“You must understand that the only phenomenon we have actually been able to observe over England during the last five years has been the weather. Most Western powers—France, America, Russia, Germany—have sent agents in to your island, but very few have returned. Those who did return brought no useful information, except that the island was now fragmented into a series of rural communities, united by a common hostility to machines of any sort, and by a tendency to try to return to the modes of living and thought that characterized the Dark Ages. The agents themselves say that they felt similar urges and were tempted to stay too ...“So you are doubly interesting to us, Mr. linker. First, because you explain the English weather pattern. And secondly, because you appear to be genuinely immune to the machine phobia which affects anyone who sets foot in England. You seem to be the first convincing case in the twenty million people who have left England.”

In this gripping novel by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson, the survivor of a manor-house crime delves into the past to solve a mystery At the elegant English manor known as Snailwood, tourists come daily to hear decades-old gossip about the second wife of the sixth earl. Zena was a remarkable young woman whose scandalous reputation has been dimmed neither by time nor by her bizarre death. In the 1930s, Zena was the star of a notorious party set whose members included playwrights, politicians, and Nazi sympathizers. They passed wild weekends at this stately manor, arguing about politics and drinking until dawn. At the center of their parties was Snailwood's magnificent tower clock. The clock stopped long ago, but the darkness of its legacy continues to spread. When a workman offers to fix the clock for free, the only remaining survivor of the old days is forced to revisit her memories of Zena's last mad party, when death came to Snailwood and...

CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson is back: An Indian doctor joins the English underground to fight racial oppression Dr. P. P. Humayan expects prejudice from the English. Growing up in Bombay, he was raised on stories of the injustices of life in Britain, where racial status is marked on one's papers and anyone of Celtic descent is born with green skin and forced to live in walled-off ghettos. But when he travels to London to announce that he has solved the genetic mystery of why the Celts are born green, he is shocked by the system's brutality. Only one English girl is kind to him—and she will soon find herself in mortal peril. When his host family is murdered, Humayan slips underground, joining a small band of rebels who would do anything to see racial equality restored to England. There are powerful men working to maintain the sinister status quo, and bringing them down will be the toughest problem this mathematician has ever faced.

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...

Alone and exhausted after a rebel attack on his father's mission settlement in remote China, thirteen-year-old Theodore is relieved to meet the earthy and colourful Mrs Jones, a botanist, and they flee together for the forbidden land of Tibet.But are they really fleeing? Or being summoned? For the old Lama who rules in the many-domed monastery of Dong Pe insists they hold the clue to the birth of the long-awaited Tulku - a reincarnated spiritual master...

Reading Group Questions included."Mr. Dickinson has a nice dry wit and a talent for deft characterization."—New York Times"Everything here is exactly right."—New YorkerDeath of a Unicorn is the first in a series of reprints of Peter Dickinson's mysteries from Small Beer Press. This classic British mystery will win fans currently engrossed in Downton Abbey.From Peter Dickinson's Timeline on his website: "When the youngest member of the five-strong editorial staff of Punch (founded 1843) turned 40 the editor, Kenneth Bird (the cartoonist Fougasse) had written to a don he knew at Cambridge to ask him to find someone younger to train up. On his way to the interview for the job Peter was knocked down by a tram and arrived covered with blood and dirt, but they gave him the job because he was the only candidate. A lot of his novel Death of a Unicorn is based on the seventeen years he spent there."Peter Dickinson OBE has twice received the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger as well as the Guardian Award and Whitbread Prize. He is the author of over fifty books including The Poison Oracle, A Summer in the Twenties, and many more. His latest book is Earth and Air: Tales of Elemental Spirits (Big Mouth House). He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley."Peter Dickinson is my own chosen demigod in the pantheon of crime fiction."—Laurie R. King"The Tolkien of the crime novel."—H.R.F.KeatingPraise for Peter Dickinson's mysteries:"He is the true original, a superb writer who revitalises the traditions of the mystery genre . . . incapable of writing a trite or inelegant sentence . . . a master."—P. D. James"He sets new standards in the mystery field that will be hard to live up to."—Ruth Rendell"He has an eye and a mind and a voice like no other."—Donald E. Westlake"A fresh triumph . . . a simultaneous insight into kids and their minders, and emerging nations, and the concept of freedom - all done with consummate story-telling skill."—Peter Lovesey"Read this book carefully. It's a jewel."—The New York Times Review"Brilliantly imaginative first detective story . . .wonderfully convincing."—The Observer"Mr Dickinson is the most original crime novelist to appear for a long, long time."—The Guardian"Brilliantly original, as always."—Times Literary Supplement"Wry, witty, irresistible."—The Financial Times"A literary magician controlling an apparently inexhaustible supply of effects . . . Craftsmanship such as this makes for compulsive reading."—Penelope Lively"Dickinson tops all his prizewinners with this stunning psychological thriller."—Publishers WeeklyAbout the AuthorPeter Dickinson: Peter Dickinson OBE has twice received the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger as well as the Guardian Award and Whitbread Prize. His latest book is Earth and Air: Tales of Elemental Spirits (Big Mouth House). He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.

