A Killer S Christmas In Wales

With A Killer's Christmas in Wales, Elizabeth J. Duncan delivers a delightful holiday-themed mystery. As the townsfolk of the Welsh valley town of Llanelen settle in for the snowiest winter in twenty-five years, an American stranger arrives. Harry Saunders charms the ladies, one of them in particular: Evelyn Lloyd, the town's former postmistress, who was left comfortably off after the death of her husband. After Mrs. Lloyd invests a good deal of money with him, Harry goes missing, as does her money. His body is soon discovered outside the walls of Conwy Castle, and Mrs. Lloyd is implicated in the murder. Although Penny Brannigan and her business partner, Victoria Hopkirk, are busy overseeing the grand opening of their new spa, that doesn't stop Mrs. Lloyd from desperately seeking Penny's help to prove her innocence. It's quite possible that Harry made other enemies while in Llanelen and Penny's investigation unfolds while she juggles her work at the spa, her growing relationship with Detective Inspector Davies, and the Christmas window competition that she signed up to judge.

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After taking her sons on a hike with the family dog one beautiful fall afternoon, Charlotte returned home to find a policewoman, a policeman, and a priest in her driveway—there to deliver the news of her husband’s suicide. Charlotte knew her husband had been stressed about work, but she had no idea he was suicidal. She thought he had stayed home to take a nap. As a young widow, Charlotte cried, cursed, meditated, medicated, downward-dogged, and ran as a way to make sense of her husband’s suicide. As the mother of two bereft sons, she summoned her inner strength and clarity in order to provide steady guidance for them to navigate their own ways through the ensuing months and years. Her story offers intimate moments, powerful lessons, as well as practical ways through which not only suicide survivors but any of us experiencing loss can move forward to live lives of joy and purpose.

The Coronation, a momentous occasion. Gold, velvet, rare stones all on display for the public, a representation of royalty and pride. Have you ever looked a little deeper into the imagery? During Charles' coronation, the king is handed a pearl-studded sceptre, finished with a diamond-encrusted orb. What is the meaning of this? Three swords are carried before him-one of which is blunt, what does this represent? Did you know special oil is poured onto his head in a private ceremony? Or, that the king wears six robes during the ceremony? What do the four crosses on the king’s crown represent? In these short but fascinating chapters, you will learn ten interesting facts that will unravel a deeper insight into unspoken traditions of the coronation.

This is the true story of Helen Stockford. In 1987, Mark Shirley was convicted of and jailed for the ritualized murder of sixty-seven-year-old widow Mary Wainwright. After serving many years in prison, he was released on March 20, 2009. He then broke into the home of thirty-nine-year-old Helen Stockford, where he attempted to recreate the crime perpetrated on Wainwright twenty-two years before. In Reenactment of a Killer and Serial Rapist, Stockford narrates the true story of her battle against evil. She tells how she was sexually brutalized in her own home by Shirley. For more than five hours, she struggled for survival, and despite the cruelty she endured, she held on to hope that she would live. After surviving this horrific attack, Stockford kept the incident secret for several days until she broke down and reported it to the police. After nine long months of fear, Shirley was found guilty of six charges at the Bristol Crown Court and was given six life sentences with a nine-year tariff. In this memoir, Stockford shares how she has become a voice for numerous victims in the United Kingdom.

There's never a good time to die violently, but Christmas tragedies are especially heinous.Christmas is a time for Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men. Holiday bloodshed feels like a sacrilege, but it does happen. Whether by accident or deliberate malice, scores of people have been killed on December 25 or the days surrounding it. This volume contains seven accounts of unnatural deaths that occurred on or around Christmas Day: * The Ashland Tragedy: On December 24, 1881, three burned corpses were pulled from a house in Ashland, Kentucky. They belonged to teenagers Robert Gibbons, Fannie Gibbons, and Emma Carrico, who had all been bludgeoned to death. The girls had also been sexually assaulted. A formerly quiet Kentucky town was plunged into a nightmare fueled by grief and lust for revenge. * Christmas Eve Combustion: On Christmas Day, 1885, Patrick Rooney and his wife were found dead in their home in Seneca, Illinois. Rooney died from smoke inhalation, caused by his wife's body suddenly bursting into flames. It is an early and sensational case of spontaneous human combustion. * Delia's Gone: Early on Christmas morning in 1900, fourteen-year-old Moses "Cooney" Houston murdered his lover, Delia Green, who was the same age. Because Georgia had no youth justice system, Cooney Houston was charged as an adult. The senseless crime shocked the citizens of Savannah, Georgia, and inspired songs later recorded by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. * The Holyhead Horror: On Christmas Day, 1909, a horrific murder took place in North Wales. Gwen-Ellen Jones was killed by her ex-soldier lover, William Murphy, in a manner so depraved that even in an era when domestic violence was commonplace, people were shocked. The murder and subsequent execution of William Murphy are still talked about in Holyhead today. * Changing of the Guard: Early on the morning of December 26, 1920, New York underworld legend Edward "Monk" Eastman, was shot down by a crooked Prohibition agent, ending a thirty-plus year career marked by murder and mayhem. Eastman, who had once ruled the roost in Manhattan's Lower East Side, died in a freezer gutter. * The Adonis Club Massacre: December 25, 1925 was the last Christmas on earth for Irish gangster Richard "Pegleg" Lonergan. He and his White Hand gang had taunted, abused, and killed their Italian rivals for years. Finally, when Lonergan and his boys went to the Italian-owned Adonis Social Club, their resentful enemies got even. * Lawson Family Massacre: On December 25, 1929, North Carolina tobacco farmer Charlie Lawson murdered his wife and six of their seven children. The reason for this brutal act is a subject of debate even today, but may be attributable to a terrible family secret that remained hidden until 1990. All of these events took place in the distant past. People who knew the victims, remembered the circumstances of their demise, or were directly involved in the investigations are dead. That's why these cases were chosen for this book. The passage of time has transmuted them into tragic mysteries, ensuring that they arouse astonishment, sympathy, and indignation instead of the grief and personal loss that is at odds with the holiday season. Grab your Copy today!

Sir John Pryce of Newtown Hall died in 1761. He kept the embalmed bodies of his first two wives on either side of his bed – until his third wife insisted that they were removed. In 1856 Ronald Rhys from the Vale of Neath disappeared for a week after seeing a strange light in a field and hearing a loud noise. He remembered being examined by small creatures who took a sample of his blood. Oh yes, and America is named after a Welshman and the Holy Grail is kept in a bank vault in West Wales... This book contains hundreds of 'strange but true' facts and anecdotes about Welsh history. Arranged into a miniature history of Wales, and with bizarre and hilarious true tales for every era, it will interest and delight readers everywhere.