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Death on Telegraph Hill: A Sarah Woolson Mystery (Sarah Woolson Mysteries #5)
By Shirley Tallman. 2012
"Bringing Victorian San Francisco to colorful life, Tallman offers an entertaining mystery…that will appeal to fans of Anne Perry and…
Rhys Bowen." —Library Journal San Francisco, 1882. After enjoying an evening listening to the young Oscar Wilde, crusading young lawyer Sarah Woolson and her brother, Samuel, are making their way home when a gunshot sounds and a bullet pierces the fog, striking Samuel. Who could want to hurt Samuel? Was he even the intended target? Determined to find answers, Sarah discovers more murder and mayhem on Telegraph Hill.With Death on Telegraph Hill, Shirley Tallman delivers an exciting whodunit with a trailblazing heroine in a time and place when a nice young woman was supposed to be found in the drawing room instead of the courtroom.A Drop of Chinese Blood: A Mystery (The Inspector O Novels #5)
By James Church. 2012
James Church's Inspector O novels have been hailed as "crackling good" (The Washington Post) and "tremendously clever" (Tampa Tribune), while…
Church himself has been embraced by critics as "the equal of le Carré" (Publishers Weekly, starred). Now Church—a former Western intelligence officer who pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of North Korea in a way that no one else can—comes roaring back with a new novel introducing Inspector O's nephew, Major Bing, the long-suffering chief of the Chinese Ministry of State Security operations on the border with North Korea. The last place Bing expected to find the stunningly beautiful Madame Fang—a woman Headquarters wants closely watched—was on his front doorstep. Then, as suddenly as she shows up, Madame Fang mysteriously disappears across the river into North Korea, leaving in her wake both consternation and a highly sensitive assignment for Bing to bring back from the North a long missing Chinese security official. Concerned for his nephew's safety, O reluctantly helps him navigate an increasingly complex and deadly maze, one that leads down the twisted byways of O's homeland. In the tradition of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy, and the Inspector Arkady Renko novels, A Drop of Chinese Blood presents an unfamiliar world, a perplexing universe where the rules are an enigma to the reader and even, sometimes, to Inspector O. Once again, James Church has crafted a story with beautifully spare prose and layered descriptions of a country and a people he knows by heart.Zero at the Bone: A Mystery
By Mary Willis Walker. 1991
WINNER OF THE AGATHA AND MACAVITY AWARDS FOR BEST FIRST NOVELNominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery In…
Mary Walker's Zero at the Bone, Katherine Driscoll is just three weeks away from disaster: foreclosure on her home and dog training business, even the sale of her beloved golden retriever, Ra. She has no hope of raising the $91,000 she so desperately needs--until the father she hasn't seen for thirty years writes to her, offering her enough money to solve her problems...if she will do one thing in return.But Katherine may never learn what that is. When she arrives in Austin, she is hours too late: her father has died in a bizarre accident at the zoo where he worked. As she sifts through the cryptic notes he left behind, she finds herself caught up in terrible family secrets--and a deadly illicit trade. The more she learns, the more determined she becomes to prove her father's death was no accident. In doing so, Katherine will make a bitter enemy--one desperate enough to kill...and perhaps, kill again.A Curtain Falls: A Novel (Detective Simon Ziele #2)
By Stefanie Pintoff. 2010
Following on the heels of Stefanie Pintoff's acclaimed and award-winning debut, A Curtain Falls is a moody and evocative tale…
that follows Ziele and his partners as they scour the dark streets of early-twentieth-century New York in search of a true fiend.The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner Captain Declan Mulvaney went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Ziele's fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. Although both men were earmarked for much bigger things, Ziele moved to Dobson, a small town north of the city, to escape the violence, and Mulvaney buried himself even deeper, agreeing to head up the precinct in the most crime-ridden area in the city.Yet with all of the detectives and resources at Mulvaney's disposal, a particularly puzzling crime compels him to look for someone he can trust absolutely. When a chorus girl is found dead on a Broadway stage dressed in the leading lady's costume, there are no signs of violence, no cuts, no bruises—no marks at all. If pressed, the coroner would call it a suicide, but then that would make her the second girl to turn up dead in such a manner in the last few weeks. And the news of a possible serial killer would be potentially disastrous to the burgeoning theater world, not to mention the citizens of New York.The Skelly Man: An Alex Rasmussen Mystery (Alex Rasmussen Mysteries #2)
