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A Dark Stranger
by Christopher Moncrieff Julien GracqFrom the moment he arrives at an elegant seaside hotel with his lover, Allan unsettles and obsesses the other guests. Elusive, equivocal, beautiful, he lives, gambles, swims and dances with a strange fierceness that they find intoxicating. Soon he even haunts their dreams. One by one, each guest is fatally drawn to Allan. And, as the hazy August heat fades and summer comes to an end, they gravitate towards self-destruction. Rich, lushly poetic, A Dark Stranger is a dreamlike portrayal of lives lived on the edge of the abyss.
A Dark and Bloody Ground: A True Story of Lust, Greed, and Murder in the Bluegrass State
by Darcy O'BrienAn Edgar Award–winning author&’s true crime account of a grisly string of killings in Kentucky—and the shocking spectacle of greed that followed. Kentucky never deserved its Indian appellation &“A Dark and Bloody Ground&” more than when a small-town physician, seventy-seven-year-old Roscoe Acker, called in an emergency on a sweltering evening in August 1985. Acker&’s own life hung in the balance, but it was already too late for his college-age daughter, Tammy, savagely stabbed eleven times and pinned by a kitchen knife to her bedroom floor. Three men had breached Dr. Acker&’s alarm and security systems and made off with the fortune he had stashed away over his lifetime. The killers—part of a three-man, two-woman gang of the sort not seen since the Barkers—stopped counting the moldy bills when they reached $1.9 million. The cash came in handy soon after when they were caught and needed to lure Kentucky&’s most flamboyant lawyer, the celebrated and corrupt Lester Burns, into representing them. Full of colorful characters and desperate deeds, A Dark and Bloody Ground is a &“first-rate&” true crime chronicle from the author of Murder in Little Egypt (Kirkus Reviews). &“An arresting look into the troubled psyches of these criminals and into the depressed Kentucky economy that became fertile territory for narcotics dealers, theft rings and bootleggers.&” —Publishers Weekly &“The smell of wet, coal-laden earth, white lightning, and cocaine-driven sweat arises from these marvelously atmospheric—and compelling—pages.&” —Kirkus Reviews &“A fascinating portrait of the mountain way of life and thought that forged the lives of these criminals.&” —Library Journal
A Dark and Brooding Gentleman
by Margaret McpheeSebastian Hunter has shown his last hand at the card table. Nights once spent womanizing and gambling are now spent in the dark shadows of Blackloch Hall, staring out onto the wild windswept Scottish moors.That is, until the mysterious Phoebe Allardyce-his mother's new and far-too-pretty companion-interrupts his brooding. After catching her thieving, the master of the house has no choice but to keep a close eye on this provocative little temptress....
A Dark and Lonely Place
by Edna Buchanan"We belong together," he said. "Yes," she whispered fervently in his ear. "We do." From Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Buchanan, the novel she has always wanted to write: the gripping saga of star-crossed lovers across generations. A century ago, when Indians and alligators roamed frontier Miami, the legendary John Ashley was accused of murder and sentenced to hang. He insisted he was innocent and went on the run with his sweetheart, Laura. Their crime spree lasted years longer and became far more deadly than the exploits of Bonnie and Clyde a decade later. John Ashley and Laura Upthegrove became the most notorious, colorful, and compelling figures in Florida's violent outlaw history. This is their true story of prison breaks, bootlegging, bank robberies, and piracy on the high seas. Their sensual and dreamy saga of love, passion, and violence is juxtaposed with the taut and suspenseful story of their fictional descendants who share the same love and dangers a hundred years later. In today's Miami, Homicide Sergeant John Ashley investigates a millionaire's spectacular murder and instantly recognizes a stunning model linked to the case as the girl who has haunted his dreams since childhood. Her name is Laura, and the lightning-fast attraction is supernaturally mutual. The homicide case goes bad, Ashley is falsely accused of murder, and the new lovers go on the run as history repeats itself. The question is, how powerful is the past? Do the present-day renegades stand a chance? Does anyone? Can any of us with the outlaw patterns of violence and tragedy imprinted in our DNA ever break the cycle? Can we change our own destiny? Or must the end always be the same for dangerous people in dangerous times? In a sweeping epic that explores the inevitability of fate and the belief in predestination, A Dark and Lonely Place draws the reader into an unforgettable world of intrigue, drama, romance, and tragedy.
