Most Popular Books by Peter Dickinson

A boy with psychic powers struggles to save his loved ones When Davy’s mother deserts their family, Davy’s father packs his children into a rickety old car and takes them on a vacation. They drive to their mysterious old grandparents’ house in the sprawling Welsh countryside, a place so rural that running water is a novelty. It is there that Davy learns he has the gift. He has always seen the pictures—images in his head that tell of the future or the past—but his grandmother explains that the gift is both a remarkable power and a terrible curse. It was the gift that killed Davy’s great-uncle—and it is the gift that could save his life. Seven years later, Davy is in high school, and for the first time he can remember, life is almost normal. But when he starts having troubling visions of his father’s new employer he knows that only he can save his family from destruction. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author’s collection.

When Theodore''s safe, predictable world is destroyed, his life—and his faith—are in danger Thirteen-year-old Theodore has lived in China all his life and never felt terror, until his father''s missionary settlement is attacked and burned in the night. Theodore follows his father''s orders and hides in the forest, only creeping back the next morning to see if anything—or anyone—has survived. But before he reaches the smoldering wreckage he runs into the formidable Mrs. Jones, a botanist and adventurer who''s traveling across China on horseback with her young companion, Lung. The three head into the Himalayan foothills, where a mountainside escape puts them at the mercy of the Lama Amchi. The holy man seems interested in Theodore and leads the group to an extraordinary hidden monastery. But deep in the mountains, with winter coming and monks following their every move, will rescue come at a price? Are Theodore and his friends honored guests—or prisoners? This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author''s collection.

Can a child defeat a frozen giant and bring summer back to Apple Island? It''s the last night of a family''s holiday on a tropical island filled with black beaches, sweetfruit, and red-necked looby birds. Their final adventure is to climb the island''s tallest mountain before they leave in the morning. But when the child—who might be you—wakes up the next morning, the world has become a frozen wasteland and the father has been transformed into ice. Setting out in search of Giant Cold, a frozen monster no one has ever seen, you—now a tiny elf—meet two giants: white-beard, a scholar; and black-beard, a sailor. You''re forced to live inside a bottle and travel with black-beard—until the looby birds snatch up the bottle. Flying over forests, fields, and seas, you must rescue Apple Island from Giant Cold and his armies of wind, snow, and ice. With only the warmth of your own life—a tiny spark—you take on the powerful giant. Riding the wind up to the mountain peak, your tiny size will become your greatest asset as you make a surprising discovery about yourself. Giant Cold is a strikingly original, big-hearted fantasy about love, family, and finding your way home. This ebook features black-and-white illustrations by Alan Cober and an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author''s collection.

For one young boy, a box full of nothing is a ticket to adventure While skipping school, James sees his mother on the street. He ducks inside an abandoned store, where an aged shopkeeper asks what he wants to buy. When James says “nothing,” the old man sells it to him: a heavy cardboard box stuffed full of top-quality nothing. James tries to explain this to his mother, but she doesn’t believe him and throws the box over the fence and into the dump. He sneaks in to retrieve his new possession—and finds himself trapped in another world. The dump is an eerie place populated by hyperintelligent rats, monstrous seagulls, and a very clever pile of garbage called the Burra. Once it was a thriving community, but something strange has happened, and the dump has become stuck in time. To get back home, James must help the Burra save the dump—using all the nothing he can find. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author’s collection.

Four children embark on a quest for a new land at the dawn of human history Africa, two hundred thousand years ago: Suth and Noli were orphaned the night the murderous strangers came, speaking an unfamiliar language and bringing violence to the peaceful Moonhawk tribe. Determined not to die in the desert, Suth and Noli slip away with Ko and Mana. Suth, the eldest, leads them; Noli''s dreams of the future guide them. Ko gives them courage; Mana gives them peace. Their search for a new Good Place, one of food and safety, will take them across the valleys and plains of prehistoric Africa and bring them together as a tribe and as a family.

A strange malady afflicts the children of McNair House in this British mystery featuring former Scotland Yard superintendent James Pibble, from CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson Recently given the sack by Scotland Yard, James Pibble arrives at McNair House on a private matter, only to find that this charitable institution is not at all what it seems. The children who live here have a rare disease called cathypny, which renders them sleepy and fat. It also imbues them with special telepathic powers, which is how one boy instantly pegs Pibble as a cop. A dreamy nine-year-old named Marilyn has perceived that someone at McNair House is in mortal danger. With all the research money that''s suddenly pouring in, the pressure is on to prove that these children really are empaths; a Greek tycoon is banking on it. But Pibble is beginning to suspect the worst kind of fraud: an exploitative con game using innocent young lives as bait. And one of the children may be the target of an escaped killer obsessed with the supernatural. Now Pibble must pit his own finely honed instincts against an adversary who can see the future: a world without James Pibble. Sleep and His Brother is the 4th book in the James Pibble Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A blind boy and his brother set out on a motorcycle in search of their ghost-hunting grandfather It all starts with the postman. Jake cannot see the mail, but he is an excellent listener, and he can tell by the sound the mail makes when it hits the floor that bad news is coming. At the top of the pile is a very thin letter rejecting Jake’s brother, Martin, from every college he applied to. Even worse, there is no news from their grandfather, an eccentric ghost hunter whose supernatural investigations have carried him into the wilds of northern England. Martin cashes in his college savings to buy a secondhand motorcycle, and the boys set out to find their grandfather. It is a trip that will change their lives forever. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author’s collection.

