Devil's Daughter
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • :0)
  • Excuse a male for being confused
  • Intense
  • Coulter Historical Romantic Fiction
  • Book Description
Devil's Daughter
Catherine Coulter
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Romance | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
HardcoverHardcover | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
PaperbackPaperback | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
GeneralGeneral | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
HardcoverHardcover | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
PaperbackPaperback | Coulter, Catherine R. | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
GeneralGeneral | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
GeneralGeneral | Historical | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 DealsAll 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Devil's Embrace Devil's Embrace
  2. The Deception The Deception
  3. The Wild Baron The Wild Baron
  4. Night Fire Night Fire
  5. The Valentine Legacy The Valentine Legacy

ASIN: 0451158636
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Book Description

Devilish romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Golden-haired hellion Arabella goes to Naples, Italy, to solve the mystery of her father's missing ships and cargo. But soon she discovers that the man behind the thievery is a man she can't resist.

Download Description

Golden-haired hellion Arabella goes adventuring to Naples, Italy, to solve the mystery of her father's missing ships and cargoes. But soon she discovers that the man behind the thievery is an enemy from her father's past. A man she shouldn't love--but can't resist.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars :0).......2006-07-08

I am just starting to read Catherine Coulter's novel for sometime now and I thought this one was pretty good. What I like about it the most is that she's telling 2 stories in one about the brother and sister but its mainly about the sister. WHAT i also like about her books is that she gives great details in the beinging of the book and doesn't jump right into the story, I loved Adam and Rayan story, also Arabella and Kamal and the great details she gives for both stories. I got angry when Arabella did laugh when she did and dislike kamal when she did and fell in love with him when she did THATS how you know your reading a good book when you feel what the the 2 people are feeling where your understanding his point of view and her point of view.. The book is very good you might read a couple of bad reviews but its that 1 or 2 review that is good that is going to make you want to buy this book...go for it I think you will love this book.

5 out of 5 stars Excuse a male for being confused.......2006-06-13

If women so loath being treated like dirt why do they read so many novels in which the main male character treats his women this way?

I ask myself this question when reading this novel and a number of other romances.

She is basicly abducted from her home and given to this guy who mistakes her morals due to the lies his mother has given him. He treats her like dirty cloths. He tosses her into his harem to be kept as a slave. He thrashes her. He ravishes her. He treats her like dirt.

Eventually they fall in love.
The twists in this one are really interesting.

Still, do women actually enjoy being treated like this?

5 out of 5 stars Intense.......2006-03-28

This story is a sequel to the most violent Catherine Coulter book ever. Devil's daughter Arabella is the daughter of the Earl of Clare, who years ago kidnapped and raped her mother because he was infatuated with her. Her mother eventually fell in love with her father and gave him two children, one of them Arabella their rebelleous daughter. This is Arabella's story. She is kidnapped by a former rival of her mother's and sold into a harem in an Arab kingdom. Her master is half Arabic/Italian and quickly finds out Arabella will not be submissive. This book has some very brutal violence as well, but the chemistry between the two characters is so intense, that the hero will give up all others for her. She is eventually freed but still chooses to stay with him.

2 out of 5 stars Coulter Historical Romantic Fiction.......2005-10-07

If I like the way an author writes, I give that author's genres, other than mystery, a chance. These stories have become boring. I am going back to her FBI and crime fiction. Her plots are still fine there.

2 out of 5 stars Book Description.......2005-07-26

This book comes after "Devil's Embrace" and is about their son and daughter. The in print version has been RE-WRITTEN.
The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • I usually never take the time to review a book
  • Beautifully & movingly written blend of memoir. journalism, history
  • Compelling, but....
  • Gripping introduction to Sierra Leoneýs convoluted politics
  • Making sense of the senseless
The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest
Aminatta Forna
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & BlackAfrican-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
PoliticalPolitical | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
WomenWomen | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
MemoirsMemoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Ancestor Stones Ancestor Stones
  2. A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF And the Destruction of Sierra Leone A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF And the Destruction of Sierra Leone
  3. How de Body? One Man's Terrifying Journey Through an African War How de Body? One Man's Terrifying Journey Through an African War
  4. In Sierra Leone In Sierra Leone
  5. Under the Frangipani Under the Frangipani

