Twenty years after he was assigned the seemingly simple job of guarding a dying woman in the aftermath of a vicious acid attack, Alan McAlpine has become a celebrated Detective Chief Inspector. Yet he has never forgotten that first assignment. Still unsolved, the crime remains his obsession and his torment. Now, drafted to lead the search for Glasgow’s “Crucifixion Killer”—a murderer who has already killed two women, leaving their mutilated bodies with arms outstretched—McAlpine finds his past and present crashing together—but he’ll need to banish the old ghosts before he can stop the monster in the present. Vivid and compelling, filled with fascinating and complex characters, Absolution is a gripping journey through the rainy streets of Glasgow and deep into one man’s soul. Praised by Val McDermid as “dark, vivid and daring,” and described by The Washington Post as “among the year’s best literary thrillers,” Ramsay’s debut novel is an intelligent mystery with shocking twists.
‘Brilliant in twisting the tension tauter with each page’-Guardian FOR ONE SCOTTISH COP THE BEAT IS ABOUT TO GET DARK AND VERY BLOODY . . . Dl Colin Anderson is having a bad week. His conviction of paedophile Skelpie Fairbairn is declared unsafe—putting Fairbairn back on Glasgow's streets and leaving Anderson under investigation. Add to this a gangster torched alive, a teenage boy tortured then dropped off a bridge and the suicide of a cop who worked an unsolved child kidnapping way back in 1996 and Anderson's got his hands full. Then one night, a young girl is tied to the river bank and left for the tide. Anderson gets there, but she dies in his arms. Working round the clock his team discover these strange crimes are linked to an elusive criminal mastermind known as The Puppeteer. But unable to find him, unable to stop the murders, Anderson is forced to follow the only lead he has—Skelpie Fairbairn. But which is worse—The devil you don't know, or the one you do. . .? Praise for Caro Ramsay: ‘Well-drawn characters and great sense of place set this series head and shoulders above most of the competition’-The Times 'Among the year's best literary thrillers' -Washington Post 'Ramsay handles her characters with aplomb, the dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns'-Observer
When a body is discovered in the water at the Falls of Lora, it looks like a straightforward suicide. But when DCI Christine Caplan’s superior officer alerts her to similarities with a locked case – and a legal minefield – she discovers that darker truths lurk beneath the surface. ‘Girl A’ was convicted of murdering three people when she was a child. Now she’s missing and a man is dead. The top brass are screaming for a quick resolution, and Girl A is a media sensation and a risk to herself as well as others. The clock is ticking for DCI Christine Caplan to bring her to justice – but the truth may be darker than even she fears . . .
Caro Ramsay's Singing to the Dead is the second instalment in the Anderson and Costello series. Bitter betrayal. Sweet revenge. Two seven-year-old boys have been abducted from the streets of Glasgow. Both had already endured years of neglect and betrayal - but for Detective Inspector Colin Anderson the case is especially disturbing, because the boys look so much like his own son Peter... Then, with police resources stretched to breaking point, a simple house fire turns into a full-scale murder hunt. An invisible killer is picking off victims at random and, if DS Costello's hunch is correct, committing an ingenious deception. As his squad struggles to work both cases, DI Anderson learns that deception and betrayal come in many guises. For while the boys' abductor is still out there no child is safe - as young Peter Anderson is about to find out... Reissued with a stunning new package, Caro Ramsay's Anderson & Costello thrillers have been widely recognised as one of the most significant new series in the genre in recent years and Ramsay's utterly unique investigators are ready to become the nation's favourite Scottish cop duo. Absolution is the amazing opening to this stunning series. Subsequent titles include Dark Water and Singing to the Dead. Fans of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid will love this series. Praise for Caro Ramsay: 'Brilliant in twisting the tension tauter with each page' Guardian 'Ramsay handles her characters with aplomb, the dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns' Observer 'Many shivers in store for readers, followed by a shattering climax' The Times Caro Ramsay was born in Glasgow and now lives in a village on the west coast of Scotland. Absolution is her first novel, which was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. This success was followed by two further DI Anderson and DS Costello novels, Singing to the Dead and Dark Water. The fourth book in the same series, The Blood of Crows, is also released this summer.
