Two Of Diamonds

Tim Diamond is the world's worst detective - and these two mysteries will test his nerves to the limit. What does strawberry yoghurt possibly have to do with Paris? Why on earth are Tim and his kid brother Nick invited to a remote Scottish island? The answer - a murder

During the Great Depression there was little hope for a boy born into the slums of Cabbagetown, Toronto. But Jack Spayd is offered a ticket out in the form of a Hohner harmonica, won by his brutal, drunken father in a late-night card game. Jack makes music as a way to escape his surroundings, and his talent leads him to a jazz club and, eventually, to the jazz piano. Jack is a virtuoso and hits the road, enchanting audiences from Toronto to Moose Jaw, London to Las Vegas, where he is caught up in the world of elite poker and falls under the spell of his boss, the enigmatic Bridgett Fuller. Vegas is a hard town ruled by the Mafia, but Jack prospers until his luck turns bad and he falls foul of the Mob. Forced to run for his life from Vegas, he must also leave the woman he adores. His adventuring takes him to the copper mines of the Belgian Congo, to a rare and valuable bird that may seal his fate—and to the love of a very different woman. Jack of Diamonds is the spellbinding final novel of a beloved storyteller, a tale of a young, talented man fighting to achieve his ambitions and using his considerable talents to find his way in a perilous world.

In 1850, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond, gem of Eastern potentates, was transferred from the Punjab in India and, in an elaborate ceremony, placed into Queen Victoria’s outstretched hands. This act inaugurated what author Adrienne Munich recognizes in her engaging new book as the empire of diamonds. Diamonds were a symbol of political power—only for the very rich and influential. But, in a development that also reflected the British Empire’s prosperity, the idea of owning a diamond came to be marketed to the middle class. In all kinds of writings, diamonds began to take on an affordable romance. Considering many of the era’s most iconic voices—from Dickens and Tennyson to Kipling and Stevenson—as well as grand entertainments such as The Moonstone, King Solomon’s Mines, and the tales of Sherlock Holmes, Munich explores diamonds as fetishes that seem to contain a living spirit exerting powerful effects, and shows how they scintillated the literary and cultural imagination. Based on close textual attention and rare archival material, and drawing on ideas from material culture, fashion theory, economic criticism, and fetishism, Empire of Diamonds interprets the various meanings of diamonds, revealing a trajectory including Indian celebrity-named diamonds reserved for Asian princes, such as the Great Mogul and the Hope Diamond, their adoption by British royal and aristocratic families, and their discovery in South Africa, the mining of which devastated the area even as it opened the gem up to the middle classes. The story Munich tells eventually finds its way to America, as power and influence cross the Atlantic, bringing diamonds to a wide consumer culture.

"A major contribution!” —Rachel Pollack, bestselling author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom The definitive collection of rare, secret, and arcane tarot knowledge The Tarot: A Collection of Secret Wisdom from Tarot's Mystical Origins is the ultimate guide to the mysteries and lost knowledge of the tarot. This single volume includes more than ten selections from foundational tarot books, all from the 19th and 20th century. Many of these critical texts have been forgotten, fallen out of print, or are impossible to acquire. The Tarot reintroduces these books to the modern-day reader, unlocking the invisible power of the tarot for a new generation of card readers. The Tarot includes the following complete books: The Tarot by S. L. MacGregor Mathers The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum by Eliphaz Levi Fortune Telling by Cards by P. R. S. Foli The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite The Symbolism of the Tarot by P.D. Ouspensky The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus The Key to the Universe by Harriette Augusta Curtiss & F. Homer The Key of Destiny by Harriette Augusta Curtiss & F. Homer The General Book of the Tarot by A.E. Thierens The Tarot also includes additional selections from Manly P. Hall and others. Featuring over 400 original black-and-white illustrations throughout the book, The Tarot is a gorgeous gift and an irresistible invitation to both seasoned readers and beginners to explore the esoteric wisdom of the cards.

This is a short book on telling fortunes, primarily with a standard deck of playing cards. There is a short two-chapter section at the end about the Tarot. Described are several different spreads, including the 32-card method, the French and Italian methods, the Grand Star, and Etteilla's Tarot spread.