ASIN: 0802140483

Book Description

As a child Aminatta Forna witnessed the upheavals of postcolonial Africa, danger, flight, the bitterness of exile in Britain, and the terrible consequences of her dissident father's stand against tyranny. Mohamed Forna was a man of unimpeachable integrity and enchanting charisma. As Sierra Leone faced its future as a fledgling democracy, he was a new star in the political firmament, a man who had been one of the first black students to come to Britain after the war. He stole the heart of Aminatta's mother and returned with her to Sierra Leone. But as Aminatta Forna shows with compelling clarity, the old Africa was torn apart by new ways of Western parliamentary democracy, which gave birth only to dictatorships and corruption of hitherto undreamed-of magnitude. It was not long before Mohamed languished in jail as a prisoner of conscience, and worse was to follow. Aminatta's search for the truth that shaped both her childhood and the nation's destiny began among the country's elite and took her into the heart of rebel territory. The Devil that Danced on the Water is a book of pain and anger and sorrow, written with tremendous dignity and beautiful precision.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars I usually never take the time to review a book.......2007-05-12

This book is fabulous. It is fabulous because it is accurate, interesting, and well-written. I am just a little older than the author and grew-up in Sierra Leone during much of the period described. I recall the Siaka Stevens years as a teen, I vaguely recall the execution of her father. Interestingly, I read another book about the first year that I was there and in that book, there was a reference to that hanging. I am a nonfiction junkie and read mostly books on mathematics--my field, but Aminatta has a keen way of describing Sierra Leone and the interactions of the politics. I read this book very quickly, in a few days during the work week. I have also read her other novel. I must say that this memoir is the best, in my opinion. Compared to the memoir A Long Way Gone about the Sierra Leonian boy soldier, this book by Aminatta is at a much higher level. It holds a longer period of time over which the plot is developed leading up to that war. It is her search to understand and in that respect the reader is searching right along with her. Read it!

5 out of 5 stars Beautifully & movingly written blend of memoir. journalism, history.......2005-08-15

Finding/discovering a vanished father. Untangling a terrible and terrifying, deeply saddening history of a place, personal and poltical, on which colonialism, broken promises, fear, racism, and inter-tribal rivalries and conflicts have all trod. What happens when ideals, hope, and education run up against such a history. The close-up, precise remains of a child's memory, feelings, and confusions overlaid with an adult daughter's detailed investigative and journalistic skills. All of these are part of this compulsively readable book, which tells the story of a family, a country (Sierra Leone), and a world torn apart and painstakingly, to whatever extent possible, reconstructed --- at least in the author's own hard-won understanding. I am a white American who happened on this book by accident. I love and respect memoirs where the author is transparent of heart and mind, especially in the context of a larger societal, political, or situational challenge. This book met these criteria with stunning precision. I could not put Aminatta Forna's courageous book down, and have been recommending it to everyone I know.

4 out of 5 stars Compelling, but...........2004-10-15

It is a difficult topic to write about, that relationship between father and daughter. In this case, the narrative is compelling and intensely personal, so much so that it is difficult to get a sense of who Mohammed Forna actually was. Sierra Leone, contrary to its image in the media, was a complex society, and the whole relationship of the Creoles and the 'upline' people is at the very centre of the post colonial struggle. Ms. Forna treats very very lightly with that.

On the whole, even though she documents her hurts and slights growing up as a child of colour in the United Kingdom, for me, a child of Ghana and to a lesser extent, Sierra Leone in the same time frame as Ms. Forna, there is a sense that she had little or no idea of what was going on, apart from the hero worship of her father, which is , of course , understandable.

Through her prose, though, I am able to relive those times in Sierra Leone - who can forget Mile 91, Kissy Road, Connaught Hospital, Lumley Beach! The diamond smuggling which is at the very heart of the tragedy. It is easy to forget that no one in Sierra Leone, especially not the rural poor, is capable of making a bullet, let alone a gun. So who profits? And for what? That is at the very centre of the tragedy. The Tiny Rolands, with their footprints all over Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Botswana - they are the ones who do.

