A cold-blooded murder was just committed on a luxurious British cruise ship returning from the sun-drenched Caribbean islands of Martinique, Barbados, and St. Maarten. The ship's controller was bludgeoned with a ten-pound dumbbell in the fitness center. The victim was an especially nasty character who took great pleasure in advising headquarters which departments on the "Pegasus" fell short of their monetary goals. It's no wonder he was killed. Alec DunBarton, a Scottish bank auditor, comes to the rescue of Flagship Cruise Line to examine the controller's books. Although Alec is haunted by his past, he soon finds himself totally at home on the "Pegasus"-drinking Glenlivet, smoking his pipe, and singing whenever the spirit moves him. By means of song lyrics, Alec's able to decipher clues and describe his suspects. Was it the slick cruise director, the adulterous plumber, the mild-mannered security officer, the lonely cruise consultant, the plump masseuse, the seductive fitness instructor, or the wealthy passenger? If you're ready for adventure, come aboard. They're all expecting you!

The controller of a luxury cruise ship is bludgeoned with a 10-pound dumbbell in the fitness center. Alec DunBarton, a Scottish bank auditor, comes to the rescue of Flagship Cruise Line to examine the controller's books. By means of song lyrics, Alec is able to decipher clues and describe his suspects.

The Singing Detective has been described by novelist Steven King as 'the Citizen Kane of the mini-series'. This study dissects the serial's array of themes and techniques, and explains the religious structure of the serial, its exploration into the power of language, its complex psychological construction of illness and sexuality, and more.

After many of his fan club presidents are found dead, Elvis Presley suspects foul play and sets out to find the killer.

Dolly Parton's success as a performer and pop culture phenomenon has overshadowed her achievements as a songwriter. But she sees herself as a songwriter first, and with good reason. Parton's compositions like "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become American standards with an impact far beyond country music. Lydia R. Hamessley's expert analysis and Parton’s characteristically straightforward input inform this comprehensive look at the process, influences, and themes that have shaped the superstar's songwriting artistry. Hamessley reveals how Parton’s loving, hardscrabble childhood in the Smoky Mountains provided the musical language, rhythms, and memories of old-time music that resonate in so many of her songs. Hamessley further provides an understanding of how Parton combines her cultural and musical heritage with an artisan’s sense of craft and design to compose eloquent, painfully honest, and gripping songs about women's lives, poverty, heartbreak, inspiration, and love. Filled with insights on hit songs and less familiar gems, Unlikely Angel covers the full arc of Dolly Parton's career and offers an unprecedented look at the creative force behind the image.

In this “charming” and melancholic novel, a former child sleuth “investigates the hard-to-crack case of Lost Innocence” (Entertainment Weekly). A Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist Book of the Year In the twilight of a mysterious childhood full of wonder, Billy Argo, boy detective, is brokenhearted to find that his younger sister and crime-solving partner, Caroline, has committed suicide. Ten years later, Billy, age thirty, returns from an extended stay at St. Vitus’ Hospital for the Mentally Ill to discover the world full of unimaginable strangeness: office buildings vanish without reason, small animals turn up without their heads, and cruel villains ride city buses to complete their evil schemes. Lost within this unwelcoming place, Billy befriends two lonely, extraordinary children—one a science fair genius, the other a charming, silent bully. With a nearly forgotten bravery, he experiences the unendurable boredom of a telemarketing job; encounters a beautiful, desperate pickpocket; and confronts the nearly impossible solution to his sister’s case. Along a path laden with hidden clues and codes, the boy detective may learn the greatest secret of all: the necessity of the unknown. “Haunted by the mystery of his sister’s death and feeling that a lapse in his sleuthing may be to blame, Billy is determined to find out the reason for her suicide and to punish those responsible . . . The story of Billy’s search for truth, love and redemption is surprising and absorbing. Swaddled in melancholy and gentle humor, it builds in power as the clues pile up.” —Publishers Weekly “The author gives Billy a gallery of rogues to combat and even sends him to investigate the Convocation of Evil at a local hotel (‘Featured Panel: To Wear a Mask?’). Meno sets himself a complicated task, marooning his straight-arrow, pulp-fiction protagonist in a world uglier than the Bobbsey Twins ever faced but refusing to go for satire. Instead, the author takes his compulsive investigator at face value.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Comedic, imaginative, empathic . . . investigates the precincts of grief [and] our longing to combat chaos with reason.” —Booklist

Former safe-cracking spy, Maggie Silver, likes her new life as a regular high-school girl. Mostly. Okay, so there's the usual cliques, bad lunches and frustratingly simple locker combinations, but there's also her new boyfriend, Jessie, and insanely cool best friend, Roux. So when her parents are falsely accused of a crime, Maggie and her new team flee to Paris where she will have to use all her skills as a spy in order to clear their names. Too bad it only puts her and everyone she loves in danger.