After almost ruining her marriage to husband Willis months earlier because of her habit of involving herself in murder cases, E.J. Pugh is determined to stay out of drama and pay attention only to her husband, children and writing career. How hard can it be? But through no fault of their own, E.J. and Willis are plunged into another crisis when someone chooses Willis' truck to hide a satchel. Finding the satchel with no ID inside, their foster daughter Alicia decides to make it her new backpack. When Alicia suddenly disappears, along with the satchel, E.J. and Willis are beside themselves. Why is the satchel important and, more importantly, where is Alicia? Can they find answers before it's too late?

Legendary record producer-turned-brain scientist explains why you fall in love with music. 'Extraordinary insights about music, emotion and the brain...An instant classic' Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music. It's also the story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in L.A. to become Prince's chief engineer for Purple Rain and one of the most successful female record producers of all time. Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience, Dr Susan Rogers takes readers behind the scenes of record-making and leads us to musical self-awareness. She explains that everyone possesses a unique 'listener profile', shows how being musical can mean actively listening, and encourages us to think about the records that define us. Lively and illuminating, this book will refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to artists, and change the way you listen to music. 'Superb... this book can show you how to be a better listener' Times Literary Supplement 'A provocative blend of studio stories and fascinating neuroscience' Alan Light, author of Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain 'Fizzing with energy and insight...a crucial addition to the canon of music must-reads' Kate Hutchinson

This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you. But it's also a story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in Los Angeles, rose to become Prince's chief engineer for Purple Rain, and then created other No. 1 hits ,including Barenaked Ladies' "One Week," as one of the most successful female record producers of all time. Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience, Susan Rogers leads readers to musical self-awareness. She explains that we each possess a unique "listener profile" based on our brain's natural response to seven key dimensions of any song. Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody? Do you like music "above the neck" (intellectually stimulating), or "below the neck" (instinctual and rhythmic)? Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream, Rogers guides readers to recognize their musical personality, and offers language to describe one's own unique taste. Like most of us, Rogers is not a musician, but she shows that all of us can be musical-simply by being an active, passionate listener. While exploring the science of music and the brain, Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider's ear to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey, and many others. She shares records that changed her life, contrasts them with those that appeal to her coauthor and students, and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity. Told in a lively and inclusive style, This Is What It Sounds Like will refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to your favorite artists, and change the way you listen to music.

When Milt Kovak wins a seven-day cruise for four to Puerto Rico, he takes his family - wife Jean and son, Johnny Mac, plus Johnny Mac's best friend, Early Rollins. It's spring break and the ship is running over with children - and they really are running - everywhere. It's complete chaos, but things are about to get even worse when Johnny Mac and Early are caught stealing. By the time the boys confess to who put them up to it, a boy named Joshua (a.k.a. the Artful Dodger), Joshua's body is found dead on the top deck. There's plenty of blame to go around, but with two full days of sailing ahead of them, Milt and Jean team up with the ship's security officer to try to find the killer, before they strike again...

The tenth Milt Kovak mystery from this best-selling author . . . Strange things are happening in Prophesy County. First, Deputy Dalton Pettigrew disappears on a mysterious date in Tulsa. His sister goes to rescue him, only to disappear herself. She'd left her middle child, Eli, in the care of Jean, the sheriff's wife, but now he's missing too. Who is the mysterious Dr Emil Hawthorne, and why is he out to get Jean? Can Milt Kovak find Eli before it's too late?

Could Graham Pugh really be involved in a murder? E.J. Pugh finds herself back at her old university stomping ground, determined to prove her son is no killer . . . Graham Pugh should be having a ball as a first-year student at the University of Texas in Austin. Unfortunately for him, his roommate, Bishop 'Call Me Bish' Alexander, is an arrogant asshole he can't stand, to the point of dreaming of killing him in his sleep. Even more unfortunately for Graham, when he wakes up early one morning for a lecture, he finds that Bishop actually is dead on the floor. With Graham the prime suspect, E.J., Willis and the girls race up to Austin immediately. Unsurprisingly, it just so happens that Bishop annoyed a lot of people on campus, not just Graham. But who killed him? E.J. is soon facing a desperate battle to prove her son's innocence.

