Philip Gooden Knihy

The latest witty, colourful Shakespearean murder mystery in the Nick Revill series

From its first arrival in Britain with the Norman forces of William the Conqueror, violence and revenge are the cursed sword's constant companions. From an election-rigging scandal in 13th century Venice to the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, as the Sword of Shame passes from owner to owner in this compelling collection of interlinked mysteries, it brings nothing but bad luck and disgrace to all who possess it.

Lists in alphabetical order some of the more commonly confused English words with definitions, examples of proper and improper usage, and how to avoid typical mistakes.

It was July, 1100. Jerusalem lies ransacked. Amidst the chaos, an English knight is entrusted with a valuable religious relic: a fragment of the True Cross, allegedly stained with the blood of Christ. The relic is said to be cursed: anyone who touches it will meet an untimely and gruesome end. Several decades later, the Cross turns up in the possession of a dealer, robbed and murdered en route to Glastonbury. Investigating the death, Bernard Knight's protagonist, Crowner John learns of its dark history. In Oxford in 1269, the discovery of a decapitated monk leads Ian Morson's academic sleuth William Falconer to uncover a link to the relic. In 1323, in Exeter, Michael Jecks' Sir Baldwin has reason to suspect its involvement in at least five violent deaths. Thirty years later, several suspicious deaths occur in Cambridge - and, once again, the tainted relic has a crucial part to play. Finally, it's despatched to London, where Philip Gooden's Nick Revill will determine its ultimate fate.

A richly entertaining exploration of the origins of the words that English has borrowed from other languages over its 1500-year history.

Have you ever had a Hitchcockian experience (in the shower, perhaps?) or met someone with a distinctly Ortonesque outlook on life? What exactly do we mean when we describe a scene as Dickensian, or when we call a politician’s style Churchillian or Thatcherite? What would you call a romantic, brooding, dangerous, and untamed person? Heathcliffian? Byronesque? How about a situation that is nightmarish, torturously bureaucratic, and impossible to escape from? Kafkaesque, maybe? Is Nixonian or Gandalf-like part of your vocabulary? There are hundreds of words derived from real people who are famous---or infamous---enough to give their stamp to a movement, a way of thinking or acting, a style or even a mood. Name Dropping is the essential guide to the better known or more intriguing of these terms from figures in politics, sports, and the arts, as well as history and the classics. It is both for those readers looking for definitions or simply browsing for pleasure. Entries are alphabetically listed with full explanations, examples from the press, guidance on usage, and a Pretentiousness Index that ranks items on the spectrum from familiarity to obscurity.

Idiomantics is a unique exploration of the world of idiomatic phrases. To cite three examples - from American English, Dutch and Italian - what on Earth are a snow job, a monkey sandwich story, and Mr Punch's secret? Idiomantics explains all...

The extraordinary story of the development and spread of the English language, from Dark Age Britain to the age of the Internet.

History meets mystery with a new twist in this raucous, colourful novel set in the bustling theatrical world of Shakespeare and Marlowe during the reign of the formidable Elizabeth I.

History meets mystery with a new twist in this raucous, colourful novel set in the bustling theatrical world of Shakespeare and Marlowe during the reign of the formidable Elizabeth I.