A Dark and Lonely Place
by Edna BuchananFrom Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Buchanan, the novel she has always wanted to write: the gripping saga of star-crossed lovers across generations.From Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Buchanan, the novel she has always wanted to write: the gripping saga of star-crossed lovers across generations. A century ago, when Indians and alligators roamed frontier Miami, the legendary John Ashley was accused of murder and sentenced to hang. He insisted he was innocent and went on the run with his sweetheart, Laura Upthegrove. John and Laura became the most notorious, colorful, and compelling figures in Florida's violent outlaw history. Their sensual and dreamy saga is juxtaposed with the taut and suspenseful story of their fictional descendants who share the same love and dangers a hundred years later. In today's Miami, Homicide Sergeant John Ashley investigates a millionaire's spectacular murder and instantly recognizes a stunning model linked to the case as the girl who has haunted his dreams since childhood. Her name is Laura, and the lightning-fast attraction is supernaturally mutual. The homicide case goes bad, Ashley is falsely accused of murder just like his ancestor, and the new lovers go on the run as history repeats itself. The question is, how powerful is the past? Do the present-day renegades stand a chance? Can we change our own destiny? Or must the end always be the same for dangerous people in dangerous times? In a sweeping epic that explores the inevitability of fate, A Dark and Lonely Place draws the reader into an unforgettable world of intrigue, drama, romance, and tragedy.
A Dark and Promised Land
by Nathaniel PooleA story of adventure and romance set in the wilds of Rupert’s Land in the early 19th century. When Orkneywoman Rose is shipwrecked on the shores of Rupert’s Land, she quickly falls in love with Alexander, a Half-caste man who is guiding her people into the dark heart of the continent. But after the death of her father at the hands of another Native, Rose turns against Alexander and all his kind. Heartbroken, Alexander returns to his wild life of running buffalo on the prairie. Although parted from Rose by endless miles and hard fate, his heart remains bound to hers, and on the eve of war he is compelled to reclaim her love, setting himself against his people amid a conflict that will help form a nation.
A Darkened House: Cholera in Nineteenth-Century Canada
by Geoffrey BilsonFrom its first appearance in 1832 until the last scares of 1871, cholera aroused fear in British North America. The disease killed 20,000 people and its psychological effects were enormous. Cholera unsettled governments, undermined the medical profession, exposed inadequacies in public health, and widened the division between rich and poor. In a fascinating and disturbing book, Geoffrey Bilson traces the story of the cholera epidemics as they ravaged the Canadas and the Atlantic colonies.The political repercussions were extensive, particularly in Lower Canada. Governments, both colonial and municipal, imposed various public health measures, including quarantine. These actions were always temporary and poorly enforced, and they sometimes met with violent opposition, especially among the poor and the immigrants, hit hardest by cholera. Even the panic that ensued from the periodic onslaughts of the disease could not overcome the prevailing laissez-faire attitude towards public health legislation. The medical profession was equally helpless. Doctors could neither cure the disease nor isolate its cause, and public sentiment against them ran high.A Darkened House is important reading for those interested in Canada's social, political, and medical history.
A Darkening Green: Notes on Harvard, the 1950s, and the End of Innocence
by Peter PrescottThis is a book about the end of childhood. Much of it is drawn directly from a diary the author kept while he was a bright but insecure freshman at Harvard in the 1950s. From these pages emerges a precise description of the raw, half-understood experience of late adolescence-the anguish and arguments, the rivalry and anxiety about sex, the facile cynicism and desperate fumblings for purpose, the bull sessions held late at night-just as Peter Prescott recorded them only hours after the event. These diary excerpts are contained in a narrative that examines that freshman experience from a vantage point of twenty years. Thus, we are able to look at the past with a double perspective: The exact record, unclouded by memory or nostalgia, of what was said and done is set in a structure that reveals the form of the experience. The result is an ironic, witty, and often moving book. Writing with some compassion and even more asperity, Peter S. Prescott not only captures the conflicts and emotions of a single year, but probes beneath the surface of memory to explore certain tribal customs and rites of passage as they are played out in the classrooms and living quarters of the college. A few famous people-T. S. Eliot and Edith Sitwell among them-play brief parts in this chronicle, but young Prescott's attention was primarily engaged in his struggle with his extravagant roommates and an assortment of eccentric undergraduates.
