Gives a broad overview of profiling, no specifics.

Sex crimes and profiling violet crimes, and he knows his stuff! These books were books we read for these classes and they are definately full of information and presented in a way as not to scare off the reader. If you ever get a chance to meet or take a lecture with Dr. Holmes I highly recommend you do! The next best thing is his books that are very informative for those in the forensics or law enforcement field.

A must-read for anyone interested in the world of profiling. It covers a broad range of material including profiling in general, crime scene analysis and profiling of serial murder, arson, rape, pedophilia and victims. It has a good chapter on geographic analyses and predatory criminals.

While not a research publication itself, almost all material presented is linked by citation to a publication in its References section. It has a fair-to-good index. In my reading, this book is referenced by more publications on profiling and on serial killers than any other book.

Buyer beware!! This audio contains only 4 or the original 13 stories contained in the Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. Clearly it is an abridgement. !!

"The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes" was Doyle's last collection of short stories on the great detective. The stories may not have been uniformly as good as the earlier Holmes stories, and some of the plots may have been derivative, but they still entertain.

"The Three Garridebs" rehashed the plot of "The Red Headed League". "The Creeping Man" turned in a creepy tale whose premise has been disproved by later science. "The Veiled Lodger" was not even a mystery.

The rest of the stories were much better. "The Blanched Soldier" presented a conundrum which Holmes solved without visiting the scene. "The Sussex Vampire" had a perfectly natural explanation. "The Lion's Mane" involved violent death, but was there a crime? Holmes worked for an unnamed "Illustrious Client", but you should be able to figure out who it was. We meet Holmes' page, Billy, for the first and last time in "The Mazarin Stone". We meet international intrigue in "Shoscombe Old Place" and an arrogant murderer in "The Retired Colourman". My favorite story of the lot is "The Problem of Thor Bridge", where Holmes clears a young lady of murder in the face of almost overwhelming evidence of guilt.

Here we are again with the omniscient Holmes and incredulous Watson exploring mysteries as inscrutable as ever before. These stories are, as a previous reviewer has noted, on the darker side of things, no doubt as a resullt of WWI, in which Doyle lost his son. One even takes place, for the most part, in America, of all places!-There's always this comfortable, almost fairy tale sense in all of the Holmes' stories of this magic Victorian nightworld which Holmes and Watson float above in their upper middle class ease, and which we know (except in one story not in this book) that all will be well with the two friends in the end. Even when we know we are being duped, as when cigar ashes or some other peculiar evidence appears and Holmes announces "Surely you've read my monograph on the subject," and proceeds to expound upon their significance to the case, we are still pleased, like an opium smoker taking another drag from his pipe and drifting back to Xanadu. Like all Holmes' stories, these are bound to keep you turning the pages, as well as to enchant you thus.-Doyle's stories are so enchanting, in fact, that in the most recent issue of the New York Review of Books it is revealed that most Taiwanese believed that they were true and that London was a cobblestoned city perpetually inundated in fog!-A very nice compilation, indeed, with all the original drawings from The Strand.

I highly recommend this definitive work on architects Delano & Aldrich. The book is amazingly well-researched and well-written as well as beautifully illustrated with both historic and contemporary photographs. It's a must for the library of anyone interested in architecture!

I have been interested in the work of Delano and Aldrich for a number of years, and this book provides the best information I have been able to get so far.

The descriptions are deep and serious. I also liked the great pictures. The impact of their work is historic to say the least.

This is a must read.

What a fabulous insight into the Architecture firm of Delano & Adrich. This book with its beautiful photographs and engaging essay provide an invaluable tool for all architectural enthusiasts: from the average architecture buff to those involved in scholarly research.

I'm most impressed that the authors not only sought to perform research on the buildings themselves, but moreover, examined the partners and the social influences of the times. I feel we gain so much from the writers thru their experience of having read Delano's letters in archive at Yale!

This book should stand as a model for future chronologist of architectural history. It is truly a wonderful presentation - the best that I've seen published to date.

Congratulations.

THE CHESS MYSTERIES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Raymond M. Smullyan was predictable from beginning to end. Immediately Dr. Smullyan admits he doesn't like or play chess yet proceeds to use chess as a vehicle to demonstrate 'retrograde analysis' as though it were unique to chess. Any human being who has mastered his trade, craft, or profession has probably routinely reconfigured his work to identify a prior characteristic. Retrograde analysis is common to anyone skilled at their occupation and the adroit have no need to read this book to learn a commonly acquired skill. (The unadroit will simply continue as they are.) I further think this book will disappoint both chess players and Sherlock Holmes fans, and contribute nothing for students of logic.