4 out of 5 stars Gripping introduction to Sierra Leoneýs convoluted politics.......2003-10-21

As a gripping introduction to Sierra Leone's convoluted post-Independence politics, this book is unmatched.

Through the story of her own life, as the daughter of an influential and key political figure in newly independent Sierra Leone, we are led through the details of how Sierra Leone made its gradual descent from one of the most promising countries in West Africa, the place that used to be called "the Athens of Africa", to what is today considered euphemistically a "collapsed state". While one has heard of Foday Sankoh and the RUF, and one has an idea that diamonds are involved, Aminatta Forna takes us back to the very beginning of the process of decay. From the imprisonment of the victors in the 1967 elections, to the eventual rise to power of the rightful victor of that election, Siaka Stephens, and his consolidation of Sierra Leone into a one-party state completely under his own control.

The book is divided into two parts. In part one, we read about Aminatta's first ten years, as she moved between Scotland, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, according to the political situation in Sierra Leone, and the state of her parents' marriage. Consumed by politics, and not fully accepted by Forna's very traditional Sierra Leonean family, Mohamed Forna and his Scottish wife Maureen quickly grew apart. By the time Aminatta was eight, she had lived in six different homes, in three different countries. Part one ends when Mohamed Forna is taken away by state security, imprisoned, and his children never see him again.

Part two begins some 25 years later, in the year 2000, when Aminatta has started to research the death of her father. As a child she was told he died of stomach ulcers, which she always knew was not the truth. She returns from England to war-torn Sierra Leone where she seeks out everyone involved in her father's arrest, trial, and execution. She interviews scores of people, reads the complete trial transcript, and uses her own memories of the day he was taken away to try to piece together what really happened. What she finds is a blatant perversion of justice. Bribed and tortured witnesses, manufactured evidence, a jury of government stooges, and a judge obviously in the pockets of the state, together find her father guilty of treason and condemn him to death.

The narrator, Aminatta Forna herself, who writes in the first person, is not completely trustworthy, however. Particularly in the beginning of the book, she makes so many polemical statements about the nature of states' corruption, in the midst of which she states as fact a contested interpretation of history-who really killed Patrice Lumumba-that one is thenceforth wary of her claims.

Coming to the book with very little knowledge of Sierra Leonean history, and again recognizing her bias towards her father's goodness, his achievements, after a while, become somewhat incredulous. We are repeatedly told how brilliant Mohamed Forna was. At medical school in Scotland he was top of his class. The clinic he opened in a rural Sierra Leonean town was the model of Sierra Leonean healthcare. He won his parliamentary seat by the largest margin ever, he had the most support of all the politicians, as finance minister his budget was the most sensible that Sierra Leone had ever seen, and Sierra Leone enjoyed a fiscal surplus for the first time while he was minister. Sometimes it seems a bit too good to be true. Then she lets us know that he does have a weakness. Mohamed Forna's only shortcoming, according to his daughter's account, was with women. He carried on an extra-marital affair openly in front of his children, as he betrayed their stepmother who had spent the previous four years of her own life looking after his own children in England, while he was in prison. Yet the incidental treatment that Aminatta Forna gives this aspect of her father's life leaves the reader not fully understanding why Forna has included this in her account, as she does not use it to help us to understand her father and his choices.

However, I must confess that I couldn't put the book down once I had started reading it. Even amongst my quibbles about style and some of the content, I was compelled to keep turning the pages until I had finished, in a virtual non-stop two day reading marathon. Indeed these drawbacks that I cite, by the end of the book, are either forgotten or forgiven, as the account is so detailed and well researched, and too, moving.

The point is that once democracy, and democratic institutions and processes get corrupted, it tends to be a slippery slope, with a very unpleasant end, that exacts its tolls not only on countries, but on the lives and relationships of individuals. Aminatta Forna's book is a pithy and personal account of exactly how this happens.