By David Daniel. 1995
Amiable, wisecracking Alex Rasmussen was first introduced--to great acclaim--in The Heaven Stone, which won the PWA/St. Martin's Best First Private…
Eye Novel Contest, and was also named one of the best mysteries of the year by the Providence Journal-Bulletin. Now ghosts from the past and a murderous Halloween haunt his second case. A former cop gone private, Rasmussen makes a living in the decaying New England mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell is also the hometown of Good Night Show host Jerry Corbin, whose career has started to slump in recent years. Corbin and his entourage have come to town to film the pilot episode for a new series designed to boost his sagging star quotient and rescue his ratings. Unfortunately, someone's been sending Corbin hate mail, and an off-the-record investigation is in order. Enter Rasmussen, whose familiarity with TV consists of whatever's on the set in his local bar between sporting events. He's game for the job, though, and soon finds himself one of the insiders in Corbin's camp. Digging into Corbin's life to find out who wants to destroy him, Rasmussen learns that there are old secrets someone wants kept and old grudges someone wants satisfied. Corbin may have been on the fringes of these events, but now he has become the prime target.Hell's Gate: A Novel (Tom Braddock Series #3)
By Richard E. Crabbe. 2008
A riveting tale of river piracy, gang wars, and the worst catastrophe to hit New York City before September 11,…
2001In 1904 the Hudson and East Rivers were vital to the people of Manhattan. They offered families an escape from the squalor of the tenements, politicians a means of catering to their constituents, and criminals a means to make a fortune in black-market goods.When Detective Mike Braddock foils a midnight heist led by the gangland thug Smiling Jack, the city honors him as a hero. But Mike can't forget Jack's final revelation: the identity of a new mobster jockeying for position in the cutthroat world of New York's gangs.Mike is committed to bringing down this new criminal powerhouse before he takes power, no matter where his investigation takes him. He finds out quickly that he's not the only one who wants to take down this new gangster. A host of other mob heavies have their eyes on the same target, and they're more than willing to knock Mike out of the way to get there first.Full of action, double-crossing, and high-stakes mob warfare, Richard E. Crabbe's Hell's Gate brings readers to the rough-and-tumble streets of historic Manhattan, all set against the vivid backdrop of the greatest tragedy to strike New York until 9/11: the General Slocum disaster.The Marble Kite: An Alex Rasmussen Mystery (Alex Rasmussen Mysteries #4)
By David Daniel. 2005
Private investigator Alex Rasmussen has loved carnivals since he was a boy, and what better way to enjoy one as…
a grown man than with a lovely woman at his side? As he and his date stroll along the midway, playing games of chance, the soft September night is torn by a scream. Rasmussen rushes to a nearby field to find a woman's body in the weeds.One of the carnival workers---a man with trouble in his past and a motive for murder---is arrested and charged with the crime. The lawyer hired to defend him retains Rasmussen to investigate. The police are convinced they have a clear-cut case, but as Alex probes, he finds a trail as bewildering as a funhouse mirror maze.An outsider to the close-knit "carnies," and shunned by the police department he once served, Rasmussen faces a client who refuses to talk, gangsters looking to exploit the carnival's troubles, a mob of citizens bent on rough justice, and an elusive killer who seems to anticipate Alex's every move. When the investigation points to crooked cops, the defending lawyer abandons the case. Wisdom says Rasmussen should do likewise, but staying on has become a matter of honor. As a woman tells him, "We all end up in the graveyard, flying the marble kite." The only question now is: When?In the old city of Lowell (once the textile capital of America, now a husk of run-down mills), the streets have never been meaner. Beyond the flickering lights and the bright surfaces lies a shadow world where betrayal, deception, and violent death await.The Gentleman from Japan: An Inspector O Novel (The Inspector O Novels #6)
By James Church. 2017
James Church, a former Western intelligence officer, returns to the secret world of North Korean intelligence with another “crackling good”…
