Pushing Up Daisies

Book Description :

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit show on Acorn TV and public television—is back on the case and poking around where she doesn't belong. Agatha Raisin, private detective, resident in the Cotswold village of Carsely, should have been a contented and happy woman... But in M.C. Beaton's Pushing Up Daisies, things are about to get a little less cozy. Lord Bellington, a wealthy land developer, wants to turn the community garden into a housing estate. And when Agatha and her friend Sir Charles Fraith attempt to convince Lord Bellington to abandon his plans, he scoffs, “Do you think I give a damn about what a lot of pesky villagers want?” So it’s no surprise that some in the town are feeling celebratory when Agatha finds his obituary in the newspaper two weeks later. The villagers are relieved to learn that Bellington’s son and heir, Damian, has no interest in continuing his father’s development plans. Except the death was apparently murder, and the police see Damian as suspect number one--though Agatha finds plenty of others when he hires her to find the real killer. The good news is that a handsome retired detective named Gerald has recently moved to town. Too bad he was seen kissing another newcomer... Soon, another murder further entangles Gerald and Agatha in a growing web of intrigue as they work with her team of detectives work to uncover the killer’s identity.

Book Description :

After hitting it big with Momma's Baby, Daddy's Maybe, national bestselling author Jamise L. Dames is back with another hip, sensual, and compelling novel. A Tragic Past... Daisy Parker's boyfriend has strayed one too many times and she's no longer sitting pretty. Having sacrificed seven years of her life to being his faithful woman and raising his nine-year-old son, the only thing that will calm her now is to hurl his beloved wardrobe out their second-story window. Single life may scare Daisy, but her mind is made up -- when the good-for-nothing returns, she'll serve him his walking papers. Only he isn't up to his old tricks that night, and what goes down strips Daisy of the option to choose. She's on her own. ...A Hopeful Future Left penniless, homeless, and jobless, Daisy struggles to make a home for herself and her son. Just when she seems poised to take control and put the baggage of her past behind her, complications arise when the towering frame of Daisy's deliciously handsome college crush strolls into town. His unexpected attention makes her feel alive, yet she's been burned by love once and isn't sure she can take the heat. As undeniable passions rise, so do the stakes, and Daisy can't stand to lose another round.... A compelling tale of life, love, and hope.

Book Description :

Daisy Forest knows a ghost when she sees one. True, she has never actually seen a ghost before, but she swears their transparency is a dead giveaway. Daisy, a volunteer tour guide at the historic Holly Hill Mansion, knows that Sophia Meade Long, the woman who once owned the mansion, has been dead since 1814. So, when a very transparent Sophia steps in front of Daisy's little Prius one night and asks for her help, how could she refuse? Once again Daisy and her sister, Rose, find themselves up to their eyeballs in all sorts of shenanigans — chasing ghosts, holding sÉances, and searching for priceless Revere silver. The sudden reappearance of their reprobate father, Dickie Forest, with a new and unlikely interest in the occult has them puzzled to say the least, and their mother, Angela, behaving at her eccentric best. What seems to be harmless fun takes a deadly turn when Daisy stumbles on the body of the mansion's curator in the wine cellar and Daisy is later attacked after a Gothic evening in the mansion. When the police seemed to be stumped, it's up to Daisy and Rose, with the invaluable help of Angela, to calm the ghost and catch a killer.

Book Description :

Meet Paula Holliday, a transplanted media exec who trades her stilettos for garden clogs when she makes the move from the big city to the suburbs to start a gardening business. Paula can handle deer, slugs, and the occasional human pest---but she’s not prepared for the mummified body she finds while restoring the gardens at Halcyon, a local landmark. Casual snooping turns serious when a body is impaled on a garden tool and one of Paula’s friends is arrested for the crime. Aided by the still-hot aging rocker who owns the neighborhood greasy spoon, a wise-cracking former colleague, and a sexy Mexican laborer with a few secrets of his own, Paula digs for the truth and unearths more dirty business the town has kept buried for years.

Book Description :

Pushing Daisies was a unique network television show. This collection of 10 essays addresses the quirky, off-beat elements that made the show a popular success, as well as fodder for scholarly inquiry. Divided into three main sections, the essays address the themes of difference, the placement of the series within a larger philosophical context, and the role of gender on the show. A consideration of Pushing Daisies’ unique style and aesthetics is a consistent source of interest across these international and interdisciplinary scholarly critiques.