One small body curled around the mass of sleepers. Different. Yes, I'm different . . .Four million years ago, then, a young girl - Li - lives with her tribe along the shores of a mothering sea. But Li is different. A thinker, a questioner, her sense of wonder and intuition could help shape the future of her race.In Africa, now, on the site of that very same plain - Vinny visits her father who is working as part of a team searching for fossil remains of our ancestors. Fascinated by the tiny fragments of bone that are painstakingly dug out of the ground, Vinny's curiosity helps lead the team towards a major discovery . . .An enthralling and original tale from the award-winning author of Tulku.

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...

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...

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.

Gripped by a strange fear, England closes its doors to the outside world Something has gone very wrong in England. In a tunnel beneath Wales one man opens a crack in a mysterious stone wall, and all over the island of Britain people react with horror to perfectly normal machines. Abandoning their cars on the roads and destroying their own factories, many flee the cities for the countryside, where they return to farming and an old-fashioned life. When families are split apart and grown-ups forget how they used to live, young people face unexpected challenges. Nicola Gore survives on her own for nineteen days before she's taken in by a Sikh family that still remembers how to farm and forge steel by hand. Margaret and Jonathan brave the cold and risk terrible punishment in order to save a man's life and lift the fog of fear and hate that's smothering their village. And Geoffrey and his little sister, Sally, escape to France only to be sent back to England...

From Publishers WeeklyLike his stellar novels Shadow of a Hero and Bone from a Dry Sea, Dickinson's latest offering moves from the mythic to the particular and back again, making clear the ways in which an individual's extraordinary experience could metamorphose into an entire culture's legend. Readers who are willing and able to fall into step with its majestic pace will be rewarded by a thought-provoking trek through a fairy tale world that is as breathtakingly fresh as it is archetypal. For 19 generations, the comfortably prosperous Valley has been tucked away from the outside world kept safe by powerful enchantments. When these powers begin to weaken, however, it's up to Tilja and her grandmother Meena, along with their companions, Tahl and his grandfather Alnor, to journey forth in search of a magician powerful enough to protect their home once again. In the course of this pilgrimage, Tilja who has recently and heartbreakingly learned that she possesses not a jot of the hereditary magic that would entitle her to inherit her beloved family homestead comes to understand more about the unique and valuable gift she does possess. Eerily, the novel is sprinkled with images that take on an unforeseen resonance: a rebel magician be-turbaned and lanky and collapsing towers that crush their proud builders. A challenging magical adventure for the thinking reader. Ages 12-up. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From School Library JournalGr 7-10-The Valley is left alone by barbarian marauders from the north and by the powerful, greedy Empire to the south. Old stories explain why. Although these ancient legends are hardly believed any more, Tilja's mother still goes into the forest to sing to the cedars and Tahl's grandfather talks to the waters that flow along the northern border. Their families have been protecting the Valley in this manner for nearly 20 generations. Now that magical protection is breaking down, and Tilja, her grandmother, Tahl, and his grandfather set out on a quest to find a mysterious man who may or may not still be alive but who probably holds the secret they need to discover. As this band of travelers makes it way across hostile, unfamiliar territory, Tilja begins to learn of her ability to neutralize magic, rendering it powerless. Since the Empire's leaders have harnessed magic as a tool to control its subjects, this proves to be a most important talent. The travelers experience one dangerous, exciting adventure after another. They meet a strange man known as the Ropemaker, whose magic is mightier than any in the Empire. As the four come closer to achieving their goal, evil forces conspire to destroy them. And the suspense does not let up until the very last pages. While on one level this tale is a fantasy, it is also a wonderful coming-of-age story. Tilja is a young woman who is discovering who she is and what she is meant to do in life. Fascinating questions about time are posed, and there is much for young people to think about here. As much as anything, this book is about the power of story and the influence it can have on ordinary people's lives.Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NCCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year: Peter Dickinson targets England's upper classes in this murderous and strikingly original theme-park mystery Tourists are waiting in line for entry into the world of Old England, a graceful, elegant country house run as a theme park, complete with wrought-iron gates, pet lions, and maids in white caps greeting visitors with a bob and a curtsy. But this fantasy world turns very real when one of the servants takes his own life. Why did the loyal and faithful Arthur Deakin hang himself in the pantry without leaving even a note? Dispatched to find out, Scotland Yard superintendent James Pibble wonders why the local police weren't called in on a seemingly run-of-the-mill suicide. But as Pibble will soon find, life at the Herryngs estate of twin brothers Ralph and Richard Clavering is anything but ordinary. Sir Ralph, a retired general, and Sir Richard, a former admiral who now writes about animals...

