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Preorder now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive endpapers and special design features. This breathtaking collectible edition is only available on a limited first print run.“Thea Guanzon needs to be on every fantasy reader’s TBR list!” — Danielle L. Jensen, New York Times bestselling author of A Fate Inked in Blood"Thea Guanzon’s talent is limitless . . . Mark my words: lives will be changed by The Hurricane Wars trilogy.” — Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisTwo hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly-anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others?As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat—the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it, with a powerful merging of light and shadow that they alone can create together. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes, and his wife is a burning flame in the darkness, tempting both his loyalties and his desires.The Hurricane Wars aren’t over. It’s time to choose what—and who—to fight for. The world holds its breath amidst a whirlwind of new magic and old secrets that could change everything.

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming... The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor...

Patrick Ness's Carnegie Medal-winning masterwork is poised to attract a discerning crossover audience.The monster in Conor's backyard is not the one he's been expecting - the one from the nightmare he's had every night since his mother started her treatments. This monster is ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd - whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself - Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

A new edition of the bestselling novel about love, loss and hope, from the Carnegie Medal winning author of the "Chaos Walking" series. Based on an idea by the late, award-winning author Siobhan Dowd. A new film adaptation is due to be released in 2016. Ages: 16+ 'Patrick Ness is an insanely beautiful writer.' John Green

Das Monster erscheint um sieben Minuten nach Mitternacht. Aber es ist nicht das Monster, das der 13-jährige Conor erwartet. Es ist nicht das Monster, das ihn seit Monaten - seit seine Mutter an Krebs erkrankt ist - in seinen Alpträumen quält. Dieses Monster ist anders. Es steht in seinem Garten, ist uralt und wild. Es scheint Conors geheimste Ängste zu kennen. Und es wird ihm das Gefährlichste überhaupt abverlangen: die ganze Wahrheit. Kann sich Conor dieser stellen?

If we set H. E. Bates's best tales against the best of Chekhov's, Graham Greene declared, I do not believe it would be possible, with any conviction, to argue that the Russian was the finer artist. The sampler of H. E. Bates stories presented here shows the merit of that praise and displays the range and aspects of Bates's work from his first published story, "The Flame," to one of his very last, "The Song of the Wren." In his long and prolific literary career, Bates (1905-1974) produced twenty-five novels, a three-volume autobiography, nine books of essays, several plays and children's books, as well as his important and perhaps most enduring achievement, twenty-three collections of short stories. A Month by the Lake & Other Stories displays Bates's extraordinary talent for concisely getting at the heart of the matter. Whether he is dealing with romance in middle age (the title story), or the most painful clarity of a child's world (The Cowslip Field), or encapsulating the disintegration and tragedy of a man and a house and the era and class they represent (The Flag)--Bates's compassion for humanity remains constant. As Anthony Burgess remarks in his introduction, Bates achieved such sovereignty of what literary land he inherited that he deserves the homage of our uncomplicated enjoyment... Bates's affection for ordinary people is one of his shining virtues. But he himself, as I knew, and as this compilation should make clear, was, is, far from ordinary.

FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AND MAN BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR'Sparkles with brilliant observations on art and architecture, friendship and loss' Guardian'Everybody should get to spend a month with Mr. Matar, looking at paintings' Zadie Smith, Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year_______________________________________________Matar was nineteen years old when his father was kidnapped. In the year following he found himself turning to art, particularly the great paintings of the Sienese School. They became a refuge and a way to think about the world outside the urgencies of the present.A quarter of a century later, having found no trace of his father, Matar finally visits the birthplace of those paintings. A Month in Siena is the encounter between the writer and the city. It is an immersion in painting, a consideration of love, grief and a profoundly moving contemplation of the relationship between art and life._______________________________________________'A dazzling exploration of art's impact on his life and writing, and a moving contemplation of grief' Financial Times'I can think of no better expression of the humane than this economical, modest, yet altogether breathtaking book' New Statesman, Books of the Year'Bewitching, intensely moving' The Economist, Books of the Year

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return comes a profoundlymoving contemplation of the relationship between art and life.