I think the 2-star reviewer misses the point of this book: it's supposed to be fun. And it is. The puzzles are pretty challenging, and it definitely helps if you play chess. You tend to notice positional abnormalities that are the bases of the problems. From there, it's just detective work.

But the real treat to this book is the world the author creates. Smullyan's characters can't play chess for nuts. You should see the bizarre positions they come up with - it's as though they're making random moves. Yet this doesn't diminish their love of the game one bit. They're such gentlemen too. No one minds when Dr. Holmes interrupts to ask questions. His new friends are always polite and like nothing more than a good demostration of deductive reasoning. I wish I lived in their world.

The other reviews given below cover the contents comprehensively - I wholeheartedly agree that it is a wonderful book for those that enjoy puzzles and have a knowledge of chess. However, lest anyone believe otherwise - this book will in no way improve your chess playing skills. The puzzles are all about what happened (ie the history of moves) to bring about the current chess position (given in a diagram) on the assumption that the laws of chess have been strictly observed. There is no assumption that either side played plausibly or well to bring about the current position. Thus, the puzzles do not concern a future sequence(s) of moves that would, for example, lead to mate for black/white. This is what sets it apart from most chess puzzle books.

Anthologies are short stories-which means you will not have to deal with a monstrous amount of subplots. (Yeah!!!!) Sometimes after reading amass of novels, anthologies give you a much-needed break. The short stories do not allow the 300+ pages authors use for interference from outsiders and forces them to stick to the main characters/plot.

Playing With Fire by Susan Johnson *****
Historical Romance: The penniless Duke of Ware has been brought and paid for by banker, John Overton who wanted a dukedom for his daughter, Olivia. Olivia is so excited that she does not even say "I do" when prompted by the priest and Ware is so enthused that he got drunk the night before his wedding and had to be dragged out of bed by his solicitor-after his the countess (his mistress) was dragged out. Unwillingly they must both stick with Overton's contract and each other until an heir is produced. I am partial to Susan Johnson and feel this is another great love story. Olivia is a strong woman and stands her ground with this notorious rake. Though he may be rough, she is tough enough to straighten out this Duke's edges.

Simple Sins by Eileen Wilks ****
Romance: Bad boy meets Good girl. Felicity is a school teacher in the good ole town of Cross Creek. Damon Reed left Cross Creek for the fast life and has only returned in order to get some closure after the death of his grandmother, Gertrude. Felicity is seeking closure too, her mother has a problem and she's trying to get into Gertrude's house to find it. Damon immediately recognizes her and since the road is flooded, they are forced to live under the same roof and play seek & find. Felicity knows there is no way someone like Damon could be interested in her but he has other ideas. First time I have ever heard of this author but that did not stop me from enjoying this great story.

Once Burned by Dee Holmes *****
Contemporary Romance: Marisa Thornton used to be in love with Deke Laslo until he for some unknown reason ended their relationship. She is trying to prove to her father that she has moved on, actually has a new beau, and decides to catch a ride with Deke to Rhode Island for her fathers' (also Deke's ex-boss) birthday party. Deke is a loner who recently quit his job as a mercenary and knows Marisa deserves someone more normal, stable, loveable, etc. Will he wisely use his second chance to have the love of his life? First time for this author also, hot, bumpy love story.

Melting Ice by Stephanie Laurens *****
Historical Romance: Dyan St. Laurent aka the lion has been forced to reluctantly return home to become the fourth Duke of Darke and continue the family line, immediately! He left this life behind him 15 years ago and is now happily living an uncomplicated, rich life in India. He bumps into Lady Iceberg aka Lady Fiona Winton-Ryder as she crashes an orgy held by their mutual childhood friends. Prime and Proper Fiona is a HANDful but Dyan is just the man to handle her. The distance did not diminish their mutual attraction. Hilarious at times, hot romance.

This is a terrific book. All the authors have excelled themselves. The luscious love stories all have heroes and heroines breathing with life and acting realistically in coming to grips with their emotional problems and misunderstandings. The love scenes are hot and tillilating but never irksome as there is no gratuitous sex. I must say I have got much more than my money's worth.