5 out of 5 stars Making sense of the senseless.......2003-08-14

From a certain point of view Africa seems like such an enigma - the forgotten continent. Through an amazing memoir--detective story this book brings light and understanding to a so much of what is going on there - as well as being an exceptional read. The story of the author's father (a political dissident) and his fate at the hands of a corrupt regime is meticulously researched and compelling told. No stone is left unturned, no detail ommitted. For all people everywhere it is a fascinating study of corruption and what it does.
To the Devil a Daughter
Average customer rating: Not rated
    To the Devil a Daughter
    Dennis Wheatley
    Manufacturer: Mandarin
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Wheatley, DennisWheatley, Dennis | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Devil Rides Out (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural) The Devil Rides Out (Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural)
    2. The Haunting of Toby Jugg (Mystery & the Supernatural) The Haunting of Toby Jugg (Mystery & the Supernatural)
    3. The Satanist The Satanist
    4. Witchfinder General Witchfinder General
    5. Devils Of Darkness / Witchcraft Devils Of Darkness / Witchcraft

    ASIN: 0749306734
    Hell On Heels
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Three stories of satan's daughters finding love
    • three superb paranormal romances
    Hell On Heels
    Julie Kenner , Kathleen O'Reilly , and Dee Davis
    Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Authors, A-Z | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Fantasy | Gaming | Large Print | Media | Science Fiction | Writing
    ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
    Fantasy, Futuristic & GhostFantasy, Futuristic & Ghost | Romance | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Romance | Subjects | Books
    GothicGothic | Romance | Subjects | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Fendi, Ferragamo, and Fangs Fendi, Ferragamo, and Fangs
    2. Hell With the Ladies Hell With the Ladies
    3. Demons Are Forever: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Book 3) Demons Are Forever: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Book 3)
    4. The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even
    5. My Sister is a Werewolf (The Young Brothers, Book 4) My Sister is a Werewolf (The Young Brothers, Book 4)

    ASIN: 042521527X

    Book Description

    The daughters of Satan do their best to make daddy proud in three all-new sexy novellas from the authors of Hell with the Ladies.

    What's a devil to do? Satan's desperate to retire. He needs an heir, and he's turning to the promise of his three beautiful, bold, smart, and irresistibly sexy daughters. All they have to do is prove themselves by successfully completing the tricky tasks he sets before them. Surely one of them will win the Keys to the Kingdom-of Hell! Will it be Lucia, the assassin? Jezebel, the half-demon? Or Lola, the soulstealing baby of the family? The challenge is on and one must prevail-unless they're thwarted by that powerful human emotion called love.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Three stories of satan's daughters finding love.......2007-06-15

    This book is a collection of three stories about three daughters of satan who are offered the opportunity to take over from him if they can complete a task. His three sons have already failed these tasks (in the previous book "Hell with the Ladies") and so now it's the chance for the three women Lucia, Jezebel and Lola.

    LUCIA'S STORY by Julie Kenner
    The first story follows Lucia Faucheaux, a successful assassin who just has to complete one last job for her father, satan, in order to win the keys to his kingdom. Unfortunately for Lucia she's begun to lose her touch, finding that her emotions are affecting her work. However she decides to carry out this last assassination in the hope that her future life will be better.

    Dante Moreau is the only son of the impossibly rich hotel and casino owner, Jacques Moreau. Although having his own security business, his father has requested that he meets with him as there is a problem. Whilst Dante awaits his father he meets a beautiful woman and they start a flirtation which leads, very quickly, to bed and then several romantic days.

    However, what happens when you fall in love at first sight with someone who is meant to assassinate your father? And what happens if you're an assassin but your emotions get in the way? This story looks, very quickly, at that situation and how love might win out and provide a happy ending.

    The shortness of the story means there's little character development and description although we learn a little about the Monte Carlo setting. Equally their instant jump into bed isn't exactly a slow-burn romance but the story is written fairly well and doesn't drag. Perhaps the overly simple plot, plus the depiction of hell and satan as rather amusing and not actually scary detract a little from its completeness but it was a reasonable read and a good start to these three short stories.