A Darker God (Laetitia Talbot Mystery #3)
by Barbara CleverlyAward-winning author Barbara Cleverly returns with this spellbinding new mystery featuring aspiring archaeologist Laetitia Talbot. In Athens in 1928, Letty begins a perilous race to unearth a plot steeped in betrayal, seething with retribution, and about to explode in a wave of lethal violence. In the open-air theatre of the dark god Dionysos, Letty watches a performance of an ancient Greek tragedy. But the revenge that is exacted onstage, the dagger that is wielded, and the blood that flows in full view of the audience are not theatrical effects. As Letty digs for clues, she unearths disturbing secrets and dark animosities with catastrophic implications worthy of a Sophocles-but of far more recent vintage. Now, as a killer cuts a merciless swath across a country in the throes of political instability, Letty herself steps unawares into the murderer's savage spotlight-a light so bright she may not be able to see the dark figure behind it until it's too late. From the Trade Paperback edition.
A Darker Passion: 5 Gothic Romances
by Elizabeth Boyce Clarissa Ross R. C. Matthews Suzanne Hoos Joanna LowellStrange and frightening events may surround these couples, but the dark world doesn’t hold a candle to the power of love. Discover the mystery and passion that awaits in the shadows in these five thrilling romances.Honor Among Thieves: Ladies don’t rob graves, but Lorna Robbins must take drastic measures to pay off her recently deceased brother’s debts and save her family estate and younger sibling. Surgeon and anatomy teacher Brandon Dewhurst relies on resurrectionists to bring him the specimens he needs to further his research. When Lorna and Brandon both target the same body—a pregnant woman who is still very much alive—they find themselves powerfully drawn together time and again—but this daring duo is courting danger, and romance is a complication neither can afford. Dark Season: When doctors tell Ella Arlington that her epilepsy will prevent her from living a normal life, she flees to London to avoid an institution, determined to control her own destiny. There Ella’s epileptic fit is mistaken for spiritual possession, and Viscount Isidore Blackwood sets out to prove her a con artist. But when some surprising truths come to light about his former fiancée’s death, Isidore makes a devil’s pact with Ella to flush out a killer. Will Isidore let his fury and guilt consume his own soul in the process? And can Ella trust him enough to gamble on a future she never thought she could have? The Pirate’s Lady: Cate Whitfield is stunned to learn that Captain Alexander Chase, the bloodthirsty pirate who murdered her betrothed, is someone her father holds in high regard. Feisty Cate mesmerizes Alex, but the former pirate isn’t about to let her public accusations deter his own agenda for vengeance. He’s returned to Promise, New Jersey, to retaliate against the man who murdered his father…the man who just happens to be Cate’s father. Can these two wounded hearts find out the truth before it’s too late, or is their love doomed to walk the plank? Devil’s Cove: Captain Devlin Limmerick, the pirate feared as the Devil on the high seas, eagerly takes ownership of the abandoned Devil Cove’s Manor in his quest for vengeance on his past. Only Grace, a beautiful but blind medium, can aid him with his nefarious plan. Yet even though she finds herself drawn to the Devil’s darkness, she refuses to sacrifice her soul to set his revenge in motion. Plunged into the throes of passion and danger, they discover the only way out of the evil closing in on them is to summon the courage to believe in true love. Jennifer by Moonlight: Lucy Dorset came to Moorgate as the happy bride of a dedicated young doctor. But she soon discovers that the old stone house is inhabit by a pale and lovely ghost, a victim of a fatal romantic triangle long ago. Is Lucy imagining her husband’s sudden jealous moods? And is the sultry Sheila Farley a rival for his affections? It’s possible the unhappy spirits of Moorgate are pushing Lucy toward a reenactment of a violent, century-old tragedy—and she alone must rid the house of the menacing presence threatening her marriage. Sensuality Level: Sensual
A Darker Reality (Elena Standish Book 3)
by Anne PerryThe third novel in Anne Perry's breathtakingly tense and exciting spy thriller series, featuring young British photographer and secret agent Elena Standish, set in the 1930s when the world was a place of increasing fear and uncertainty... Spring, 1934. With the threat of war looming, political tensions begin to rise... Elena Standish, a young English photographer who works for British Intelligence, is visiting her grandparents' home in Washington DC when tragedy strikes. A lavish party is held to mark her grandparents' sixtieth wedding anniversary and Elena takes pride in capturing the event on camera, but when the beautiful wife of a renowned scientist is found murdered in the driveway, allegedly run over by Elena's grandfather's car, Elena's world is turned upside down.Arrested on suspicion of murder, Wyatt Baylor protests his innocence, claiming he has enemies who are trying to frame him. But who are these enemies and how can Elena defend a man she barely knows? Turning to secret agent James Allenby for help, Elena must uncover the truth behind the events of that fateful night. But can she trust Allenby or her family and is she willing to risk everything in her pursuit of the truth?(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
