Bøker av Michael Pearce

Drawing on thousands of naturalistic online interactions from Ready to Go, a popular football message board centred on North East England, North East Vernacular English Online describes dialect at the levels of morphology, syntax, lexis and - through a study of orthographic innovation - phonology, charting historical continuities as well as more recent developments. Pearce also examines metalinguistic commentary and debate on the website, revealing folk-attitudes and perceptions of linguistic variation. Informed by the latest research, but also building on the foundational scholarship of the English Dialect Society and the Survey of English Dialects, this volume will appeal to academics in the fields of sociolinguistics and dialectology, as well as undergraduates, post-graduates and general readers interested in the language and culture of England's most distinctive region.

Edited transcriptions, with full notes, of unpublished documents from early modern Scottish history - with subject matter including witchcraft and ghosts.

Malta, 1913, and hot air balloons hover over the Grand Harbour. One of them comes down in the water but no one is hurt - except that the balloonist dies later when taken into the Naval Hospital for a check-up. But he is not the only one who had died there unexpectedly, as a letter to The Times points out, and a special investigator, Seymour of the Foreign Office, is sent out from London to find out what is going on.For in 1913 Malta is still a British protectorate, governed by the British; indeed, with its red postboxes, English beer and English language it seems like an exotic Little Britain. But the rumblings of war are reaching out to that small island in the Mediterranean and many of the old Maltese families are becoming divided in their loyalties: at the same time staunchly supportive to the British and yet starting to question Malta's subordinate status and wondering whether the time has come to strike out an independent path for themselves.So the letter to The Times has touched a raw nerve, as Seymour soon finds out: is it a critique of bad nursing practises? Or is there a different, more sinister explanation to these sudden deaths?Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

Naples, 1913. Sun-baked, blue-skied, and with its amazing bay, one of the most beautiful spots in Italy - but also, one of the most backward. Into that world is sent a minor British consular official, Scampion, banished from Florence because he has allowed himself to be caught up in the mad social whirl surrounding D'Annunzio, the famous Italian poet, Nationalist and revolutionary.Scampion brings with him from Florence the new craze that is sweeping Italy: bicycling. And one day as he walks home after a road race that he has been organising, he is stabbed to death.Nothing extraordinary about that in Naples - it happens all the time - but his wallet was not taken, a fact that is remarkable. Could Scampion's murder have something to do with the racing? Bicycling may seem like a harmless pursuit but in Italy passions run high and Neopolitans, too, are great gamblers; they gamble on anything, including bicycle races. And where there is gambling, in Naples there is usually the Camorra, the powerful Neopolitan secret society.But then the Foreign Office receives a tip off that the murder may be more complicated. It might be linked to high politics in Rome. And that's when Seymour, the foreigner from the F.O., is sent south to investigate . . .Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

In this classic mystery from Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt investigates the discovery of a young woman's body at the site of a dam.Cairo, 1908. When an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, is called in to investigate.To make matters worse, the ceremonial cutting of a dam always requires careful policing, especially on this occasion as it is going to be the Last Cut. Which means the discovery of a young woman's body at the site of the dam is extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Or something more sinister?

The second in the delightfully witty and diverting new crime series set in Tsarist Russia from the award-winning Michael Pearce.

In this classic murder mystery from Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt investigates the murder of an Italian man in the backstreets of Cairo.Cairo, 1908. When an Italian man is murdered in the city's back streets, there is concern that this could be some kind of ethnic cleansing. Were the guns in his warehouse anything to do with it? Gareth Owen - the Mamur Zapt - has to find out fast.And then there are other difficult questions. What are Trudi von Ramsberg and Gertrude Bell really doing in Cairo? As the Mamur Zapt is drawn deeper into the investigation, he's not the only one who has problems over where his allegiance lies...

In this classic mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, a powerful politician is murdered in Cairo in the 1900s and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate.Cairo in the 1900s. As the long period of indirect British rule draws to an end, tensions mount. The attempted assassination of a politician raises the possibility of a terrorist outrage at the city's religious festival, the Return of the Holy Carpet from Mecca.When the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, begins to investigate, he finds himself in a race against a deadly group of terrorists to protect the city from a catastrophic attack.

From the award-winning Michael Pearce comes an engrossing murder mystery set in the Cairo of the 1900s. After a series of attacks on public officials, the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate.

Winner of the CWA Last Laugh Award, an irresistible historical mystery in which the Mamur Zapt investigates the illegal trade of antiquities in the Cairo of the 1900s.

A classic murder mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, which sees the Mamur Zapt investigate a series of suspicious kidnappings in the Cairo of the 1900s.

From the award-winning Michael Pearce, comes a delightful murder mystery set in Egypt in 1908. A body is found on the tracks of a new electric railway and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate.