    JEZEBEL'S STORY by Dee Davis
    This story was a sort-of cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Oceans 11, with Jezebel, known as Jessie, searching for a religious artefact which could destroy the world (her father satan tasked her to get it for him and then she could have the keys to hell) along with her ex-boyfriend David Bishop and a mysterious friend of her brother's, Faust. She and David had broken up over his singleminded quest to discover the man responsible for his brother's death and Jessie knows that she is secondary to this mission in his mind. The story starts very well with a setting in Berlin, well described, as Jessie first gets on the trail of the relic "The Protector".

    Because the romance with David is a rekindling of a previous relationship the author didn't need to spend as much time on the seduction and other scenes which meant there was more time for plot and action which worked really well in this story. Jessie is fun, tough and brave and she and David evidently worked well together as a team. David has to learn to deal with his obsession over his brother's murder and the two of them face danger when searching for the Protector. Jessie finally has to make a huge sacrifice for David, will she be able to do it, and will it work?

    LOLA'S STORY by Kathleen O'Reilly
    Lola de Medici is a playgirl, rich and impossibly beautiful who lives the jet-set life but doesn't experience love. Her 'talent' is to steal the souls of men with whom she sleeps which increases her beauty. However as the story opens she's finding the life, after four hundred-odd years, is becoming tiring. Her father, satan, asks her to take one more soul and then she can get the keys to hell and won't have to steal souls any longer. The man whose soul she must take is Christopher 'Crash' St Clair, a man who finds that trouble and problems follow him around and who always tries to help. Initially Lola isn't too successful in seducing Chris but when she finally gets his attention she finds there's more to him than she expected and she doesn't sleep with him; she likes him and doesn't want to steal his soul so hopes he'll leave her alone. Unfortunately he kidnaps her and they spend a night of passion on a desert island, but he retains his soul. Lola discovers that the one island is safe for them but satan is working behind her back to get Chris's soul and Lola may have to give up an awful lot to keep him safe.

    This story, like Lucia's story, has beautiful and rich people who are very focussed on looks and image. However, Chris has a lot more to him and the apparently-shallow Lola finds that attractive and it causes her to re-evaluate what is important to her. This story worked very well with insights into the characters of both people despite it being quite a short story. Satan's motivation wasn't very clear in this story and I wasn't completely convinced that Lola would be able to settle into her new life and situation at the end. However it was well written and the setting on an island with a hurricane was interesting.

    Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007

    5 out of 5 stars three superb paranormal romances .......2007-06-10

    Disappointed with his sons for choosing love over ruling in hell (see HELL WITH THE LADIES); Lucifer turns to his female offspring to decide who will replace him.

    "Lucia's Story" by Julie Kenner. Lucia suffers from battle fatigue syndrome having spent eternity as her father's top assassin. Lucifer informs her that if she does one more hit, he will free her. The target is Jacques, but Lucia is falling in love with her hit's son, Dante.

    "Jezebel's Story by Dee Davis. Lucifer assigns his daughter Jezebel to locate the Protector of Armageddon. She reluctantly agrees only to find her long lost eternal love David.

    "Lola's Story by Kathleen O'Reilly. Lola is Lucifer's favorite siren as she steals souls while having sex with her victims. If she stops sucking away male souls, she will lose her beauty and die. Her father demands she takes the soul of the compassionate hunk, who in her heart already owns her soul.

    These three superb paranormal romances like their male prequel (see HEEL WITH THE LADIES) prove that love is stronger than even Lucifer; nephews and nieces next?

    Harriet Klausner
    The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth)
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Excellent beginning to what I hope will be a long series!
    • Crises of faith and murder
    • an engrossing read
    • engaging nineteenth century English village mystery t
    The Devil in Bellminster: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth)
    David Holland
    Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    United StatesUnited States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
    British DetectivesBritish Detectives | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    HistoricalHistorical | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    SeriesSeries | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Devil's Acre: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth) The Devil's Acre: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth)
    2. The Devil's Game: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth) The Devil's Game: An Unlikely Mystery (Unlikely Mysteries featuring Rev. Tuckworth)
    3. Fool's Gold (Lord Ambrose Mysteries) Fool's Gold (Lord Ambrose Mysteries)