DI Costello faces a disturbing child abduction case; a six-week-old has been stolen and replaced with another baby. The swap took cold and meticulous planning, so Costello treads the seedy, Glaswegian backstreets for answers. She’s convinced that more than one young life is at stake. Promoted into the Cold Case Unit, Colin Anderson reviews the unsolved rape of a young mother, whose attacker is still out there. Each case pulls Anderson and Costello in the same direction and, as their paths keep crossing, they begin to suspect their separate cases are dangerously entwined.
Caro Ramsay's Singing to the Dead is the second instalment in the Anderson and Costello series. Bitter betrayal. Sweet revenge. Two seven-year-old boys have been abducted from the streets of Glasgow. Both had already endured years of neglect and betrayal - but for Detective Inspector Colin Anderson the case is especially disturbing, because the boys look so much like his own son Peter... Then, with police resources stretched to breaking point, a simple house fire turns into a full-scale murder hunt. An invisible killer is picking off victims at random and, if DS Costello's hunch is correct, committing an ingenious deception. As his squad struggles to work both cases, DI Anderson learns that deception and betrayal come in many guises. For while the boys' abductor is still out there no child is safe - as young Peter Anderson is about to find out... Reissued with a stunning new package, Caro Ramsay's Anderson & Costello thrillers have been widely recognised as one of the most significant new series in the genre in recent years and Ramsay's utterly unique investigators are ready to become the nation's favourite Scottish cop duo. Absolution is the amazing opening to this stunning series. Subsequent titles include Dark Water and Singing to the Dead. Fans of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid will love this series. Praise for Caro Ramsay: 'Brilliant in twisting the tension tauter with each page' Guardian 'Ramsay handles her characters with aplomb, the dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns' Observer 'Many shivers in store for readers, followed by a shattering climax' The Times Caro Ramsay was born in Glasgow and now lives in a village on the west coast of Scotland. Absolution is her first novel, which was shortlisted for the CWA's New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. This success was followed by two further DI Anderson and DS Costello novels, Singing to the Dead and Dark Water. The fourth book in the same series, The Blood of Crows, is also released this summer.
A young woman determines to find out what happened to her missing sister in this tense and twisting psychological thriller Elvie McCulloch’s sister Sophie has been missing for 57 days. She went out for a run – and never came home. Several young woman in the area have disappeared in similar circumstances, and Elvie’s family fears the worst. As Elvie is driving to her new job late at night, the naked, emaciated body of a young woman crashes from high above onto an oncoming car. Elvie recognises her as Lorna Lennox, who has been missing for weeks. But why was she up there? Where had she been all this time? And why was she running for her life? Teaming up with retired detective Billy Hopkirk, who has been retained by the mother of one of the missing girls to find her daughter, Elvie determines to find out the truth. But as the pair alternately collaborate with and infuriate investigating police detectives Anderson and Costello, they find themselves up against a terrifying enemy. Someone who has killed before. Someone who will kill again, for pure enjoyment. Someone they call The Night Hunter.
Brilliant . . . twisting the tension tauter with each page' Guardian 'The dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns' Observer Inside a beautiful Victorian family home in Glasgow’s West End, a mother and her young son are found brutally murdered. DI Costello is furious and knows exactly who did it, George Haggerty, the husband and father. The only problem is that Haggerty has a cast-iron alibi – the police themselves caught him speeding on the A9 at the time of the murders. But Costello can’t let it go. Determined to expose Haggerty as a ruthless killer, she’s gone solo. DCI Colin Anderson has no time to ponder his partner of twenty years going rogue, as his own cases are piling up. But Costello’s absence becomes increasingly worrying. Has she completely disappeared following the tracks of a dangerous man?
