Showing results by narrator "Michael Langan" in All Categories

When solicitor Phineas Larcombe telegrams Baker Street with two words - murder suspected - Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are drawn into a web of death that begins in a Clerkenwell clockmaker's workshop and reaches far darker places than either man could have imagined.

In Lady Dragonfly and other Sherlock Holmes Stories, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson encounter criminals and enemies of various kinds and in different places. A kidnapped girl is rescued, a stolen skeleton is recovered, an inheritance is identified and returned, and the Great War brings them into conflict with German spies and enemy forces. Holmes also finds himself working in cooperation with Solar Pons, and with G. K. Chesterton Father Brown. In all of these stories, the game is unquestionably afoot.

Sherlock Holmes stories are transportive things. They move listeners through the cloistered sitting room at 221-B Baker Street in late 19th Century Victorian London amid the cluttered sideboard, the inviting armchairs, the comforting hearth, the sprawling divan, the formidable bookshelves — all the beloved trappings in the room of the world's greatest detective and his faithful associate. The stories unfold and the listeners can almost sense the physical presence of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, characters whose vitality has defied the diminishments of time.

Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due.

The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable, and often very cold years of modern European history, how climate altered historical events, and what they mean in the context of today’s global warming.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the usefulness of consulting detectives in the war against crime was very well established by Mr. Sherlock Holmes. By the early Twentieth Century, Holmes had retired to Sussex, and the void he left behind in London was capably filled by a number of other noted criminal specialists: Solar Pons, Hercule Poirot, Dr. John Thorndyke, Father Brown, Albert Campion, and Lord Peter Wimsey, to name a few. But another who made a name for himself with his unique skills tends to receive less attention today: Max Carrados.

The Uncollected Cases of Sherlock Holmes presents eight new stories about Holmes which set the great detective against the background of Victorian England, an era of enormous progress, in science, transport, and medicine but which also witnessed a surge in urban poverty, prostitution and imperial adventurism. Each of the stories in this collection engages with an aspect of this background.

What's behind a series of mysterious deaths among the favourite concubines of Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II? Suspecting a plot against himself, the Sultan has called on Sherlock Holmes to investigate. However, as a man, the detective is clearly unable to penetrate the exotic enclosed world of the harem, so he reluctantly enlists the help of his landlady, Mrs Hudson. Together with Dr Watson, they travel across Europe by Orient Express to Constantinople, on the way encountering Holmes's old enemy, Baron Mauterpuis.

Charity Buntington's husband describes his wife as the most lovely and inoffensive person, whom nobody would want to hurt. But someone enters their home in broad daylight, strangles her, then cuts off and takes away her right forefinger. Inspector Hopkins asks Sherlock Holmes to help him investigate the case, but Charity's friend Aurora Jones is also a private detective, and wishes to help bring her friend's murderer to justice. Holmes is impressed with Jones' skills, and although Hopkins is reluctant, he agrees to let Miss Jones assist in the case under Holmes' guidance.

Einar is a Northman with a dream, a Viking bound by blood to a ship and a crew of battle hardened warriors, and oathsworn to Ivar the Boneless. The sons of Ragnar fight a war of vengeance against King Orsten the Roarer, ruler of Sweden, a savage pagan and murderer of Eric and Agnar Ragnarsson. Einar and his crew face losing their precious warship Seaworm and become locked in a fight to keep their ship, survive a brutal war, and treachery from within the Viking army itself...

881 AD, Northumbria. Hundr, The Man with the Dogs Name, sails the England’s coastline raiding and challenging Viking champions to single combat. His wife and child died in a savage war with Rollo the Betrayer and Hundr seeks to soothe his grief in the fog of war. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… ruthless Viking warlords and savage individual combat… epic battles, gladiatorial fights, twists and turns. Hundr is lost in a violent sea storm and falls foul of fellow Vikings who force men to fight in the hjaldr-garth slave fighting pit.

880 AD, Norway. Rollo the Betrayer has risen to become a powerful Duke in Normandy and sails with his warriors and his spite to exact revenge upon Viking warriors Hundr and Einar the Brawler. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… Viking warships flying the raven banner… epic battles, berserkers, twists and turns. Hundr and Einar are faced with a brutal enemy and must fight to protect their home, their loved ones and their reputations. The war with Rollo takes them deep into Viking Norway, and into a war with the King of Frankia and his vast army.

An engaging, wide-ranging exploration of the end of Roman Britain and the beginnings of England In 410 CE, Roman rule of Britain collapsed, bringing a centuries-long occupation to an end. A century later, Britain was dividing into two areas with contrasting cultures, an expansive "Anglo-Saxon"...

883AD, Scandinavia. Harald Fairhair is King of Norway, and Bjorn Ironside King of Sweden. To the west, the Crippled King of Mann builds an army in thrall to Loki. He threatens to destroy the Viking world and set Midgard on the road to the Ragnarök, the end of days.

882 AD Norway. A new power rises amongst the Viking north, wild Danes under the sway of powerful Loki worship threaten the land with fire and blood. Hundr, The Man with the Dog’s Name… Einar the Brawler… Viking warriors bent on destruction and carnage.. epic battles, axes, shields, twists and turns. Hundr, Einar, and King Harald Fairhair of Norway sail south to meet a rising challenge. War looms, and Loki, the chained-one, threatens to break free from his fetters and toss Midgard into the chaos of the Ragnarök.

From 1913 to 1934, mystery readers were treated to Carrados' published adventures in the form of twenty-six short stories and one full-length novel. In his time, Carrados was one of the most popular detectives in literature. The July 1924 issue of The Strand contained a new Sherlock Holmes story - but it was the announcement of a new Carrados adventure that decorated the magazine's cover.

From Cornish devils, to Welsh witches, from Ghazi genies, to Covent Garden mediums, from pagan sacrifices, to mummies' curses, The Infinitely Stranger Cases of Sherlock Holmes collects six canonical tales which test Holmes's ability to unravel the conspiracies, the misdirections, the strange, and the curious. The game is afoot.

Why do teenagers stay up late and struggle to get up in the morning? Do teenagers really take more risks? What is happening with teenagers' hormones? The Psychology of the Teenage Brain offers all those involved in teenagers' lives insight into what's happening in their brains and how understanding them can improve relationships and communication at this crucial stage. It explains key topics, including the way the brain changes during adolescence, the role of hormones, and what we really know about risk and resilience, sleep, and peer pressure.

879 AD, Norway. Halvdan, son of Ragnar Lothbrok and King of Dublin, is locked in a savage war with Irish Dubgaill warriors in a battle for supremacy of Ireland’s coastal strongholds. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name…Viking warships flying the raven banner…and the echo of Ivar the Boneless. Hundr and Einar the Brawler are drawn into a search for the son of Bjorn Ironside, lost during the war for Ireland’s future. Old enemies seething with vengeful fury emerge to throw Hundr and Einar into the most dangerous fight of their lives.

From a country estate in Sussex to the docklands of Limehouse, from the Royal Albert Hall to a music hall in Shoreditch, from the net-curtained suburbs of Beckenham and Hampstead to a brothel in Bow, Holmes and Watson go plumbing the depths of human depravity to unmask likely and unlikely villains. The cast of colourful characters include a world famous Russian violinist, an intrepid female detective, Miss Dimples and her performing poodles, a diminutive maid named Fancy, a dead policeman on a platform at St Pancras station, as well as Wiggins, Jimsy and Bobs of the Baker Street Irregulars.