    ASIN: 0312279981

    Book Description

    It is 1833, and you are invited to enter the quaint, quiet world of Bellminster, a pretty cathedral town in the English countryside with secrets and shadows around every corner.Venture into a world of petty politics and malicious gossip, a world of surprises and betrayals, a world held together by the suffering soul of a simple man - the good Reverend Tuckworth.Someone is preying on the good people of Bellminster, and only their vicar can save them.But Tuckworth has a dark secret of his own, a deadly secret, a secret he must keep hidden from everyone: from his loving daughter, Lucy; from the rash young painter Raphael Amaldi; from the supercilious rector, Mr. Mortimer; from Detective Inspector Myles of London; and most of all, from the murderer himself.Join the vicar as he sifts through the stones of Bellminster Cathedral, drawing from its cold heart the secrets behind the string of grisly murders that is plaguing this picturesque little town.The Devil runs free in Bellminster, and only Tuckworth can stop him.AUTHORBIO: DAVID HOLLAND has a Masters in English with an emphasis on Victorian literature from Purdue University.He has worked as a freelance journalist, college teacher, advertising copywriter, and is now the creative director of WHAS Radio in Kentucky.He is the author of MURCHESTON: THE WOLF'S TALE (Tor/Forge 2000).

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Excellent beginning to what I hope will be a long series!.......2006-11-30

    The 1830s was when what we now think of as "modern" Britain first came together, a mix of reform on one hand and rapacious capitalism on the other. Bellminster is a fictitious small city in the Midlands with both an ancient, deeply affecting cathedral and a new mill turning out the cheapest cloth possible at the cheapest wages possible. Rev. Tuckworth, the vicar, is retiring after some thirty years of service to the community, but he's secretly glad to be going because he's largely lost his faith (I won't reveal why). Then a particularly brutal murder takes place and becomes a "wonder" for quiet Bellminster. But then there's another murder, and another. Pretty soon, Detective Inspector Myles is sent up from London (from Bow Street, not Scotland Yard, not yet), but his interpretation of how he can best do his job is jarring. Justice doesn't enter into it, nor very much truth, either. Tuckworth finds himself drawn more and more deeply, and very reluctantly, into the investigation -- but he's not a "Father Brown" sort of amateur sleuth. He's just an aging priest who's trying to look after his flock, and especially his somewhat naive daughter. Holland has a real ear for proto-Victorian dialogue and (though he tends to wax over-lyrical in describing clouds and forests and such) and he's obviously very knowledgeable about the period. This is one of the best mystery series debuts I've read in quite some time.

    4 out of 5 stars Crises of faith and murder.......2004-04-30

    Though the mystery part of this Dean Tuckworth Victorian novel is soon solved, the why takes a bit longer and the hunt carries through to the satisfying conclusion.

    Dean Tuckworth, an honest, introverted man who has lost his faith, but still loves his Bellminster Cathedral, goes up to London to lobby a philanthropist - Hamlin Price - for money to rebuild the burnt-out building. Invited to a strange dinner of supplicants at Price's underfurnished house, Tuckworth hears a shot and rushes to find the body of a murdered man. Though dressed in Price's servant's clothes, Tuckworth, with time-honored Holmesian observation, sees he is not the servant.

    Though Tuckworth soon suspects Price, and, with a likable journalist-assistant, burgles the man's house, he is forced to return to Bellminster without proof. But crime has followed him to his bucolic town and Tuckworth must find his proof before a fate worse than murder befalls its innocent inhabitants.

    Tuckworth's depths and talents are nicely portrayed as is London and the darker corners of Victorian life.

    5 out of 5 stars an engrossing read.......2002-03-18

    A lifetime ago (while I was supposed to be mugging for my 'O' level prelims) I became addicted to Victorian horror stories. These novellas didn't always deal with ghost stories, they sometimes dealt with the inability of ordinary 'good' people (esp during prosperous times) to deal with horrors of madness, malice, greed ... the baser qualities of the human condition. "The Devil of Bellminster" reminded me strongly of those novellas I used to read. David Holland did a truly brilliant job of evoking the feel and the ambiance of those books. And his choice of a hero, a tired vicar who has lost his faith, both in God and humanity, and who is nearing retirement, was a truly masterly choice. Because, Reverend Tuckworth, who happens to be good and kindly man, and who struggles daily with the guilt he feels over his loss of faith, adds further to the dark and somber tone of this novel.

