Simon Serrailler's story began in The Various Haunts of Men" (about a serial killer) & continued with " The Pure in Heart" (about a kidnapped schoolboy). Susan Hill is not afraid to tackle difficult issues nor to face up to the realities of stress in an ordinary English police station. Her third crime novel " The Risk of Darkness" even more compulsive & convincing follows up the child abduction & explores the crazy grief of a widowed husband a derangement which turns to obsession & threats violence & terror. Meanwhile handsome introverted Simon Serrailler whose cool reserve has broken the hearts of several women finds his own heart troubled by the newest recruit to the Cathedral staff: a feisty female Anglican priest with red hair..." The Risk of Darkness" is packed with action & adventure. Like " Various Haunts" it hinges on a terrific twist which comes as a complete surprise to the reader; & like " The Pure in Heart" it deals in depth with complex daily problems." ...

Life has not turned out the way that Dan Porter had planned. He thought that when he married Jackie twenty-five years before he would be providing for her & their family until he could retire to a small house on the Devon coast & sit with a smug smile on his face knowing that he had not only done his bit to perpetuate the human race but had achieved it with distinction. But life doesnt always turn out the way you imagine it will. Firstly Jackies little job turned into a high-powered executive position with a top fashion house which required most of her time & attention leaving only a sliver of a moment for her parenting & home-making duties. Secondly that he would suffer an out-of-character brainstorm leave his safe job & start up a business on his own
- but customers had not come rushing to his door. Dan becomes a house husband
- & most of his time is spent studying his empty email inbox. Approaching fifty & having read a magazine article he thinks of a new brainwave
- to upsticks from London buy a croft in Scotland & take over a mail order business with Jackie. The family are not amused...


...

This book introduces the reader to the relationship between the Italian national movement achieved by the Risorgimento & the Italian unification in 1860. These themes are discussed in detail & related to the broader European theatre. Covering the literary cultural religious & political history of the period Beales & Biagini show Italy struggled towards nation state status on all fronts. The new edition has been thoroughly rewritten. It also contains a number of new documents. In addition all the most up to date research of the last 20 years has been incorporated. The Risorgimento & the Unification of Italy remains the major text on nineteenth century Italy. The long introduction & useful footnotes will be of real assistance to those interested in Italian unification. ...

One of the seminal works of the 20th century & a milestone in the history of music The Rite of Spring" famously caused a riot at its first performance in Paris in 1913. Since then this revolutionary masterpiece has found its place as one of the most performed & admired scores of the 20th century. Now published in The Masterworks Library. 20th century works from the Boosey & Hawkes catalogue available for the first time in full score format at pocket score prices with introductory notes illustrations & photographs. Ideal for students conductors performers libraries CD collectors & general music enthusiasts." ...

In the cabin of an ancient stinking warship bound for Australia a man writes a journal to entertain his godfather back in Engl&. With wit & disdain he records mounting tensions on board as an obsequious clergyman attracts the animosity of the tyrannical captain & surly crew. ...

Just after lunch on a Tuesday in April nine feet under water police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human h&. The fact that there's no body attached is disturbing enough. Yet more disturbing is the discovery a day later of the matching h&. Both have been recently amputated & the indications are that the victim was still alive when they were removed. DI Jack Caffery has been newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol. He & Flea soon establish that the hands belong to a boy who has recently disappeared. Their search for him
- & for his abductor
- lead them into the darkest recesses of Bristol's underworld where drug addiction is rife where street-kids sell themselves for a hit & where an ancient evil lurks; an evil that feeds off the blood
- & flesh
- of others.. .



...

It was the dead thing they found hanging from a tree that changed the trip beyond recognition. When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives & reconnect. But when Luke the only man still single & living a precarious existence finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends tensions rise. A shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost hungry & surrounded by forest untouched for millennia things couldnt possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls & there are bones scattered upon the floors. The residue of old rites for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. & as the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation they learn that death doesnt come easy among these ancient trees... ...

When the call comes in Detective Peter Decker can hardly believe it. A rape at the yeshiva up in the canyon & hill country behind Los Angeles? True there had been some recent anti-Semitic vandalism but never any violence. Not only that but this was a strict Orthodox Jewish community self-enclosed & suspicious of outsiders. Not much chance theyd co-operate with the police. & he is right
- as Rina Lazarus the frustratingly fascinating young widow who found the victim proves when she talks about her world. Outsider he may be but Decker has a feeling in his policemans bones that the cost of privacy to this determined community could be murderously high...
...

Dark mystifying & powerful forces are at work in these two superb J. D. Robb short stories. Ritual When a naked knife-wielding ...

Taking tea is one of the quintessentially English occasions & who is a greater authority on the subject than the sumptuous Ritz London Hotel? This charming Edwardian-style book captures the essence of this traditional British pastime & provides us with all the expertise on the ceremony as well as the recipes. Stories about the legendary afternoon teas at The Ritz & fascinating details about the history of tea drinking are complemented with passages from such diverse writers as Charles Dickens to Oscar Wilde. Over fifty recipes are included for different kinds of afternoon tea specialities from delicate sandwiches strawberry shortcake & rose petal jam to crumpets & muffins for hearty teas in front of a roaring fire. The author gives an infallible guide to the many blends of tea & their suitability to particular occasions. Beautifully presented & delightfully illustrated this book is the perfect gift for tea drinkers everywhere. ...