It’s murder in the worst degree when an executive at a knife factory is killed with its newest product, a curved blade called the tiger claw. Was Sam Park murdered because of the “private project” he was working on, one that threatened to expose dirty secrets? Ominous message fragments only deepen the mystery. Most perplexing of all is why the dead man’s outstretched hand is resting on the open page of a world atlas. Was he naming his killer?All is not as it seems as Detectives Hen...

Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #23. Lots of good stuff this time—highlighted by a novel from Golden Age mystery author Rufus King, Duenna for a Murder. Plus a few novellas, and lots of great short stories, a solve-it-yourself mystery from Hal Charles, and great selections from Michael Bracken (Laird Long’s “Taken for a Ride”—which qualifies as both a mysery and a fantasy story) and Barb Goffman (Michael Allan Mallory’s “Random Harvest”).On the science fictio...

Denim, Diamonds and Death offers a fine collection from authors supporting the 50th Anniversary of the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Dallas, Texas.Here are fifteen stories that run the gamut from heists to revenge, intricate plots to secrets uncovered, and more than a few tales that defy easy classification.Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the 2019 Bouchercon’s official charity, Literary Instruction for Texas (LIFT).Edited by Rick Ollerman with...

Cinema before the World investigates the transnational origins of filmmaking by focusing on a case study in world cinema—the 1896-1897 voyage of one of the Lumière Brothers camera operators, Alexandre Promio, across North Africa and the Middle East. The book shows how the sites in these early films are not simply backdrops, but integral to film form and its global history.Connecting a series of filmic principles (framing, tracking shots, close-ups) to the sites where they ...

Blessed by the Grace of God is about how the Lord has always been by my side even when I took a wrong turn in life. He never gave up on me. I have always loved God but didn't give him the devotion he deserved. He was patient with me and must have known that I would come around sooner or later. God has blessed me so many times and his blessings continue. I am now fully devoted to the Lord. No matter what we do, God loves us more than we will ever know. I wrote this book because, no matter w...

--Winner Best Independent Book Award: Detective Mystery--Silver Falchion Award Finalist, Killer Nashville International Writers’ ConferenceThe murder of an art expert and the disappearance of a priceless artifact propels Detective Henry Lau into the nebulous world of ancient antiquities. Complicating matters is a parade of dodgy suspects who wouldn’t know a truthful statement if it bit them on the leg. What is the Bronze Dragon? And why do ...

When the Cleveland suburb of Euclid first zoned its land in 1922, the Ambler Realty Company was left with a sizable tract it could no longer sell for industrial use-and so the company sued. What emerged was the seminal zoning case in American history, pitting reformers against private property advocates in the Supreme Court and raising the question of whether a municipality could deny property owners the right to use their land however they chose.Reconstructing the case that made z...

Throughout Minnesota, from Austin to International Falls, people flock every year to more festivals--county fairs, arts and craft shows, ice-fishing contests, and music festivals--than you can shake a stick at. Most come for the food and fun, but a few festival-goers have more devious intentions in mind.In this diverse collection of short stories, members of Twin Cities Sisters in Crime reveal the chilly underside of dog-sled races, gang rivalries at a Cinco de Mayo festivals, erra...

#1 Global Resilience coach and resilience pioneer Dr. Edy Greenblatt provides an easy to read, research-based approach to identifying what is draining your energy and resilience, and what to do about it without quitting your job, moving to Costa Rica, or getting a divorce. Especially now, when work from home is making clear how important it is to understand our resilience challenges so we can do something about it.Originally published in 2009, some of the references may seem a bit ...

A small group of teachers from around the world start their careers in a new and exciting school in Mandalay, a city in northern Myanmar. They form lasting relationships with one another that shape and define the rest of their lives. From their students and each other they learn about love and life until one event, equally hopeful and tragic, sends cracks through the foundation of their community and threatens to bring everything crumbling down around them. In his debut novel, Michael Charles...

Relive once more the action packed, shoot em up western in the tradition of Zane Grey. Ride with Marshal Woodrow Kinslow as he brings an embittered Colorado landowner to justice. An accident claims the life of a young son of a Colorado rancher, Johnathan Birk. Although, he reluctantly agreed to let homesteaders onto land that he claimed for his own, the death of his son sends him on a vengeful crusade to rid the valley of all the homesteaders. Marshall Woodrow Kinslow is shot at on a high ...

We have grown accustomed to understanding world literature as a collection of national or linguistic traditions bound together in the universality of storytelling. Michael Allan challenges this way of thinking and argues instead that the disciplinary framework of world literature, far from serving as the neutral meeting ground of national literary traditions, levels differences between scripture, poetry, and prose, and fashions textual forms into a particular pedagogical, aesthetic, and et...