Why Mermaids Sing

Murder has jarred London’s elite. The sons of prominent families have been found at dawn in public places, partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed in their mouths. Once again, the local magistrate turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help. Moving from the gritty world of London’s docks to the drawing rooms of Mayfair, Sebastian confronts his most puzzling—and disturbing—case yet.

Val McDermid stunned readers and critics alike with the publication of her brilliant thriller A Place of Execution, which won the Anthony, McCavity, and the Los Angeles Times awards. Now in The Mermaids Singing, she continues her trademark ingenuity for suspense, and introduces criminal profiler Tony Hill who has spent years exploring the psyches of madmen. But now he's become one of the hunted... This was the summer he discovered what he wanted -- at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling. The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim. A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face to face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage -- or the power -- to stop it...

Sarton’s most important novel tells the story of a poet in her seventies, whose life is retold episodically during an interview with two writers from a literary magazine Hilary Stevens’s prolific career includes a provocative novel that shot her into the public consciousness years ago, and an oeuvre of poetry that more recently has consigned her to near-obscurity. Now in the twilight of her life, Hilary, who is both a feminist and a lesbian, is receiving renewed attention for an upcoming collection of poems, one that has brought two young reporters to her Cape Cod home. As Hilary prepares for the conversation, she recalls formative moments both large and small. She then embarks on the interview itself—a witty and intelligent discussion of her life, work, and romantic relationships with men and women. After the journalists have left, Hilary helps a visiting male friend with his anxiety over being gay and imparts wisdom about channeling his own creative passions. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

This dark comic novella follows the life of "the psychoanalyst" in an urban village engaging a cast of characters with whom he shares his life and his ideas. A vulnerable yet thoughtful person shadowed by what he refers to as life after the Catastrophe, he finds himself celebrating "depression", discovering how it is an essential emotion housing insight into the self, society, and world affairs. Amusing, disturbing and thought provoking, the novella reveals in remarkable depth the many faces of depression. The psychoanalyst agonizes over the increasingly fascist dimensions of his profession and provides an excoriating critique of the psychotropic movement. He challenges the world of modern psychology that by stereotyping souls as sufferers of one or another of the newly coined diagnoses, such as Attention Deficit Disorder, ordains a world that reduces humanity. Where thoughtfulness once was, now one discovers a pill, a fashionable new illness, and a twelve-step program that define a life. The arrival of a terrorist in his consulting room seeking treatment in order to carry out a suicide bombing serves as a pivot for other crises that involve the analyst in an increasingly anarchic and surreal era, one that suggests a new world order. Readers will find in this work new perspectives that challenge many assumptions, ironically suggesting that in these difficult times understanding our complex mental lives - as in depression - holds invaluable keys to a better future for the individual and for modern society.

In 1811, murder has jarred London's elite. Bodies from prominent families have been found mutilated and strange objects stuffed into their mouths. Although Sebastian St. Cyr is distracted by his seemingly doomed relationship with actress Kat Boleyn, the oddness of these murders nags at him. He is determined to track down the assassin even at the risk of his own life.

There is an island off the west coast of Ireland called Inis Murúch -- theIsland of the Mermaids -- a world where myth is more powerful than truth, and love can overcome even death. It is here that Lisa Carey sets her lyrical and sensual first novel, weaving together the voices and lives of three generations of Irish and Irish-American women. Years ago, the fierce and beautiful Grace stole away from the island with her small daughter, Gráinne, unable to bear its isolation. Now Gráinne is motherless at fifteen, and a grandmother she has never met has come to take her back. Her heart is pulled between a life in which she no longer belongs and a family she cannot remember. But only on Inis Murúch can she begin to understand the forces that have torn her family apart.

In the 1950's Charmain Clift and her husband, George Johnston exchanged the cold and routine of London for the warmth of the Greek island of Kalymnos._

From the bestselling author of Twenty Boy Summer comes a “compelling and original” (Kirkus Reviews) novel about a talented singer that loses her ability to speak after a tragic accident, leading her to a postcard-perfect seaside town to find romance. The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak. Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: an ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one. Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother, Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life. When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly suppresses her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them…