(The Washington Post) story in his critically acclaimed Inspector O series.Under the guise of machinery for making dumplings, a Spanish factory near Barcelona is secretly producing a key component in the production of nuclear weapons. When information finds its way to the inboxes of Western intelligence agencies that this “dumpling maker” is meant for North Korea, orders go out that the shipment must be stopped. Either the machine must be disabled while still in the factory, or the transportation route must be discovered so the equipment can be intercepted before it reaches its destination. An old friend recruits Inspector O to assist in the complex operation designed to disrupt the plans for shipping the machine.Carefully planted bits of information and bizarre events have led both the Spanish factory and those trying to intercept the machine to conclude that Japanese criminal organizations are involved in buying and transporting the “dumpling” machine in order to hide the involvement of North Korea. A flurry of murders puts the focus on the northeast Chinese city of Yanji, near the border with North Korea, where O’s nephew Major Bing is the Chief of State Security. Bing has his own problems dealing with a corrupt local mayor who is out for his head, coping with a new deputy who cannot be trusted, and figuring out why a Chinese gangster he’s worked for years to chase away has suddenly returned.Church— hailed as “the equal of le Carré” by Publishers Weekly — takes O deep into a maze of cracked mirrors that hide the exits from an elaborate, deadly double blind in his most elaborate mystery yet, The Gentleman from Japan.THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE MASTER OF SUSPENSESomething is lurking beneath the water's surface... Recently widowed actress…
Casey Fletcher has escaped to her family's lake house for peace and quiet. She's been happily losing herself in her thoughts and several bottles of bourbon, until the glamorous couple across the lake catch her attention. They look so perfect - just like Casey and her husband used to be.But is anyone what they seem?Casey has a detective sat at her kitchen table.She has a man bound and gagged upstairs.Casey will uncover dark truths so life-changing that nothing will ever be the same again.International bestselling sensation Riley Sager is back with his most ambitious thriller yet. With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense and gasp-worthy twists, The House Across the Lake will shock readers from the first page to the last.'Mesmerising, macabre and murderously funny. The Botanist is M.W. Craven at his sinister best. I couldn't love this series more'…
Chris Whitaker'Another classy thriller from the king of Cumbrian crime' Paul FinchThis is going to be the longest week of Washington Poe's life...Detective Sergeant Washington Poe can count on one hand the number of friends he has. And he'd still have his thumb left. There's the guilelessly innocent civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw of course. Insanely brilliant, she's a bit of a social hand grenade. He's known his beleaguered boss, Detective Inspector Stephanie Flynn for years as he has his nearest neighbour, full-time shepherd/part-time dog sitter, Victoria.And then there's Estelle Doyle. Dark and dangerous and sexy as hell. It's true the caustic pathologist has never walked down the sunny side of the street, but has she gone too far this time? Shot twice in the head, her father's murder appears to be an open and shut case. Estelle has firearms discharge residue on her hands, and, in a house surrounded by fresh snow, hers are the only footprints. Since her arrest she's only said three words: 'Tell Washington Poe.'Meanwhile, a poisoner called the Botanist is sending the nation's most reviled people poems and pressed flowers. Twisted and ingenious, he seems to be able to walk through walls and, despite the advance notice given to his victims, and regardless of the security measures taken, he is able to kill with impunity.Poe hates locked room mysteries and now he has two to solve. To unravel them he's going to have to draw on every resource he has: Tilly Bradshaw, an organised crime boss, even an alcoholic ex-journalist. Because if he doesn't, the bodies are going to keep piling up . . .Praise for The Botanist: 'Unputdownable, gripping, clever and with a rich seam of trademark Craven humour running through it' Imran Mahmood'A sinful treat' Vaseem Khan'Fast, furious, and utterly enjoyable.' Keith NixonPraise for M W Craven:The Curator shortlisted for the VN Thriller of the Year 2022 & longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger 2021 Dead Ground longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022 & longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2022'Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, Dead Ground is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril.' Chris Whitaker'Dark and entertaining, this is top rank crime fiction.' Vaseem Khan, Author of the Malabar House series and the Baby Ganesh Agency series'Fantastic' Martina Cole'Dark, sharp and compelling' Peter James'A brutal and thrilling page turner' The Sun'A thrilling curtain raiser for what looks set to be a great new series' Mick Herron'A powerful thriller from an explosive new talent. Tightly plotted, and not for the faint hearted!'David Mark'A gripping start to a much anticipated new series' Vaseem KhanFriend Request: The most addictive psychological thriller you'll read this year
