When Bob and Kate Hunt decide to move to the Vendee in western France, they trigger a chain of events that will lead them to the gruesome discovery of a dead body. Bob becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, and the strain of the investigation takes its toll on their marriage. Bleu Murder is the amusing and intriguing story of how the couple solve the mystery and rescue their relationship. Along the way, they encounter an Anglophobic gendarme, a gun-toting farmer's daughter, and more French wine than any reasonable professor of English can handle. Bleu Murder is a thrilling, puzzling, and entertaining story that will delight Francophiles and lovers of murder mystery stories in equal measure.

On a sunny afternoon, Grantham, a retired army officer, cleans his service revolver. Jessica, his younger wife, arrives with tea. But this normal scene changes when the subject of divorce arises and Jessica shoots Grantham. Dotty Aunt Herbacia happily plans the funeral and when Amelia arrives from America she reassures Jessica. But Herbacia has her own plans...3 women, 2 men

"All managers want to hold their employees accountable for results, but few know how. Moving beyond the far-from-ideal annual performance review -- which only evaluates what has already occurred, and not what the manager wants to achieve -- Keeping Employees Accountable for Resultscontains checklists, how-tos, and other tools to manage performance on an ongoing basis. The book gives busy managers quick, step-by-step advice on:

* Setting expectations

* Monitoring progress

* Giving feedback

* Following through

Light on theory and heavy on practical application, Keeping Employees Accountable for Results gives time-pressed managers the proven, practical information they need to help their people accomplish more."

Filled with clear, concise guidance and quick, easily implemented techniques, Quick Brainstorming Activities for Busy Managers provides supervisors, managers, and team leaders the fun, proven activities they need to get idea-packed brainstorming sessions started, and keep them going. Author Brian Miller helps you explore the most effective brainstorming method for your team and generate the best results using straightforward, focused activities that each take less than fifteen minutes to complete. Readers will discover how to: ask questions that provoke responses and inspire creativity; react to and record ideas in a way that encourages participation and prompts more input; sort and categorize lengthy lists; evaluate ideas; and prioritize the most useful concepts and expand on them. Contrary to popular opinion, great brainstorming sessions don't just happen. For brainstorming to be a truly productive activity, leaders must create the right environment to let employees' ideas flow. Complete with sample dialogues and well as resources for virtual team brainstorming, this indispensable book helps readers guide their teams to generate great ideas.

Conflict naturally exists in most organizations--even in those that never make waves. In the case of the more subdued teams, author Brian Miller explains that there's a much deeper problem going on: the conflict doesn't go away, but instead it manifests itself in passive-aggression, mediocrity, and a molasses-like inability to get anything done. Nice Teams Finish Last provides the antidote to this all-too-common tendency, giving managers, team leaders and members, and facilitators the practical support they need to battle "the nice trap" and start getting results. Readers will learn how to hone skills such as constructive criticism and honest communication, and discover how to lean in to the kind of conflict that drives innovation and quality without hurting feelings or creating enemies.Clear, sharp feedback, and constructive challenges are just what teams need to go from NICE to BOLD and reap all of the benefits that come with that radical transformation--including more satisfaction with your workplace culture (not less). Complete with helpful team assessments and easy-to-use planning sheets, this book provides the eye-opening tools teams need to achieve very nice results!

Most managers, supervisors, and team leaders realize the importance of team-building, but just can't seem to find the time in their busy schedules. "More Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers" provides the solution The book contains 50 all-new exercises that can be conducted in 15 minutes or less, and which require no special facilities, big expense, or previous training experience. Each activity is presented in just a few short pages with all the relevant information including a list of materials needed, the purpose of the exercise, and handy tips for success, all highlighted for easy reference. Readers will find fun and effective activities for:

* building new teams and helping teams with new members

* finding creative ways to work together and solve problems

* increasing and improving communication

* keeping competition healthy and productive within the team

* dealing with change and its effects: anger, fear, frustration

* and more.

The book also includes special guidance for "virtual teams," whose members are in different locations but must work as a unit. For anyone charged with the task of bringing teams together, this book is the answer.

Eliminate the need for time or resources on formal training and get your teams up and running themselves--with only minutes of prep. Between workplace personnel being more culturally diverse than ever before, a generation of employees being raised attached to technology while avoiding human interaction, and an increasing culture of competitiveness that is constantly raising tensions between cubicles, it has become absolutely essential for managers to focus more on camaraderie and building team spirit. Now in its second edition, Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers addresses the problems that drag down group productivity and helps teams: Collaborate successfully Cope with change Solve problems together Communicate better despite cultural and generational differences Boost creativit Leverage diversity Nurture healthy competition Each of the 50 team-building activities in this invaluable resource takes only minutes to prep and uses only everyday office items to get its point across. In just 15 minutes a day, the results will be immediate: sullen teams find sparkle, nervous teams gain confidence, teams of strangers get to know one another. There are even activities to help the virtual team! No one will be left out, and all with leave the activity feeling better about their team and their individual role within it.

Beginning iOS Cloud and Database Development gets you started with building apps for or that use Apple's iCloud. You'll learn the techniques which will enable you to devise and create iOSapps that can interact with iCloud servers. From the basics up, you'll progressively learn how to configure your app for iCloud, upload and download files, implement revisions, add conflict resolution policies, and work with custom documents.

There's more You'll learn how to integrate iCloudwith Core Data based applications. Besides technical advice, you'll find suggestions and best practices to design the interaction of iCloud-driven applications.

What you'll learn How to use, design, and develop for iCloud, including iOS data-driven apps, media apps and more How to work with documents in iCloud How to create custom documents in iCloud How to to deal with data escrow, file versionings, backups and conflict resolution and policies to deal with resolution How to work with Core Data and iCloud Who this book is for

This book is for iOS developers who want to build apps for or that use the new iCloud platform.

Explore the multiple issues that surround species declines and conservation efforts through the only reference source to examine the conflicting conservation issues of 49 endangered species. While the causes of endangerment are relatively easy to understand, the ultimate or underlying factors are often far more complex and difficult to address. An introduction to these issues and how to resolve them is provided in this unique collection of case studies of animal species that have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Each case study provides the following information: - Common name - Scientific name - Order - Family - Status - Threats - Habitat - Distribution - Natural history - Conflicting Issues - Future and Prognosis. Conservationists are increasingly recognizing that the ultimate causes of extinction are primarily socio-economic and political, yet biological approaches to recovery continue to dominate. More inclusive, interdisciplinary conservation programs are explored here to offer better prospects for managing problems and conflicts. In addition to the case studies, trends and common themes are explored to provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to conservation. Students and teachers can explore a wide variety of endangered species programs and the conflicting issues common to recovery efforts, which will enable them to evaluate conservation practice and to draw their own conclusions for improvement.

When Bob and Kate Hunt decide to move to the Vendee in western France, they trigger a chain of events that will lead them to the gruesome discovery of a dead body. Bob becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, and the strain of the investigation takes its toll on their marriage. Bleu Murder is the amusing and intriguing story of how the couple solve the mystery and rescue their relationship. Along the way, they encounter an Anglophobic gendarme, a gun-toting farmer's daughter, and more French wine than any reasonable professor of English can handle. Bleu Murder is a thrilling, puzzling, and entertaining story that will delight Francophiles and lovers of murder mystery stories in equal measure.