Marking the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, this new edition offers an informed introductin to the chief proponent of the English village murder mystery. Although she created two enormously popular characters - the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and the inquisitive elderly spinster and amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple of St Mary Mead - it is not generally acknowledged that Agatha Christie wrote in many different genres: comic mysteries (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?), atmosphe...

A new, updated edition puts all the Doctors under the microscope—including Matt Smith—with facts, figures and opinions on every Doctor Who story televisedDoctor Who has seen many ups and downs in its long and colorful history, and this guide tracks all of them. From humble beginnings in November 1963 to its cancellation in 1989 and eventual resurrection in 2005, Doctor Who has always been a quintessential element of sci-fi, and Br...

The necessity for a comprehensive work, giving a full and detailed explanation of the Art of manufacturing Hair Work in all its various branches, has been so frequently urged upon the attention of the author, that, in compliance with an almost universal demand, he has concluded to publish a book which will clearly illustrate the Art of Hair Dressing, and making Hair Jewelry and Hair Work of every description. His perfect familiarity with the business—the result of many years' successful ex...

An informed introduction to the Christie phenomenon, updated to include new material on the final Poirot adaptation series and Sophie Hannah's The Monogram MurdersSince her debut in 1920 with The Mysterious Affair At Styles, Agatha Christie has become the chief proponent of the English village murder mystery. Although she created two enormously popular characters—the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and the inquisitive elderly spinster a...

Pocket Essentials is a dynamic series of books that are concise, lively, and easy to read. Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. In this book, Mark Campbell provides an informed introduction to the Agatha Christie phenomenon, including a biography of the great author, in-depth profiles of 10 of her most popular characters, analyses of the stories, a...

With the recent successes of Robert Downey, Jr. on the big screen and Benedict Cumberbatch on TV, the popularity of Sherlock Holmes is riding high and here is the essential guideWho is Holmes? The world's most famous detective, a drug addict with a heart as cold as ice, or a millstone around the neck of his creator? He's all of these things and much, much more. Sherlock Holmes was the brainchild of Portsmouth GP Arthur Conan Doyle. A writer of historical romantic f...

Can one man make a difference?An age-old struggle is finally at an end. After countless years of conflict, two nations lay down their swords, intent on forging a lasting peace. But not everyone is so eager for war to end. Pirates, slavers, and others who have grown wealthy during the time of strife, now see their fortunes threatened. Among whispers and shadows a plot is set in motion…Awaking on a strange ship, a man finds his memory gone and only vague dreams as clues to hi...

Evil comes knocking on the Stanleys' door in the guise of Jack Farley, a grave robber turned murderer from the Georgian period, who returns in ghostly form to haunt their every move.At first only young Paul Stanley is affected by Jack's demonic influence. However, it is not long before the rest of his family are gripped by the evil which Farley exerts upon them.As the Stanleys begin to sense Jack's sinister intent growing stronger and more dangerous, all seems lost until a ...

The fires of vengeance.What's a man to do when he has lost everything...his friends, his job, and maybe even his mind? Jack Bishop has sacrificed it all pursuing the arsonist who murdered his wife—a man the rest of the world insists is dead! Now after two years, Jack may have lost the one thing he's been holding on to: Hope.Just when it seems that everyone else may be right, Jack is drawn back into the chase with news of mysterious fires in California. But when his investig...

This book considers the motives, ambitions, and malaprops of writing architectural history during the early-1900s – a moment that coincided with the emergence of modernity. In reference to a series of eccentric Anglo-American cultural figures, it considers the relationships between architecture, human perception, disease, and frailty to provide original ideas regarding the writing of architectural history and the literary construction of architecture.Architecture is not typically a...

Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View (1974) is a renowned example of the paranoid conspiracy thriller, a genre that was a marker of the 1970s. The period was haunted by the murders of John F Kennedy (1963), Malcolm X (1965), Martin Luther King (1968), and Robert Kennedy (1968), together with the crimes of the Manson family, Altamont, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal.Mark Campbell's study of the film situates it within this historical moment of incr...

Travel with Anne Brontë as she takes you through the trials and tribulations of her early life. Having endured the struggles of her childhood, she sought comfort by expressing herself on the written page. Along with her older siblings, she unearthed the fantasy worlds which were to form them and play such an important part in their development as writers.As she entered adulthood and took on the role of a governess, Anne discovered she had a compassionate nature which helped her gui...