To get a great answer, you need to ask the perfect question. Warren Berger revives the lost art of questioning. In this groundbreaking book, journalist and innovation expert Warren Berger shows that one of the most powerful forces for igniting change in business and in our daily lives is a simple, under-appreciated tool--one that has been available to us since childhood. Questioning--deeply, imaginatively, "beautifully"--can help us identify and solve problems, come up with game-changing ideas, and pursue fresh opportunities. So why are we often reluctant to ask "Why?" Berger's surprising findings reveal that even though children start out asking hundreds of questions a day, questioning "falls off a cliff" as kids enter school. In an education and business culture devised to reward rote answers over challenging inquiry, questioning isn't encouraged--and, in fact, is sometimes barely tolerated. And yet, as Berger shows, the most creative, successful people tend to be expert questioners. They've mastered the art of inquiry, raising questions no one else is asking--and finding powerful answers. The author takes us inside red-hot businesses like Google, Netflix, IDEO, and Airbnb to show how questioning is baked into their organizational DNA. He also shares inspiring stories of artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, basement tinkerers, and social activists who changed their lives and the world around them--by starting with a "beautiful question."

A guide to living a more joyful and interesting life.In pursuit of a more exciting life, we often seek external experiences to fulfill us. We take trips, parachute out of airplanes, and buy the latest technology. But the keys to a more joyful, thrilling, and beautiful life are already within us.This inspiring book from The School of Life is a guide to the psychology of fulfillment. It presents readers with a chance to accept our desires and aspirations, nurture our inner liberation, and have the courage to set ourselves free.A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH to a more meaningful life. PRACTICAL TIPS ON NAVIGATING ANGER, INTIMACY, AND EXCEPTIONALISM A GUIDE TO FINDING EXCITEMENT at work, in relationships, and within.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A delightful cocktail that mixes elements of the Bridgerton series, Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries . . . The payoff is a wealth of wit, hilarity and suspense.”—People (Book of the Week)When a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball, a young lady takes on the decidedly improper role of detective in this action-packed debut comedy of manners and murder.This edition includes a reader’s guide and a sneak peek at Beatrice Steele’s return in A Terribly Nasty Business!Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township: She is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with true crime. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she’d be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.For her family’s sake, she’s vowed to put her obsession behind her. Eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that younger daughter Louisa will steal his heart. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior—a difficult challenge when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear that the guests are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire’s infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires—before anyone else is murdered.A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie: when a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball, a young lady takes on the decidedly improper role of detective in this action-packed debut comedy of manners and murder.

Pegg's narrative of the massacres of the crusades - a fervour of 'cleansing' the world of heresy, and a fear that Christendom was being eaten away by heretics - is gripping. Innocent III's holy genocidal war fundamentally changed how Western civilization dealt with individuals accused of corrupting society, and led to the creation of the inquisition.

Readers today are especially thrilled by the prospect of good news. Drought and global warming, civil war and famine, poverty and economic inequity-yes, bad news abounds. This book by Dr. Stephen Wilkerson, on the other hand, is about hope and optimism for the future. The recorded history of our world is largely one of a sometimes worthy patriarchal striving. It has, however, all too often been tarnished, marred, and horribly disfigured by the hatreds, intolerance, and destruction that have accompanied it. And the good news? There is another way, poignantly and persuasively outlined nearly two hundred years ago by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, involving the Divine Feminine. Goethe's masterpiece, Faust, involves an immensely intelligent but profoundly narcissistic man, who cruelly and selfishly exploits and ultimately ruins the life of an innocent maiden. In the legend on which Goethe's great work is based, Faust understandably winds up in Hell, just as he does in virtually every version of this well-known wager with the Devil. But in Goethe's interpretation, the deeply flawed protagonist is received into Heaven by the Mother of God Herself. How and why can this be? Mankind's long history of heroic accomplishment has never been sufficiently tempered by a sense of global community and cooperation that mitigate the horror and devastation that ever seem to march along beside a single-minded struggle to achieve and prevail. And how may this missing unity be brought about? Alchemy as understood in this book has nothing to do with an early and misguided chemistry and everything to do with the sort of individual transformation necessary for a better, more gracious, more inclusive world. The millennial patterns of blind violence and repression can only be ameliorated by a thoughtful and genuine embrace of open-minded reception of difference and heart-felt valuation of a larger, borderless world in which all grow together rather than further apart. Such is the promise of the final words in Goethe's Faust: "The Divine Feminine leads us forward."

