Allison Books

"Death In The Cotswold" by expert mystery author Rebecca Tope is the story of Thea Osborne who becomes embroiled in murder and mystery when the autumn preparations for Samhain (the pagan origin of Halloween) are interrupted with the discovery of a body laid out like a sacrificial victim on the Notgrove Barrow. Teaming up Ariadne, with a true eccentric, Thea finds that a seemingly cozy English village has dark secrets and someone determined to keep them hidden at all costs. Rebecca Tope is a first-class storyteller and an accomplished mystery author who plays fair with the reader in her latest mystery novel, "Death In The Cotswolds" as a complex story populated with memorable characters and some truly fascinating twists and turns unrolls from beginning to end. Also very highly recommended are Tope's two earlier novels in the 'Cotswold' mystery series featuring Thea Osborne, "A Cotswold Killing" and "A Cotswold Ordeal".

Apothecary John Rawlings should be more engrossed in the upcoming birth of his first child, instead of which he finds himself once again involved in Bow Street business when he finds himself firmly entangled with the brutal murder of vintner, Aidan Fenchurch. It all beings with Fenchurch rushes into John's shop looking for a place to hide. Fenchurch's high colour and his panicked state easily persuades John to agree to help. Not even a few seconds later, an imposing and rude woman comes in demanding to know if anyone matching Fenchurch's description has entered the store. Instantly taking a dislike to the woman, John brusquely sends her on her way. Now completely intrigued as to why the woman is hunting Fenchurch, John goes to see the man to tell him that the coast is clear and learns a most curious story. It appears that the woman is Adriadne Bussell, the wife of a colleague's of Fenchurch as well as Fenchurch's former lover. Fenchurch had ended their relationship, but Mrs. Bussell seems unable to let go and has been stalking him ever since. Things have gotten so bad that Fenchurch now fears for his life, and begs John to deliver some papers to Sir John Fielding of Bow Street that reveal all and that name Mrs. Bussell as his murderer if he should meet with a sticky end. John readily agrees, but is shocked, nevertheless, to learn the next day that Fenchurch was brutally murdered at the front doorstep of his own home. Did Mrs. Bussell have anything to do with Fenchurch's murder? John believes that she had, and telling all to Sir John Fielding, is relieved that the blind magistrate is of the same mind as he. But things take an even stranger turn when Mrs. Bussell dies is custody from acute poisoning. But who would have wanted Mrs. Bussell dead? As other suspects begin to die, one by one, John beings to wonder about the identity and sanity of this determined poisoner...

If you enjoy well written British historical mystery novels, you'll want to check out "Death in the Valley of Shadows." Steeped in period history and feel, this perplexing and intriguing book was a treat to read from beginning to end. Colourful, vivid and suspenseful, I was completely engrossed from the very beginning. Set during the Georgian period (the mid 1700s more exactly), this wonderful series is, unfortunately, not easily available. You could probably get earlier installment through Amazon.co.uk (or haunt used bookstores), though you really don't have to read earlier installments in order to appreciate this particular John Rawlings installment. Fast paced, well written and perfectly executed, this is a read not to be missed!

The first of its kind, Designing Geodatabases for Transportation is likely to remain the best of its kind. Al Butler has violated several "rules" of technical writing:

* He has opinions, isn't afraid to express them, and does so in an engaging, conversational style enlivened by war stories and thinking outside the polygon. Most technical texts have no discernible voice and read as dull as dirt (apologies to soil scientists).

* He pragmatically and mercifully separates "need to knows" from "nice to knows", steering the reader around minutiae only a true nerd could love; yet retains that deeper content in unobtrusive places. Many technical works overwhelm the reader with information, providing no indication of relative importance.

* He manages to make ArcObjects comprehensible to the non or new programmer by providing simplified object model diagrams.

* He demystifies the arcana of internal ArcGIS data types, relationship classes, and other poorly explained (elsewhere) geodatabase concepts.

* Most importantly, he maps geodatabase structures to their counterparts in relational database theory. The more you understand the relational database foundation of the geodatabase, the better you'll be at designing them--this section alone makes the book worthwhile. If you're a database person adding the Geographic to your Information Systems background, this book will greatly aid your transition.

As for the transportation content, it's all there--linear referencing, dynamic segmentation, traffic counts, HPMS, editing and publishing data for State DOTs, network datasets and even geometric networks (typically not used for transportation purposes), the evolution of GIS transportation data models, etc.

Finally, and refreshingly, the author takes a one-size-does-*not*-fit-all approach, providing the reader a pick and choose, cookbook-like approach to suit individual need.

Still working my way through the book, but nodding my head in agreement more often than usual--a good indication, to me anyway, that the author:

* Knows his subject matter
* Has a gift for conveying that knowledge clearly to others.
* Has been out in the real world, solving real world problems
* Understands the business side of the Transportation house

Highly recommended to anyone interested in general geodatabase design, specific geodatabase design (transportation and possibly utility geodatabase design since linear referencing and networks play a role), and transportation GIS.