A Darker Reality: An Elena Standish Novel (Elena Standish #3)
by Anne PerryA personal trip turns perilous for Elena Standish after the murder of a British spy forces her to face dark family secrets in this exciting 1930s mystery by bestselling author Anne Perry.On her first trip to Washington, D.C., Elena Standish finally gets to visit her American mother&’s wealthy parents and their magnificent home. Elena&’s grandparents are marking a milestone anniversary by throwing an elaborate party with the influential friends of her grandfather, a prominent political industrialist. Even President and First Lady Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt are there, and Elena takes pride in capturing the illustrious guests on camera. But the festivities come to a sudden and tragic end when one of the guests, Lila Worth, is run over by a car in the driveway outside. Elena believes Lila was trying to tell her something before her death, and when a call from her employer back home, MI6, confirms that Lila was a British spy, Elena pairs with a fellow agent to find out what vital information the young woman had in her possession.Soon an arrest is made in Lila&’s murder, and to Elena&’s horror, the accused is none other than her own grandfather, who claims his political enemies are trying to frame him. But who are these enemies, and how can Elena defend this man she barely knows? Nevertheless, determined to clear his name and save her family from disgrace, she delves into the details of her grandfather&’s investments and discovers that his business secrets run deep. As Elena begins to question his loyalties, she wonders if she can trust anyone in this threatening new world order.
A Darker Reality: An Elena Standish Novel (Elena Standish Ser. #3)
by Anne PerryThe third novel in Anne Perry's breathtakingly tense and exciting spy thriller series, featuring young British photographer and secret agent Elena Standish, set in the 1930s when the world was a place of increasing fear and uncertainty... Spring, 1934. With the threat of war looming, political tensions begin to rise... Elena Standish, a young English photographer who works for British Intelligence, is visiting her grandparents' home in Washington DC when tragedy strikes. A lavish party is held to mark her grandparent's sixtieth wedding anniversary and Elena takes pride in capturing the event on camera, but when the beautiful wife of a renowned scientist is found murdered in the driveway, allegedly run over by Elena's grandfather's car, Elena's world is turned upside down.Arrested on suspicion of murder, Wyatt Baylor protests his innocence, claiming he has enemies who are trying to frame him. But who are these enemies and how can Elena defend a man she barely knows? Turning to secret agent James Allenby for help, Elena must uncover the truth behind the events of that fateful night. But can she trust Allenby or her family and is she willing to risk everything in her pursuit of the truth?
A Darker Sea: Master Commandant Putnam and the War of 1812 (A Bliven Putnam Naval Adventure #2)
by James L. HaleyThe second installment of the gripping naval saga by award-winning historian James L. Haley, featuring Commander Bliven Putnam, chronicling the build up to the biggest military conflict between the United States and Britain after the Revolution—the War of 1812.At the opening of the War of 1812, the British control the most powerful navy on earth, and Americans are again victims of piracy. Bliven Putnam, late of the Battle of Tripoli, is dispatched to Charleston to outfit and take command of a new 20-gun brig, the USS Tempest. Later, aboard the Constitution, he sails into the furious early fighting of the war. Prowling the South Atlantic in the Tempest, Bliven takes prizes and disrupts British merchant shipping, until he is overhauled, overmatched, and disastrously defeated by the frigate HMS Java. Its captain proves to be Lord Arthur Kington, whom Bliven had so disastrously met in Naples. On board he also finds his old friend Sam Bandy, one of the Java's pressed American seamen kidnapped into British service. Their whispered plans to foment a mutiny among the captives may see them hang, when the Constitution looms over the horizon for one of the most famous battles of the War of 1812 in a gripping, high-wire conclusion. With exquisite detail and guns-blazing action, A Darker Sea illuminates an unforgettable period in American history.
