Cousin Bette

La Cousine Bette (French pronunciation: [la kuzin bɛt], Cousin Bette) is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family. Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men.

The Country Doctor

One fascinating aspect of this novel is the depiction of cretinism, which was endemic at the time in the region of France about which Balzac wrote. Balzac did not describe the cretins as having goiter or neck enlargement, even though the relationship between thyroid size and cretinism was already known in the medical literature by the early 1830s. Dr. Benassis evidently thought that the "stagnant air" created conditions favorable to the spread of cretinism. By removing the cretins, he thought they would minimize the further spread of "this physical and mental contagion."

The Colonel Chabert

Le Colonel Chabert (English: Colonel Chabert) is an 1832 novella by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). It is included in his series of novels (or Roman-fleuve) known as La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), which depicts and parodies French society in the period of the Restoration (1815–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848).

Whispers of the Dead

Whispers of the Dead  is the third novel in the Dr David Hunter series, published in 2009. Recuperating from a near-fatal attack, forensic anthropologist David Hunter has returned to the renowned research facility where he first trained - the Body Farm in Tennessee. Still bearing physical and emotional scars, he hopes the trip will hone his old skills and restore his shattered confidence.

So when his former mentor invites him to assist on a murder investigation, he agrees. After all, he's simply there as an observer - what could possibly go wrong?

Written in Bone

On the remote Hebridean island of Runa, a grisly discovery awaits the arrival of forensic anthropologist Dr. David Hunter. A body - almost totally incinerated but for the feet and a single hand - has been found. The local police are quick to record an accidental death but Hunter's instincts say otherwise: he's convinced it's murder. In fact Runa is far from the peaceful community it first appears - and a burned corpse is only one of its dark secrets.

Then an Atlantic storm descends, severing all power and contact with the mainland. And as the storm rages, the killing begins in earnest...