Al Butler was instrumental in helping develop the GISP certification program, and this book is another fine contribution to the GIS profession. We've not only needed this book--we need more books written like it. To my relief, it was and is not YASTMB--Yet Another Show-and-Tell Map Book. It's a practical how-to and reference for doing your job better.

Buy this book and buy copies for Transportation colleagues--they'll be asking to borrow yours, so get ahead of the game.

This is a must read for all who seek to get the full perspective of what happened during the Biafra War (along with all the other books on the war. Not only men were involved in it, children, women and men were. And Emecheta finally gave a female perspective. Destination Biafra is frank, hard-hitting and much needed. It's also a great read.

This page turning thiller kept me on the edge of my seat as I followed the action across the country. Allison kept weaving the character story lines in and out to keep the reader guessing what would happen next. It starts out with a dark cult, but soon turns into a mafia-type suspense novel, filled with chase scenes and some funny moments as well. Rusty is a truly memorable character, with a great sense of humor and heroism. A fun read.

This little book is about 200 pages long and fun from start to finish. There are definitions of thousands of slang words with a neat little collection of violent schoolyard games and their rules at the end. There are lyrics to obscene songs and chants along with poems like the words to Miss Mary Mack.

It's book that would suit kids, teenagers and nostalgia buffs alike. All pretty harmless really and would make a great present for any age group.

It's a *must buy* for the Christmas stocking.

Set in the United Kingdom, A Disguise For Death is the large print edition is a dark murder mystery about the distant aftermath of a deadly bombing. When a former IRA cell leader writes a best-seller about the tragedy, Superintendent Gregory Summers attends a reading; the situation soon turns violent, as old wounds are inflamed, and Summers becomes involved in one of the most difficult and labyrinth cases of his career. An intricate mystery about grudges that time won't heal.

The Mountain View Development Company began leveling Dismal Mountain, West Virginia in order to construct a mall. The firm bought out most residents but elderly Lizzie Neal refused to leave because this was the home of her ancestors and her parents were buried nearby. When the company sends trucks down from the mountaintop, an incident finally occurs. Lizzie's nephew Bobby Ray killed the driver who he swears fired at him first. Lizzie sets up the scene so it would seem she shot the driver.

Lizzie's nephew, transportation inspection consultant Owen Allison, comes home to visit his ailing mother and to help Lizzie. While Owen's mother recovers from cancer surgery, Sheriff Thad Reader explains to him that Lizzie's confession of being responsible appears phony. He asks Owen to try to learn the truth. As he makes some inquiries, Owen begins to uncover a dark conspiracy to fund the Dismal Mountain Project, which places his life in danger.

DISMAL MOUNTAIN is an exciting and relevant Owen Allison mystery that highlights the environmental versus economy issue. The story line is entertaining due to the strong secondary characters that help bring West Virginia alive while providing depth to Owen through his family members and his former college sweetheart. John Billheimer makes mystery reading fun (see HIGHWAY ROBBERY and THE CONTRARY BLUES for additional pleasure).

Harriet Klausner

An expansive tour of existing statistical methodologies used in microarray data analysis from contributed experts. What it does is deeply explore what people are using nowadays, cites references in each chapter beautifully, and gives the reader a solid footing as to the pros and cons of each technique presented. Each chapter delves deep enough, and by citing references extensively, one can go seek further detail from the source.

IMHO, this is probably one of the most professionally done books out there. By that I mean there is no fluff, just high quality content across the board. The intended audience is those having some computational background, particularly in statistics. However, each chapter begins with an introductory paragraph serving as a review so that anyone could pretty much gather what is going to be discussed.

A really nice feature of this compilation is that not only does it provide insight into the current methods, it outlines where further developments are needed and how they may help in filling in the gaps. With so many developments having been made in microarray data analysis recently, its nice to know that this book exists to help one gain a solid foundation on how to proceed with some sort of clarity. A five star rating for this one hands down. :)

Anne Kennedy, poet, writer, photographer and broadcaster, came from Orcas Island, off the coast of Washington state, to live in Galway, Ireland in 1977. Her first book Buck Mountain Poems, published by Salmon in 1989, is based on her Orcas experiences. The Dog Kubla Dreams My Life, also from Salmon, was published in 1994. A keen documentor of history, in 1993 she contributed an oral history project to the Duke Ellington archive in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Anne Kennedy died on 29th September 1998.

"The quietly dazzling poems of The Dog Kubla Dreams My Life result from scruple, craft and a compassionate vision of the human predicament across decades and on both sides of the Atlantic, as Anne Kennedy continues to compose that rare species of poems that cannot be written quickly but must be lived image by image, and which comprise a powerful witnessing to sorrow and sanctuary. Her words shimmer with an excitement at once beautiful and wise, and which I believe will be with us for a long time." R.T. SMITH