Home > Mystery/Crime

JUDE THE OBSCURE is perhaps the most vivid illustration of Hardy's belief that our lives are governed by dark and malevolent forces. Jude Fawley is torn between his sensual nature and his equally strong lust for learning, two sides of his character that are personified by the two women in his life--the earthy Arabella and the intellectual Sue Bridehead. Jude comes to a tragic end because of his inability to reconcile them. His attempts to rise above his humble origins, in spite of all his efforts, prove impossible, as do his attempts to live an unconventional life outside of marriage with the woman he loves. The novel represents Hardy's strongest attack on the insularity of English university life, and on marriage as a religious institution. It was called JUDE THE OBSCENE by critics at the time (1895) because it was considered to be steeped in sex; after its hostile reception, Hardy gave up writing novels and, for the rest of his life, wrote only poetry.
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.

Robert Amiss expects a quiet year in the ivory tower of college life after he is awarded a one-year fellowship. But brutal academic politics grip the campus when St. Martha's College receives a huge bequest. Conflicts rage over how to spend the money. When Dame Maud Buckbarrow, who believes that the funds should support the austere areas of scholarship, is murdered, eyebrows are raised. The local police turn to Robert's old friend, Jim Milton, a Scotland Yard detective, and again, Robert Amiss finds himself involved in a murder investigation.
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.

Description not available.
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.

Cousins by marriage, Roddy and Elinor are a well-matched, well-adjusted couple. Until Roddy falls in love and Elinor is charged with murder. What actually happened? With Belgian detective Hercule Poirot on the case, it isn't likely to remain a mystery for long.
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.

Although King writes in the familiar nature-drenched idiom of other Florida writers and sounds the same environmentalist themes, he takes us far deeper into the Everglades and much closer to the hard-core survivalists who live a rough and furtive existence in places'outside the curve of progress and, in many ways, still outside the purview of the law.'
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.