A well-read old dear has an unhealthy interest in murder, in this sharp, witty, and refreshingly original cozy crime novel. Retired librarian and bookshop owner May Morrigan lives in the affluent village of Blackheath with Fletcher, her best friend since they met decades ago, and May's two dogs. What could be more normal? But May is not your average little old lady . . .After an unpleasant church volunteer and an annoying local butcher meet their untimely ends, Fletcher and May team up to do some sleuthing. Soon, the elderly pair start working with a young journalist to investigate the case of a missing girl and its possible link to previous unsolved crimes. May finds this new project quite intriguing. She's never met a murderer before--and now she just may get the chance, if they play their cards right . . .

A contemporary and original gift book, celebrating modern motherhood and mothers.The Times Children’s Book of the Week.In this eye-catching, neon-bright picture book, a baby sees their mother in every aspect of their day from birth to first steps.A mother's a house,She's a car in a rush,She's a lullaby hush.As the pages go by, the child grows. The mother becomes a road, a story and a show, the illustrations at times literal, unexpected. On the final page, the child is ready to take their first steps. Because a mother is a home that you carry inside you forever.Offering a unique baby’s eye view of the first year, A Mother is a House contains all of the funny observations and emotions of a mother and child’s first year together―shown through bright, modern illustrations and special inks.A chic and stylish gift book for expectant parents, baby showers, new moms, mother’s day, or as a celebratory gift for daughters and grandparents.Aurore Petit is one of a new young generation of French illustrators to emerge from the influential School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. She lives in Paris.Praise for A Mother is a House:“Daniel Hahn is a careful, creative translator and his lovely sing-along lines avoid cliché. The tone is never cloying―a feat in a paean to mums for this age group.” ―The Times, Children’s Book of the Week“What’s most striking about the book, though, is its use of intense neon colors both for details and large swaths of the illustrations and for the text itself. The final metaphor says it all: ‘A mother’s a home’.” ―Kirkus Reviews

A Mother's Love is a powerful, gripping tale of a woman's journey to confront the ghosts of her past, from billion-copy bestselling author Danielle Steel.Recently widowed Halley Holbrook has spent decades building a career as a bestselling novelist. The victim of an extremely traumatic childhood, something she revealed only to her beloved husband, and the memories of which she has since tried to bury. Halley is now in her fifties and the mother of twin daughters who, while extremely close to her, are both ready to lead their own lives.Spending Christmas and New Year alone for the first time in years, Halley decides to go to Paris and rent a beautiful house for the holiday. On the flight she meets Bart Warner, a successful businessman. Both travelling alone, they agree to spend time together during her stay.Soon after her arrival in Paris, Halley is the victim of a crime which leaves her feeling shaken and vulnerable, and brings back the awful memories of her childhood. With Bart's help, she manages to overcome her feelings of helplessness and despair and is determined to do everything she can to help the police find the perpetrator - who it appears is part of an international syndicate and a wanted man.As Halley proves to herself that she can face her past and no longer be controlled by threats and abuse, her most important lesson will be that she is deserving of love and she can handle whatever comes her way. She discovers that despite the abuse in her childhood, it has left her stronger than she ever knew.

'Mama, it's me.' I held her hand in mine, hoping it would give her the strength to hold on.Finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.'Do not cry when I die.'The Sunday Times Bestseller'Quite simply the most important book you will read this year' Hazel Gaynor'An extraordinary read' Lorraine Kelly'Deeply moving' Daily MailFrom invasion to liberation, September 1939 to April 1945, as Renee was marched from ghetto to camp, there was one constant. One hand that clutched hers - her mother's. Every day for nearly six years, mother and daughter were bound together in hell. From Auschwitz-Birkenau to Bergen-Belsen, they were a powerful source of solace and hope for one another.The strength of Sala's love gave them both something fragile yet beautiful to cling to in an ugly, depraved world. It was her mother who hid Renee, lied to the SS, went right when she was directed left - whose small actions had life-saving consequences. Now, for Renee, the need to share has finally overcome the desire to forget.A Mother's Promise is a love letter to a mother eighty years in the making.*****'Will stay with me for a long time... A beautiful account, so movingly told' Anna Stuart'Powerful, poignant, and deeply important. A must-read' Elizabeth Bellak'This is a story the world needs to know' Madeline Martin'This book travels to the very heart of existence' Joshua Levine