After discovering the "spicy romance" genre a couple of years ago, my impression is that the short story or novella length is best for this type of tale. The 80 pages or so per story is enough to set the scene, develop the characters, crank up the intensity, and come to very satisfactory conclusion.

Susan Johnson's "Playing with Fire" and Stephanie Laurens' "Melting Ice" are set amongst the English nobility that romance authors seem to find especially fertile material. The authors know this arena so well they swiftly transport you the period. Although the outcomes were evident 10 pages into each story, I enjoyed every minute of the journey. The book's other two stories are present-day, and their very different characters and conflicts provide contrast and balance to the collection.

The stories in the collection are on a par with the ones in the "Secrets: The Best in Women's Sensual Fiction" (Volumes 1-4). Highly recommended.

If you enjoy beautiful photography for its own sake, this book is gorgeous; but if you want to see photographs of Mexican houses, interiors and folkcrafts, save your money. A big disappointment.

Oh, this book was fun to look at. Looking at the ever so daring colored homes brings a sence of jealousy..Why can't I do that :-)but this book is for entertaining, not for educating. It has lovely photos, great colors of bulidings and walls. Text does accompany the photos mind you, if gives you a brief background to the style, but When you are going to paint your porch orange, and your stairs blue, and your walls exterior fushia, do you need an explaination?? Have some fun!

"Mexico, a resting place for the rainbow" writes essayist Elena Poniatowska in this book centered on the subject of color. What makes the wonderful photographs by Amanda Holmes special and interesting is her way of seeing through the camera lens...in close-ups and unique angles. Categorized into themes, chapter # 1 is "The New World", with the fabulous wall paintings at Cacaxtla and Teotihuacan. # 2: "People of the Sun" focuses on some beautiful churches, as well as a few walls and doors. # 3: "A Sky Blue Balcony", has close-ups of brilliantly hued walls, balconies and building details. # 4: "The Brown Madonna", has everything from church niches to marketplace candies and more muli-colored walls. # 5: "The Space of Light", on modern Mexican architecture, and the colors that bring so much warmth to its clean, stark lines...with some of my favorite combinations, like apple green and bright pink...and that deep yellow that contrasts so well with the blues and aquas.

The essays that are with these photographs are interesting and strangely poetic. At first I found the writing somewhat peculiar, then realized it's translated from the Spanish (by Aurora Camacho de Schmidt) in an almost literal manner...but once you get into the rhythm of it, is excellent.

This hardback edition seems bigger than 160 pages because of its weight, with good quality thick pages, it's a sturdy volume. This book is much more about color than it is about Mexico, and for those of us who love color, it's a satisfying volume.

Disney Mouseworks seems to be moving to smaller books and it looks like the end of the line of the Disney Classics series. The new Read-Aloud Storybooks are shorter (by about 20 pages) and smaller (by an inch here and there). That's too bad for those of us who have been collecting the old series. The paper is nicer and the artwork is very good, though, so it's not a total loss.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs books are full of suspense, a perfect bedtime story. The best thing is that many (if not all of them) can be downloaded from from Project Gutenberg. Try reading the first one, Tarzan of the Apes, to your child as a serial bedtime story. They'll be begging to go to bed.

This version of Disney's Tarzan is clearly written and has accurate drawings true to the film's content. Rarely do you find a smaler version of the big books so well presented.

This is good enough at what it does: illustrating mathematical concepts under the guise of Sherlock Holmes stories. However, I have one beef and that is that Bruce, perhaps through lack of information on his own part, makes Holmes less intelligent than he should be.

My main example is that throughout the book, Holmes and Watson make reference to the year 1900 (their present year) as being the beginning of a new century. I feel certain that Holmes at least would know that centuries do not begin until the year one, in this case 1901. When Watson mentioned it, I felt sure that Bruce was taking the normal tack of making him obviously less intelligent than his partner (the man *is* a doctor, for crying out loud, give him *some* credit), but when Holmes mentions it later, I was duly perturbed.

Bruce also uses characters purely to tack on surprise endings to his stories, one of which did not work for this reviewer. In one story, the pair meet the Reverend Charles Dodgson, which any bibliophile knows is the real name of Lewis Carroll, but does not present this information until the last paragraph of the story. The surprise ending, using the pseudonym, was therefore lost on me.

