Showing results by author "Gill Tavner" in All Categories

William Legrand has found a new type of bug, a golden bug, unusually heavy. His servant, Jupiter, is worried. Why is Legrand behaving so oddly? Has the bug's bite made him mad? When Legrand shows his friend a drawing of the gold-bug, it looks more like a skull. What can this mean? The arrival of the gold-bug leads the three men on an exciting adventure towards skeletons, a skull and a hunt for buried treasure.

The blackness of eternal night encompassed me. The intense darkness oppressed and stifled me so that I struggled for breath. Having been condemned to death by the Spanish Inquisition, the narrator descends into a kind of hell. Dizzy with weakness and fainting with fear, he experiences such torments that death itself would be welcome. What troubles him most is the eternal question: how will he die? Toledo Prison is notorious for the torture of the condemned. What minds have dreamed up the terror of the pit in the centre of the cell?

Little Nell Trent's childhood is over. Her grandfather's mind is failing, his dark secret makes him sad and distracted and he has nobody to care for him but Nell. The grotesque Daniel Quilp is out to cause trouble. What plans does he hatch with the dreadful Sampson and Sally Brass? What use can he hope to make of the foolish Dick Swiveller? Is Nell’s one true friend, Kit, a match for Quilp's villainous mind? Nell and her grandfather must disappear or be separated forever and so they begin their lives as beggars.

Here is a test, a puzzle for you. It is a faithful account of two most gruesome murders. Can you work out what actually happened in the early hours of one fateful morning in the Rue Morgue? Before you start, here are a few tips. To be a good detective you need the same skills as a good card-player. You must consider and examine every detail, not just the obvious ones. You have to observe every change in a person's face, everything they say, everything they do and you must always expect the unexpected. And finally, you must remember it all.

The foundations of Jewish law are under threat from the followers of a man called Jesus. These people have reached Damascus. They must be stopped. Saul, uncompromising and brutal, is the man for the job. But by the time Saul reaches Damascus, he is blind and in shock. What could have happened to him on that journey? How does a man react when his beliefs are turned upside down? Now calling himself Paul, can he convince his former enemies to trust him? Can he convince the world that Jesus's teachings are for everyone?

Although Simon has no idea why Jesus is beckoning to him from the beach, he agrees to leave his nets and follow him. A robust, enthusiastic fisherman, Simon makes more mistakes and asks more questions than the other disciples. Why then, he wonders, does Jesus call him Peter, which means 'rock'? When Jesus is arrested everybody except Simon Peter flees, but is he brave enough to stand by Jesus until the end? After Jesus' death, how will Simon Peter spread Jesus' teachings? Will he make the right decisions? Can he calm the rivalries developing among Jesus' followers?