New Releases by John Dickson

A chilling Gothic tale of warped passion and bizarre murder by the master of the historical whodunit. Two women: one a vile old bawd, dead, it seemed, of fright; the other, Peg, a headstrong, ravishing young heiress. Their lives are linked by a mysterious portrait and a child''s nursery rhyme - a rhyme that spells disgrace and death for the lusty young Peg unless her unwilling lover can trace the connection. ''No one is so consistently successful as Carr'' New York Times Book Review

This original digital short by scholar and cultural commentator John Dickson presents an entirely new and convincing biblical argument for allowing women to preach freely in churches.

The most famous of all locked-room mysteries - a classic in the crime genre. ''The first deadly walking of the hollow man took place when the side streets of London were quiet with snow and the three coffins of the prophecy were filled at last...'' The murderer of Dr Grimauld walked through a locked door, shot his victim and vanished. He killed his second victim in the middle of an empty street, with watchers at each end, yet nobody saw him, and he left no footprints in the snow. And so it is up to the irrepressible, larger-than-life Dr Gideon Fell to solve this most famous and taxing of locked-room mysteries.

Three guests at Martin Clarke''s weekend party swore they saw the pistol lifted from the wall, levelled and shot. Yet no hand held it. It couldn''t have happened ... but there was a dead body on the floor to prove that it had. For the victim, it was far too late for a doctor. To unmask the clever murderer, however, a house visit by Dr Gideon Fell is just what the doctor ordered. But the killer still somehow avoids taking his medicine - until Fell vows to prescribe his own remedy for bringing the murderer to justice.

Christopher Kent, worth a quarter of a million pounds yet without a penny in his pocket, stands hungrily in Piccadilly one snowy morning, looking up at the huge hotel, when a piece of card bearing a number floats down to him. He enters and is served with breakfast, giving the waiter the room number. Then an unlucky chance compels him to go up to room 707. Inside a woman lies murdered in a trunk. Kent needs to prove his innocence fast, and calls in Dr Gideon Fell to investigate - but there''s been another murder, and Dr Fell must figure out what connects them in order to find the guilty party.

On his return to Geneva, Brian Innes must meet Audrey Page and find a way to prevent her from joining the strangely temperamental group of people gathered around film star Eve Eden at the Villa Rosalind. With characteristic stubbornness, if not trusting naivety, she refuses to be detained and is immediately encircled by terror, while the jaws of a murder trap swing closed. Fortunately, Dr Gideon Fell is on hand, and when the murderer strikes with an invisible weapon, Fell accepts the challenge with brilliance and wit.

A thief is loose aboard HMS Queen Victoria, and four amateur detectives are hell-bent on tracking him down. Unprepared for the evidence that their sleuthing activities will uncover - a reel of compromising film, a blood-soaked stateroom bunk, a lethally sharp razor and an emerald elephant - they find themselves sinking deeper into misadventure and pandemonium. But when the boat arrives in Southampton harbour, another passenger, mystery writer Henry Morgan, calls in the famous Dr Gideon Fell - who identifies sixteen clues that lead him to the murderer.

An accessible account of Jesus'' life, teachings, death and resurrection - and their significance today

Uniquely among the world’s religions, the central claims of Christianity concern not just timeless spiritual truths, but tangible historical events. At the heart of the of the Christian faith are things that are meant to have happened in Palestine between 5 BC and AD 30. It’s as if Christianity happily places its head on the chopping block of public scrutiny and invites anyone who wants to come and take a swing. Some of Christianity’s claims are so spectacular that they provoke a firestorm of questions, scrutiny, debate, and misinformation whenever they are discussed. The popularity of The Da Vinci Code and the frequent airing of TV documentaries delving into the darker uncertainties of Christianity show that such skepticism flourishes in the Western world today. In The Christ Files you will learn how historians know what they know about Jesus. Historian John Dickson embraces the need to examine Christianity’s claims in the light of history, opening readers to a wealth of ancient sources and explaining how mainstream scholars—whether or not they claim Christian faith personally—reach their conclusions. Christianity arrived on the historical scene at a time of great literary activity. While many texts penned by ancient philosophers, historians, poets, and playwrights can reliably inform us about Jesus himself and about the culture in which he lived, others are not so credible. Dickson skillfully highlights both types of sources along with the historical methods used to study Christianity’s claims. He also shows how historians asses the reliability of available data, and provides an honest but informed perspective on where historical issues are clear-cut and where personal faith comes into play. The Christ Files is a must-read for those looking to expand their understanding of early Christianity and the life of Jesus.

