Historical Humor

This is the story of a drug deal gone bad. Having committed the crime of selling a potent poison to a desperate youth, a destitute apothecary must decide how to spend his ill-gained fortune. Resolving to start his career afresh, he flees to the city of Verona to set up a new shop of medicinal healing and alchemical discovery. Plans go awry when he finds himself in the middle of a woeful tragedy he had unwittingly helped to cause.

Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town with a bizarre but seductive proposition for local landowners. He proposes to buy the names of their serfs who have died but who are still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them. But what collateral will Chichikov receive for these "souls"?

Dr. Siri might finally be allowed to retire (again). Although he loves his two morgue assistants, he’s tired of being Laos’ national coroner - a job he never wanted in the first place. Plus, he’s pushing 80 and wants to spend some time with his wife before his untimely death, which has been predicted by the local transvestite fortune teller. But retirement is not in the cards for Dr. Siri after all. He’s dragged into one last job for the Lao government: supervising an excavation for the remains of a US fighter pilot....

Ostracized as a kid, Edgar Kellogg has always yearned to be popular. A disgruntled New York corporate lawyer, he's more than ready to leave his lucrative career for the excitement and uncertainty of journalism. When he's offered the post of foreign correspondent in a Portuguese backwater that has sprouted a homegrown terrorist movement, Edgar recognizes the disappeared larger-than-life reporter he's been sent to replace, Barrington Saddler, as exactly the outsize character he longs to emulate.

KJ is a Veteran who served two tours in Vietnam with a combat unit. The memories of those days, weeks and years still haunt him. Both the good and the bad, but mostly just the sad. He has been living and working in Oregon for the past seventeen years. It has been twenty long years since he left Oklahoma following his high school graduation in 1966. Without warning his mother calls to deliver the bad news that his father has died. In that moment he knows she needs him to come home to help bury his father. KJ is truly devastated that he had not returned home sooner, now, it's forever too late...

Tom Larson is having trouble finding a wife, and Jessica Reynolds decides to help him overcome his awkward and clumsy manners so he can attract women. *This is a novella of about 30,000 words. Books in the Nebraska Historical Romance Series Book 1: Her Heart's Desire Book 2: A Bride for Tom (novella) Book 3: A Husband for Margaret (novella) Book 4: Eye of the Beholder Book 5: The Wrong Husband Book 6: The Shotgun Groom Book 7: To Have and To Hold Book 8: His Redeeming Bride Book 9: Isaac's Decision

Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all. When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman' Abraham LincolnIn China in 1860, a lot of people mistakenly put their trust in Flashman.

Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But he's brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn't deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of 1,000 demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.

A delightful, sophisticated, romantic bestseller... back in print for the first time in over 90 years! "Lighter than air, and as bouyant and breezy as the wind. It's the icing on the cake, the silver lining on the cloud, the gilding on the lily. And if the whole world soon isn't 'Green' with envy, we don't know a bestseller when we read one." Pittsburgh Press Catherine Douglas is a traditional, American Southerner living with her widowed father and brother in Paris in the 1930s. Her life is complicated by her charming father's affairs, the hopeless literary aspirations of her lovable ...

Nothing escapes the snooping opera glasses of Miss Elizabeth Mapp. She whiles away her busy hours observing the small English village of Tilling, and recording the antics in her notebook. But her observations are set to be disrupted by amorous advances of two retired army generals, both vying for her affection. With Miss Mapp distracted, who will keep Miss Susan Poppit in her place or oversee the correct playing of bridge? More importantly will quiet Tilling be subject to a violent duel?

A trio of royal siblings brave the wild frontiers to secure their place in history, setting the stage for a zany adventure filled with chaos, danger, and unexpected love in a fantasy kingdom. When the Emperor of Jordinia tasks his two underachieving nephews to spearhead an expedition to the untamed North Isles, the impish and audacious Duke Andrew leaps at the chance to make history and stand out among his four brothers. While he manages to convince his shy and reclusive brother Ludwig to join him, he is less enthusiastic about their spirited sister tagging along. Duchess Johannah, ...