Megan Melvick has spent years avoiding her inheritance, the dark and disquieting family estate Benbrae, now home only to her distant, aristocratic father, and her sister Melissa, dying quietly in an upstairs bedroom. Trapped behind her unreliable hearing aids and vulnerable to what others want her to see, Megan is unable to find the answers she wants: why is there a new woman on her father’s arm? And why has their absent mother not returned to say a final goodbye to Melissa? Benbrae has always been a place of loss and misfortune for Megan, but as the Melvick family diminishes still further, she must ask one final question. If there is a curse on the house, will she be its next victim?
The behavioral neuroscience of thirst and sodium appetite are research ventures that have expanded dramatically in recent years. Work done in the mid-1950s and early 1960s made it clear that drinking behavior could be affected by direct manipulations of the brain, especially by brain damage and by pharmacological treat ments. Since that. time experimental approaches have diversified and the research enterprise has attracted the interest of a broad international community of scientists. Many aspects of both thirst and sodium appetite are being studied. The most prominent of these are: 1) phylogenetic and ontogenetic aspects of the phenomena of drink ing behavior, 2) the mechanisms of a variety of dipsogenic and antidipsogenic treatments, both drugs and hormones, 3) the biological controls of drinking and their interaction with the regulation of blood volume and blood pressure, 4) the peripheral signals of drinking including the role of the baro- and volume-receptors, 5) the receptor systems within the brain and the neuroanatomical circuitry for thirst and sodium appetite, and 6) the possible roles of brain sodium and of the hormones of sodium conservation ln the arousal of sodium appetite. This acceleration of basic research activity has given in sights into the clinical disorders of thirst and salt appetite and has produced pharmacological agents of potential therapeutic use.
In the village of Cronchie, a wealthy family are found brutally murdered. The Devil Stone, an heirloom rumoured to bring death if removed from their home, is the only thing stolen. The key suspects are known satanists. But when the investigating officer disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to investigate. Caplan knows she is being punished for a minor misdemeanour when she is seconded to the Highlands, but she’s confident she can quickly solve the murders and return home to her fractious family. But as she closes in on the truth, it is suddenly her life, not her career, that is in danger.
DI Costello faces a disturbing child abduction case; a six-week-old has been stolen and replaced with another baby. The swap took cold and meticulous planning, so Costello treads the seedy, Glaswegian backstreets for answers. She’s convinced that more than one young life is at stake. Promoted into the Cold Case Unit, Colin Anderson reviews the unsolved rape of a young mother, whose attacker is still out there. Each case pulls Anderson and Costello in the same direction and, as their paths keep crossing, they begin to suspect their separate cases are dangerously entwined.
A young woman is missing. But is she in hiding . . . or has she been captured? A dying cop asks DCI Christine Caplan to fulfil her last wish: to investigate a cold case that’s still preying on her mind. The naked body of a young man that was found in a lonely wood, dismissed as a down and out by her superiors. Caplan connects the case to other victims left to die in the bleak Scottish forests, injured and unable to escape. As the scent grows stronger, the cold cases suddenly seem dangerously hot. In this thrilling hunt for the missing girl, Caplan must trace where love and control get out of hand, and question where power lies in any relationship. Meanwhile, the dark nights of Scotland conceal a terrifying game of cat and mouse . . . This gripping Scottish police procedural meets twisted psychological thriller, featuring a complex and fascinating female protagonist, is a perfect choice for fans of tartan noir and authors Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and William McIlvanney.