This book comes out of years of reflection, failures, and some successes in the task of reaching out to others with the gospel. Many Christians think of the task of mission as an entirely verbal activity, when perhaps the best kept secret of New Testament teaching about mission is that it involves a whole range of activities that explicitly promote Christ to the world and draw others to him, and only a few of them involve speaking. Without diminishing or downplaying the importance of speaking the gospel, John Dickson shows that, on the other hand, downplaying the range of activities that promote Christ to the world has its own set of problems. It can make those who are not confident about speaking—of anything, let alone Jesus—feel inadequate and self-conscious in the task of reaching out to others. Equally, it can make those who do have a flair for speaking feel as though they are fulfilling Christ’s mission just by talking. But the reality is that the Lord wants our whole life, not just our lips, in the task of bringing the gospel to the world. Every facet of our lives can be used by God to promote the news of his power and mercy. In this practical guide to the biblical art of sharing your faith, John Dickson offers refreshing insight into the ways that all Christians can and should be involved in spreading the good news of Jesus. While not all Christians are called and gifted to become evangelists, we are all called to promote the gospel through a wide range of activities—prayer, financial partnership, good deeds, godly lives, public worship, daily conversation, etc.—with and without our lips. As readers engage with this book, grapple with its arguments and hear the stories of people coming to faith, they will be inspired to see the whole of life as significant for bringing the gospel to the world, and they will be liberated out of guilt and self-consciousness in evangelism into becoming perfectly natural promoters of Jesus Christ.

Covering the historicity of the New Testament, Jesus'' birth and family, his historical context, teachings, miracles, death, resurrection and subsequent appearances, this book clears away the mists of speculation and fantasy, revealing the founder of Christianity. It considers the real significance of Jesus for the 21st century.

A BLACK DAGGER CRIME edition of a novel in which someone is murdering Napoleon''s personal enemies and is spreading terror through the army poised to invade England, and a Briton, forced to discover the identity of the killer, pits his wits against Napoleon himself.

When Dr. Gideon Fell finds himself at a party where guests are in a state of deep agitation, all the faculties of his detective genius are called into play. Why is the host of the party, southern aristocrat Henry Maynard, so cryptic about the strange goings-on in the mansion? And how is the theft of the scarecrow linked to a diabolical and ingenious murder?

Jeff Marle tries to decide which member of Judge Matthew Quayle''s unhappy household put poison in the judge''s brandy

Rose Lestrange is discovered stabbed to death inside a locked room and Dr. Gideon Fell is determined to prove that it was murder, not suicide

When Pennington Barclay is found murdered in a locked room, his sister claims that he was killed by a ghost and Dr. Fell is called to investigate

When the fake defense Patrick Butler used to clear Joyce Ellis is used to prove Lucia Renshaw is guilty of murder, he turns to Dr. Gideon Fell for help

An acknowledged master of the classic "locked room" mystery, Carr wrote 71 books from the 1930''s through the 1960''s. The evidence shows that while waiting to kill wealthy Septmus Depping, the would-be murderer ate the victim''s dinner and promptly died. Before famed sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell can finger the poisoner, another course of murder is served.

The story of a baffling murder takes place in London and at the BBC studios and the home of Sherlock Holmes.

"The old man had died quite naturally although they did find an oddly knotted piece of string next to his pillow. Still, they dismissed it until the normally sensible housekeeper told an incredible story of the beautiful woman who had walked through a wall, through a door where no door was, to get into the old man''s room. None of this bothered Edward Stevens. He was too busy editing a book on nineteenth century murders. That was until he came to a photograph of a murderess, who was guillotined in 1861. It was a clear picture of a beautiful woman, whom Stevens immediately recognized. She was his wife!"--BOOK COVER

Returning from the war, Don Holden discovers that his best friend''s wife has died under mysterious circumstances

"H.M. solves an incredible crime. Avory Hume is found stabbed to death with an arrow--in a study with bolted steel shutters and a heavy door locked from the inside. In the same room James Caplon Answell lies unconscious, his clothes disordered as though from a struggle, his fingerprints on the damning arrow. ... the great, explosive Sir Henry Merrivale gets down to serious sleuthing and at last startles the crowd in the Old Bailey with a reconstruction of the crime along logical, convincing lines." --