An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, The Man from the Train is an “impressive…open-eyed investigative inquiry wrapped within a cultural history of rural America” (The Wall Street Journal). In this groundbreaking work of historical true crime, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical genius to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history.Between...

In this second collection of recent articles (the first was Solid Fool's Gold), groundbreaking sabermetrician and baseball historian Bill James takes his unique way of looking at the world and applies it to topics as diverse as the major league players who went out on top, whether ground ball pitchers are as good (or as bad) as people think, do hitters like Yasiel Puig have hot hand streaks (they do) and why (that's a different question), and do teams have tough stretches and soft patches ...

A houseful of paintings is stolen and the body of a finely dressed stranger is discovered at the home of art-loving drug dealer Mansel Shale. Meanwhile Detective Chief Inspector Colin Harpur and his boss, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles, find their domain descending into bloody chaos as villain drug firms fight for dominance.Luckily Iles has done some illicit phone-tapping and has inside information on which way the battle will go. In this fast-paced thriller, there's no tel...

From the one-of-kind mind of Bill James, famous for revolutionizing the way we think about baseball, comes a “thought-provoking meditation” (Seattle Times) and epic tour through American crime—now available in paperback.The man who revolutionized the way we think about baseball examines our cultural obsession with murder—delivering a unique, engrossing, brilliant history of tabloid crime in America.Celebrated writer and contrarian ...

Pursued from the shadows, Simon Pilgrim fled in terror from the floating restaurant Eton Boating Song. In the bar of the Eton, he'd had the choice spot, discreetly purveying high-stakes drugs to the restaurant's well-to-do patrons. Now he's dead, his throat cut, and the police know that the drug syndicates are in an all-out war, with the Eton as the prize.Police officer Naomi Anstruther is sent undercover into this turbulent world. Right away she becomes an unknowing pawn in the ri...

The sixth title in the popular Harpur and Iles series.'Planner' Preston, a lifetime of successful robberies behind him, is organising a heist against a wages van, ill-guarded and with a predictable route. After hiring the necessary manpower and allowing for every contingency, Planner sets a date. Then one of his team learns that the route has lengthened and the guard has been doubled. Against his instincts, but goaded by the young recruits who think he has become t...

The twenty-seventh title in the popular Harpur and Iles series.A street shooting leaves a mother and child dead on the school run. But was this a random attack? Unlikely, when it transpires that the victims were the wife and son of well-known drug baron Mansel Shale.Having committed this atrocity, the gunman flees to a nearby shop where a hostage situation quickly develops. Detective Chief Inspector Harpur and Assistant Chief Constable Iles are brought in t...

Since he first began publishing his Baseball Abstracts in the 1980s, Bill James has constantly challenged conventional wisdom by asking simple questions like, "Is that really true?" or "What if we looked at the question this way?" He has sparked a virtual revolution in the way the game of baseball is understood and played, from how players are evaluated or positioned to whether or not they should attempt to bunt or steal a base. In Solid Fool s Gold James continues his lifelong work with n...

Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles misses a crucial conference and is not able to give vital advice to a colleague, Assistant Chief Constable Esther Davidson. She is having big trouble from a local gang known as the Guild, and proposes to put an undercover spy into the criminal outfit.Iles might have been able to dissuade her from such a rash move. One of his own undercover officers was murdered not long ago. But Esther goes ahead, with terrible consequences . . .

Passive House in Different Climates introduces the seven Passive House principles, to help you create super-insulated, airtight buildings that require minimal energy use to heat, cool, dehumidify, and ventilate, with superior indoor air quality and year-round comfort. Seventeen case studies in four climate zones---marine, cold and very cold, mixed-dry and hot-dry, and mixed-humid and hot-humid---and in ten countries, show you how to achieve net-zero energy regardless of where you’...

Exploring why many are leaving the church and their faith

A biting satire on American life which turned romantic convention on its head. The story explores the obsessive affections of the radical Olive Chancellor for Verena Tarrant, a gifted young speaker in the feminist movement. When Olive's cousin Basil Ransom becomes equally besotted, the scene is set for a bitter tug of war.Bill Hootkins was born on July 5th, 1948 in Dallas, Texas. He moved to London, England in the early 70s and lived there up until 2002. He portrayed a rich and col...