In The Great Detective, when Sir Arthur Cwmlech's home is robbed and the Illogic Engine-his prize invention-stolen, it is only natural that he and his clever assistant Miss Tacy Gof consult with another inventor, the great Mycroft Holmes, about who has taken it. But it is really Mr. Holmes' Reasoning Machine who they are there to see, for it is only fitting for one automaton to opine on a matter concerning the fate of another of its kind. This charming...

HAVISHAM IS THE ASTONISHING PRELUDE TO CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Before she became the immortal and haunting Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, she was Catherine, a young woman with all of her dreams ahead of her. Spry, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer. But, she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters on the brew house wall-HAVISHAM-a reminder of all she owes to the family name and the family...

Once upon a time, in a land of magic, there lived a princess who did NOT want to marry. She wanted to have adventures like the knights, or rule a kingdom like her father. She didn't like sitting around in pretty dresses, eating daintily with fancy silverware, and speaking in a soft, ladylike voice. And those were the only things a queen, ever got to do. So she put on her overalls and sat under the table where she chatted with a rooster, who gave her...

Back in 1968, Captain Blue was a high-flying, psychedelic commando battling a scourge of B-Movie monsters left over from 50s experiments. He even had his own cartoon! Now, he's an old man making his living off the convention circuit, the creatures he used to fight protected by human rights laws and the citizens he swore to help thinking he's part of the problem, not the solution. But, when a mysterious note is passed to him, it opens up everything...

In Katharine Weber's third novel, The Little Women, three adolescent sisters- Meg, Jo and Amy-are shocked when they discover their mother's affair, but are truly devastated by their father's apparently easy forgiveness of her. Shattered by their parents' failure to live up to the moral standards and values of the family, the two younger sisters leave New York (and their private school) and move to Meg's apartment in New Haven, where Meg is a junior...

Even in the Advent season Mr. Holmes mustn't take a break: Murderers, blackmailers and all kinds of odd incidents keep him on the go. And Watson is not much of a help, busying himself with baking all those Christmas cookies for his dog. Mr. Holmes' Criminal Fiction Advent calendar contains 24 short detective stories that challenge your puzzle-solving skills - one for each Advent day. Follow in the famous master detective's footsteps and use the evidence...

With a modest upbringing and an ordinary profession, Shibli considers himself to be an average Persian man. But when he discovers that he is the chosen one to free the nation from the vicious rule of their tyrant, Shagpat, Shibli is quickly thrown into the world of the extraordinary. Tasked with a quest to shave Shagpat's magical hair, which allows the leader to rule unquestioned, Shibli, a barber, knows he has what it takes to complete the mission....

"When one has read the six great Austen novels…and then reread and then reread the six again, one's only recourse is the company of others equally bereft. Cindy Jones's My Jane Austen Summer fills the gap with a nourishing Austen-soaked setting, a wonderfully surprising plot, and Lily, a delightfully peculiar heroine." -Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club Author Cindy Jones has a gift for the millions of readers everywhere who...

June 1946. London, England. A murdered man. A mysterious woman. A note in another language. Irene Holmes, daughter of the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, used her unique talents of deduction and observation to assist her childhood friend Detective Eddy Lestrade with his cases during the war. With the war over, Eddy keeps her on as a consultant, finding her essential to solving crimes. During one of these cases, Irene meets Joe, a man who finds her instantly...

Jane Austen fans will find much to enjoy in Charles Swensen's clever take on Sense and Sensibility. In Miss Austen's Mistake the "real" Colonel Brandon--who is, incidentally, an actual friend of the "real" Miss Austen--reviews the novel's events from an entirely new perspective, one he claims is much closer to the truth. Fact or fiction? It's great fun and can leave heads spinning. --Linda Watanabe McFerrin, author of Navigating the Divide and...