Death is one of the most challenging aspects of living, demanding inventive and meaningful responses. This insightful collection demonstrates cultural commitment to improving the conditions of the dying and dead and also documents the varied, creative ways that we, the living, already respond to death. Collectively, the 16 essays are an interrogation of the commonly held assumption that death is somehow hidden, denied, or done badly as standard practice. The underpinning themes and narratives in this anthology make a significant contribution to death studies debates and conversations by offering examples of post-colonial, multi-cultural practices that span professional and every-day points of intersection. Death studies can be a challenging and complex field; nevertheless each contributor here highlights specific ways in which assumptions and beliefs about contemporary death practices can be unpicked, nuanced and challenged.

Detective Inspector Carol Ashton returns in the most formidable, baffling and important homicide case of her career… Four women are dead, each strangled with an orange cord, their bodies ritually arranged. Carol and Detective Sergeant Mark Bourke know that this killer, like all serial killers, will be exceedingly difficult to track down. The Australian press has sensationalized the murders, especially the fact that one of the victims was a lesbian. Madeline Shipley, star of The Shipley Report, claims that she has been contacted by the “Orange Strangler.” Adding to the pressures on Carol is her relationship with Sybil Quade, who has grown increasingly restive with its secrecy. And Carol is learning uncomfortable truths about herself from the successful, confident Madeline Shipley. Carol accumulates evidence, putting together clues in her relentless search for the Orange Strangler. And all the while, the killer is drawing closer to her than she dreams…

Even as a small child, Kyle Madden displayed a malevolent, evil, and violent personality. He ran away from home when he was ten. For the past four years, he has lived a life of crime and violence, surviving in storm water drains and back alleys. He has grown up with murderers, rapists, corrupt ex-cops, military veterans, and potential terrorists.For good reason, Kyle's nickname is Killer Boy. At the ripe age of fourteen, his life takes an even more violent turn, when he is arrested and escapes by killing two cops. He hides out in a farmhouse, and when cornered, causes a massive gas explosion, killing and maiming more than thirty cops. He goes back to the drains, where he kills an undercover cop.In an act of revenge, Killer Boy blows up a police station, killing even more cops. He flees Australia by stowing onboard a freighter bound for Hawaii. The freighter stops at Fiji, where a beautiful girl stows onboard. The two meet in the hold, and for the first time Killer Boy falls in love. When the girl is discovered by the drunken crew, she is brutally raped and murdered. In a fit of rage, Killer Boy murders everyone onboard and escapes in a dinghy. After his rescue, his identity is discovered. He escapes and goes on a wild, violent rampage across America.No kid was ever born evil. Some just get that way. Mike Berry (alias Judo Barr) was born in the town of Orange, New South Wales, Australia. He became a journeyman, moving all over Australia playing music and writing songs. After an accident derailed his live music career, he became an author.

The Screech Owls are flying around the world to Sydney, Australia, site of the 2000 Olympics, for an exhibition tournament to promote ice hockey in the sports-mad land down under. The trip, however, involves much more than hockey. The teams coming to Sydney will take part in “The Peewee Olympics” – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the youngsters to compete in real Olympic sports facilities. What will it be for Nish? The pole vault? Synchronized swimming? Beach volleyball? The team is also invited to tour Sydney’s magnificent zoo and the world-renowned Sydney Aquarium, where Sarah’s interest in bizarre marine biology leads to a field trip in search of an endangered sea horse. A field trip that brings the Screech Owls face-to-face with Death Down Under. Check out the Screech Owls' website at www.screechowls.com.

New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.

For the first time in one place, Roger M. Sobin has compiled a list of nominees and award winners of virtually every mystery award ever presented. He has also included many of the “best of” lists by more than fifty of the most important contributors to the genre.; Mr. Sobin spent more than two decades gathering the data and lists in this volume, much of that time he used to recheck the accuracy of the material he had collected. Several of the “best of” lists appear here for the first time in book form. Several others have been unavailable for a number of years.; Of special note, are Anthony Boucher’s “Best Picks for the Year.” Boucher, one of the major mystery reviewers of all time, reviewed for The San Francisco Chronicle, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and The New York Times. From these resources Mr. Sobin created “Boucher’s Best” and “Important Lists to Consider,” lists that provide insight into important writing in the field from 1942 through Boucher’s death in 1968.? This is a great resource for all mystery readers and collectors.; ; Winner of the 2008 Macavity Awards for Best Mystery Nonfiction.