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson is the political biography of our time. No president—no era of American politics—has been so intensively and sharply examined at a time when so many prime witnesses to hitherto untold or misinterpreted facets of a life, a career, and a period of history could still be persuaded to speak. The Path to Power, Book One, reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson’s political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, of the national power for which he hungered. We see in him, from earliest childhood, a fierce, unquenchable necessity to be first, to win, to dominate—coupled with a limitless capacity for hard, unceasing labor in the service of his own ambition. Caro shows us the big, gangling, awkward young Lyndon—raised in one of the country’s most desperately poor and isolated areas, his education mediocre at best, his pride stung by his father’s slide into failure and financial ruin—lunging for success, moving inexorably toward that ultimate “impossible” goal that he sets for himself years before any friend or enemy suspects what it may be. We watch him, while still at college, instinctively (and ruthlessly) creating the beginnings of the political machine that was to serve him for three decades. We see him employing his extraordinary ability to mesmerize and manipulate powerful older men, to mesmerize (and sometimes almost enslave) useful subordinates. We see him carrying out, before his thirtieth year, his first great political inspiration: tapping-and becoming the political conduit for-the money and influence of the new oil men and contractors who were to grow with him to immense power. We follow, close up, the radical fluctuations of his relationships with the formidable “Mr. Sam” Raybum (who loved him like a son and whom he betrayed) and with FDR himself. And we follow the dramas of his emotional life-the intensities and complications of his relationships with his family, his contemporaries, his girls; his wooing and winning of the shy Lady Bird; his secret love affair, over many years, with the mistress of one of his most ardent and generous supporters . . . Johnson driving his people to the point of exhausted tears, equally merciless with himself . . . Johnson bullying, cajoling, lying, yet inspiring an amazing loyalty . . . Johnson maneuvering to dethrone the unassailable old Jack Garner (then Vice President of the United States) as the New Deal’s “connection” in Texas, and seize the power himself . . . Johnson raging . . . Johnson hugging . . . Johnson bringing light and, indeed, life to the worn Hill Country farmers and their old-at-thirty wives via the district’s first electric lines. We see him at once unscrupulous, admirable, treacherous, devoted. And we see the country that bred him: the harshness and “nauseating loneliness” of the rural life; the tragic panorama of the Depression; the sudden glow of hope at the dawn of the Age of Roosevelt. And always, in the foreground, on the move, LBJ. Here is Lyndon Johnson—his Texas, his Washington, his America—in a book that brings us as close as we have ever been to a true perception of political genius and the American political process.
Brilliant . . . twisting the tension tauter with each page' Guardian 'The dialogue crackles and the search for the killer has surprising twists and turns' Observer Inside a beautiful Victorian family home in Glasgow’s West End, a mother and her young son are found brutally murdered. DI Costello is furious and knows exactly who did it, George Haggerty, the husband and father. The only problem is that Haggerty has a cast-iron alibi – the police themselves caught him speeding on the A9 at the time of the murders. But Costello can’t let it go. Determined to expose Haggerty as a ruthless killer, she’s gone solo. DCI Colin Anderson has no time to ponder his partner of twenty years going rogue, as his own cases are piling up. But Costello’s absence becomes increasingly worrying. Has she completely disappeared following the tracks of a dangerous man?
Traces Johnson's life from his Texas childhood through his rise to political power and his successful 1948 senatorial campaign and eventual presidency.
Two murders, forty years apart. What links them? Detectives Anderson & Costello undertake their most baffling investigation to date. The body is found in the early hours of the morning, drifting lifelessly on the outgoing tide. Twenty-three-year-old medical student Aasha Ariti had been enjoying a night out to celebrate the end of lockdown. Anthony Poole, the last person to have seen her alive, is the prime suspect. Before detectives Anderson and Costello can make further headway, they are pulled off the case to investigate the murder of a pensioner in his own home. The body of eighty-one-year-old Jimmy Pearcey reveals evidence of prolonged, excruciating torture in the hours before he died. Of one thing DCI Anderson is certain: this killing was very close and very personal. But the victim was a loner, without friends or relatives. As they dig deeper however, the two detectives uncover a number of secrets in the dead man's past. Secrets that link to another murder more than forty years before. What really happened on 21st June 1978? Someone is determined to ensure that Anderson and Costello never find out. Whatever it takes.
