Rozvážna a bystrá Mary Challonerová je presvedčená, že skazený, zlomyseľný Dominic Alastair, markíz z Vidalu, sa s jej sestrou Sophiou napriek matkiným intrigám nezamýšľa oženiť. Rozhodne sa, že zachráni sestrinu povesť a dá rozmaznanému markízovi poriadnu príučku. Ani vo sne jej však nenapadlo, že sa jej rozzúrený šľachtic pomstí únosom! Keď sa v ňom konečne prebudí zodpovednosť a uvedomí si, že uniesol nevinné, počestné dievča, navrhne jej sobáš. Ale čo sa stane, ak si Mary dovolí hrdého a očareného markíza odmietnuť?
Meet Vish Puri, India?s most private investigator. Portly, persistent and unmistakably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swathe through modern India?s swindlers, cheats and murderers.In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centres and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri?s main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri?s resources to investigate. How will he trace the fate of the girl, known only as Mary, in a population of more than one billion? Who is taking pot shots at him and his prize chilli plants? And why is his widowed 'Mummy-ji? attempting to play sleuth when everyone knows Mummies are not detectives?With his team of undercover operatives - Tubelight, Flush and Facecream - Puri ingeniously combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago -- long before 'that Johnny-come-lately? Sherlock Holmes donned his Deerstalker.The search for Mary takes him to the desert oasis of Jaipur and the remote mines of Jharkhand. From his well-heeled Gymkhana Club to the slums where the servant classes live, Puri?s adventures reveal modern India in all its seething complexity.
Early one morning, on the lawns of a grand boulevard in central Delhi, a group of professionals are attending their therapeutic Laughing Club when a 20-foot apparition of the Goddess Kali apppears, and strikes one of their number dead.The goddess disappears without trace, and soon news of the crime has all India agog.
“POWERFUL . . . SUSPENSEFUL . . . RICHLY TEXTURED . . . [A] CHILLING, PRECOCIOUSLY GOOD START TO A BRIGHT NEW NOVELIST’S CAREER.” –The New York Times “[A] gripping psychological thriller . . . In the winter of 1919, a young mother named Mathilda Neumann drowns beneath the ice of a rural Wisconsin lake. The shock of her death dramatically changes the lives of her daughter, troubled sister, and husband. . . . Told in the voices of several of the main characters and skipping back and forth in time, the narrative gradually and tantalizingly reveals the dark family secrets and the unsettling discoveries that lead to the truth of what actually happened the night of the drowning. . . . Schwarz certainly succeeds at keeping the reader engrossed.” –FRANCINE PROSE Us Weekly “DEFT AND ASSURED . . . [WITH] STRONG CHARACTERS AND A PLOT LONG ON TENSION AND SURPRISES.” –Time “A strong sense of portent and unusually vivid characters distinguish this mesmerizing first novel about horrifying family secrets and nearly annihilating guilt. Drowning Ruth is a complex and rewarding debut.” –ANITA SHREVE Author of The Pilot’s Wife “RIVETING . . . A VERY SUSPENSEFUL TALE, ONE THAT WILL KEEP READERS UP SHIVERING IN THE NIGHT.” –USA Today
Attraverso gli occhi e l’anima dell’esteta per eccellenza, uno squarcio brillante e acuto della società londinese dell’epoca, dei costumi e degli ideali artisti che la animavano.
Quando accoglie in casa la giovane e deliziosa nipote Sophy, Lady Ombersley è ben lontana dall'immaginarsi quello che la ragazza è capace di scatenare. E neppure il figlio Charles, assai meno dolce e arrendevole di lei, ne ha una vaga idea. Sophy è infatti a dir poco inarrestabile nel voler risolvere i problemi altrui e dipanare i grovigli sentimentali di chi le sta attorno; inoltre non dimentica i suoi affari. Anche di cuore. Insomma, pare che nessuno sia in grado di fermarla, tranne, forse, proprio Charles. Ammesso che lo voglia...
