- Table View
- List View
Dialogues of the Dead: A Dalziel and Pascoe Mystery (Dalziel and Pascoe #19)
by Reginald Hill“Dialogues of the Dead is a bridge that spans the classic English whodunit and the dark heart of contemporary crime fiction, the serial-killer novel....The fertility of Hill's imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality of his literary style never cease to delight.” --Val McDermidNormally, there would be nothing sinister about a death by drowning and a motorcycle fatality—had these tragic occurrences not been predicted before the fact in a pair of macabre "Dialogues" submitted to a Yorkshire short story competition. Yet the local police department is slow to act—until the arrival of a third Dialogue...and another corpse.A darkness is settling over a terrorized community, brought on by a genius fiend who hides clues to his horrific acts in complex riddles and brilliant wordplay. Now two seasoned CID investigators, Peter Pascoe and "Fat Andy" Dalziel, are racing against a clock whose every tick signals more blood and outrage, caught in the twisted game of a diabolical killer who is turning their jurisdiction into a slaughterhouse.
I Have No Secrets
by Penny JoelsonJemma knows who the murderer is. She knows because he told her.He thought his secret was safe because Jemma can't speak or move.But Jemma observes all kinds of things about everyone around her. His secret is just one of them.And when a new technology means she may be able to communicate and reveal all she knows, Jemma no longer feels powerless in the face of this deadly secret. It's a race against time before the killer acts again...or tries to stop her.
The Last to Die
by Kelly GarrettIt all started out as a game.Just a way to have fun. We figured as long as we had rules, it wouldn't be a problem.RULE #1: Only break into one another's houses.RULE #2: Only take stuff that can be replaced.It worked for a while. Whoever's turn it was to break in got a rush, and the rest of us laughed over the trophies they brought back. But then someone went too far. Lives got ruined. Someone is dead.And I might be next.
The Art of Possession
by Cari ZWhen a treasure-hunting black ops soldier and a disgraced, reckless archeologist team up in search of a priceless artifact, they might get more than they bargained for. Ever since leaving the Green Berets to work in private security, Alex Tucker has longed for some excitement—and he’s about to get his wish. Archeologist Malcolm Armstrong needs the chance to prove he isn’t a fraud. Along with Alex, he’s hired to track down and authenticate a valuable scepter, in a hunt that turns deadlier than either of them imagined as they search dangerous locations across three continents and try to stay ahead of the factions who want the treasure for themselves—and Malcolm and Alex dead. Just as they realize the feelings between them transcend convenience and the thrill of the chase, a rival reemerges, threatening everything.
City of Scoundrels (A Counterfeit Lady Novel #3)
by Victoria ThompsonAn exciting new book in the series featuring Elizabeth Miles, con woman turned Lady, from the beloved national bestselling author of the Gaslight Mysteries.Elizabeth Miles finds herself in a position no con can help her escape. Her beloved fiancé, Gideon Bates, is awaiting his turn in the draft to fight in the Great War. Elizabeth is finding it hard to think of anything else, but Gideon has thrown himself into his work, preparing wills for soldiers before they ship out. Corporal Tom Preston is part owner of Preston Shoes, a company that is making footwear for the army, so he has a rather large estate. He needs a new will, however, because he has just been secretly married to a woman whom his family would never approve. He wants to make sure she and their unborn child are provided for if he does not return.When Tom is later reported killed, Elizabeth and Gideon learn that the new will has gone missing after Tom's bride revealed her identity to his family. Unless the new will is found and validated, the original will, which leaves everything to Tom's brother, will prevail and the wife and child will get nothing. If Tom's new bride survives, that is. Some terrible threats have been leveled against her, and Elizabeth and Gideon must figure out a way, legal or not quite, to secure Tom's fortune for his wife and child while saving her life in the process.
Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders (A Woman of WWII Mystery #1)
by Tessa ArlenCharming and feisty Poppy Redfern stumbles into murder in this exciting new World War II historical mystery series from critically acclaimed author Tessa Arlen. Summer 1942. The world has been at war for three long and desperate years. In the remote English village of Little Buffenden, Poppy Redfern&’s family house and farmland has been requisitioned by the War Office as a new airfield for the American Air Force. As the village's Air Raid Warden, Poppy spends her nights patrolling the village as she tries to ease her neighbors&’ fears about the &“Friendly Invasion&” and what it means to their quiet way of life. When two young, popular women who were dating American servicemen are found strangled, Poppy quickly realizes that her little town has been divided by murder. The mistrust and suspicion of their new American partners in war threatens to tear Little Buffenden apart. Poppy decides to start her own investigation with the help of a charismatic American pilot and she soon unearths some chilling secrets and long-held grudges. Poppy will have no choice but to lay a trap for a killer so perilously close to home, she might very well become the next victim....
Christmas Carol & the Shimmering Elf (A Christmas Carol Adventure #2)
by Robert L. FouchThe battle for Christmas, and the world itself, is about to begin. When Christmas Carol, a Defender of Claus, is suddenly yanked into a portal by her Elven grandmother, she doesn&’t immediately understand what&’s happening. But all becomes clear when she and the Ancient One emerge on the other side of the portal in what&’s supposed to be the North Pole: everything&’s changed. Carol&’s father is gone. The Defenders of Claus don&’t exist. The Elf kingdom has been destroyed. And Santa&’s a broken shell of himself. The jolly world Carol knew has turned into a terrifying place, where the magic of Christmas has been eliminated and everyone lives in fear of the all-powerful Supreme Leader. Someone has traveled back in time to change history, and Carol&’s pretty sure she knows the culprit. Carol and her grandmother, with the help of two ragged boys who have lost everything in the rebellion against the Supreme Leader, track down the only Elf capable of helping their enemy travel through time. The bitter, shimmering creature reluctantly agrees to send Carol back, and she lands in the mid-1800s, when Santa was just getting started and the very first Defender of Claus was found. She must protect Santa and the original Defender and undo the damage her enemy has done or risk returning to a present day that has never known Christmas.
Archive No. 89: Volume 3 (Volume 3 #3)
by Sun MingYuanA woman's head soaked in formalin was accidentally found by Tang Doberman, the head of the police officer. As a police officer, he intended to investigate the matter, and as the police officers continued to obstruct him, he fell deeper and deeper into the darkness was spreading. How could he reverse the shocking murder caused by a head?
Josie and Jack: A Novel
by Kelly BraffetIn Josie and Jack, Kelly Braffet gives us a deliciously dark, suspenseful debut novel in the tradition of Patricia Highsmith. Beautiful, brilliant, and inseparable, Josie and Jack Raeburn live a secluded, anarchic existence in their decaying western Pennsylvania home. The only adult in their lives is their rage-prone father, a physicist, whose erratic behavior finally drives them away. Without a moral compass to guide them, Jack leads Josie into a menacing world of wealth, eroticism, and betrayal. His sociopathic tendencies emerge, and soon Josie must decide which is stronger: the love and devotion she feels for her brother or her will to survive. From its opening page to its shocking climax, this contemporary Hansel and Gretel story is compulsively readable and hugely entertaining.
The Best American Mystery Stories 2019 (The Best American Series ®)
by Otto Penzler Jonathan LethemNew York Times best-selling author of ten genre-bending novels Jonathan Lethem helms this collection of the year’s best mystery short fiction. For Jonathan Lethem, “crime stories are deep species gossip.” He writes in his introduction that “they’re fundamentally stories of power, of its exercise, both spontaneous and conspiratorial; stories of impulse and desire, and of the turning of tables.” The Best American Mystery Stories 2019 has its full share of salacious intrigue, guilt, and retribution. The twists and bad decisions pile up when a thief picks the wrong target or a simple scavenger hunt takes a terrible turn. What happens when you befriend a death row inmate, or just how does writing Internet clickbait became a decidedly dangerous occupation? “How can we not hang on their outcomes?” asks Lethem. “Are we innocent ourselves, or complicit?” Read on to find out. The Best American Mystery Stories 2019 includes Sharon Hunt, Harley Jane Kozak, Mark Mayer, Jennifer McMahon, Joyce Carol Oates, Brian Panowich, Tonya D. Price, Ron Rash, Robb T. White, and others.