An attention-grabbing procedural with unsettling surprises inside every snowbank" - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Called to investigate the bloodstained aftermath of an eventful Christmas party, detectives Anderson & Costello discover that the holiday season can be anything but merry. A family man is stabbed to death at a crowded Christmas Ice Show. Murdered in plain sight. No clues, no witnesses, no known motive. A week later, two bodies are discovered at a holiday cottage in a remote highland glen: one in the kitchen; the other sprawled outside on the icy lawn. The killer would appear to have arrived and left without leaving a trace, not even a footprint in the snow. What secrets are lurking within this isolated, superstitious community? As the snow piles higher, detectives Anderson and Costello put their wits to solving a seemingly impossible crime, and gradually uncover a twisted tale of greed, obsession – and cold-blooded murder.
Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains is the most comprehensive account of carnivore social behavior to date. Synthesizing more than a decade of research in the wild, this book offers a detailed account of the behavior and ecology of cheetahs. Compared with other large cats, and other mammals, cheetahs have an unusual breeding system; whereas lions live in prides and tigers are solitary, some cheetahs live in groups while others live by themselves. Tim Caro explores group and solitary living among cheetahs and discovers that the causes of social behavior vary dramatically, even within a single species. Why do cheetah cubs stay with their mother for a full year after weaning? Why do adolescents remain in groups? Why do adult males live in permanent associations with each other? Why do adult females live alone? Through observations on the costs and benefits of group living, Caro offers new insight into the complex behavior of this extraordinary species. For example, contrary to common belief about cooperative hunting in large carnivores, he shows that neither adolescents nor adult males benefit from hunting in groups. With many surprising findings, and through comparisons with other cat species, Caro enriches our understanding of the evolution of social behavior and offers new perspectives on conservation efforts to save this charismatic and endangered carnivore.
The vast scope of conservation problems has forced biologists and managers to rely on "surrogate" species to serve as shortcuts to guide their decision making. These species-known by a host of different terms, including indicator, umbrella, and flagship species-act as proxies to represent larger conservation issues, such as the location of biodiversity hotspots or general ecosystem health. Synthesizing an immense body of literature, conservation biologist and field researcher Tim Caro offers systematic definitions of surrogate species concepts, explores biological theories that underlie them, considers how surrogate species are chosen, critically examines evidence for and against their utility, and makes recommendations for their continued use. The book clarifies terminology and contrasts how different terms are used in the real world considers the ecological, taxonomic, and political underpinnings of these shortcuts identifies criteria that make for good surrogate species outlines the circumstances where the application of the surrogate species concept shows promise Conservation by Proxy is a benchmark reference that provides clear definitions and common understanding of the evidence and theory behind surrogate species. It is the first book to review and bring together literature on more than fifteen types of surrogate species, enabling us to assess their role in conservation and offering guidelines on how they can be used most effectively.
Two murders, forty years apart. What links them? Detectives Anderson & Costello undertake their most baffling investigation to date. The body is found in the early hours of the morning, drifting lifelessly on the outgoing tide. Twenty-three-year-old medical student Aasha Ariti had been enjoying a night out to celebrate the end of lockdown. Anthony Poole, the last person to have seen her alive, is the prime suspect. Before detectives Anderson and Costello can make further headway, they are pulled off the case to investigate the murder of a pensioner in his own home. The body of eighty-one-year-old Jimmy Pearcey reveals evidence of prolonged, excruciating torture in the hours before he died. Of one thing DCI Anderson is certain: this killing was very close and very personal. But the victim was a loner, without friends or relatives. As they dig deeper however, the two detectives uncover a number of secrets in the dead man's past. Secrets that link to another murder more than forty years before. What really happened on 21st June 1978? Someone is determined to ensure that Anderson and Costello never find out. Whatever it takes.