By Laura Marshall. 2017
***THE SUNDAY TIMES & NO.1 EBOOK BESTSELLER***'Twisty and gripping' Erin Kelly'I read it in one go' Marian Keyes'I loved it'…
Rachel Abbott Don't miss Laura Marshall's addictive new thriller, MY HUSBAND'S KILLER. Available now!*****Maria Weston wants to be friends with me Maybe that had been the problem all along: Maria Weston had wanted to be friends with me, but I let her down.She's been hovering at the edge of my consciousness for all of my adult life, although I've been good at keeping her out, just a blurred shadow in the corner of my eye, almost but not quite out of sight.Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston has been dead for more than twenty-five years. *****THE ADDICTIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER THAT EVERYONE'S RAVING ABOUT 'The twist is genuinely unexpected . . . This is an obvious choice if you enjoyed The Girl on the Train' Independent'I couldn't put it down!' Jenny Blackhurst, author of The Foster Child'A mystery with a genius premise' Stylist'A devour-in-one-sitting must' Heat'Tightly plotted, and with a fabulous twist' Sunday Mirror'Gripping . . . loved it from start to finish' Goodreads Reviewer'Twisty and gripping . . . You must read this!' Emma Kavanagh, author of Falling'Twists and turns and real life scenarios make this a fantastic thriller' Amazon ReviewerThe Dangerous Ladies Affair: A Carpenter And Quincannon Mystery (The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries #5)
By Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini. 2016
For the firm of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services, stopping extortionists is not only grand, but excitingly lucrative. When…
a pleasant afternoon’s bicycling through Golden Gate Park with a friend ends with the revelation of threatening letters, followed by a gunshot in a mansion garden, Sabina Carpenter knows this is a case that demands her immediate and undivided attention. The questions her partner John Quincannon has to unravel are not difficult: Wrixton, a wealthy banker, has met his extortionist's first demand, but the order to pay another $5,000 is too much to face. The banker’s real problem is something he doesn't want to reveal. That was fine with the detective, and when he was informed that some private letters were involved and Wrixton absolutely needed them back, there was nothing more Quincannon needed in the way of background. As with so many of San Francisco’s elite, the bedroom doors never seemed to stay shut.That was the easy part; far more difficult was the matter of the dead courier, murdered most foully in a locked room within a locked room, creating a trail that will take John Quincannon through most of San Francisco’s less savory places and end with a riverboat trip that is anything but a relaxing cruise.The Dangerous Ladies Affair is the next thrilling installment in this charming historical mystery series from MWA Grand Masters Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini.The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries:#1 The Bughouse Affair#2 The Spook Lights Affair#3 The Body Snatchers Affair#4 The Plague of Thieves Affair#5 The Dangerous Ladies Affair#6 The Bags of Tricks AffairAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.A Scourge of Vipers: A Mulligan Novel (Liam Mulligan #4)
By Bruce DeSilva. 2015
Bruce DeSilva's A Scourge of Vipers is at once a suspenseful crime story and a serious exploration of the hypocrisy…
surrounding sports gambling and the corrupting influence of big money on politics.To solve Rhode Island's budget crisis, the state's colorful governor, Attila the Nun, wants to legalize sports gambling; but her plan has unexpected consequences. Organized crime, professional sports leagues, and others who have a lot to lose—or gain—if gambling is made legal flood the state with money to buy the votes of state legislators.Liam Mulligan, investigative reporter for The Providence Dispatch, wants to investigate, but his bottom-feeding corporate bosses at the dying newspaper have no interest in serious reporting. So Mulligan goes rogue, digging into the story on his own time. When a powerful state legislator turns up dead, an out-of-state bag man gets shot, and his cash-stuffed briefcase goes missing, Mulligan finds himself the target of shadowy forces who seek to derail his investigation by destroying his career, his reputation, and perhaps even his life.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.The Principal Cause of Death: A Mystery (Tom & Scott Mysteries #4)