Jamie
by Jack BennettJamie, first published in 1963, is a moving novel set in South Africa and centered on 12-year-old Jamie Carson. The region is experiencing a severe drought, forcing wild animals to approach farmsteads in their search for water. Sadly, Jamie’s father is killed by a wild buffalo, and Jamie is determined to seek revenge. The boy receives sympathy from the adults, but they offer no help in his securing a rifle and ammunition, as he is determined to find and kill the rogue animal. He is eventually able to buy a poorly made gun and several bullets from a native African, and goes into the bush accompanied by a native boy to seek his prey. An excellent book for both teenagers and adults, Jamie evokes a strong sense of place, and the reader will feel a part of the hot dry landscape as Jamie wanders the scrubland in search of the buffalo.
The Judges of the Secret Court: A Novel About John Wilkes Booth
by David Stactonb>The Judges of the Secret Court, first published in 1961, is a historical novel about John Wilkes Booth and the aftermath of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The book vividly portrays the setting and sentiments of the time, as well as Wilkes’ befuddled thinking and his short-lived escape from justice, followed by the trial of those involved in the assassination.David Stacton’s The Judges of The Secret Court is a long-lost triumph of American fiction as well as one of the finest books ever written about the Civil War. Stacton’s gripping and atmospheric story revolves around the brothers Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, members of a famous theatrical family. Edwin is a great actor, himself a Hamlet-like character whose performance as Hamlet will make him an international sensation. Wilkes is a blustering mediocrity on stage who is determined, however, to be an actor in history, and whose assassination of Abraham Lincoln will change America. Stacton’s novel about how the roles we play become, for better or for worse, the lives we lead, takes us back to the day of the assassination, immersing us in the farrago of bombast that fills Wilkes’s head while following his footsteps up to the fatal encounter at Ford’s Theatre. The political maneuvering around Lincoln’s deathbed and Wilkes’s desperate flight and ignominious capture then set the stage for a political show trial that will condemn not only the guilty but the—at least relatively—innocent. For as Edwin Booth broods helplessly many years later, and as Lincoln, whose tragic death and wisdom overshadow this tale, also knew, “We are all accessories before or after some fact....We are all guilty of being ourselves.”
The Sweepstakes Murders
by J. J. ConningtonThe Sweepstakes Murders, first published in 1931, is the 7th book in author J. J. Connington’s series featuring chief-constable Sir Clinton Driffield. From the dustjacket: “Mr. Connington’s new detective story opens at the end of a bridge-party, when one of the players suggests the formation of a small syndicate to have a flutter in a coming sweepstake. Winnings are to be pooled and divided among the members. Most of the bridge-players join, on terms proposed and accepted on the spur of the moment. A syndicate ticket wins a big prize. Before the money is collected, however, one of the syndicate dies, apparently by foul play. Under the agreement, his share is to be divided among the remaining ticket-holders; and suspicion naturally falls first on those who are certain to profit by the death. Personal characteristics, possible motives, alibis and circumstantial evidence provide the detectives with an intricate problem of clues and personalities.”
Murder in Wax
by Peter BaronMURDER IN WAXA fearful face, living, yet it has the look of the dead! Only the jaw moves and its movements summon murder! Though it cost life after life the grim countenance must be faced. A piece of paper upon which the destiny of an empire depends must be kept from its baleful eyes ... John Richmond, King’s messenger, is cut down. His daughter is abducted. A famous banker is done to death. Another man of rank joins the company of corpses. And then a young man, little regarded, with only the love of the abducted woman to lead him on, enters the case. Will the hand of death reach him? ... Here is a gripping mystery story by an author who is a master of thrills. An English sensation, it will thrill American readers with its power and ingenuity.Mystery and horror novel of an evil mastermind known as ‘the Squid’ who wears a ghastly wax mask with a hinged jaw. “Can anyone capture and identify the man hidden inside the mask?”Murder in Wax, first published in 1931, is an ingenious ‘golden-age’ mystery featuring an evil criminal mastermind known as ‘the Squid,’ who hides his identity behind a ghastly wax mask with a hinged jaw. A young man, searching for his abducted girlfriend, attempts to solve the murders. Peter Baron was the pen-name of Leonard Worswick Clyde (1906-1987) who authored four detective novels.