'They are terrible. They are like the demons of old. They must be stopped, and you are here to bring that about, where everyone else has failed. You must find the Ropemaker.' Despite his immense powers, the Ropemaker alone could not control the chaos raging through the Empire, so he chose twenty-four magicians to aid him in his task - the Watchers. They pledged to use their magic only to protect the people but the promise that bound them has now corrupted them. They have become a single, terrible entity with a limitless desire for domination. Only the Ropemaker may be able to stop them, but he has not been seen for over two hundred years. Into this dangerous world come Saranja, Maja and Ribek. They too are seeking the Ropemaker so that he might restore the ancient magic that protects their Valley. It is the task they were born to, but now it seems they have a greater purpose with far more at stake should they fail. In "Angel Isle", Peter Dickinson takes readers on another spellbinding adventure, further into the enthralling fantasy world first encountered in his Carnegie Medal shortlisted novel, "The Ropemaker".

Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year: The murder of the leader of a pygmy tribe introduces us to James Pibble, the Scotland Yard superintendent with a knack for solving the most extraordinary of crimes Oddball cases are James Pibble's specialty. But the brutal bludgeoning of the revered elder of a New Guinea tribesman may be his strangest yet. The corpse, in striped pajamas, lies in the middle of a room completely absent of furniture. Seven women squat on the floorboards. One knits. Another sits cross-legged at his feet. They all chant incantations in a strange language. The murder weapon, a wooden balustrade ornament in the shape of an owl, could have been wielded by any of the myriad suspects Pibble meets at Flagg Terrace, the London residence where the Ku family currently lives. And the only clue seems to be an Edwardian penny. So who killed bearded, four-foot-tall Aaron Ku? Everyone seems to have an alibi, including a...

Emma is spending the summer with her Scottish cousins—who are wonderful material for her attempt to win the School Prize for most interesting holiday diary. The cousins, lofty Andy, reserved Fiona, and fierce Roddy, are experimenting with their grandfather's dilapidated old mini-submarine to see if they can find a monster in the family loch.Emma Tupper's Diary is a sometimes terrifying, sometimes broadly hilarious adventure novel in the spirit of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and I Capture the Castle.Praise for Emma Tupper's Diary:"Fish out of water Emma must spend the summer in Scotland with cousins she’s never met. They’re somewhat older and get along fine with minimal adult supervision. Even when they plot to take an old submarine out on the nearby loch for a spin, adding a Nessy-like monster head to the top for fun, there’s no one around to urge caution. It’s the sort of...

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.