Book Description :

This boxed set features all six current titles in the Tea Shop Cozy Mystery series Fifty-something widow Willow Foxglove's dream is to operate a herbal tea shop. If only she could stop tripping over dead bodies long enough to organize the business! When murder comes to peaceful Aniseed Valley, Willow Foxglove is on the case. Believing the local sheriff to be unequal to the challenge, she pursues leads in between building a new tea shop and looking after her Maine Coon kitten, Mavis. As each crime unfolds, she draws on the book-smarts of best friend Harmony and conspiracy-laden facts from second-best friend Reg to help untangle the evidence. And, of course, she can always rely on handy hints from her favorite TV show of all time - Miss Walsham Investigates! This boxed set contains the following titles to keep you guessing and keep the murderers on their toes! 1: Pushing Up Daisies 2: Berry Murderous 3: Deathbed of Roses 4: Orange Juiced 5: Keeping Mums 6: Hibiscus Homicide Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries are quick 1-2 hour reads perfect for filling in time waiting for appointments, commuting to work, or when your significant other insists on watching the show that makes you roll your eyes! They contain no swearing, no gore, no cliffhangers, and no graphic scenes.

Book Description :

Catherine O'Shea is the oldest and most responsible of the three O'Shea sisters. She has just buried her mother, one of the last victims of the flu epidemic of 1918. Her father had been one of the first to succumb to the flu and her fiancé was killed in the war. And now there is a detective living at her hotel, the Black Swan, looking into the disappearance of her abusive brother-in-law. He is entirely the wrong person and it is absolutely the wrong time for her to be giving Detective Massey a second look, much less a third and fourth. She'll simply have to control the sparks that fly every time they are together. Quincy Massey just wants to get the little job of finding Ralph Contiello done and go back home to Little Rock, Arkansas. The small town of Huttig is friendly enough but it sure isn't his type of town. And Catherine O'Shea with her smart remarks and red hair is getting under his skin entirely too much. Quincy's unstoppable quest for the truth and Catherine's unflappable determination to keep it hidden immediately sets the two of them at odds. In order to look towards a future with its offer of unconditional love they'll first have to bury the past.

Book Description :

Allotment wars! Lord Bellingham, Carsely's biggest landholder, has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development. So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing. On another fine summer's day Agatha visits Carsley's allotments where everything looks peaceful and perfect: people of all ages digging in the soil and working hard to grow their own fruit and veg. Agatha feels almost tempted to take on a strip herself . . . but common sense soon prevails. She doesn't really like getting her hands dirty. She is introduced to three oldtimers who have just taken over a new strip; Harry Perry, Bunty Daventry and Josephine Merriweather are lamenting the neglected condition of the patch. But as Harry starts to shovel through the weeds and grass his spade comes across something hard so he bends down and tries to move the object. And then he starts to yell . . . The body is that of Peta Currie, a newcomer to the village - but who would want to murder her? Blonde and beautiful she's every local male's favourite. And then Lord Bellingham's son engages Agatha to do some digging of her own and very soon Agatha is thrown into a world of petty feuds, jealousies and disputes over land. It would seem that far from being tiny gardens of Eden, Carsley's allotments are local battlefields where passions - and the bodycount - run high! Praise for the Agatha Raisin series: 'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non-PC, M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure' Anne Robinson 'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly 'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshing, sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine' Booklist

Book Description :

A tale of love, lust, and mistrust, Momma's Baby, Daddy's Maybe reveals the secrets that break homes as well as hearts. The Jacobs's siblings have done a good job of masking their secrets behind finely wrought facades, hidden agendas, and questionable paternity...until the day it all starts to unravel. Faced at last with the truth, Kennedy, Simone, and Derrick Jacobs find themselves vulnerable and exposed, determined to salvage the lives they have made for themselves. Passions run high in this debut novel by Jamise L. Dames, and as the Jacobs try desperately to untangle themselves from a web of deceit, they learn how tragedy can move toward truth, and the strongest of all ties. Three women. Three men. One truth. Kennedy Jacobs has it all: beauty, brains, and the confidence to match. She also has the man that sister Simone has officially declared off-limits. With sass, class, and strength to spare, Kennedy takes the world by storm -- until tragedy jumps up and slaps her in the face. Simone Jacobs wants it all. She has the expensive home, the VP position at a top accounting firm, and a new man who tickles more than her fancy. But something is missing. Just when it seems that this something is within reach and her life is coming together, someone starts to tear it apart at the seams. Derrick Jacobs is a handsome Wall Street exec, a fully equipped ladies' man who can't be tied down by any woman. With charming good looks, a chiseled body, and a very healthy bank account, Derrick Jacobs can move mountains...but will his secrets cause them to crumble? A stunning novel of family ties and family lies.