The Round Table Murders
by Peter BaronThe Round Table Murders, first published in 1931, is a golden-age mystery featuring a band of ruthless brothers in a deadly competition to get their late brother’s fortune. Another player, the mysterious “Poacher,” flits in and out of the picture. Inspector Keating of Scotland Yard is called on to investigate. Peter Baron was the pen-name of Leonard Worswick Clyde (1906-1987) who authored four detective novels.From the publisher:They were brothers, but they were killers first. They had flouted all the finer feelings, all the decencies, and they did not let brotherly love stand in their way … An attempt to reunite this gruesome brotherhood brings the feud to the death point. The oldest brother, doomed to die, leaves his immense loot to his brothers. But first he hides it, writes the directions down and then tears the paper into four pieces, sending one to each of the brothers. He dies believing that by this means he will bring the brothers peacefully together at last. Instead, each brother strives to collect the missing scraps of paper for himself. The bloody work begins. Inspector Keating of Scotland Yard takes a hand. The terrible Poacher steps in and out as mysterious as a ghost, as deadly as the plague. Who or what is the Poacher? Not even Inspector Keating can tell until—
Death Plays Solitaire
by R. L. GoldmanDeath Plays Solitaire, first published in 1939, opens with newspaper reporter Rufus Reed’s assignment to cover the electrocution of Dan Hillyard, a bank robber and murderer of a policeman. It closes with Reed’s return to the Death House on a similar assignment. Between these events is a circuitous trail beset with excitement and adventure, involving among others—Jackson Toliver, a noted criminal lawyer who plays his first and last game of solitaire with a mysterious deck of cards; Edna Toliver, his neglected and neurotic wife; Franklin Toliver and William Smedley, junior members of the law firm; Lucy Curtis, an attractive blonde secretary, adept in the art of “two-timing”; Ruby, the widow and former gun moll of the late Dan Hillyard; Dick Lucas, Hillyard’s former partner in crime and a fugitive from justice. Death Plays Solitaire provides adventures and problems perfectly adapted to Rufus Reed’s impetuous nature and Asaph’s Clume’s analytical mind. The story moves along at a breath-taking pace, with never a letdown between first page and last, but its plausibility, lifelike characters, and delightful humor make it something more than a mere thriller.
Double Solution
by Cecil Freeman GreggThe Double Solution, first published in 1932, is a classic ‘golden-age’ murder mystery featuring Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard. Cecil Freeman Gregg (1898-1960) was the author of more than 30 detective novels, most featuring Inspector Higgins or Harry Prince, a talented thief.
I Have Killed Man!
by Cecil Freeman GreggI Have Killed a Man!, first published in 1931, is a ‘golden-age’ murder mystery featuring Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard. The book recounts the attempt by a mystery writer to commit a ‘real-life’ perfect murder and the subsequent investigation of the killing by Inspector Higgins. Cecil Freeman Gregg (1898-1960) was the author of more than 30 detective novels, most featuring Inspector Higgins or Harry Prince, a talented thief.
Inspector Higgins Hurries
by Cecil Freeman GreggInspector Higgins Hurries, first published in 1932 is a classic ‘golden-age’ murder mystery featuring Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard. Cecil Freeman Gregg (1898-1960) was the author of more than 30 detective novels, most featuring Inspector Higgins or Harry Prince, a talented thief. In Inspector Higgins Hurries, Higgins, just going home after speaking at a local authors’ dinner, discovers a dead man on his own doorstep, stabbed in the back with a dagger. Out of the darkness, another dagger is thrown at Higgins. Joined by his wife and Inspector Dryan, Higgins finds himself in a deadly battle of wits with a gang.