In another story, there is no solution presented to a murder. This irked me no end at first, but then I realized that there being no solution to the mystery better illustrated the mathematical principle being explained. I still prefer my murders to have solutions, however.

All in all, this is an entertaining book. Bruce's skills as a storyteller and his ability to mix lessons into his stories is commendable. The stories, as Holmes pastiches, ring true overall, only clunking during the details I have mentioned, such as certain actions that seem totally out of character. One other example is when Sherlock and Mycroft are explaining a principle and Sherlock pulls out a graph to illustrate. Bruce (as Watson) writes the following (to the best of my memory): 'I jumped up, knocking over my chair, and cried, 'I have a horror of algebra!'' I couldn't help but laugh! This behavior from one of the most beloved characters in literature?

But, as I said, as a whole the book succeeds, and if you can overlook these details and engross yourself in the superb storytelling, you will enjoy yourself, and probably be educated in the process.

If I could guarantee that the author of this book was as wise as his characters, I would marry him sight unseen.
Regardless, this is a book worthy of many readings.

Unlike some other reviewers, I am neither a statistitian nor a Sherlock Holms lover. I never cared much for murder mysteries perse, but as a tool for exploring such interesting concepts I thought it worked well. Yes he took a few liberties with history (as he pointed out in the end notes)--so what?

The stories were not designed to top those of doyle but to make some interesting probability and decision making concepts approachable, relevent, and enjoyable. This they did wonderfully. As someone who was turned off to math after years of dull, abstract school lecture, my interest arose from my work in business and computer science. Some of these concepts were not new to me, but all were from new angles. I found .the math easy to follow(depressingly difficult to predict!) and only wished I had not run out of pages. I plan not only to check out the author's other work, but some of the additional reading he kindly suggests in the notes. Thank you Mr. Bruce for and enjoyable read.

Throughout his life whenever people have not met JC Evans standards, he control alt deletes them from his hard drive. He is a computer expert and lives his life by logic. There is no place in his logical, organized life for emotion.

Jasmine Brooks, JC's neighbor, is his total opposite. She is an emotional person who takes each day as it comes. Though others see JC as different or strange, Jasmine sees someone much deeper and caring.

JC is a computer whiz, and it is his knowledge of computers that puts him into Jasmine's life. Jasmine's knowledge of computers stop with the power button. JC teaches Jasmine about computers and Jasmine introduces JC to something that he didn't know existed: his emotional side. In reading this story you wonder if all of these things will compute to love.

The Right Code by Sharon Holmes could have been a good book, but the story goes in far too many different directions and experiences major system failures that ultimately hurt the book. On the RAW scale it is a 2.

Reviewed by Simone A. Hawks

Jonathon C. Evans (J.C.) was owner of Evans Elite Systems. He made computers, programs, and software that was state-of-the-art and often utilized by the governments. He was also Colonel Evans of Elite One! The Elites paved the way for the Special Forces. Currently J.C. was finishing up Arc Angel for the government. Prime Star and Star Wars were two others he had recently completed. In fact, the Secretary of Defense and the head of the Joint Chiefs wanted them on-line within two weeks! But Arc Angel was even better than them! It could do encryption and decryption. It could be used to break into any system, including banks! So it was well hidden by J.C.

Jasmine Banks (Jas) owned Receptions International. Her company made fantasy weddings and receptions of any theme happen! Using 3-D software from J.C.'s company, props were not needed. Her clients basically stepped into a hologram room designed for their fantasy, be it Cinderella's Ball, Beauty and the Beast, or even a submarine! Whatever the client wanted! All her friends thought J.C. to be like his computers. He was logical and emotions had no business in anything, including in his personal life. But Jas was going to prove that love was real and seldom logical.

Boris Metzkoff, a Russian spy, was after J.C.'s three newest government programs. He and his contacts would do anything, and harm anyone, to get their hands on them. That included going after Jas. But Jas had some Elite protectors on her side!