Book Description :

How did die become kick the bucket, underwear become unmentionables, and having an affair become hiking the Appalachian trail? Originally used to avoid blasphemy, honor taboos, and make nice, euphemisms have become embedded in the fabric of our language. Euphemania traces the origins of euphemisms from a tool of the church to a form of gentility to today's instrument of commercial, political, and postmodern doublespeak. As much social commentary as a book for word lovers, Euphemania is a lively and thought-provoking look at the power of words and our power over them.

Book Description :

Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden continues the tradition in M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin mystery series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. There is nothing more depressing for a middle-aged lovelorn woman with bald patches on her head than to find herself in an English seaside resort out of season. Agatha Raisin, her hair falling out after a run-in with a hairdresser-cum-murderess from a previous investigation, travels to an old-fashioned hotel in order to repair the damage away from the neighbors in her all-too-cozy Cotswolds village. Unhappy about the slow results and prompted by the elderly residents of the resort, she consults the local witch for help. Agatha purchases a hair tonic (and a love potion, just in case!) and is soon sprouting hairs and capturing the fancy of the village police inspector. But the quiet town is stunned by the murder of the witch. Which one of the graying guests is capable of such a brutal crime? The brassy yet endearing Agatha won't stop until she finds the culprit--and, of course, a little love, too.

Book Description :

The masterpiece of the German experience during World War I, considered by many the greatest war novel of all time—with an Oscar–nominated film adaptation now streaming on Netflix. “[Erich Maria Remarque] is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank.”—The New York Times Book Review I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. . . . This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . . if only he can come out of the war alive.

Book Description :

From Bailey Cattrell—who writes the New York Times bestselling Magical Bakery Mysteries as Bailey Cates—comes the first Enchanted Garden Mystery featuring custom perfume maker Elliana Allbright... The Enchanted Garden behind Elliana Allbright’s perfume shop draws people of all ages with its fragrant flowers and lush greenery. But when the magical serenity is interrupted, it’s up to Ellie to sniff out a killer. Ellie’s life has blossomed in Poppyville, California, since she opened Scents & Nonsense, a custom-made-perfume store. Her skills with aromas and botanical essences—some from her very own garden—seem almost…supernatural. Her perfumes can evoke emotions, bring about change, or simply make people happy. Customers are flocking to the store to buy her wares or just to sit in her beautiful garden, sip tea and enjoy homemade cookies. But she smells trouble when she learns that her part-time assistant Josie is dating her ex. And before she can tell the young woman to beware of his charms, she finds Josie dead in the Enchanted Garden. Now the prime suspect in Josie’s murder, Ellie must search for the real culprit in Josie’s past—because it’ll take a miracle to nip this problem in the bud....

Book Description :

Practical and fun, this dynamic guide for both student writers and English teachers dispenses quirky remedies—with a generous dose of humor—for sentences suffering from ailments such as detail deficiency, passive voice fatigue, weak verbs, and word overdose. Providing teachers with tools to improve middle and high school student writing, the lessons show how to write interesting sentences through samples of stellar sentences, practice exercises, and skill-boosting activities.

Book Description :

The smell of lavender at a roadside picnic, waiting for the Tour de France to race past. The Pacific Ocean view from the 10,000-foot summit of Hawaii's Haleakalaā volcanic crater (after 5 hours of uphill riding). A fresh Fat Tire ale hitting your lips at the new Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. These, and a wide-ranging variety of other experiences, all rooted to a specific location or event, comprise The Cyclist's Bucket List. The book will definitively catalog both the iconic and little known--the accessible and aspirational--sensory and emotional experiences that instill cyclists with a deep passion for the sport. In this book, Ian Dille compiles and showcases the world's quintessential cycling experiences through extensive research and interviews with expert sources, vivid storytelling, stunning photography, and compelling design. The format includes lengthy in-depth descriptions as well as much shorter, easy to consume write-ups, ranging from locations such as Italy and Belgium to Nova Scotia and Texas. The Cyclist's Bucket List will serve as an indispensible, lifelong guide for every cyclist.

