Sarah

Is Christianity obsolete? Can an intelligent, educated person really believe the Bible? Or do the atheists have it right? In his new book, best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza ( What's So Great about America) investigates both Christianity and atheism and their influences on culture to show why there is, indeed, something great about Christianity.

Amelia Peabody inherited two things from her father: a considerable fortune and an unbendable will. The first allowed her to indulge in her life's passion. Without the second, the mummy's curse would have made corpses of them all.

Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councilors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government. As heretics are hunted across London, and radical Protestants are burned at the stake, the Catholic party focuses its attack on Henry's sixth wife - and Matthew Shardlake's old mentor - Queen Catherine Parr.

It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern.

Award-winning author Alan Bradley returns with another beguiling novel starring the insidiously clever and unflappable 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. The precocious chemist with a passion for poisons uncovers a fresh slew of misdeeds in the hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey - mysteries involving a missing tot, a fortune-teller, and a corpse in Flavia’s own backyard. Flavia had asked the old Gypsy woman to tell her fortune, but never expected to stumble across the poor soul, bludgeoned in the wee hours in her own caravan.

When Niccolo's wealthy older wife dies in Bruges, he finds himself - at the age of 21 - in the dual role of prosperous merchant and sought-after military strategist. Niccolo's powerful private army is coveted by two warring rulers: steely Carlotta, Queen of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia; and her lethally charming, illegitimate brother, James, who is determined to wrest the kingdom from his detested sister. But Niccolo's suave demeanour and physical prowess and his ability to turn a profit as well as a battle, attracts dangerous lovers.

Bruges, 1460. Street smart, brilliant at figures, adept at the subtleties of diplomacy and the well-timed untruth, Nicholas van der Poele rises from wastrel to prodigy in a breathless adventure that wins him the love of the strongest woman in Bruges and the hatred of two powerful enemies. Niccolo Rising combines history, adventure and high romance in the tradition stretching from Alexandre Dumas to Mary Renault.

1557 and Francis Crawford of Lymond is back in France, leading an army against England. But even as the Scots adventurer succeeds on the battlefield, his past becomes a subject of intense interest to both sides. For whoever knows the secret of Lymond's parentage possesses the power to control him - and destroy him.

Fidelma of Cashel - sister to the king of Muman, a religieuse of the Celtic Church, and an advocate of the Brehon courts - returns in this new collection of fifteen tales. These stories of murder, mayhem, and mystery are not merely spellbinders but also provide insight into the ways and mores of the complex, fascinating society of seventh-century Ireland as well as heretofore unrevealed background details of Fidelma herself.

It began as a game, a treasure hunt in an old German castle. For Vicky Bliss, tall, beautiful, and brilliant, it is also a challenge, a chance to bring an arrogant young man down a notch or two. And all things considered, it would have been no contest.