Mitchell Books

The first Gladys Mitchell I ever read, and, again, one of her best. The plot involves three separate strands, both built around the various notions of death by drowning: the death of a snooping schoolmistress in the bathroom at the performance of The Mikado; the death of a madwoman in an asylum who fell into an ornamental pond; and an acquitted wife killer, George Bryan Cutler, based on George Joseph Smith, murdering two other people, and attempting to murder Mrs. Bradley. The ending is ingenious, with one of the most incredible motives ever to grace a detective fiction novel, though the book shares some similarities with "Speedy Death" and "St. Peter's Finger," in the scene of the crime and the method.

Charged with the mission of capturing mystery writers from the Golden Age, the Rue Morgue Press has now reprinted such greats as Dorothy Bowers, Constance & Gwenyth Little, Maureen Sarsfield, Margaret Scherf and many others. Gladys Mitchell is among those greats, having been compared to Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Mitchell's output was 66 mysteries featuring Mrs. Bradley, a dashing and colorful woman with knowledge of both psychology and the law. DEATH AT THE OPERA was filmed for British television, although details of the book were changed. Diana Rigg portrayed Mrs. Bradley.

Calma Ferris, the unassuming arithmetic teacher in Hillmaston Coeducational Day School, has decided to underwrite the school's latest production, THE MIKADO. She is pressed into service as Katisha, a part for which she is woefully unprepared. Ferris has an uncanny knack of offending people, and thus ends up murdered before the second act of the opera. Enter Mrs. Beatrice Lestrange Bradley, called in by the publicity-minded headmaster to ascertain just who killed the quiet and virtuous Miss Ferris. But first, Mrs. Bradley has to take matters in hand:

"'It seems to me,' Mrs. Bradley remarked, 'that the evidence in support of the theory that Miss Ferris was murdered in the lobby is sufficiently strong to warrant further investigation, but not sufficiently tangible to offer to the authorities. I have reason to believe'-she took out her notebook-'that, as the result of a collision in the corridor, Miss Ferris had her glasses broken and sustained a small deep cut just beneath one eye. She went into the water lobby to bathe the cut, and I have not found out yet that anyone went with her.'"

Mitchell's style of writing is quite formal and extremely articulate, and her command of the plot and facts points to an exacting and logical mind. Mrs. Bradley is a kind woman who has no time for fools, and her character is at once a little repulsive (with claw type of hands and a beak like face) and fascinating. She puts her suspects at their ease until they reveal themselves. DEATH AT THE OPERA is an engrossing whodunit that is suitable for a nice day at the beach or for translation into a PBS movie. Angela Lansbury might be a great Mrs. Bradley!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

This "Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms" is really a great book for those that want to know more than just what an acronym stands for. All the entries are longer discussions of the technology, with loads of tables, dates, which companies support the technology, where the technology is standardized, what it competes with and what its shortcomings are. And all entries have cross-references to related entries in the book, and most have World Wide Web references as well. I use this dictionary for two years. Today it is old but still not dead.

I would have to say that this is the most used book in my office. We have the data down pat, but the telco's have so many terms and acronyms that I would not be able to talk to a telco person if I was not able to look up the TLA's after the conversation. I highly recommend this book to anyone - from beginner to the advanced.

I like this book because it's funny and adventuresome. You get to meet new characters and learn more about the ones you've already met in the other books.

My son and I have read numbers 1,2,3 and 4 of The Dragonling books and just love them!! They are full of suspence and adventure. We can not put the books down. We are looking foward to reading the rest of them.

"Dreams of Freedom" is an amazing anthology of essays by the legendary Mexican radical, Ricardo Flores Magon, who was murdered by agents of the state in the Leavenworth Penitentiary back in 1922. Sadly, the injustices he so passionately wrote about and fought against almost a century ago are still among us today, like: the criminalization of immigrants, the suppression of civil liberties, union-busting, police brutality, the prison industrial complex, imperialist war, the militarization of the US/Mexico border and the violence of white supremacist militias (like the Minutemen). I especially enjoyed his writings on feminism and his committment to bringing issues of racial equality into the labor movement. In sum, "Dreams of Freedom" is a ground-breaking work. Thank you AK Press and Chaz Bufe for keeping alive this vital chapter in people's history!

Dreams Of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magon Reader presents a selection of the revolutionary journalist and agitator Ricardo Flores Magon. Born in Mexico in 1874, Magon dared to criticize the injustices of the Diaz military dictatorship that ruled Mexico, in his widely read newspaper Regeneracion. Exiled to the United States, Magon remained an influential agitator behind the Mexican Revolution, earning the wrath of both governments. He was finally murdered in Leavenworth Penitentiary in 1922. Dreams Of Freedom presents Magon's determined and vibrant revolutionary writings in English for the first time, along with a lengthy biographical sketch to place his words in historical context, a chronology, bibliography, and an introduction by Benjamin Maldonado. Most of the individual writings are brief yet passionate and sharply to the point. Highly recommended particularly for students of political science and Mexican history.