    It's 1833, and a madman seems to have made the quiet but prosperous town of Bellminster, his current killing ground. The town authorities, headed by Bellminster's most prosperous citizen, mill owner McWhirter, wants a quick arrest -- never mind if the unfortunate suspect is guilty of the murders or not! And when Detective Inspector Myles of Bow Street, arrests one of Tuckworth's simpleminded parishioners, Adam Black, on circumstantial evidence, Tuckworth finds himself drawn into the grisly investigation so as to protect Adam and to discover who the real murderer is before he kills again. But will Tuckworth be able to uncover new evidence that would save Adam from a town eager to be rid of it's current horror, and before the killer strikes again?

    This book's greatest strengths are the pacing and Holland's characterizations of Reverend Tuckworth, and the London detective, Paul Myles. Myles, a hard and ruthless man, finds himself reluctantly drawn into Tuckworth's to discover the truth. And it is Myles's determination to catch the killer that fuels the quick pace at which the novel unfolds. These are the facets that makes this novel such smooth and riveting reading. The other characters, on the other hand, do suffer a bit from being a little superficial in depiction. But since they were merely padding for the story at hand, this was not too important a detraction. As for the murderer, while Holland does a really good job of depicting his madness, he remains a little of an enigma. And even at the end, while we finally do discover who the madman is, we're still left in the dark as to roots of his dementia. But perhaps it is a purely 20th century TV/Hollywood culture that has made us demand for everything to be explained away satisfactorily, and that by allowing the madman to remain an unexplained aberration, that makes "The Devil of Bellminster" a somewhat compelling read.

    5 out of 5 stars engaging nineteenth century English village mystery t.......2002-03-03

    In 1833 Bellminster, England, Vicar Tuckworth finds the beheaded corpse of the local sexton Will. Lord Granby sends to Bow St. to assign a cop to investigate the repugnant murder. Detective Inspector Myles arrives and almost immediately interrogates Tuckworth leaving the soon to retire vicar with the impression that he is a suspect.

    Not long after Granby offers Tuckworth the job of caretaker to the renovated Bellminster Cathedral, a second homicide occurs. However, the medical evidence leads to the conclusion that this killing occurred before the Will murder, confusing the previous data collected while struggling with uncovering the identity of the wrongdoer. Tuckworth accompanies Myles as they investigate two murders in a town not used to any violent crime.

    THE DEVIL IN BELLMINSTER is an engaging nineteenth century English village mystery that provides the audience with an insightful look at the times outside of London. The story line is cleverly developed so that the reader feels fully engaged, especially with Tuckworth, a likable lead protagonist. Fans will understand his doubts enhanced by his wife's death a few years earlier, his pending retirement, and what is best for his beloved adult daughter. David Holland furnishes an interesting historical so cozy that those readers who enjoy a well-written Regency - Victorian bridge era tale will want to peruse it.

    Harriet Klausner
    Morris West Omnibus - The Devil's Advocate, The Second Victory, Daughter of Silence, The Salamander & The Shoes of the Fisherman (5 titles)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Morris West Omnibus - The Devil's Advocate, The Second Victory, Daughter of Silence, The Salamander & The Shoes of the Fisherman (5 titles)
      Morris West
      Manufacturer: Heinemann/Ocotpus
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover
      ASIN: B000NB03B2
      2 Books - 1) - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America / 2) - Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It (Unboxed Set of Books)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        2 Books - 1) - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America / 2) - Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It (Unboxed Set of Books)
        Alan Wolfe , Erik Larson , Alan Wolf , and Eric Larson
        Manufacturer: various
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback
        ASIN: B000WHLKIC

        Product Description

        2 Books - 1) - The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America / 2) - Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It, in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.
        Angel or Devil?
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Angel or Devil?
          M. Barnini The Daughters of St. Paul
          Manufacturer: Daughters of St. Paul
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000K2KUKS
          Coming Home from Devil Mountain
          Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
          • Interesting non-fiction description of near catstrophy by one of the participants
          Coming Home from Devil Mountain
          Eleanor Dart O'Bryon
          Manufacturer: Harbinger House
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
          Mountain ClimbingMountain Climbing | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 0943173205

          Customer Reviews:

          4 out of 5 stars Interesting non-fiction description of near catstrophy by one of the participants.......2007-08-27

          Not nearly as well written as "Into Thin Air" but still an interesting story. This book was written many years ago and quite a few years after the incident.

