“A gratifying contemporary series in the traditional British manner with hilarious repercussions. Cozy fans will anticipate learning more about these WISE ladies” - Library Journal Starred Review Meet the Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. The first in a new series. Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. She claims to have seen a corpse on the dining-room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat. Worried enough to retain the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency – one is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English – Henry wants the strange matter explained away. But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate, set in the rolling Welsh countryside near the quaint village of Anwen by Wye, is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen . . .

The Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency are back. When the village's prodigal son, Huw Hughes, returns and sets his cap at Annie Parker, village publican Tudor begs Annie's colleagues at the WISE Enquiries Agency to unearth the truth behind Huw having been widowed three times. With Christine enjoying a break at her family's Irish estate - where she and the brooding Alexander face a surprisingly dangerous case of theft ? Mavis and Carol have to work with dowager duchess Althea Twyst to ensure their unsuspecting friend Annie's safety, and possibly the lives of more villagers.

A new case for the ladies of the WISE enquiries agency . . . Henry Devereaux Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is terribly worried about some water damage to the priceless books in his lower library, so retains the services of a local book restorer to tackle much-needed repairs. The antiquarian also runs the Crooks and Cooks bookshop with his daughter – local TV celebrity chef, The Curious Cook. When the book restorer mentions some strange shenanigans going on at the book shop, Dowager Duchess Althea brings the case to her colleagues at the WISE Enquiries Agency. As the WISE women try to unravel one puzzle from their base at stately Chellingworth Hall, they then get embroiled in another when they come across a valuable book of miniatures which seems to be the work of a local famous artist, murdered by her own brother. Are the cases linked and why do both mysteries lead to a nearby old folks’ home? The WISE women are on the case – and nothing will get in their way . . . Or will it?

The Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency are back in a witty and intriguing new mystery. The Anwen Morris Dancers are to play a pivotal role in the imminent nuptials of Henry, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth. But it looks as though the wedding plans might go awry unless Mavis, Annie, Carol and Christine can help Althea, the Dowager Duchess, by finding a missing Morris man and a set of ancient and valuable artefacts in time for her son’s wedding. Anwen-by-Wye might look like an idyllic Welsh village where family values reign and traditions still mean something in a modern world, but what will the WISE women find when they peer behind the respectable net curtains?

A new book from Bony Blithe award–winning mystery author Cathy Ace where her sleuth Cait Morgan investigates a chilling cold case from a university in Budapest. A gig as guest lecturer at the university in Budapest should have been a dream job for a travelling criminologist and food lover. But wherever Cait Morgan goes, murder seems to follow. One of Cait’s new students pleads with her to solve the mystery of her grandmother’s brutal slaying. She agrees, but when she is repeatedly hassled by a weird colleague, and as bizarre details about the student’s family members come to light, Cait is beset by uncertainty. As she gets closer to the truth, Cait's investigation puts the powers-that-be on high alert, and her instincts tell her she's in grave danger. Bud races to Budapest to come to Cait's aid, but will it be too late?

THE DUKE'S REPUTATION IS IN PERIL - CAN THE WOMEN OF THE WISE ENQUIRIES AGENCY SAVE THE DAY? Henry Devereaux Twyst, eighteenth duke of Chellingworth, is desperate to disprove murderous rumors about his ancestor before his first child is born, so he enlists the help of the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. However, Annie is working undercover - on a case that turns out to be more deadly than anyone had imagined, and Carol is finding it difficult to juggle her responsibilities - especially when faced with a puzzling theft in the village. Meanwhile, Christine is consumed with fears about Alexander's shady colleagues, and Mavis is trying to manage the dowager's dispute with the local vicar. In the fifth WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery stately Chellingworth Hall, and the charming Welsh village of Anwen-by-Wye, both of which have more than their fair share of quirky inhabitants, are once again subjected to a host of problems that need to be solved...and the WISE women are ready to use their considerable skills to do so. Meet the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency Carol's a Welsh mum with a background in computing, Christine is the daughter of an Irish viscount, Mavis is a Scot, and a retired army matron, while Annie is a true Cockney who's pulled herself up by the bootstraps. Brought together by fate (and a dead body or two) the women have set themselves up as a private investigators, and now operate their (sometimes struggling) business out of a converted barn on the estate of Chellingworth Hall, a stately home in the beautiful Welsh countryside. Aided and abetted in their various enquiries by dowager duchess Althea, they tackle cases that are puzzling, and deadly. Their aim? Pay the bills, help others...and survive! "A gratifying contemporary series in the traditional British manner" Library Journal starred review of The Case of the Dotty Dowager "...cozy fans will find plenty to like..." Publishers' Weekly "Ace spiffs up the standard village cozy with a set of sleuths worth a second look." Kirkus Reviews "...perfect reading for Anglophiles...should appeal to fans of Alexander McCall Smith and MC Beaton." crimefictionlover.com "The four women of the WISE Enquiries Agency return in a modern-day British whodunit that's as charming as it is entertaining...Good fun, with memorable characters, an imaginative plot, and a satisfying ending." Booklist "...the people here felt like old friends I was catching up with after having been apart for a while" Amanda Bishop, Reviewer (Net Galley) THE WISE ENQUIRIES AGENCY MYSTERIES Book 1: THE CASE OF THE DOTTY DOWAGER Book 2: THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER Book 3: THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS COOK Book 4: THE CASE OF THE UNSUITABLE SUITOR Book 5: THE CASE OF THE DISGRACED DUKE

Presents ballads, rhymes, and verses spawned by infamous American and British crimes of the last 250 years

FROM THE DESK OF LUC DUMONT, HEAD OF SECURITY ST. MICHEL JUNE 2002 DAY60 The missing heir has been found! The dowager queen and the royal council are overjoyed—I, however, feel there must be some mistake. Learning that I, a presumed commoner, am the new king of St. Michel has been nothing short of incredible. As always, lovely Juliet Beaudreau has stood by my side, patiently teaching me how to act royal. But I'm having trouble concentrating on protocol when what I want most is to sweep my relentless teacher up in my arms and fulfill some very primal needs…. Now, as I prepare to take my seat on the throne, will the shy, quiet queen of my heart also agree to be queen of St. Michel?

Pre-Code Hollywood explores the fascinating period in American motion picture history from 1930 to 1934 when the commandments of the Production Code Administration were violated with impunity in a series of wildly unconventional films—a time when censorship was lax and Hollywood made the most of it. Though more unbridled, salacious, subversive, and just plain bizarre than what came afterwards, the films of the period do indeed have the look of Hollywood cinema—but the moral terrain is so off-kilter that they seem imported from a parallel universe. In a sense, Doherty avers, the films of pre-Code Hollywood are from another universe. They lay bare what Hollywood under the Production Code attempted to cover up and push offscreen: sexual liaisons unsanctified by the laws of God or man, marriage ridiculed and redefined, ethnic lines crossed and racial barriers ignored, economic injustice exposed and political corruption assumed, vice unpunished and virtue unrewarded—in sum, pretty much the raw stuff of American culture, unvarnished and unveiled. No other book has yet sought to interpret the films and film-related meanings of the pre-Code era—what defined the period, why it ended, and what its relationship was to the country as a whole during the darkest years of the Great Depression... and afterward.

The Times obituaries have given readers throughout the world an instant picture of a life for more than 150 years. This is a selection of those who saw the world in different colours. Some were eccentrics, some mavericks, all marched to the beat of their own drum. Each obituary has been updated and reproduced in its entirety.