The Excalibur Murders

The first title in a brand-new series. Merlin is no magician, merely a scholar and advisor to King Arthur. But after the supposedly magical Stone of Bran is stolen--along with the legendary sword Excalibur--and one of Arthur's squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin must use the power of reason to catch a murderer. Original.

Throughout Camelot, he is whispered to be a magician, a sorcerer, a wizard. But Merlin is merely a scholar, a practitioner of medicine, and King Arthur’s trusted advisor. Though he possesses no otherworldly abilities, his keen intellect grants him certain powers of deduction. Though he labored to help Arthur unite all of the Britons under his rule, Merlin’s work is not done. The vassal kings are a contentious, superstitious rabble, who have not easily accepted Arthur as their liege. And Arthur himself, to Merlin’s distress, is still prey to the old beliefs. He is convinced that he can bring peace and prosperity to Camelot with the Stone of Bran, an ancient skull-shaped artifact purported to be magical. But after it is stolen from the king’s own private chambers—along with the legendary sword Excalibur—and one of Arthur’s squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin, along with his apprentice Colin (the maiden Nimue in disguise) must use the power of reason to conjure up a miracle and catch a murderer.

When Guenevere and the faithless knight Lancelot plan to annouce themselves as the rightful rulers of England during her birthday celebration, King Arthur and Merlin make their own plans for thwarting the two until murder enters the picture and they are forced to help the enemy. Original.

Merlin investigates a royal mystery at Stonehenge. A baron and his sons are found dead at Stonehenge. King Arthur's potential heirs start to mysteriously die. And only Merlin can prove that the murders are not the work of the plague, but something much more sinister.

Murder played out in the spotlight of maximum publicity Does celebrityhood preclude a fair trial? Can the famous get away with behaviour off limits to most ordinary mortals? Here in a fascinating diagnosis of the shifting nature of high-profile justice is the fullest ever analysis of infamous and celebrity murder cases that have come to trial. This A-list selection looks in depth at 25 notable murders involving those who live their lives in the full beam of press and media headlights, including film starlets, tv actors, music legends, comedians, fashion moguls, movie directors, playwrights and aristocracy from the start of the twentieth century to the present day. All, from Fatty Arbuckle to John Lennon, are well known, and in each instance the story of their death is retold and the degree to which fame and its entourage played their part in death's final outcome examined. Among the cases included are: o The investigation surrounding the death of American film and TV star Robert Blake's wife, shot in his car after they dined together in a restaurant o The murder of silent-film star Ramon Navarro in his own home by gay lovers o The death of soul legend Marvin Gaye, shot by his own father during a family row o TV personality Jill Dando's shocking and untimely murder, gunned down on in broad daylight on her doorstep o Italy's trial of Patrizia Gucci for the murder of her husband, Maurizio, inheritor of the fashion family's fabulous fortune. The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murder provides the clearest analysis yet of murder played out in the spotlight of maximum publicity.

Throughout Camelot, he is whispered to be a magician, a sorcerer, a wizard. But Merlin is merely a scholar, a practitioner of medicine, and King Arthur’s trusted advisor. Though he possesses no otherworldly abilities, his keen intellect grants him certain powers of deduction. Arthur, king of all the Britains, has not been fortunate in his marriage. His queen, Guenevere, has long kept her own court in the forbidding castle known as the Spider’s House, living there openly with the knight Lancelot. Still, even Merlin, who has little use for the pair, would never have predicted that they would plot to present themselves to the Byzantium Empire as the rightful rulers of England! They plan to announce this at Guen’s birthday celebration, to which Arthur is invited. Forewarned, King and counselor make their own plans for thwarting the two. But as the guests gather, Guenevere’s father is found murdered—and Lancelot is the prime suspect. Merlin is inclined to leave the faithless knight to his fate—yet when his king bids him to, he risks his very life to find the truth.

It is the sixth century. The classical world is dying, rapidly being replaced by the world of the Christians. Prince Mordred is the son of Morgan le Fay, the witch-queen devotee of the Great Goddess, who rules Wales. Morgan and her fellow cultists have for years nurtured a plan to regain control of England, the Christian country ruled by Morgan’s brother, King Arthur, and to destroy everything Arthur has built. And Mordred is key to their scheme. But he has plans of his own. On a hunting trip to the border of Wales, Arthur and his party lose their way and end up in Morgan’s realm. Visiting her castle, Arthur is glimpsed by young Mordred, who falls instantly, hopelessly in love with him. In no time Mordred begins to plan to escape from his mother and join Arthur in England. But before he can act, his mother carries him off on an odyssey that crosses the breadth of Europe. Everywhere they witness signs of their dying civilization. Finally they arrive at ancient Colchis, center of the Goddess’ cult, where Mordred encounters a mystical age-old evil that changes him forever. Newly empowered by his experience, Mordred escapes from his mother and makes his way across the continent, to England and Arthur. Arthur welcomes him warmly to Camelot, and a tender, loving relationship soon blossoms between them. But there is opposition to their love. Mordred is Morgan le Fay’s son, after all, which raises suspicions that he is a spy or an assassin in waiting. Arthur is compelled to go to war against his estranged wife Guinevere, who is in France with her lover Lancelot. While he is off making war, Morgan appears at Camelot to make one last bid to recruit Mordred back to her side, urging him to kill Arthur and seize the throne of England. But Mordred rebuffs her still again. So Morgan musters her forces and prepares for all-out war against Arthur and his Christian knights. And its final outcome is anyone’s guess. Rich in historical detail and epic in its chronicle of the worlds of Arthur, including those of his romantic and sexual desires, Mordred and the King is a sweeping journey through a retelling of the ancient legend.

Three riveting accounts of horrific crimes and the twisted minds behind them by an Edgar Award–winning author, in one volume. A father’s ultimate betrayal, a savage killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles, and the brutal slaying of a rich man’s college-aged daughter. In this heart-stopping true crime collection, New York Times–bestselling author Darcy O’Brien uncovers the dark underside of the American dream. Murder in Little Egypt: Dr. John Dale Cavaness selflessly attended to the needs of his small, southern Illinois community. But when Cavaness was charged with the murder of his son Sean in December 1984, a radically different portrait of the physician and surgeon emerged. Throughout the three decades he had basked in the admiration and respect of the people of Little Egypt, Cavaness was privately terrorizing his family, abusing his employees, and making disastrous financial investments. In this New York Times bestseller, as more and more grisly details come to light, so too does rural America’s heritage of blood and violence become clear. The Hillside Stranglers: For weeks, the body count of sexually violated, brutally murdered young women escalated. With increasing alarm, Los Angeles newspapers headlined the deeds of a serial killer they named the Hillside Strangler. But not until January 1979, more than a year later, would the mysterious disappearance of two university students near Seattle lead police to the arrest of a security guard—the handsome, charming, fast-talking Kenny Bianchi—and the discovery that the strangler was not one man but two. The Hillside Stranglers is the disturbing portrait of a city held hostage by fear and a pair of psychopaths whose lust was as insatiable as their hate. A Dark and Bloody Ground: On a sweltering evening in August 1985, three men breached Roscoe Acker’s alarm and security systems, stabbed his daughter to death, and made off with over $1.9 million in cash. The killers were part of a hillbilly gang led by Sherry Sheets Hodge, a former prison guard, and her husband, lifetime criminal Benny Hodge. The stolen money came in handy shortly afterward, when they used it to lure Kentucky’s most flamboyant lawyer, Lester Burns, into representing them. “The smell of wet, coal-laden earth, white lightning, and cocaine-driven sweat rises from these marvelously atmospheric—and compelling—pages” (Kirkus Reviews).