Book Description :

Booklist Top of the List Reference Source The heir and successor to Eric Partridge's brilliant magnum opus, The Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, this two-volume New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is the definitive record of post WWII slang. Containing over 60,000 entries, this new edition of the authoritative work on slang details the slang and unconventional English of the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium, with the same thorough, intense, and lively scholarship that characterized Partridge's own work. Unique, exciting and, at times, hilariously shocking, key features include: unprecedented coverage of World English, with equal prominence given to American and British English slang, and entries included from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean emphasis on post-World War II slang and unconventional English published sources given for each entry, often including an early or significant example of the term’s use in print. hundreds of thousands of citations from popular literature, newspapers, magazines, movies, and songs illustrating usage of the headwords dating information for each headword in the tradition of Partridge, commentary on the term’s origins and meaning New to this edition: A new preface noting slang trends of the last five years Over 1,000 new entries from the US, UK and Australia New terms from the language of social networking Many entries now revised to include new dating, new citations from written sources and new glosses The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a spectacular resource infused with humour and learning – it’s rude, it’s delightful, and it’s a prize for anyone with a love of language. In addition to this hard back two volume set, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English will also be the first slang dictionary available on-line, giving readers unprecedented access to the rich world of slang. For details, including hardback plus on-line bundle offers, please visit www.partridgeslangonline.com

Book Description :

It’s just an ordinary day for octogenarian sleuth Myrtle Clover - until her yardman discovers a dead body planted in her backyard. This death isn’t cut and dried - the victim was bashed in the head with one of Myrtle’s garden gnomes. Myrtle’s friend Miles recognizes the body and identifies him as Charles Clayborne... reluctantly admitting he’s a cousin. Charles wasn’t the sort of relative you bragged about - he was a garden variety sleaze, which is very likely why he ended up murdered. As Myrtle starts digging up dirt to nip the killings in the bud, someone’s focused on scaring her off the case. Myrtle vows to find the murderer... before she’s pushing up daisies, herself.

Book Description :

Though references to it are scattered in the writings of Klein and Winnicott, the topic of greed has drawn meagre attention from contemporary psychoanalysts. This book fills that lacuna. Noting that the inconsolable, relentless, and coercive dimensions of such hunger have profoundly destructive impact upon the self and its objects, Greed: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms sheds light on the emotion's myriad manifestations as well as its camouflage by the ego's defensive operations. Issues of childhood deprivation, adolescent novelty-seeking, and clinging to the object-world toward the end of life are examined. The avarice that prevails in today's business world is discussed, as is the deleterious impact of greed upon marital relations. More to the clinician's interest, the book highlights the various ways in which greed makes its appearance during treatment, taking into account the tabooed topic of the analyst's own greed for money, prestige, and intellectual prowess. A remarkable contribution, indeed!

Book Description :

Midlife is definitely a journey. The road has massive potholes.And the crisis... it's the gift that keeps on giving. Being forty is supposed to be freaking fabulous not fatal. Taking on a daunting new job minus the description isn't the smartest move I've ever made, even if it was to save a friend. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out to be the stupidest... or deadliest. Why can't things stay the way they were? I love my old job. Supergluing ghosts back together and solving their issues is its own reward. Not to mention, I'm seriously good at it. Although, I must say, I'm ridiculously excited for the new Death Counselor's arrival in nine months... Adding to my problems, there are four new angels in town who are riding my butt and judging every move I make. Literally. Who knew destroying one Immortal could cause me so much trouble? If I'm found guilty, I'll be pushing up daisies. Luckily, my nutty friends have my back and the Grim Reaper has my heart. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing is impossible. I am living proof. Let's just hope I live to prove it.

Book Description :

When author Terri Sanders hiked the Appalachian Trail, her biggest surprise was not that the trail was difficult or long; it was that the true test of endurance arose not from climbing over boulders or walking in torrential rain storms, but from being willing to look inward at her emotional baggage and choose to let it go. A compilation of journal entries from the trail, Gone for a Walk presents a compelling look at her 2,100-mile odyssey hiking the Appalachian Trail. She shares not only the story of her journey, the people she met along the way, and the scenery she witnessed, but also a brutally honest glimpse of her life and the struggles she faced growing up and later in life. She shares valuable insights as the Lord speaks to her, convincing her of her self-worth and His great love and acceptance for her. Through these revelations, she was finally able to come home to herself with true acceptance. A story of hiking, hope, and healing, Gone for a Walk offers a look at profound moments of the healing touch of God and demonstrates that His love for us is everlasting. It tells of an odyssey, grounded in perseverance and goal setting that changed Sanders’ life in unimaginable ways.