I may be the only person to write a review for this book, as its price is a little steep for the casual business book reader and this is not a casual business book.

Dynamic Capabilities is an academically based book, a collection of co-coordinated articles about the nature of capabilities in general and the capabilities that change capabilities (aka dynamic capabilities). As an academic book it is very strong with the authors tackling many of the major economic and corporate strategy issues involving why enterprises are designed and work in a particular way. From this perspective it is theory that is well researched, carefully and clearly explained.

Capabilities in general and dynamic capabilities in particular are critical for enterprises in devising and realizing their strategies and performance goals. In this regard, this book is a must read for corporate strategists and corporate development processionals who need to understand how to organize and structure the enterprise for success.

The articles in this book lay down the rational and logic for your leaders should view and organize their resources to achieve their strategies. I will admit that the language and the structure of the chapter/articles are geared more for researchers and students, but taking the time to read, understand and reflect on the implications of these research pieces is well worth the effort.

I may be the only person to write a review for this book, as its price is a little steep for the casual business book reader and this is not a casual business book.

Dynamic Capabilities is an academically based book, a collection of co-coordinated articles about the nature of capabilities in general and the capabilities that change capabilities (aka dynamic capabilities). As an academic book it is very strong with the authors tackling many of the major economic and corporate strategy issues involving why enterprises are designed and work in a particular way. From this perspective it is theory that is well researched, carefully and clearly explained.

Capabilities in general and dynamic capabilities in particular are critical for enterprises in devising and realizing their strategies and performance goals. In this regard, this book is a must read for corporate strategists and corporate development processionals who need to understand how to organize and structure the enterprise for success.

The articles in this book lay down the rational and logic for your leaders should view and organize their resources to achieve their strategies. I will admit that the language and the structure of the chapter/articles are geared more for researchers and students, but taking the time to read, understand and reflect on the implications of these research pieces is well worth the effort.

After having been kidnapped and held hostage by early Al qeada operatives in 1992 just after the fall of Communism in Russia, I can relate to the negotiation tactics relayed in this book.
An intelligent, factual and fascinating read.

-Yvonne Bornstein, Author, Eleven Days Of Hell

Recommended to me by Major Bob Beach, Director of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy in Virginia. Great book if you're interested in this field, or are already in it and want to hone your skills. At only 17, I feel this book will be very helpful to me in a future I hope consists of a career as an Alaska State Trooper. It may be a little heavy, but dig in and hang on for the long haul. GOOD LUCK!

Gambling is one of the most powerfully addicting past times in this country. Gale Mitchell's Easy Casino Gambling is a nice guide for beginners and seasoned casino vets alike. With tips on the slots, blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, and more Mitchell helps bust the myths and beat the odds of gambling. These are simple strategies anybody can use and appreciate. I really suggest picking this up and getting in on the fun of gambling.

This delightfully well written book should be must reading for anyone who plans a gambling trip. Ms. Mitchell presumes no prior gambling knowledge from her readers and provides a comprehensive overview of the various popular casino games. Her book opens with chapters on intelligent gambling, wager management and casino lingo. There are discussions of winning strategies for the games as well as listings of game specific slang for poker, craps and bingo.

In addition to the traditional casino games there are chapters on sports betting, the ten worst bets, a guide to comps, casino security, Internet gambling and even a section on bingo

In additional to the valuable advice on gambling techniques this book also has chapters solely devoted to listing the various gambling establishments in the United States and Canada as well as selected casinos throughout Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, Central and South America. The information provided generally includes telephone numbers and website addresses and in certain instances the casino square footage, dress code as well as the specific games available. Prior to reading this book I was completely unaware of the global extent of casino gambling. For example the book notes that there are six casinos located in Nepal which is in the Himalayas.

Very factual and interesting account of the life of Eminem. This is a must for all fans. I highly recommend the book.

This book is a must for any Eminem fan. Loaded with information and full color photographs. An easy read for kids.

This is an excellent college level text.I particularly like the detailed "real world" drafting problems for the students. Also it has a very good apppendix. It is comprehensive enough that we use it in three different courses here at Vincennes University.

I have had this book in my drafting library for some time now. I am always using it and recommending it. The book is laid out so that you can go from beginning drafting up through advanced. It not only says what the standards are, but walks you through drafting technology so that you understand why they are like they are. I believe that anyone that is going to be doing drafting should have this in their library.

Beautiful colorful book, full of designs from around the world. Gave me great ideas for my new home.

I already own her book, "Ethnic Interiors" and love it. I ordered this book online thinking it would be just as good. But it's actually the exact same book with a different cover. No kidding! I have no idea why she'd release the two books with different covers but identical content, but that's what's happened here. The content is wonderful. I wrote a great Amazon review of for the other book, which I won't repeat here. But I'm terribly disappointed that no one has bothered to mention in the item description that the two books are the same. I guess I'll be passing this book on as a gift.