A Darker Shade of Pale
by Beryl Crosher-SegersCourage to Love in the Shadow of Hate.A Darker Shade of Pale tells of Beryl Crosher-Segers' family and community life in apartheid-era South Africa.With a piercing narrative, she details the injustices, humiliation and challenges she faced under the brutal reign of the National Party. Through her multi-racial heritage, Beryl was born into a life of inequality and hardship. This is the remarkable story of resilience and courage to power forward toward a better life, to love in the shadow of hate.A Darker Shade of Pale is a story of hope in the face of despair and of courage when faced with insurmountable obstacles.
A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars
by Erin SharkeyA vibrant collection of personal and lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history and memory.What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.Erin Sharkey considers Benjamin Banneker’s 1795 almanac, as she follows the passing of seasons in an urban garden in Buffalo. Naima Penniman reflects on a statue of Haitian revolutionary François Makandal, within her own pursuit of environmental justice. Ama Codjoe meditates on rain, hair, protest, and freedom via a photo of a young woman during a civil rights demonstration in Alabama. And so on—with wide-ranging contributions from Carolyn Finney, Ronald Greer II, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Sean Hill, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Glynn Pogue, Katie Robinson, and Lauret Savoy—unearthing evidence of the ways Black people’s relationship to the natural world has persevered through colonialism, slavery, state-sponsored violence, and structurally racist policies like Jim Crow and redlining.A scrapbook, a family chest, a quilt—and an astounding work of historical engagement and literary accomplishment—A Darker Wilderness is a collection brimming with abundance and insight.
A Darkling Plain
by Kristen Renwick Monroe Kristen Renwick Monroe Chloe Lampros-Monroe Jonah Robnett Pellecchia Chloe Lampros-MonroeHow do people maintain their humanity during wars? Despite its importance, this question receives scant scholarly attention, perhaps because war is overwhelming. The generally accepted belief is that wars bring out the worst in us, pitting one against another. "War is hell," William Tecumseh Sherman famously noted, and even "just" wars are massively destructive and inhumane. Since ethics is concerned with discovering what takes us to a morally superior place, one conducive to betterment and happiness- studying what helps people survive wartime trauma thus becomes an extremely valuable enterprise. A Darkling Plain fills an important scholarly void, analyzing wartime stories that reveal much about our capacity to process trauma, heal wounds, reclaim lost spirits, and derive meaning and purpose from the most horrific of personal events.
A Darkly Beating Heart
by Lindsay SmithA troubled girl confronts her personal demons in this time-travel thriller alternating between present day and 19th century Japan.No one knows how to handle Reiko. She is full of hatred; all she can think about is how to best hurt herself and those people closest to her. After a failed suicide attempt at her home in Seattle, Reiko's parents send her to spend the summer with family in Japan, hoping she will learn to control her emotions. But while visiting Kuramagi, a historic village preserved to reflect the nineteenth-century Edo period, Reiko finds herself slipping backward in time into the nineteenth-century life of Miyu, a young woman even more vengeful than Reiko herself. Reiko loves escaping into Miyu's life . . . until she discovers Kuramagi's dark secret and must face down Miyu's demons as well as her own.
A Darkness Strange and Lovely
by Susan DennardPerfect for readers Libba Brays The Diviners and Cassandra Clares Clockwork Angel series, this spellbinding sequel to Something Strange and Deadly delivers a mix of intrigue, supernatural forces, intense romance, and revenge, all set against the enchanting backdrop of nineteenth-century Paris. With her brother dead and her mother insane, Eleanor Fitt is alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters--Joseph, Jie, and the handsome Daniel--have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor hears the vicious barking of hounds and see haunting yellow eyes, she fears that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are after her. To escape, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. But Oliver harbors a dangerous secret involving necromancy and black magic that entices Eleanor beyond words. If she can resist him, shell be fine. But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over, and theres a whole new evil lurking. And she is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for. In Paris, theres a price for this darkness strange and lovely, and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.
A Dash of Scandal
by Amelia GreyWhen Millicent comes to the aid of her injured aunt, she never imagined her "help" would require her to do all of the legwork her aunt can't do– attend society's most fashionable events in order to help write her aunt's gossip column! But the devastatingly handsome Chandler Preswick, Earl of Dunraven, is on to her when he sees Millicent writing notes on her dance card. Outraged, he believes she's connected to the mysterious "Mad Ton Thief " and vows to expose her. Millicent must stop him before they are both plunged into scandal. If only he weren't so irresistibly attractive. . .