***** Oh WOW! That says it all! To me, J.C. was like a Vulcan! But even Spock's father had an illogical wife, remember? This was full of dreamy romance, thrilling espionage, and illogical (well, for J.C.) fun! I found it available in print and electronic form (and now own both!) Highly recommended! I do not believe you could possibly be disappointed in this story! *****

Jonathon C. Evans (J.C.) was owner of Evans Elite Systems. He made computers, programs, and software that was state-of-the-art and often utilized by the governments. He was also Colonel Evans of Elite One! The Elites paved the way for the Special Forces. Currently J.C. was finishing up Arc Angel for the government. Prime Star and Star Wars were two others he had recently completed. In fact, the Secretary of Defense and the head of the Joint Chiefs wanted them on-line within two weeks! But Arc Angel was even better than them! It could do encryption and decryption. It could be used to break into any system, including banks! So it was well hidden by J.C.

Jasmine Banks (Jas) owned Receptions International. Her company made fantasy weddings and receptions of any theme happen! Using 3-D software from J.C.'s company, props were not needed. Her clients basically stepped into a hologram room designed for their fantasy, be it Cinderella's Ball, Beauty and the Beast, or even a submarine! Whatever the client wanted! All her friends thought J.C. to be like his computers. He was logical and emotions had no business in anything, including in his personal life. But Jas was going to prove that love was real and seldom logical.

Boris Metzkoff, a Russian spy, was after J.C.'s three newest government programs. He and his contacts would do anything, and harm anyone, to get their hands on them. That included going after Jas. But Jas had some Elite protectors on her side!

***** Oh WOW! That says it all! To me, J.C. was like a Vulcan! But even Spock's father had an illogical wife, remember? This was full of dreamy romance, thrilling espionage, and illogical (well, for J.C.) fun! I found it available in print and electronic form (and now own both!) Highly recommended! I do not believe you could possibly be disappointed in this story! *****

I was reluctant to read this one after the "Seven-Percent Solution," but Mr. Meyer disappointed me by writing a much better story.

This story appeared first in Play Boy, and the book is a longer revision of that one.

The story is about Murders that haunted the west end. Of course Sherlock Holmes cannot hold back when there are murders nearby.

The good thing about the book is that Mr. Meyer does not claim that any of the manuscripts provided by Doyle were forgeries. The bad thing is that he still uses real characters, like Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker, which I still say is dumb.

One other thing I hate about these pastiches is that they insist on saying that Watson was a real person, and that he used to publish his work under the pseudonym Conan Doyle, or else that Conan Doyle was the agent under whose name Watson used to publish works. I realize that this is one way to make things continue, but come on, we all know that we are only fooling ourselves.

Anyhow, I think the book might deserve 4 stars if not for the little drawbacks I mentioned above, and I am sure you are going to enjoy it, but try first to get it from the library, just in case you detested it.

Unfortunately, I must confess to being a little disappointed with Meyer's second Holmes pastiche. First of all, he went overboard with the famous people. It was as if he was trying to pay homage to all his favorite writers at once. And all the famous people just hurt the story for me. Sigmund Freud in "The Seven Percent Solution" was okay because I don't think that the book would have been the same had Meyer created a fictional person to treat Holmes' cocaine addiction. But in this one, all the famous people just seemed completely unnecessary and I felt that the book would have been much better if Meyer had created fictional characters instead of putting Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, etc. etc. into the novel. Secondly, there weren't enough deductions in the book. And third, I felt that the book was too much about the mystery and not enough about the characters. Doyle's Holmes stories were generally a little more about the characters than the majority of this book was. But then this goes back to all the famous people. There was no need for Meyer to tell us about the characters because we already knew them. The last few chapters are very good as far as being a little more about the characters but most of the book was just too much about the mystery. I'm still going to give the book 4 stars though because it was well written and, as in his first pastiche, Meyer did well with Holmes and Watson. The basic plot of the book was also good and inventive and seemed like something that Doyle would have written. There were also enough interesting scenes that made the book well worth reading in spite of the problems that I had with it. To give just one example, there's a scene involving Holmes' indoor target practice and it is discussed in a little more detail than in Doyle's stories. I won't mention anymore of the scenes that I liked so as not to spoil anything for those who haven't read it. Overall, I found "The West End Horror" to be a very decent Holmes pastiche and I would recommend reading it, but just don't expect it to be as good as "The Seven Percent Solution". Also, this book is not about Jack the Ripper. I've read summaries that say the book is about Jack the Ripper but it isn't.

I've read The West End Horror 3 times and absolutely love it. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes and I think Nicholas Meyer writes even better than Conan Doyle! I used part of the solution as an example in a project I did recently on the... well if I give you the topic, I'll also give you the solution to the mystery so I won't spoil it.