In this brilliant crime novel by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson, a writer looks back on his past and discovers the memory of a murder that needs to be solved It's been forty years since Paul Rogers spent a night at St. Aidan's Preparatory School in Sussex and he believes he has forgotten nearly everything that happened there. When a biographer asks the now-middle-aged novelist about his youth, it triggers memories that Rogers thought he had lost forever and prompts him to begin writing about the summer of 1940, when the Nazis took Paris and his entire boarding school were evacuated to a country house in Devon. There the boys discovered a pastoral countryside whose woods held untold mysteries—one of which, Rogers realizes in hindsight, might have been a murder. To write about this long-forgotten crime, Rogers digs deep into his past, uncovering terrifying recollections that may or may not be real. Something gruesome happened that summer,...

Simulated war games morph into the real thing when a crime wave hits a Greek island in this fast-paced mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson The West Indies island of Hog's Cay is soon to open for tourism, but the money behind the deal comes from the Mafia, which is ready to turn the island into the next Vegas. And the politicos in charge have given Greek tycoon Thanassi Thanatos the contract. That's where James Pibble comes in. The former Scotland Yard superintendent has come to Thanatos's hideaway on the Ionian island of Hyos to protect the Greek tycoon from the Mob, which doesn't like anyone muscling in on its territory. Rumor has it the crooks are eyeing Hyos for their booming drug-smuggling trade. Throw in British intelligence and a clandestine American operation, and you've got an international free-for-all. The mystery deepens when Pibble uncovers a monastery led by Fathers Polydore and Chrysostom, who may be the richest men on the...

In this bizarre thriller set in an Arab emirate, an English scientist is trying to teach a chimpanzee to communicate. But when the chimp is the sole witness to a murder, giving evidence strains its new skill to the limit.

At the dawn of human history, four children who have been cast out of their home embark on a quest for a new landThey came to An and said, "Our brothers and sisters have each a Kin, but we have none. How is this?" An, knowing no better, said, "You were reared by Ammu and by me. You are of the Kin of People." It was from this that all sorrow came. Suth and Noli were orphaned on the night when the murderous strangers came, speaking an unfamiliar language and bringing violence to the peaceful Moonhawk tribe. Now the Moonhawks are running away into a wasteland with little hope of finding water or food before it's too late. Determined not to die in the desert, Suth and Noli slip away at night with two other orphaned children and only Noli's dreams to guide them. 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...

"A lovely smooth read."—The Washington Post"A witty, affectionately nostalgic masterpiece."—The Columbus Dispatch"As absorbingly readable, as well-written as anything Peter Dickinson has written."—The Times Literary SupplementPraise for Peter Dickinson's mysteries:"The works of British Mystery Writer Peter Dickinson are like caviar—an acquired taste that can easily lead to addiction. Dickinson . . . does not make much of the process of detection, nor does he specialize in suspense. Instead, he neatly packs his books with such old-fashioned virtues as mood, character, and research."—Time"Dickinson (author of engagingly offbeat thrillers and children's books) does splendidly here with atmosphere, with the eccentric supporting characters, with the occasionally bizarre comic touches."—Kirkus ReviewsIn 1926 the British government was worried about revolution. Two million...

Six new earthbound and airy stories from a two-time winner of both the Carnegie Medal and Whitbread Award.

