Crime And Curses

It is 1999. As the August sun bears down on Sharpsville, Mississippi, Ebenezer White rocks on his front porch, watching a car ease down the street and stop in front of his house. Moments later, the former sheriff is introduced to Myra Barnett, a student writing a paper on the sixty-year-old unsolved murder case of Jewel Crawford. As the old sheriff begins recounting his investigation, Myra is propelled into the midst of a fascinating and bizarre mystery. In 1865, carpetbagger Patrick McFadden buys a large Mississippi farm, forcing the owners and their Negro servant, Maisha, off the land only to sell the property a little more than a decade later. Maisha, enraged, puts a curse on the tainted sale money, prophesying that anyone possessing it will die. In 1939, McFadden's elderly, wealthy daughter, Jewel Crawford, who is found bludgeoned to death in her bed. After an innocent Negro is hung for the crime, money is taken from Jewel's safe-deposit box, sending the sheriff on a seven-year investigation that takes him through a suicide, three hangings, and six murders. In this mystery, a sheriff retells the unforgettable story of a complex murder investigation and a curse that overshadows an entire town as he diligently follows a trail that he only hopes will lead to answers.

The Winner's Crime, the dazzling follow-up to Marie Rutkoski's The Winner's Curse, reveals the high price of dangerous lies and untrustworthy alliances. Following your heart can be a crime A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. She's working as a spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world . . . and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret. The truth will come out, and when it does, Kestrel and Arin will learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Now in paperback, this YA fantasy is a gender-flipped take on 'Beauty and the Beast' brimming with magic and sharp humor. "A unique and twisty magical romp!" —Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author "Curses is the 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling I've been waiting for." —Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday. Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom. Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

In 1894, Leonarda Cianciulla was born into an abusive household. As a young girl, she attempted suicide twice to rid herself of the misery. After decades of abuse, Leonarda sought stability and married Raffaele Pansardi. Her mother did not approve and conveyed her anger in the strongest possible sense. She cursed the marriage. Leonarda believed that her mother's words had power and they haunted her for the rest of her life. Following the curse, Leonarda experienced fits and seizures, was imprisoned for fraud, lost her home to an earthquake, had three miscarriages and lost ten children due to ill health in their youth. Her fears were exacerbated when she visited a Romani fortune teller who informed her, 'In one hand I can see prison. In the other, a mental asylum.' In 1939, Leonarda's eldest son, Giuseppe, informed her that he was going to join the Army. As one of only four remaining children, she needed to protect him at all costs. She decided that the only way to do that was through the most extreme means - human sacrifice. The Curse is a chilling account of one of the most brutal and bizarre true crime stories in history. Ryan Green's riveting narrative draws the reader into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller. CAUTION: This book contains descriptive accounts of abuse and violence. If you are especially sensitive to this material, it might be advisable not to read any further.

“A brilliant and lucid new book” (John Lanchester, New York Times Magazine) about why paper money and digital currencies lie at the heart of many of the world’s most difficult problems—and their solutions In The Curse of Cash, acclaimed economist and bestselling author Kenneth Rogoff explores the past, present, and future of currency, showing why, contrary to conventional economic wisdom, the regulation of paper bills—and now digital currencies—lies at the heart some of the world’s most difficult problems, but also their potential solutions. When it comes to currency, history shows that the private sector often innovates but eventually the government regulates and appropriates. Using examples ranging from the history of standardized coinage to the development of paper money, Rogoff explains why the cryptocurrency boom will inevitably end with dominant digital currencies created and controlled by governments, regardless of what Bitcoin libertarians want. Advanced countries still urgently need to stem the global flood of large paper bills—the vast majority of which serve no legitimate purpose and only enable tax evasion and other crimes—but cryptocurrencies are like $100 bills on steroids. The Curse of Cash is filled with revealing insights about many of the most pressing issues facing monetary policymakers, from quantitative easing to alternative inflation targeting regimes. It also explains in detail why, if low interest rates persist, the best way to reinvigorate monetary policy is to implement fully effective and unconstrained negative interest rates. Provocative, engaging, and backed by compelling original arguments and evidence, The Curse of Cash has sparked widespread debate and its ideas have moved to the center of financial and policy discussions.

***Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.*** As boys, Robert and Andrew Kissel competed and excelled. As men, they made millions—Robert in the Asian markets and Andrew in real estate. But a darkness was chasing the brothers down. In November 2003, Robert was murdered in his posh Hong Kong apartment. Two-and-a-half years later, Andrew was found stabbed to death in his Greenwich Connecticut mansion. Nancy Kissel was charged with murdering her husband Robert, after serving him a milkshake laced with sedatives and then beating him to death with a blunt object. But what happened to Andrew? His marriage was failing, and he faced prison for real estate fraud. Was his death a murder—or suicide? A Family Cursed tells the riveting true story of the different paths the Kissel brothers took toward the same fate.

"When a man is murdered behind her haunted B&B in Key West, Hannah O'Brien teams up with FBI agent Dallas Samson and the FBI's Krewe of Hunters, an elite unit of paranormal investigators, to solve the crime"--

When eight diamonds are stolen from a prominent San Francisco family, the Continental Op is called in to investigate. But the missing jewels aren’t the only thing out of the ordinary. The man who reported the burglary ends up dead, ostensibly a suicide. His daughter, one of the suspects, Miss Gabrielle Dain Leggett, has a penchant for morphine and religious cults. She also has an unfortunate effect on the people around her: they have a habit of dying. Might Gabrielle be the victim of an arcane family curse? Or is the truth about her stranger and even more dangerous? The Dain Curse is one of the Continental Op’s most bizarre cases and a tautly crafted masterpiece of suspense.