The acclaimed New York Times bestseller by Sue Klebold, mother of one of the Columbine shooters, about living in the aftermath of Columbine.On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Over the course of minutes, they would kill twelve students and a teacher and wound twenty-four others before taking their own lives. For the last sixteen years, Sue Klebold, Dylan's mother, has lived with the indescribable grief and shame of that day. How could her child, the promising young man she had loved and raised, be responsible for such horror? And how, as his mother, had she not known something was wrong? Were there subtle signs she had missed? What, if anything, could she have done differently? These are questions that Klebold has grappled with every day since the Columbine tragedy. In A Mother's Reckoning, she chronicles with unflinching honesty her journey as a mother trying to come to terms with the incomprehensible. In the hope that the insights and understanding she has gained may help other families recognize when a child is in distress, she tells her story in full, drawing upon her personal journals, the videos and writings that Dylan left behind, and on countless interviews with mental health experts. Filled with hard-won wisdom and compassion, A Mother's Reckoning is a powerful and haunting book that sheds light on one of the most pressing issues of our time. And with fresh wounds from the Newtown and Charleston shootings, never has the need for understanding been more urgent. All author profits from the book will be donated to research and to charitable organizations focusing on mental health issues. - Washington Post, Best Memoirs of 2016

The grandson of Prince Genji lives outside of space and time and wanders the grounds of an old monastery in Kyoto. The monastery, too, is timeless: a place of prayer and deliverance, with barely a trace of any human presence. The wanderer is searching for a garden that has long captivated him: "he continually saw the garden in his mind's eye without being able to touch its existence." This exquisitely beautiful novel by National Book Award-winner László Krasznahorkai-perhaps his most serene and poetic work-describes a search for the unobtainable and the riches to be discovered along the way. Despite the difficulties in finding the garden, the reader is closely introduced to the construction processes of the monastery (described in poetic detail) as well as the geological and biological processes of the surrounding area (the underground layers revealed beneath a bed of moss, the travels of cypress-tree seeds on the wind, feral foxes and stray dogs meandering outside the monastery's walls), making this an unforgettable meditation on nature, life, history, and being.

An exquisitely beautiful new novel from one of the world's greatest living writers.

THE EPIC ADVENTURE OF A TEENY-TINY HEROMiika just wants to belong. Living with elves and trolls and pixies can make a mouse feel like the odd one out. When he makes friends with a fellow mouse, Miika thinks he can relax. But really, his quest is just beginning . . .

The Nile brings them life, but the Nile also takes away.A small farming village in North Sudan wakes up one morning to the news that a little boy has drowned. Soon after, the animals die of a mysterious illness and the date gardens catch fire and burn to the ground. The villagers whisper of a sorceress who dwells at the foot of the mountains. It is the dry season. The men have places to go, the women have work to do, the children play at the place where the river runs over its own banks. Sixteen-year-old Fatima yearns to leave the village for Khartoum.In Khartoum, a single mother makes her way in a world that wants to keep girls and women back. As civil war swells, the political intrudes into the personal and her position in the capital becomes untenable. She must return to the village.A Mouth Full of Salt uncovers a country on the brink of seismic change as its women decide for themselves which traditions are fit for purpose - and which prophecies it's time to rewrite

Ernest Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899, the second of six children. In 1917, he joined the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter. The following year, he volunteered as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, where he was badly wounded but decorated for his services. He returned to America in 1919, and married in 1921. In 1922 he reported on the Greco-Turkish war, then resigned from journalism to devote himself to fiction. He settled in Paris, associating with other expatriates like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. He was passionately involved with bullfighting, big-game hunting and deep-sea fishing. His direct and deceptively simple style spawned generations of imitators but no equals. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, and died in 1961.

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899 as the son of a doctor and the second of six children. After a stint as an ambulance driver at the Italian front, Hemingway came home to America in 1919, only to return to the battlefield ¿ this time as a reporter on the Greco-Turkish war ¿ in 1922. Resigning from journalism to focus on his writing instead, he moved to Paris where he renewed his earlier friendship with fellow American expatriates such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Through the years, Hemingway travelled widely and wrote avidly, becoming an internationally recognized literary master of his craft. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.

Ernest Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899, the second of six children. In 1917, he joined the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter. The following year, he volunteered as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, where he was badly wounded but decorated for his services. He returned to America in 1919, and married in 1921. In 1922, he reported on the Greco-Turkish war before resigning from journalism to devote himself to fiction. He settled in Paris, associating with other expatriates like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. He was passionately involved with bullfighting, big-game hunting and deep-sea fishing. Recognition of his position in contemporary literature came in 1954 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.