Ne "I Miserabili" Victor Hugo narra con assoluta sensibilità ed estrema modernità la solitudine dell'uomo, il contrasto tra ceti sociali, ma anche la redenzione attraverso la rivolta e l'amore. Il romanzo, dal ritmo incalzante, magistrale e irripetibile per l'autenticità delle emozioni e per la complessità della trama narrativa, viene qui tradotto ad alta voce da un unico narratore, Moro Silo, che con la sua più che trentennale esperienza di lettore, riesce a cogliere l'enorme quantità di significati presenti nel libro nel massimo rispetto dello stile unico e originale dell'autore, del suo contesto storico-culturale e filologico.

A stolen heirloom. A secret vault. A quiet town built on buried lies. Magda Lane’s antique shop was locked. The display case was sealed. Yet her grandmother’s pocket watch is gone, no break-in, no trace, just a lingering chill and the feeling she’s being watched. When more heirlooms vanish, Magda’s antique expertise and her knack for noticing what others miss makes her the town’s reluctant liaison. With Ivy’s quick wit and Deputy Hank’s skeptical eye, Magda starts asking questions someone doesn’t want answered. An outsider with a mysterious interest. A historian with too ...

Robin "Puck" Blackthorn is young, rich, handsome as sin, and delights in the life he lives. A single stolen kiss at a masquerade ball should be nothing more than a lark, but that explosive embrace has unexpected consequences when he is suddenly thrust into helping a beautiful damsel in distress. Regina Hackett hadn't wanted to attend the masquerade with her cousin. When that cousin disappears, she turns to Puck for help, only to realize they've stumbled onto a dark and dangerous secret that threatens not only her cousin, but Regina's entire world. As the two embark on a dangerous journey ...

Five hundred years ago Henry VIII had a fearsome temper and bloodthirsty reputation to match; more beast than human, some might say. . .Henry the Eighth was the bloodiest king ever to have sat on the throne of England. This fast-paced, exciting, inventive, and just plain bloody retelling of his reign will bring to light the real man behind the myth. Be dragged back kicking and screaming five hundred years into Tudor England.

Movimenti sospetti nella notte a Bellano: forse allucinazioni, forse faccende private, forse non proprio reati. Forse. "Un uomo in mutande?" chiese il maresciallo Ernesto Maccadò. Nessuna traccia di sorriso. Anzi, un'espressione che valeva un punto interrogativo. Il Misfatti l'aveva messa sullo scherzo, ma quello, niente, aveva preteso i dettagli invece di riderci su. "Si spieghi meglio, appuntato", disse il Maccadò. "Dicevo tanto per..." annaspò il Misfatti. "L'ascolto comunque", insisté il maresciallo.

Fitz is running out of time to fix the Imbalance... ...and the Shade has taken a victim! Step back into the continuing adventures of Kevin Fitzgerald as he struggles to make it through his time as a Wizard's Apprentice! Join Fitz's harem of magical and mythical beings, and his true love, Sophie Calias as they work together to heal the Imbalance allowing the Darkness to be unleashed across the realms. What is the Shade and what are her weaknesses? Will the combined powers of the seductive wood nymph, the awkward ogress, and the Valkyrie be enough to keep the universe from the brink of ...

After 200 years undead, Jane Austen still has bite. But will her most recent literary success be her last? Life was a lot easier for Jane when she was just an unknown, undead bookstore owner in a sleepy hamlet in upstate New York. But now the world embraces her as Jane Fairfax, author of the best-selling novel Constance - and she’s having a killer time trying to keep her true identity as the Jane Austen a secret. Even the ongoing lessons in How to Be a Vampire, taught by her former lover Lord Byron, don’t seem to be helping much.

In a world where creativity is outlawed, dustpan maker Eddie Sweep discovers a time-traveling dustpan named Dustin. Joined by historical allies, Eddie embarks on a hilarious journey through history to collect artifacts that could overthrow the oppressive Conformity Council. From ancient China to the Fall of Rome, Eddie faces challenges that transform him from a timid factory worker to an unlikely hero. With wit, heart, and temporal hijinks, “Dustin Time” proves that sometimes, the most powerful tool for changing the world is a mop and a dustpan with attitude! Will Eddie save the future ...

Every Christmas Eve, a family make a short pilgrimage to the summit of the extraordinary and mesmerising hill that dominates their small East Lothian town. They celebrate this delightful festive occasion with food, beverages, and shadowy tales of the town’s historical past. But behind these seemingly innocent stories of whale bones, witchcraft, and retribution from times gone by, lies a tragic family secret that links to the present day. Will this be the Christmas Eve that the family can be reunited, and find the love and happiness that they once held so dearly? Christmas on The Law is a ...