Sky Detective

When Azadeh was an eight-year-old girl growing up in Iran in March 1973, her uncle gave her a chemistry kit. That got her hooked on science early and provided an opportunity for her to find herself. In The Sky Detective, Azadeh shares her life storyone that includes an insiders look at life during the Islamic Revolution and Iraqi War and details how one little girl grew up to become a gifted scientist. Set inside Iran in the final years of the monarchy, the author narrates a true story of friendship between two girls growing up in the same household in Tehran: Azadeh, the daughter of an affluent engineer, and Najmieh, a child servant who arrives from a small village in northern Iran to live with Azadehs family. When the girls are teenagers, political turmoil interrupts their lives, sending them down different paths. This memoir recalls friendship and faith, the bonds between parents and daughters in a paternalistic society, and the clash of values among relatives from different generations in a family. The Sky Detective describes the rich culture of a beautiful but deeply troubled land undergoing radical transformation. In spite of the hardship that comes along with the establishment of a theocratic regime, Azadeh shows her will and determination as a young woman to persevere and realize her childhood dream of becoming a world-renowned scientist.

Text and suggested activities help the reader explore the many aspects of the night sky, including the stars, constellations, and planets.

Iconoclastic detective Jackson Brodie returns in a triumphant new novel about secrets, sex, and lies. Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes. Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network -- and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today. "Thank goodness the long Jackson Brodie hiatus is over." --Janet Maslin, New York Times

On rebel planet Elysium, a man is executed on live video streamed by religious extremists. Nothing terribly original so far for Elysium. Only this time, the man doesn't die. When security expert Asher Perez is sent to find him, dark secrets about the rebel colony are exposed. Something dark is stirring in the shadows. Something that has been watching humanity since the dawn of history.

What happens after the curtain falls? Lady Luck had always been on Sky Masterson's side, until the day his beloved wife Sarah Brown was murdered. With nothing left to lose and pistol-packing Annie Oakley at his side, the gambler-turned-missionary-turned-private-dick searched all over Broadway for Sarah's killer but turned up nothing but dry leads and dead ends. All seemed lost until, one day, a sullen young brunette wandered into his office with a grisly case-a murdered Von Trapp, minimal evidence, and an ensemble of tight-lipped musical theater characters with secrets to protect-pushing the world-weary Sky into one of the highest-stakes gambles of his life. . . . . . with good odds on finding Sarah's killer.

The Edgar award–winning British crime writer’s latest Inspector Castang mystery “takes the international policier to high ground . . . and does the genre proud” (The New York Times). For Detective Castang, being asked to serve as an aid to a British jurist feels more like being fired than promoted, but relocating to Brussels with his wife is a nice perk. When his employer is charged with murder, Castang’s investigative skills are brought to the forefront once again. But the more he digs into the darkness, the more unsettled he becomes by the nature of evil, which appears to have no borders—and for which there is no true escape. “An insightful look at the human condition. Freeling is a treasure.” —Publishers Weekly “One of the better Castang tales, journeying into the maze of European politics, national characteristics, and combustible emotion. Thought-provoking and well told.” —Kirkus Reviews

Travel to Canal City and the world-famous Castle in the Sky for hours of maze-puzzling fun in this intriguing activity book! The waterways and streets of Canal City are bustling with people as crowds gather on the eve of the Maze Egg carnival. But a mysterious organisation announces its plans to steal the egg and it is up to Pierre the Maze Detective, his trusty sidekick Carmen and YOU to stop the egg from falling into the wrong hands! Make your way through 15 beautifully illustrated mazes, solve puzzles and find the hidden objects that Pierre and Carmen need to solve the mystery and save the day. Join the adventure as you weave through canals on a gondola, find your way through a crowded masquerade ball and take a sunset balloon trip across the sea. Hours of puzzle fun for all maze detectives aged 8+.

New York Times-Bestselling Author: A man and woman face down kidnappers and killers in the northern wilderness in this tale of romantic suspense. Detective Nick Brodie works at keeping the perps off the streets of Anchorage 24/7. Nick has never backed down from danger, but after the horrors he’s seen, he’s definitely in need of a break. Samantha Hollis never thought she’d meet anyone like Nick, especially in a place like Las Vegas. But after one reckless, passionate night, she discovers the charismatic stranger is everything she wants in a man. But can he ever be anything more than a one-night stand? When Nick invites her to Alaska, Samantha decides to find out, never guessing the depths she’ll discover in him or the tangle of murder, kidnapping, and danger about to engulf them both . . . “I love her books.” —Linda Lael Miller, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Country Strong

William J. Burns (1880-1930) was the immediate succor of J. Edgar Hoover at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He had taken the director's job when Warren Harding was elected and appointed Burns' friend, Harry Daugherty, as Attorney General. Both Daugherty and Burns misused their offices and were forced to resign.

FOURTH IN THE MARTIN BORA SERIES. SPELLBINDING MULTI-LAYERED CRIME NOVEL SET IN UKRAINE AS THE GERMANS REGROUP AFTER THE DISASTER OF STALINGRAD. FOR FANS OF PHILLIP KERR (BERNIE GUNTHER SERIES), ALAN FURST (SPIES OF THE BALKANS). THE HERO, MAJOR MARTIN BORA, IS AN ARISTOCRATIC GERMAN OFFICER OF THE ILK OF CLAUS VON STAUFFENBERG, TORN BETWEEN HIS DUTY AS AN OFFICER AND HIS INTEGRITY AS A HUMAN BEING. Ukraine, 1943. Having barely escaped the inferno of Stalingrad, Major Martin Bora is serving on the Russian front as a German counterintelligence officer. Weariness, disillusionment, and battle fatigue are a soldier’s daily fare, yet Bora seems to be one of the few whose sanity is not marred by the horrors of war. As the Wehrmacht prepare for the Kursk counter-offensive, a Russian general defects aboard a T-34, the most advanced tank of the war. Soon he and another general, this one previously captured, are found dead in their cells. Everything appears to exclude the likelihood of foul play, but Bora begins an investigation, in a stubborn attempt to solve a mystery that will come much too close to home.