Could Graham Pugh really be involved in a murder? E.J. Pugh finds herself back at her old university stomping ground, determined to prove her son is no killer . . . Graham Pugh should be having a ball as a first-year student at the University of Texas in Austin. Unfortunately for him, his roommate, Bishop 'Call Me Bish' Alexander, is an arrogant asshole he can't stand, to the point of dreaming of killing him in his sleep. Even more unfortunately for Graham, when he wakes up early one morning for a lecture, he finds that Bishop actually is dead on the floor. With Graham the prime suspect, E.J., Willis and the girls race up to Austin immediately. Unsurprisingly, it just so happens that Bishop annoyed a lot of people on campus, not just Graham. But who killed him? E.J. is soon facing a desperate battle to prove her son's innocence.

E.J. has a surprise twentieth wedding anniversary present for Willis - a weekend away in the Texas hills. She's found the perfect Bed and Breakfast - the Bishop's Inn in the quaint town of Peaceful. Unfortunately, they've barely arrived before the inn's troubled elderly owner, Carrie Marie Hutchins, confides in them about a harrowing event from her childhood involving her dead father ...and his spirit, which won't go away ...E.J. has little time to digest Carrie's tales of strange goings-on: screaming, the guests' suitcases slashed, underwear hanging from a light fixture, before a further bizarre twist occurs: Humphrey Hammerschultz and Diamond Lovesy, self-proclaimed 'psychic detectives', suddenly turn up at Carrie's door. And when E.J. discovers a body, she determines to find out what's really going on in this not-so-peaceful town.

What would you do if you were travelling alone believing that you were joining a tour group for a holiday, only to find that you are the only person in the group? What turned out to be very different holiday from that expected, is shared with warmth and humour. This delightful travelogue in its easy to read style, will not only inspire you to travel solo, but absorb you into the culture and experience of Vietnam. Susan has the rare ability to draw you into her journey, not just physically around Vietnam but also into her private thoughts and feelings as a solo traveller. Adventure, entertainment and sadness are all here, and we feel that we personally know the characters she encounters along the way. This is not a travel guide, although the insights and descriptions from a personal perspective would be a useful addition for any visitor to Vietnam.

Arresting a Blanton was always going to be bad news, but things are about to get even worse for Sheriff Milt Kovak. Everyone in Prophesy County knows that you don't mess with the dim-witted, in-bred Blantons. So when Milt gets a call to say that Darrell Blanton has shot dead his wife, he's expecting a rough ride. Arresting Darrell and putting him in the slammer may have been surprisingly easy, but things are about to get a whole lot worse. Eunice Blanton, Darrell's mama, takes a dim view of her son's arrest and decides to storm the Longbranch Inn where Milt's partner, Jean McDonnell is hosting a bachelorette party for Holly Humphries. With the women taken hostage, Eunice's terms are - unsurprisingly - simple: release her boy or a hostage gets shot every ten minutes. But there's a problem: Darrell has been found dead in his cell, with not a mark on him...

"Husbands and wives, secrets and lies . . . The brilliant new Milt Kovak mystery"
When Mary Hudson is discovered on her kitchen floor, bludgeoned to death with a meat tenderizer, Sheriff Milt Kovak of Prophesy County, Oklahoma, and his psychiatrist wife Dr Jean McDonnell are drawn into a murder investigation that is as intriguing as it is chilling. It soon emerges that Mary s husband, Jerry, is a polygamist, and the family belong to a church called the New Saints Tabernacle. As Milt and Jean delve deeper into the church and its customs, they soon become embroiled in a murky and mysterious world."

As asynchronous learning networks are replacing in-class interaction among students and faculty with on-line computer communication, there is a need to understand more about this new environment for learning. This book examines the on-line learning environment as a linguistic space, which affords students and teachers a place for their social activity of learning. The analysis is approached from the perspective of linguistic anthropology and examines the ways in which students use the elements of time and place independence to navigate the environment for their own purposes. The study provides insights into the manner in which the online discourse functions as a learning space, while also supporting institutional curricular needs and the instructional goals of the faculty. The results presented here add to the research on distance learning and extend our understanding the nature of online discourse as both an intellectual dialog through which students construct meaning and a space for individual reflections through which students come to understand content.

This anthology of true outdoor stories by famous and new women writers brims with the spirit of adventure. Barbara Wilson tells of a mesmerizing summer of glaciering in Norway; Gabrielle Daniels explores her complex feelings about the forest; Alice Evans describes a hilarious paddling trip. Plus much more.