From the bestselling author of Mudlarking comes a thoughtful examination of her year exploring the most overlooked part of the city through the changing seasons

In this book we present the design and implementation of KEMS, a multi-strategy theorem prover based on the KE tableau inference system. A multi-strategy theorem prover is a theorem prover where we can vary the strategy without modifying the core of the implementation. Besides being multi-strategy, KEMS is capable of proving theorems in three logical systems: classical propositional logic, mbC and mCi. Some of the contributions of this work are (i) an analytic, correct and complete KE system for mbC; (ii) a correct and complete KE system for mCi; (iii) a multi-strategy prover with the following characteristics: accepts problems in three logical systems: classical propositional logic, mbC and mCi; has 6 implemented strategies for classical propositional logic, 2 for mbC and 2 for mCi; has 13 sorters to be used alongside with the strategies; implements simplification rules of classical propositional logic; provides a proof viewer with a graphical user interface; it is open source and available on the internet at https://github.com/adolfont/KEMS; benchmark results obtained by KEMS comparing its classical propositional logic strategies with several problem families.

You think you know what happened that nightBut the truth is far more dangerous

Pre-order the next adventure in this bestselling mystery series featuring France's favourite country cop, Bruno, as he investigates the brutal murder of a woman newly arrived to the quiet town of St. Denis . . .Praise for The Dordogne Mysteries:'Makes you want to buy a plane ticket and immerse yourself in deepest France' Irish Independent'A charming French village, great food, eccentric characters and a mystery to nudge things along . . . Savoury indeed' Seattle Times'Consistently charming. . . . Bruno Courrèges may be a small-town cop, but he's anything but small-minded. Walker . . . has created a character who's endearingly human and worldly wise' Booklist'Everyone needs a friend in southern France to go spend some time with, and Walker has opened Bruno's door to anyone who has a few hours to join him in the simple joys of la vie en rose' The Washington Independent

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.'A childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed.An impossible crime?Only Miss Marple can unravel it.'Establishes firmly her claim to the throne of detection. Th plot is an ingenious as ever...'A. A. Milne

The first book of the Maradaine Constabulary series blends high fantasy, murder mystery, and gritty urban magic...Marking the debut of the second series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine, A Murder of Mages introduces us to this spellbinding port city as seen through the eyes of the people who strive to maintain law and order: the hardworking men and women of the Maradaine Constabulary.Satrine Rainey-former street rat, ex-spy, mother of two, and wife to a Constabulary Inspector who lies on the edge of death, injured in the line of duty-has been forced to fake her way into the post of Constabulary Inspector to support her family.Minox Welling is a brilliant, unorthodox Inspector and an Uncircled mage-almost a crime in itself. Nicknamed "the jinx" because of the misfortunes that seem to befall anyone around him, Minox has been partnered with Satrine because no one else will work with either of them.Their first case together-the ritual murder of a Circled mage- sends Satrine back to the streets she grew up on and brings Minox face-to-face with mage politics he's desperate to avoid. As the body count rises, Satrine and Minox must race to catch the killer before their own secrets are exposed and they, too, become targets.

She can plot out the perfect murder mystery… But can she solve one in real life?Just as Jen sits down to write her next murder mystery novel, a killer strikes again in the tiny town of Riddleton.Will Jen be able to solve this murderous plot, or will the killer, and her new book, get the better of her?This bookish cozy mystery is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ellery Adams, and will leave you guessing right up until the final page.

The past rears its gorgeous head ... Deeply distressed to discover her husband lied about his whereabouts the day before, Beatrice, Duchess of Kesgrave, emerges from a wretched night's sleep to discover him embracing the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. His former mistress! It is shocking, yes, but not so very alarming, for Penelope Taylor is actually there to see Bea. Her dearest friend has been brutally slain, and as Millicent Lloyd happened to be sleeping in the courtesan's bed at the time, Mrs. Taylor is the only suspect. The magistrate is impatient to cart her off to Newgate and refuses to acknowledge the truth that is glaringly obvious to her: She was the intended victim. Poor Millie, murdered in her stead! Persuaded by the evidence, Bea accepts the assignment, launching an investigation to prove the innocence of her husband's former lover, whose fond recollections of her liaison with the duke confirm she is anything but innocent. Following the clues-and the trail of broken hearts discarded by Mrs. Taylor-Bea realizes she is looking for a villain more diabolical than any she has ever known. And this one will not hesitate to strike again.