A song holds the key to murder in this Dr. Hugh Westlake mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author who wrote the Peter Duluth series as Patrick Quentin. Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. Anthony Boucher wrote: “Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie.” The affluent Bray family was known for throwing the most enjoyable picnics, and this one seemed to be no different to Dr. Hugh Westlake and his precocious progeny, Dawn. When their host’s daughter breaks into a version of the old English folk ballad, “Green Grow the Rushes, O,” no one gives it a second thought. Little do they know the song portends death. It begins with the bodies of twin boys found in the river, which connects to a lyric from the ballad. And before anyone can even recover from such a horror, more killings occur—all diabolically tied to the song. With help from Dawn and his old friend, Inspector Cobb, Westlake must sort through an ever-shrinking circle of suspects and stop a murderer from striking another deadly note.

In Ordinary Deaths, Dr. Samuel LeBaron reminds us of our need for human connection when experiencing death and loss. Based on more than thirty years of working with children and adults dying from cancer, LeBaron’s memoir contains stories of longing, confusion, love, and humility—often woven together. Sharing recollections from his childhood in rural Alberta and experiences from his career, LeBaron reveals a life of vital, intimate connection with others. His employment at a morgue during medical school, his early years as a clinical psychologist, and later careers in primary care and hospice in California, all translate into compassion and a deep understanding of death. Writing as he faces his own terminal illness—Stage IV lung cancer—LeBaron helps readers find acceptance and solace.

American actress Mercedes McCambridge is an Academy Award-winning star of radio, television, film, and the stage, active in all four entertainment mediums between 1936 and 1991. Publicly, she was active in politics, a lecturer at several colleges, and an important activist in the fight against alcoholism; privately, she suffered from divorces, miscarriages, suicide attempts, the death of her only child, and a hard-won battle with her own alcoholism. From roles on such radio shows as Lights Out! at 19 to her starring role in Neil Simon's play Lost in Yonkers at 75, this biography both reveals her personal life and career and gives insight into an important period of show business history. Part I is a full biography from McCambridge's birth in Illinois in 1916 to her 1998 appearance at the Academy Awards. Part II gives McCambridge's radio, television, film, and theatre performances, each entry listing the name of the show, name of the character, dates, other performers, directors, and an indication of which were sustained short- or long-running roles and which single performances on a radio or television series. Research is drawn from books, periodicals, and personal interviews with McCambridge's peers.

In honor of the 70th birthday of Professor Douglas G. Greene, mystery genre scholar and publisher, this book offers 24 new essays and two reprinted classics on detective fiction by contributors around the world, including ten Edgar (Mystery Writers of America) winners and nominees. The essays cover a myriad of authors and books from more than a century, from J.S. Fletcher's The Investigators, originally serialized in 1901, to P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley, published at the end of 2011. Subjects covered include detective fiction in the Edwardian era and the "Golden Age" between the two world wars; hard-boiled detective fiction; mysteries and intellectuals; and pastiches, short stories and radio plays.

“Rayne, is launching a new series here, and if future installments are as gripping and intricately plotted as this one, it could have a long run.” ― Booklist Introducing professional researcher Phineas Fox in the first of a brand-new series of chilling mysteries. Phineas Fox has mixed feelings when he’s asked to research the infamous 19th-century violinist Roman Volf for a TV documentary. Hanged for his part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Volf was a notorious criminal and womaniser, whose glittering talent was undermined by his scandalous private life. However, on uncovering evidence which suggests that Volf could not have been involved in the Tsar’s murder, Phin’s investigations lead him to the west coast of Ireland ― and a series of intriguing, interlocking mysteries reaching from 1881 to the present day. Was Roman Volf executed for something he didn’t do? And what is his connection with the reclusive Maxim Volf now living in County Galway? Phin’s enquiries will unearth a number of dark secrets which lurk below the surface of the quiet Irish village of Kilcarne.

Popular parlor songs were the main form of secular musical entertainment in the early years of the United States. They were heard regularly in the homes of our principal statesmen, authors, intellectuals, professionals, and businessmen. Laborers and slaves also sang them. They were the principal fare of concert and stage performances, and were freely interpolated into Italian operas, Shakespearean plays, lyceum lectures, and church services. In short, parlor songs played a dominant role in American cultural history. This was the music that Jefferson, Lincoln, Longfellow, Whitman, and Emily Dickinson enjoyed. Yet, whether owing to prejudice or misinformation, we still know little about the songs they listened to and sang: why and for whom written; when heard; or how performed. This book attempts to contribute that knowledge. Contemporary diaries, biographies, fiction, newspapers, periodicals, and books on music were studied and the music itself exhaustively analyzed in order to reach accurate conclusions about the popular culture that emerged between the American Revolution and the Civil War. The reader comes away with a sympathetic understanding of the human hopes, fears, and joys embodied in the songs, and with a curiosity about the countless melodic gems awaiting exploration.