Witty and irreverent, this is the first in an irresistible crime series set in Tsarist Russia in the 1890s from the award-winning Michael Pearce.Tsarist Russia in the 1890s. Dmitri Kameron, a young lawyer, must deal with the disappearance of a well-connected young woman. She has been shipped off to Siberia, in one of the prison wagons outside the Court House. But is this a bureaucratic bungle or something more calculated?On a journey to the furthest outposts of Russia, Dimitri's search becomes horribly complicated. To unearth the truth in a treacherous world of Russian officialdom he is forced to make some strange allies, not least among them the redoubtable Milk-Drinkers...

Shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Award for best historical crime novel, this is an engrossing murder mystery set in the Egypt of the 1900s, featuring the inimitable Mamur Zapt.

In this classic mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, a powerful politician is murdered in Cairo in the 1900s and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigateCairo, 1910. The end of the boom and everyone seems to have money troubles. Then one day a civil servant dies at his desk. Was it pressure of work or something nastier? The whiff of corruption is in the air, with even Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt, under suspicion...Owen's investigation takes him to the heart of a sinister organization. But will he be up to taking them on? And will he be in time to stop the Camel of Destruction running through the city?

Athens, 1913, the capital of a country on the brink of war. The new Greek prime minister, Venizelos, tired of the Ottoman overlords, has what he calls the Great Idea - a vision of a new Greece that unites all the Greek people scattered around the Mediterranean. Not such a great idea, in the view of other countries, among them Britain, which believes in letting sleeping dogs lie. And cats. Including the one recently poisoned in Athens and which belonged to the exiled former Sultan. Unfortunately, as is the way with the Balkans, rumours start flying around; one being that this was a sighting shot for the ex-Sultan himself. This, in the Balkans, could start a war and so Britain has to sit up and take notice. Something has to be done. Fast. And - please, urge the diplomats - low-key. The lowest key of all is to send out a police officer from Scotland Yard to investigate, and, as it happens, the Foreign Office has a person in mind: Seymour, of the CID, who has had some experience of this sort of thing before . . .Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

'Sheer fun' The TimesTrieste in 1906 is of vital strategic importance and one of the world's greatest seaports. But assorted nationalist movements are threatening to pull the place apart and the militarist regime has trouble keeping a lid on things. Amid all the chaos the British consul goes missing, and Special Branch Seymour is sent to find him. Born to an immigrant family in London's East End, Seymour has an acute linguistic ear - crucial in turn-of-the-century Trieste. As he attempts to solve the riddle of the consul's disappearance, Seymour discovers dark and disturbing corners of the city and finds that it holds the secrets of his own family's past.Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

From the author of the award-winning Mamur Zapt books, the second in a series introducing Seymour of Special Branch and set in the British embassies and Consulates of Europe in the early 1900s. The Second Secretary of the Embassy in Istanbul has died in decidedly strange circumstances while attempting to swim the Dardanelles Straits, the passage between Europe and Asia, heavily used by warships, liners, tankers and cargo vessels of all kinds. A romantic attempt to repeat the legendary feat of Leander, as the Embassy says? Or an attempt to spy out a possible landing place for a British military expedition, as the Turks insist? Whichever, Cunningham has ended up with a bullet in his head. The suspicious circumstances of his death have to be investigated so the Foreign Office sends out an officer of the Special Branch: Seymour. As Seymour tries to untangle the threads that lead to Cunningham's death, their ends lead him into all parts of the city, from the little box shops of the Avenue of Slippers to Les Petits Champs des Morts, where fashionable Turkish ladies loiter among the tombs to eat sweets; from the crowded coffee houses around the Galata Bridge where men sit all day smoking bubble pipes to the heart of the Topkapi Palace itself.Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

Barcelona, 1912. A city still recovering from the dramatic incidents of the so-called 'Tragic Week' when Catalonian conscripts bound for the unpopular war in Spanish Morocco had rebelled at the city's dockside against the royalist forces. In the fighting, many were killed, and afterwards, even more put in prison. Including an Englishman, who was later found dead in his cell.The dead man had been a prominent businessman in Gibraltar, so what had he been doing in Barcelona? What part did he play in the illicit three-way trade between Gibraltar, Spanish Morocco and Barcelona? And just how did he really meet his end - murdered, in a prison cell?The case, in Gibraltar's view, cries out for investigation - and by someone independent of the Spanish authorities. So Scotland Yard are summoned to send out one of their men - but who? Seymour ticks all the right boxes - he has experience of the tangled diplomatic world in that part of the Mediterranean. He speaks foreign languages. And possibly most importantly of all - he grew up near the docks of London's East End, so with any luck he knows how to swim if pushed in the water . . .PRAISE FOR MICHAEL PEARCE'S A DEAD MAN IN . . . SERIES'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. Arecommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times

The third exciting crime thriller in Michael Pearces Dead Man series. Why is Seymour of Scotland Yard summoned to somewhere so exotic as North Africa? Isn't the death of a Frenchman there something for the local police? Well, yes and no. The local police are answerable to the International Committee, of which the chairman is the British Consul. So naturally the ensuing investigation has to be above board. And so Seymour is bought in as he has had experience of this sort of thing before. And if he fails - well he is expendable, after all . . .Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal'Sheer fun' The Times'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

Serves as a guide to the richness and variety of the English language for both students and the general reader.