Letta begins to take an interest in Varina, the tiny Balkan state where her parents grew up. But after the collapse of communism the nation calls for independence, and Letta''s enthusiasm for her parent''s culture leads her to discover just how fragile the nation really is. A powerful and timely novel from the award-winning author of TULKU, EVA, A.K. and A BONE FROM A DRY SEA.

When the town clock stops, a colony of telepathic mice comes to the rescue Unthinkable! The Branton Town Hall Clock has stopped! The intricately carved turret clock had attracted tourists from all over the world. Every day six small bells would chime at precisely fourteen minutes and twenty seconds past the hour. And out would come a procession of prancing lambs followed by a shepherd playing Pan-pipes and, finally, old Father Time himself. The impressive clock tower is also home to a group of Clock Mice, extraordinary rodents who are twice as bright as rats and just as smart as humans. They speak their own complex language of mind-pictures and elude Juno, the clock tower cat. When the clockmaker''s grandson fails to repair the town''s beloved clock, will the Clock Mice be able to save Time? Filled with unforgettable characters, including the Hickory, Dickory, and Dock mouse families and some eccentric humans, Time and the Clock Mice, Etcetera is a whimsical tale of mice, magic, cats, clocks, science, people, and the nature of time. This ebook features full-color illustrations by Emma Chichester-Clark and an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author''s collection.

In this evocative tale of suspense from CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson, a British diplomat’s wife in Nigeria inadvertently precipitates a senseless tragedy, and six decades later, her son becomes caught up in a maelstrom of violent political corruption Filmmaker Nigel Jackland has come to northern Nigeria to work on a new project: a documentary based on the personal diary entries of his mother. Sixty years have passed since Betty Jackland first accompanied her husband, Ted, to this colonial African backwater, resolving to be a perfect helpmate and wife to Britain’s district officer in the emirate of Kiti. But Betty’s fascination with the local Kitawa tribe, innate sense of justice, and irrepressibly independent spirit mean she could never turn a blind eye to the suffering of oppressed women—particularly the abused wives of the ruling emir. She never imagined that her strong words and actions could have violent consequences in the shadow of Tefuga Hill—or that the echoes of the tragedy would resound dangerously in the life of her own son many years on. Linking two stories separated by more than half a century and relating them in alternating chapters, Tefuga is an enthralling, evocative, and suspenseful tale of corruption, imperialism, race, and murder. A master of both style and substance, Dickinson brilliantly re-creates times and places in stunning detail, transporting readers to an Africa so remarkably realistic they can almost feel the equatorial winds on their faces.

To save his friend, a daring young boy infiltrates a healing center If it weren’t for the migraines, Barry would be an ordinary boy. When a crushing headaches strikes him during the school day, he goes to the nurse’s office to beg for aspirin. He is waiting for her help when a chubby-faced six-year-old girl puts her hands on his neck. Heat flows through them, and when it stops, the headache is gone. Her name is Pinkie, and she has the power to heal. When her stepfather uses her ability to found a highly profitable healing center, Barry fears the gentle little girl is being exploited. On the outside, Barry is just a scared, sickly teenager. But inside he is Bear—and Bear is afraid of nothing. To save his friend, he infiltrates the healing center, where he will find that those who plan to cure the world’s ills also know something about causing pain. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author’s collection.

On a prehistoric shore, a young girl fights to help her tribe survive She is at home in the ocean, as comfortable in the water as she is on dry land. The child’s people have made their homes by the bay for as long as anyone can remember, diving for mussels and any other food the ocean will serve to them. They have no language; they have no names. Although they know love and jealousy and pride, they are not quite human—not yet. This child of the sea will show them the way. Two million years later, Vinny is visiting her father at an archaeological site in Africa when they discover the remains of that forgotten tribe of cliff dwellers. Across the ocean of time, these two young women will find a connection, an inexplicable bond that builds slowly but arrives with all the power of a tidal wave. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author’s collection.

Tilja has grown up in the peaceful Valley, which is protected from the fearsome Empire by an enchanted forest. But the forest’s power has begun to fade and the Valley is in danger. Tilja is the youngest of four brave souls who venture into the Empire together to find the mysterious magician who can save the Valley. And much to her amazement, Tilja gradually learns that only she, an ordinary girl with no magical powers, has the ability to protect her group and their quest from the Empire’s sorcerers.

THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD EVA wakes up in the hospital unable to remember anything since the picnic on the beach. Her mother leans over the bed and begins to explain. A traffic accident, a long coma . . . But there is something, Eva senses, that she’s not being told. There is a price she must pay to be alive at all. What have they done, with their amazing medical techniques, to save her?

Articles, tributes and reminiscences of composer, pianist and author Peter Dickinson are here brought together for the first time. Peter Dickinson made an enduring contribution to British musical life, and his music has been regularly performed and recorded by leading musicians. His writings, brought together here for the first time, are equally noteworthy. Covering well over half a century, the subjects are fascinatingly varied. Apart from musical interests ranging from Charles Ives to John Cage, they touch on literature; and Dickinson''s meetings with W.H. Auden and Philip Larkin are an intriguing insight that led to his Auden songs and the chamber work Larkin''s Jazz. American themes are prominent in this collection. There are unique reviews of concert life in New York from 1959 to 1961; an account of the teaching programme at the Juilliard School of Music at that time; three studies of Ives; and features containing original material on Copland, Thomson and Cage, all of whom Dickinson knew. Features on Erik Satie include the imaginary discussion marking his centenary in 1966. Dickinson also writes about his own music, providing an insight into what it was like being a British composer in the later twentieth century. Peter Dickinson was born in Lancashire in 1934 and lived in Suffolk until his passing. His 80th birthday was marked by a whole variety of tributes, including concerts, articles, broadcasts and various interviews - some included in this book. PETER DICKINSON was a British composer and pianist as well as author and editor of Boydell/URP books on Berkeley, Copland, Cage, Barber and Berners. As a pianist, Dickinson had a twenty-five-year, international partnership with his sister, the mezzo Meriel Dickinson, for whom he wrote song cycles to poems of E. E. Cummings, Gregory Corso and Stevie Smith. He was a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and was widely read as a critic on the Gramophone. He was an Emeritus Professor of the Universities of Keele and London and was chair of the Bernarr Rainbow Trust, for which he edited several books on music education.

In the cavernous halls of Buckingham Palace, a series of pranks lead to murder in this mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson Princess Louise and her father, King Victor II of England, agree that life has become painfully dull. When she’s not in school, Louise spends her days roaming the palace and fulfilling her royal duties while her father fusses over budgets and attempts to keep his family out of the tabloids. So when a prankster begins placing frogs on the breakfast trays, Louise delights in the break from routine—as does King Victor. But this innocent mischief soon escalates into bloodshed when a body is found in the palace. In an attempt to quell his family’s panic, King Victor resolves to catch the killer. At last he has a purpose—but the palace may be in greater danger than either he or Louise suspects.

A New York Times Notable Book: CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson revisits his alternate British monarchy, ensnaring the imagined royal family in a dark conspiracy of kidnapping, politics, scandal, and murder Britain’s beloved Princess Louise is a grown woman now, married to commoner Piers Chandler and enchanted by their infant son, Davy. While visiting a certain Mrs. Walsh—a mysterious old woman claiming to be a royal relation, a Romanov who escaped the terror of the Russian Revolution—Louise and little Davy are nearly taken captive by would-be kidnappers. Through pluck and quick thinking, Her Royal Highness avoids the unthinkable, but Mrs. Walsh is killed in the melee, leaving her secrets unspoken and her mysteries unsolved. Not easily daunted, the young princess turns to her husband for help in unraveling the tangled truth about the murdered Mrs. Walsh—a hunt that soon leads them to Tashkent, the teeming capital city of Uzbekistan, where they hope to find answers. But some doors to the past are opened only at gravest risk to life and limb—even for those of royal blood. Bringing back many of the unforgettable characters from his acclaimed King and Joker, Dickinson’s Skeleton-in-Waiting is yet another majestic thriller from a true master mystery novelist, offering further proof that this author has few equals among crime fiction royalty.

CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson is back: Now-retired Scotland Yard superintendent James Pibble isn’t about to go quietly into the night—not when there’s a murder case or two (or three) to solve At Flycatchers, a well-to-do nursing home watched over by no-nonsense nurse Jenny, one-time detective James Pibble shuttles between his nothing-to-live-for present and memories of the crimes he’s solved—or failed to. He’s roused from his listless existence when he discovers a dead body on top of the water tower. Security guard George Tosca isn’t the only one at Flycatchers who has met his maker a bit too abruptly. There have been other suspicious deaths in the last three years, including those of military man Sir Archibald Gunter and Bertie Foster-Banks, an inveterate gambler and shareholder in the home. The arrival of a woman in black sets off a sinister chain of events, and before he knows it, Pibble is on the case. As he travels down a twisting path of blackmail and escalating violence, Pibble finds that his life is suddenly filled with purpose again. He will bring a cunning killer to justice—or die trying. But the real reason he went up to the tower on that stormy winter night is linked to a secret he’ll carry to his grave. One Foot in the Grave is the 6th book in the James Pibble Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.