Another delightful installment in the internationally acclaimed series: It's spring in St. Denis. The village choir is preparing for its Easter concert, the wildflowers are blooming, and among the lazy whorls of the river a dead woman is found floating in a boat. This means another case for Bruno, the town’s cherished chief of police. With the discovery of sinister markings and black candles near the body, it seems to Bruno that the occult might be involved. And as questions mount—most notably about a troubling real estate proposal in the region and the sudden reappearance of an elderly countess—Bruno and his colleagues are drawn ever closer to a climactic showdown in the Gouffre de Colombac: the place locals call the Devil’s Cave.

The first installment in the delightful, internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. Meet Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, a policeman in a small village in the South of France. He’s a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes all that. Now Bruno must balance his beloved routines—living in his restored shepherd’s cottage, shopping at the local market, drinking wine, strolling the countryside—with a politically delicate investigation. He’s paired with a young policewoman from Paris and the two suspect anti-immigrant militants. As they learn more about the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a more complex motive. "Enjoyable.... Martin Walker plots with the same finesse with which Bruno can whip up a truffle omelette, and both have a clear appreciation for a life tied to the land." —The Christian Science Monitor "A nice literary pairing with the slow-food movement.... [It is] lovely...to linger at the table." —Entertainment Weekly "A wonderfully crafted novel as satisfying as a French pastry but with none of the guilt or calories." —Tuscon Citizen's Journal

A herd of valuable albino Pasmina goats has been kidnapped, and it is up to Aristotle and Charley to find them. Throw in a hardened Beverly Hills street waif, a sisterhood of martial arts experts, the FBI, and a Silicon Valley chip magnate, and anything can happen!

The Silk Road, which linked imperial Rome and distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on earth. Along it travelled precious cargoes of silk, gold, and ivory, as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of Buddhist art and learning. In time it began to decline. The traffic slowed, the merchants left, and finally its towns vanished beneath the desert sands to be forgotten for a thousand years. But legends grew up of lost cities filled with treasurees and guarded by demons. In the early years of the 20th century, foreign explorers began to investigate these legends, and very soon an international race began for the art treasures of the Silk Road. Huge wall paintings, sculptures, and priceless manuscripts were carried away, literally by the ton, and are today scattered through the museums of a dozen countries. Peter Hopkirk tells the story of the intrepid men who, at great personal risk, led these long-range archaeological raids, incurring the undying wrath of the Chinese.

The most significant book to date on this influential contemporary photographer.

Before its founding by white settlers, Winona, Minnesota, was the home of a band of Sioux led by the great Wapasha dynasty. After white settlement began in 1851, the city's growth was fueled by the Mississippi riverboat trade. Groups of immigrants passed through the "Gate City," and many stayed, founding enduring ethnic communities and building a city that for a brief time rivaled Minneapolis. The settlement covered the sandy flats with houses, churches, colleges, and factories, and carved the hill "Wapasha's Cap" into the landmark now known as Sugar Loaf. Yesterday's riverboats have given way to today's recreational vehicles, but Winona's factories and businesses still sell products to the national market, and the colleges-now universities-are a significant part of the city's life. Through their combined collections of rare postcards, authors Chris Miller and Mary Pendleton take readers on a visual tour of Winona's history, exploring the city's Native American heritage, natural scenery, development, historic landmarks, and long relationship with the Mississippi River.