A Dash of Town Bronze
by Ellie ThomasThese two short stories are bonus chapters for Ellie Thomas’ Town Bronze trilogy. Here two of the three couples in the ensemble cast deepen their romances, together with the guest appearance of Nathan Brooks from Twelve Letters.In “Not in the Petticoat Line,” Barney and Ross/Rose from Pantaloons and Petticoats snatch some precious time together at lunchtime in a busy coffeehouse.In “Country Matters,” Jasper and Mortimer from Town Bronze have their long-awaited chance for a happy ever after, away from the distractions of London and their friends' love lives.
A Date Which Will Live: Pearl Harbor in American Memory
by Emily S. RosenbergDecember 7, 1941--the date of Japan's surprise attack on the U. S. fleet at Pearl Harbor--is "a date which will live" in American history and memory, but the stories that will live and the meanings attributed to them are hardly settled. In movies, books, and magazines, at memorial sites and public ceremonies, and on television and the internet, Pearl Harbor lives in a thousand guises and symbolizes dozens of different historical lessons. In A Date Which Will Live, historian Emily S. Rosenberg examines the contested meanings of Pearl Harbor in American culture. Rosenberg considers the emergence of Pearl Harbor's symbolic role within multiple contexts: as a day of infamy that highlighted the need for future U. S. military preparedness, as an attack that opened a "back door" to U. S. involvement in World War II, as an event of national commemoration, and as a central metaphor in American-Japanese relations. She explores the cultural background that contributed to Pearl Harbor's resurgence in American memory after the fiftieth anniversary of the attack in 1991. In doing so, she discusses the recent "memory boom" in American culture; the movement to exonerate the military commanders at Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short; the political mobilization of various groups during the culture and history "wars" of the 1990s, and the spectacle surrounding the movie Pearl Harbor. Rosenberg concludes with a look at the uses of Pearl Harbor as a historical frame for understanding the events of September 11, 2001.
A Date at the Altar: Marrying the Duke
by Cathy MaxwellNew York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell's glittering Marrying the Duke series continues--Twice he has been close to the altar and still no duchess.Will the third time be the charm? A duke can't marry just anyone. His wife must be of good family, be fertile, be young. Struggling playwright Sarah Pettijohn is absolutely the last woman Gavin Whitridge, Duke of Baynton, would ever fall in love with.She is an actress, born on the wrong side of the blanket, and always challenges his ducal authority. She never hesitates to tell him what she thinks.However, there is something about her that stirs his blood . . . which makes her perfect for a bargain he has in mind: In exchange for backing her play, he wants Sarah to teach him about love.And he, in turn, has a few things to teach her about men . . .
A Date with Dishonor
by Mary BrendanLady seeks kind gentleman to offer protection... When a mysterious lady advertises her charms in the newspaper, there's no way Viscount Blackthorne will allow his rash friend to attend the twilight rendezvous. Taking his place, Blackthorne is surprised by the reluctant beauty who appears-she's far from the scheming courtesan he was expecting. Elise Dewey must protect her foolish sister by posing as "Lady Lonesome" in her stead. She's shockingly stirred by the imposing stranger who waits for her in Vauxhall Gardens-but their liaison has been observed... Unless Elise accepts the viscount's bold proposal of marriage, they will all be plunged into scandal!
A Date with the Hangman: A History of Capital Punishment in Britain
by Gary DobbsA true-crime history of 20th-century, British judicial hangings from 1900 to 1964, and a look at the overall history of executions in Great Britain.It is a sobering thought that until the closing years of the twentieth century, Britain’s courts were technically able to impose the death penalty for several offenses, both civil and military. Although the last judicial hangings took place in 1964, the death penalty, in theory at least, remained for a number of crimes. During the twentieth century, 865 people were executed in Britain. This book examines each and every one of those executions, and in many cases highlights the crimes that brought these men and women to the gallows.The book also details the various forms of capital punishment used throughout British history. During past centuries people were burned at the stake, had the skin flayed from their bodies, were beheaded, garroted, hung, drawn and quartered, stoned, disemboweled, buried alive—and all under the guidance of a vengeful law, or at least what passed for law at any given period. The author, Gary M. Dobbs, has painstakingly collected together every available piece of evidence to provide as clear a picture as possible of a time when the law operated on the principle of an eye for an eye.Dobbs is a true-crime historian and has spent many hours researching the cases featured herein to bring the reader a definitive history of judicial punishment during the twentieth century, and this carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to anyone interested in the darker side of history.“A brilliant read.” —Books Monthly (UK)