From School Library JournalGrade 6-9-An intriguing, intricately woven fantasy set in Italy and then Sicily. Because of his magnificent voice, Alfredo is selected to be trained as a choirboy. On his name day, he receives a mysterious gift, a gold charm of a salamander on a chain, from his father's estranged brother. Thus starts this complicated tale that relies on folklore related to salamanders as the spirit of fire and the power of music. After Alfredo is orphaned when his family's bakery burns down, the Prince-Cardinal begins to arrange for the painful and dangerous surgery that will make Alfredo a castrati to ensure that his voice will not change. Claiming that he is Alfredo's only living relative, Uncle Giorgio arrives and prevents the operation from taking place. At first Alfredo believes that his uncle cares about him as he takes him away to Mt. Etna. However, he begins to realize that his uncle is a sorcerer, the Master of the Mountain who can control when it will erupt and spew fire on its environs. Giorgio has Alfredo sing for the salamander, and the beauty of the boy's voice makes the creature cry, and readers learn that its tears have restorative powers. Eventually, Alfredo understands that Uncle Giorgio has sinister intentions for him and begins a plan that leads to the man's ultimate destruction. The story takes many twists and turns, some convenient and some confusing. This latest offering from a master storyteller is not an easy read, but fantasy fans will stick with it, hoping for good's triumph.Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistStarred Review Gr. 6-9. In this sophisticated story, Dickinson takes readers inside a volcanic mountain of fire, where a salamander sheds healing tears and excretes liquid gold. Thirteen-year-old Alfredo is happy with his Tuscan life, singing in the choir and tending to the fires of his father's bakery oven. Then comes tragedy: the family house burns. Alfredo, the only survivor, is whisked away to his ancestral home by his mysterious uncle, who has an ulterior motive. Although simply and elegantly written, Dickinson's story is, nonetheless, complex, as Alfredo moves from a wary gratefulness to discovery of the horrifying truth: his uncle, who controls the volcano, is ready to use his sorcerer's powers to claim Alfredo's strong, young body for his own. Not everything here is easy to understand: the power of the salamanders and the mystical relationship they have with the mountain's fire are sometimes too esoteric to grasp. But Alfredo's relationship with the people who live under the volcano is sharp and strongly written, and the fierce beauty of the mountain and its fire will linger in memory. Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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.

From Publishers WeeklyHis first mystery in five years gives ample evidence that Dickinson, an award-winning storyteller whose first novel was published in 1968, can still entrance readers with superbly drawn tales. He knows how to construct an atmospheric English country house mystery as do few other contemporary writers, and he can build a complex plot as skillfully as ever. An old woman, Rachel Matson, is paralyzed and slowly dying, but the mind inside her wasted body is as sharp as ever. She discovers one day that one of a pair of antique dueling pistols, which she had given her late husband, is missing. Her husband had been the colonel of an army regiment that was taken prisoner by the Japanese in WWII and used as slave labor. The men who survived the war have forged strong bonds, and their lives remain intertwined. Before her illness, Rachel had chronicled her life and her marriage in photographs; she was an artist who documented the reality around her. Now she must use her old photographs and her observational skills to discover why the pistol is missing and how its disappearance may connect to a secret that has been hidden for many years. Dickinson has long been known for creating subtle and meticulously detailed portraits of eccentric characters. In this novel, he depicts a family possessing courage, talent and wealth, but whose members are obsessed with an old crime that has haunted their lives. This beautifully crafted and highly original English mystery should bring new fans to an exceptional writer. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalRachel Matson was a talented photographer and the devoted wife of Jocelyn, a World War II prisoner of war. Now a 90-year-old widow dying of an illness that has paralyzed her, Rachel is determined to hang on to her mental powers. When she discovers that Jocelyn's treasured antique pistol is missing, a long-buried secret comes back to torment her. With the help of her loyal nurse, Dilys, Rachel uses her photographs to come to terms with her past, piecing together a series of events that tore her family apart 39 years ago. Veteran British mystery novelist Dickinson (The Yellow Room Conspiracy, Mysterious, 1994) skillfully fleshes out the characters of Rachel and Dilys and spins an absorbing tale. Recommended.-. David Plante, Minot State Univ. Lib., NDCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Scotland Yard detective James Pibble travels to a remote Scottish island to free an old man from a dangerous cult of self-proclaimed saints and saviors in this mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson Ninety-two-year-old Sir Francis Francis summons James Pibble to an isolated island in the Hebrides to find out who pilfered the memoirs he was in the process of writing. The Nobel Prize–winning scientist was one of the builders of the first atom bomb. Is Francis senile? Paranoid? Was the manuscript really stolen? What's the real reason he sent for Pibble? As Pibble tries to untangle the mystery of the missing document, he starts to suspect that the devout millenarian religious sect inhabiting the island may be less virtuous than it seems; the community is strangely hell-bent on preventing Francis from ever leaving. It's up to Pibble to seek out the truth and find his own salvation before the walls of Jericho come tumbling down forever.