          Two Hikers (a couple) try to summit the highest peak in Baja Mexico (Picacho del Diablo). The story depicts their epic story as well as the resulting rescue search.

          As is often the case when things go very wrong it was a collection of mistakes that resulted in this mis-adventure.

          Spoiler warning:
          Picacho del Diablo is a significant peak not to be taken lightly. Yet one of the two hikers did not participate in any of the planning; she was basically just accompanying her boyfriend. She had bought some new boots just before the hike. They hitch-hiked towards the base of the mountain but the vehicle they got a ride on was having mechanical issues (remember this is in Baja Mexico). They therefore decided to walk to the base of the mountain.

          Her feet had some blisters before they were to start on the actual hike. They then proceeded up the wrong route. This would have been less likely to have happened if both particiapants had participated in the preparation. They realized that they were on the incorrect route, but they continued (I have made this same decision on various hikes, but most the time it has been the wrong decision). In this case the route they were on required climbing skills. Both hikers were accomplished mountaineers, but they had not planned on anything this extreme. Both hikers managed to make it to the summit on this poor route, but it took so much out of the female that she decided she could not proceed all the way down so they separate.

          He soon takes a fall. Fortunately not only is it not a fatal fall, but it has a small water source). Meanwhile she is waiting for assistance that is to be fetched by her boyfriend. While waiting she eats moss and attempts to eat her mocassin.

          In California her father recognizes that the hikers are late to return and a rescue effort is started. It takes a while to get a rescue effort organized in a foreign land. Furthermore, there are not many people familiar with the mountain. Once the rescue effort gets started it is quickly determined that the hikers went up the incorrect route. It is the opinion of the rescuers that they could not have reached the top of the mountain with the gear they had so the rescue effort is concentrated on the lower parts of the mountain.

          After quite a while someone finally makes it to the top of the summit to check the summit registry and find out that the couple made it to the summit. They then switch their search effort to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately the female has realized that something must have gone wrong with her boyfriend's effort and she has started down the mountain. On her way down the mountain she thinks she hears him.

          So when she was high on the mountain the search team was searching the lower regions and as she transitioned to the lower regions the search effort was on the higher elevations.

          After around one month the search effort was called off. However, a key member of the search team finds the female and gets her down the mountain. She conveys to him where she believes she heard her boyfriend. The resuer finds the boyfriend still alive. So both are rescued.

          The female can not forgive her father for letting the rescue effort end. The ordeal seems to have had a negative impact on her life as her relationship iwth her hiking partner and her father do not recover.
          Daughter of Devil
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Daughter of Devil
            Lozania prole
            Manufacturer: Pocket
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback
            ASIN: 0671777483

            Books:

            1. Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire (Signet Eclipse)
            2. FE Review Manual: Rapid Preparation for the General Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (F E Review Manual), 2nd ed.
            3. First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences In Your Church
            4. Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel (Body Farm Novels)
            5. For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men
            6. From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (Family, Religion, and Culture)
            7. Frontier Woman
            8. Halfway To Heaven
            9. Heaven
            10. History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

            Books Index

            Books Home

            Recommended Books

            1. At Home in Mitford
            2. The Fires of Heaven
            3. Gynecological Endoscopic Surgery
            4. Handbook of Nature-Inspired and Innovative Computing: Integrating Classical Models with Emerging Tec
            5. Painting Sharp Focus Still Lifes: Trompe L'Oeil Oil Techniques
            6. The 48 Laws of Power
            7. PEKINGESE CHAMPIONS, 1987-1999
            8. Max Ernst: A Retrospective
            9. La Villa San Marco a Stabia
            10. Lichenographia universalis