Showing results by author "M. C." in All Categories

Alice Lovesey is a poor, mistreated scullery maid whose desperate plea for help miraculously summons Wadham Hall's rakish eighth duke - summons him from the dead! Though caught up in the delights of being newly materialized, the duke promises to return the favor by helping Alice become a lady of quality. But does Alice's heart stand a ghost of a chance now that she has lost it to a restless spirit?

When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame.

Today, in an instant, leaders can find themselves face-to-face with crisis. An active shooter. A media controversy. A data breach. In You're It, the faculty of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University takes you to the front lines of some of the toughest decisions facing our nation's leaders - from how to mobilize during a hurricane or in the aftermath of a bombing to halting a raging pandemic. They also take listeners through the tough decision-making inside the world's largest companies, hottest startups, and leading nonprofits.

Finding out you’re in love with three impossible boys isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The stepbrother. The boyfriend’s best friend. The sister’s ex. Life would be complicated enough if we didn’t have to navigate a social circle populated with serial killers. My father has gathered a loyal group of monsters around himself like a shield. There’s the black widow, the arsonist, the mild-mannered poet with a penchant for blood, the crooked cop, and, of course, the Seattle Slayer. Maintaining three new romances is nearly as dangerous a proposition.

Abandoned by new husband, James, Agatha Raisin hops on a plane to the South Pacific in the hope that an idyllic holiday will bring some consolation. There, she befriends a honeymooning couple but, tragically, the young bride is accidentally drowned. Returning home to the Cotswolds, Agatha finds herself involved in a strangely similar situation - a woman, dressed in a wedding gown, is found floating in the river. The police say suicide, but Agatha sets out to prove them wrong.

Even though Agatha Raisin loathes amateur dramatics, her friend Mrs. Bloxby, the vicar's wife, has persuaded her to support the local pantomime. Stifling a yawn at the production of Babes in the Woods, Agatha watches as the baker, playing an ogre, struts and threatens on the stage. Then a trapdoor opens… followed by a scream and then silence. Surely, this isn't the way the scene was rehearsed?

Hamish Macbeth, constable in the small Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, is feeling down after losing both his promotion and his girlfriend, the town beauty, Priscilla Halbourton-Smythe. A trip to a charming seaside inn with his dog Towser's meant to raise his sagging spirits. Instead, he arrives at “Friendly House” to find the ambiance chilling, the food inedible, and his fellow guests less than neighborly. There’s an amorous spinster, two flirty girls, a retired military man, a secretive London family, and Bob Harris, who so nags his wife that everyone wants to kill him.

He stated quite bluntly--and much to Isabella's relief--that theirs would be a marriage in name only. But neither Harry nor Isabella was aware of the other's disguise, contrived in vain to thwart the impending nuptials. Isabella was not the selfish ice princess she seemed, nor was Harry a mincing dandy but rather a merry profligate.

Must one sister suffer in poverty while the other lives in the lap of luxury? This question plagued Harriet Clifton incessantly. Inviting herself to her widowed sister Cordelia's posh London townhouse for the season was surely the only way to meet a suitable partner - as well as escape drafty old Pringle House forever. The vain Cordelia was meanwhile casting her net for the notorious Marquess of Arden, a man who would rather court a mistress than wed a wife.

Just when everything at the Poor Relation Hotel seems to be running smoothly, Sir Philip brings in another poor relation, Mrs. Budge. When Sir Philip presents his paramour, Lady Fortescue swears great oaths and says the woman is probably related to half the costermongers in London and certainly does not possess one rich relative. Mrs. Budge does nothing but eat all day and refused to do any work around the hotel. Worst of all, Miss Tonks seems to be taking the romance between Sir Philip and Mrs. Budge quite hard.

Believing that someone is trying to murder her, gorgeous Jane Wetherby asks Hamish Macbeth to spend Christmas with her and an exclusive group of friends at her Scottish island health farm. With a cold in his head and no place to go for the holidays, Hamish accepts her invitation. He thinks the lady is a bit daft, but, arriving on the lonely isle of Eileencraig, he feels a prickle of foreboding. The locals are openly threatening; the other guests, especially a terrible snob named Heather Todd, are barely civil.

Simon never asked to become the new dungeon master of the Barrow, but a millennia-old teenager stuck in the skull of a dead lich has few life options. After bonding with the Barrow’s dungeon core, he learns they are near death from hunger and only by consuming the life energy and experiences of sentient beings can they survive. Lucky for Simon a party of murderous adventurers invades the Barrow in search of treasure and glory.

For two years Lucy and Sam renovated their beautiful Victorian home but spiraling debts are forcing them to sell. The agreement with their real estate agent is that they won’t be home for viewings, but when Lucy gets a voicemail saying the Agent is running late, she realizes she will have to show the prospective buyer around herself. Suffering from extreme anxiety and claustrophobia, Lucy watches the stranger on their doorstep waiting to be let in.

This revolutionary yet practical book addresses the causes of burnout many Christians face and empowers them to join God in a joy-fueled movement of Jesus! Vibrancy and joy are what Christians are promised. Yet, many have experienced the opposite: a guilt-ridden, duty-based, judgmental culture that has left them still searching for the life Jesus promised.

Admittedly, there's a touch of black humor in the case. Rich, old practical joker Andrew Trent summons his kin to the remote Arrat House in the dead of winter for a deathbed farewell. They arrive to find him in perfect health and eager to torment them with a new bag of unfunny jokes.

Life is finally looking up for the poor relations. The Prince of Wales’ coat of arms gleams over the hotel entrance. All but one of the rooms are filled by the open-handed Prince Hugo and his entourage. They have finally reached a position comfortable enough to allow them to consider offers to buy the hotel. The poor relations’ hard-earned success, however, is in stark contrast to the plight of their latest guest, Lady Jane Fremney. The slight, beautiful youngest daughter of the Earl of Durby has been cast out of her family for refusing to marry the man her father has chosen.

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose. But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she was lying about the crime. So when the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he simply marvels at her compulsion to lie. This time, though, she is telling the truth. Her body is found in her home and Hamish must sort through all of her lies to solve the crime.

The Daily Joy devotional inspires women to engage with God’s word every day, allowing the truth of the gospel to transform their lives throughout the year. Featuring content from the ESV Women’s Devotional Bible, Scripture meditations and articles are written by more than 50 Christian writers and pastors including Joni Eareckson Tada, Lydia Brownback, Dane C. Ortlund, Jen Wilkin, Sam Storms, and Nancy Guthrie.

It was true. The lovely young widow Lady Charteris - Delphine to her friends - had agreed to abide by her parents' wishes and marry the Comte Saint-Pierre. Delphine's parents had long since died in the Terror, but when she learned of their wishes for her, she believed it her duty to respect their wishes. Delphine would marry, but it would be a marriage in name only. But when Delphine saw Jules Saint-Pierre, she got the shock of her life: he was the same man she had seen juggling in the streets at a local fair.

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution has helped millions lose weight and get healthy. Now the world's #1 diet and complementary medicine expert has updated his proven program for a new century, offering essential new information based on scientifically supported controlled carbohydrate principles.