A complex plot with plenty of red herrings, taut suspense, and graphic details make this a gruesome but gripping read”Booklist A macabre discovery throws disturbing new light on a 20-year-old murder case in the latest tense and twisting Anderson and Costello mystery. In August 1992, a young mother and her two small sons were brutally murdered in the woods behind their home. Her neighbour Andrew Gyle was convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. Now, twenty-three years later, a macabre discovery throws new light on the case. Could there have been a shocking miscarriage of justice? Having only just returned to work following an enforced leave of absence, DCI Colin Anderson knows he must make a success of his comeback case. But, as he and his partner, DI Costello, uncover serious discrepancies in the original investigation, it becomes clear that not everyone is telling them the truth. Meanwhile, Costello worries that Anderson is struggling to cope – and his increasingly odd behaviour causes her to begin to think the unthinkable: can she trust her own partner?
Megan Melvick has spent years avoiding her inheritance, the dark and disquieting family estate Benbrae, now home only to her distant, aristocratic father, and her sister Melissa, dying quietly in an upstairs bedroom. Trapped behind her unreliable hearing aids and vulnerable to what others want her to see, Megan is unable to find the answers she wants: why is there a new woman on her father’s arm? And why has their absent mother not returned to say a final goodbye to Melissa? Benbrae has always been a place of loss and misfortune for Megan, but as the Melvick family diminishes still further, she must ask one final question. If there is a curse on the house, will she be its next victim?
In the village of Cronchie, a wealthy family are found brutally murdered. The Devil Stone, an heirloom rumoured to bring death if removed from their home, is the only thing stolen. The key suspects are known satanists. But when the investigating officer disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to investigate. Caplan knows she is being punished for a minor misdemeanour when she is seconded to the Highlands, but she’s confident she can quickly solve the murders and return home to her fractious family. But as she closes in on the truth, it is suddenly her life, not her career, that is in danger.
A young woman is missing. But is she in hiding . . . or has she been captured? A dying cop asks DCI Christine Caplan to fulfil her last wish: to investigate a cold case that’s still preying on her mind. The naked body of a young man that was found in a lonely wood, dismissed as a down and out by her superiors. Caplan connects the case to other victims left to die in the bleak Scottish forests, injured and unable to escape. As the scent grows stronger, the cold cases suddenly seem dangerously hot. In this thrilling hunt for the missing girl, Caplan must trace where love and control get out of hand, and question where power lies in any relationship. Meanwhile, the dark nights of Scotland conceal a terrifying game of cat and mouse . . . This gripping Scottish police procedural meets twisted psychological thriller, featuring a complex and fascinating female protagonist, is a perfect choice for fans of tartan noir and authors Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and William McIlvanney.
Edwards and Muller have assembled top-notch talent in this entertaining anthology of 20 original short stories... High-quality entries from the likes of Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, and Ian Rankin, as well as from lesser-known authors such as Bill Beverly, elevate this above similar volumes."--Publishers Weekly The twenty brand new crime stories in this book have been specially commissioned to celebrate the tenth anniversary of CrimeFest, described by the Guardian as "one of the 50 best festivals in the world." Contributors come from around the world and include the legendary Maj Sjöwall who, together with partner Per Wahlöö, was the originator of Nordic noir. The editors are Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller. Martin Edwards is responsible for many award-winning anthologies and Adrian Muller is one of the co-founders of CrimeFest. Contributors to Ten Year Stretch are: Bill Beverly, Simon Brett, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Jeffery Deaver, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Peter Guttridge, Sophie Hannah, John Harvey, Mick Herron, Donna Moore, Caro Ramsay, Ian Rankin, James Sallis, Zoë Sharp, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Maj Sjöwall, Michael Stanley and Andrew Taylor.
Two bodies are discovered at a cottage in a remote Highland glen: one in the kitchen; the other sprawled outside in the snow. The killer would appear to have arrived and left without leaving a trace, not even a footprint in the snow. As the snow piles higher, detectives Anderson and Costello put their wits to solving a seemingly impossible crime.
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