who might know more than he lets on, and during the course of her investigation confronts a gaggle of suspicious travelers and an eccentric herbalist who seems to have something to hide. Can Penny find the chair and the culprit before she is laid to rest in the green grass of Wales?

When a directorial debut turns deadly, it falls to costume designer Charlotte Fairfax to unmask the culprit in award-winning author Elizabeth J. Duncan’s third Shakespeare in the Catskills mystery Charlotte Fairfax has another murder on her hands as she prepares for the latest performance of the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, Much Ado About Nothing. The company’s steady growth enables them to cast star British actress Audrey Ashley, who arrives on scene to play the lead role of Beatrice. But things immediately get more complicated when Audrey insists the company replace the current director with new, up and coming British director Edmund Albright. Edmund plans to change the popular romantic comedy, which alienates several people associated with the production. And the list of people he upsets only grows: the laid off former director, the hotel owner’s secretary, and even Audrey herself. Just as Edmund’s plans are about to come to fruition, his body is discovered on his sofa, holding a gun in his hand. His death is quickly ruled a suicide but Charlotte thinks otherwise. Why would Edmund, on the brink of greatness, kill himself? With a whole cast of characters to investigate, Charlotte is determined to unmask each one before it’s final curtain call on the whole production.