Who was Jesus?Historical sources portray a person who was complex, multi-layered, and often contradictory to the tidy portrait that much of modern Christianity paints him as. Even the gospel accounts render him as both judge and healer, teacher and temple, servant and savior.A Doubter's Guide to Jesus is a persuasive and often challenging investigation into the historical figure found in the earliest sources. These sources, which include references...

Fourteen impossible mysteries from the masters of the Golden Age detective story.‘Lock your door and enjoy’ – KirkusLocked-room mysteries have baffled and delighted readers for generations. They present the reader with a seemingly impossible crime – a body found inside a windowless room that’s been locked from the inside, for example – before revealing an ingenious and satisfying solution.This unique collection features fou...

When a spiritual medium is murdered in a locked hut on a haunted estate, Sir Henry Merrivale seeks a logical solution to a ghostly crime.Plague Court is old and crumbling, long neglected after its lord, hangman's assistant Louis Playge, fell victim to the black death hundreds of years before. Famously haunted by Playge's ghost, the property finally has a new owner and banishing the spirit is the first order of business. And when the medium employed with this task is...

The most famous of all locked-room mysteries - a classic in the crime genre.If you like the new KNIVES OUT film WAKE UP DEAD MAN you'll love this!***'***The sheer ingenuity of the plot is a delight' Daily Mail'A key influence on WAKE UP DEAD MAN' Radio Times'The first deadly walking of the hollow man took place when the side streets of London were quiet with snow and the three coffins of...

Is the world better off without Christianity?Combining narrative with keen critique of contemporary debates, author and historian John Dickson gives an honest account of 2,000 years of Christian history that helps us understand what Christianity is and what it's meant to be.To say that the Christian Church has an "image problem" doesn't quite capture it. From the Crusades and the Inquisition to the racism and abuse present in today's Church--both in Catholi...

On the verge of a second marriage, a divorcee discovers her first husband has returned, and murder ensues in this chilling tale, which the New York Times Book Review hailed as "one of the most ingeniously constructed mystery stories John Dickson Carr has ever told"After divorcing her husband, Ned, Eve Neill falls in love with banker Toby Lawes and quickly agrees to marry him. But news of the engagement brings Ned back, intent on reclaiming his bride, whatev...

The Ten Commandments have influenced non-religious Western culture more than it might imagine. This guide to the famous rules does more than explain what they are or what they say, but why we need them.This moral code in the Old Testament of the Bible—from which sprang ideas of justice, compassion, human rights, and freedom—has had such a strong impact on our society that it seems to represent what most of us think of as basic ethical reasoning. Even atheists like ...

Hailed by Agatha Christie as "the king of the art of misdirection," John Dickson Carr draws readers into a thrilling tale of a family's hunt for an inheritance hidden in a haunted New Orleans mansionBefore he became a commodore in the Confederate Navy, Serena Hobart's grandfather was a treasure hunter who combed the bottom of the sea in search of Spanish gold. In 1927, after her father dies, Serena wants nothing more than to be rid of Delys Hall, the commodore's ram...

Three Golden Age British-style whodunits from the Edgar Award–winning writer Agatha Christie called "a master magician . . . the king of the art of misdirection."One of the most popular Golden Age mystery authors, John Dickson Carr was also lauded by his peers. Agatha Christie offered him the highest praise from one mystery writer to another: "Very few detective stories baffle me, but Mr. Carr's always do." And Dorothy Sayers enthused: "Mr. Carr can lead us away fr...

Christianity, depending on who you ask, is either a scourge on our society, narrow, delusive, and inevitably producing hatred and violence; or the foundation of some of the best elements of our culture and a continued source of hope, comfort to those in need, and moral inspiration. Are we talking about the same people here? Are we looking at the same history?Crusades, witch hunts, slavery, colonialism, child abuse … the history of the church offers plenty of ammunition to its critic...

Dr. Gideon Fell investigates multiple impossible crimes in this celebrated mystery from the master of the locked room mystery.After Angus Campbell falls to his death from a high window, his family is summoned to his Scottish manor to settle the estate. Just before his death, Campbell took out several large life insurance policies—all of which are voided in the event of suicide. The door to the room from which he fell was locked and the tower was too tall for anyone...

Dr. Gideon Fell solves two impossible murders in one of the most baffling locked room mysteries ever created.Professor Charles Grimaud is found dead in his study just moments after his housekeeper watched him greet a mysterious visitor and welcome him into the room. Yet no sign of the murderer or murder weapon can be found. The housekeeper saw no one leave through the door and the snow outside the only window remains unblemished.An equally puzzling murder h...