The Murder on the Bus
by Cecil Freeman GreggThe Murder on the Bus, first published in 1930, is a ‘golden-age’ mystery featuring Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard. A man is found murdered on the top of a London bus and another man writes to Scotland Yard that he is about to commit suicide by gas. How was the first man shot? Did the second man really commit suicide or was he murdered?These are the problems which Inspector Higgins, the ace detective of the Yard, sets about to solve. Soon he discovers that the two dead men were connected in underworld doings, and as the mystery deepens, the action intensifies. In fact, there is enough action and enough mystery for half a dozen detective stories. Higgins in the end gets his man, in one of the most surprising and unexpected climaxes ever devised in detective fiction.A New York literary critic recently called Inspector Higgins “the most human and likable detective since Sherlock Holmes,” and those who read “The Murder on the Bus” will agree with this verdict.
The Westminster Mystery: An Inspector Reynolds Of Scotland Yard Mystery
by Elaine HamiltonThe Westminster Mystery, first published in 1931, is the first in a series of golden age mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Reynolds of Scotland Yard. When a popular actress returns home to her London flat after a party only to find a body, Detective Inspector Reynolds of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate. He quickly discovers that everyone involved in the case appears to be hiding something, including the actress. Will the inspector be able to unravel the many threads that form ... The Westminster Mystery?This classic book is from the Inspector Reynolds of Scotland Yard Mystery series, similar to the popular Chief Inspector Pointer series by A. E. Fielding.
A Walk Into Murder
by P. J. HelmA Walk Into Murder, first published in 1960 (is a fast-paced novel of crime and intrigue. While hiking along the scenic ocean shore of Devon, England, Martin Ridgway happens upon a corpse—and a tin of marijuana—in the waters off a deserted cove. His discovery leads him into the grips of a man named Summerson, and he wakes up ten days later in a private nursing home, drugged and suffering from memory loss. Given a new identity and kept prisoner on a farm, he manages to escape, only to fall back into the hands of his original captors. Meanwhile, the police intensify their search for Ridgway and begin to close in on a large narcotics operation.
The Midnight Mail
by Henry HoltThe Midnight Mail, first published in 1931, is a classic, fast-paced British murder mystery by leading author Henry Holt. The book, published as part of the Crime Club series, opens with an attempted murder on a train … more murders follow as the police attempt to identify and catch the killer.
Murder Could Not Kill
by Gregory BaxterMurder Could Not Kill, first published in 1934, is a classic British ‘golden age’ murder mystery. From the dustjacket: “Reuben Foster, a young artist, while taking a walk, witnesses a murder committed in an automobile. He is too late to reach the murderer. In the car he finds a terrified girl bent over the dead body of her father. He drives the girl to her fiancé, and though he wishes to get clear of the case, his strong attraction to the girl involves him in it. What follows is a thrilling succession of climaxes that will leave the reader breathless. An enthralling romance adds the piquancy of passion to the thrills of murder.” Gregory Baxter was a pen-name of John Ressich (1877-1937), author of several detective mysteries.
Murder of a Missing Man
by Arthur ChaseMurder of a Missing Man, first published in 1934 as a Red Badge Book, is a ‘golden-age’ murder mystery, set largely aboard a passenger train traveling across southwestern America. From the dustjacket: “In this new mystery, the author develops an ingenious and original case in which the identity of the victim is as much a mystery as the identity of the murderer. At the outset, the reader is introduced to a highly dramatic tragedy in a fashionable New York hotel. Pierre Leland, notorious playboy and bon vivant, is murdered. The circumstances of the crime are revealed. Next the scene shifts to a Pullman coach of a transcontinental express, bound across the Texas deserts to California. Another crime, brutal and sinister, is committed. What is the connection between these two? Who are the people on this train, isolated from police machinery? Characteristic of this popular author, the incidents of this swift-moving story are cleverly and vividly drawn. There is a wealth of humor and satire in the depiction of the varied individuals that find themselves drawn together on that ill-fated Pullman car. There is, too, an abundance of thrills and a professionally neat puzzle to keep the reader constantly guessing.”