By Mark Richard Zubro. 1992
The Principal Cause of Death is the next entry in Mark Richard Zubro's Tom and Scott series. When gay high…
School teacher Tom Mason is accused of murdering the school principal, Tom and his partner, Scott Carpenter, need to catch the real murderer and clear Tom's name.Kirkus Reviews raves, "The school politics are dead-on" in this fourth installment in Zubro's Lamda Literary Award-winning series.The Bughouse Affair: A Carpenter And Quincannon Mystery (The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries #1)
By Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini. 2013
In The Bughouse Affair, this first of a new series of lighthearted historical mysteries set in 1890s San Francisco, former…
Pinkerton operative Sabina Carpenter and her detective partner, ex-Secret Service agent John Quincannon, undertake what initially appear to be two unrelated investigations.Sabina's case involves the hunt for a ruthless lady "dip" who uses fiendish means to relieve her victims of their valuables at Chutes Amusement Park and other crowded places. Quincannon, meanwhile, is after a slippery housebreaker who targets the homes of wealthy residents, following a trail that leads him from the infamous Barbary Coast to an oyster pirate's lair to a Tenderloin parlor house known as the Fiddle Dee Dee. The two cases eventually connect in surprising fashion, but not before two murders and assorted other felonies complicate matters even further. And not before the two sleuths are hindered, assisted, and exasperated by the bughouse Sherlock Holmes. Fans of Marcia's Muller's bestselling Sharon McCone novels and Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective series will applaud this and future exploits from the annals of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services.The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries:#1 The Bughouse Affair#2 The Spook Lights Affair#3 The Body Snatchers Affair#4 The Plague of Thieves Affair#5 The Dangerous Ladies Affair#6 The Bags of Tricks AffairAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.Wild Turkey: A Novel
By Michael Hemmingson. 2001
Phil Landsdale has problems. He's out of a job, heis son's a pyromaniac, and his wife is running out of…
excuses as to why she comes home from work every night six hours late.In his newly appointed house-husband position, Phil decides he has plenty of time to figure things out. And he learns when you have a lot of time on your hands, you begin to notice your neighbors, intricate nuances, and the upset balance if someone doesn't follow the same routine. . . . Like the long and sexy neighbor across the street, Cassandra Payne.He's been keeping tabs on Cassandra with his new-found friend, Bryan, an ex-detective who lives next door. But when Cassandra's husband is gunned down en route from the airport, Phil and Bryan realize that beautiful Cassandra might be hiding more beneath that insee-weensy miniskirt than meets the eye. When the two go to investigate a stranger lurking around the Payne house, Bryan is almost killed and Phil finds himself drawn into the dark and mysterious world of Cassandra Payne.With a bottle of bourbon and a full tank of gas, Phil sets out to find the gunman and discovers the truth in a world where some men are men, some are wild, and some only a turkey.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.An Echo of Death: A Tom And Scott Mystery (Tom & Scott Mysteries #5)
By Mark Richard Zubro. 1994
Tom Mason and his lover, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter, go on the run when they find an ex-teammate and…
friend of Scott's murdered in their apartment. With the killers now on their trail, with the death of Scott's friend still a mystery, and with the discovery that they are on the police department's list of murder suspects, Tom and Scott are forced into a dangerous game of hide-and-seek to solve the murder and to ensure their own survival."Readers have both campy humor and an action-filled plot to keep them entertained. Highly recommended for all fiction collections - this one's a good read in every sense of the term!" - BooklistNo Job for a Lady
By Carol McCleary. 2014
History, mystery, and murder are the traveling companions of Nellie Bly, the world's first female investigative reporter. In Carol McCleary's…
No Job for a Lady, Nellie defies the wrath of her editor and vengeful ancient gods while setting out to prove a woman has what it takes to be a foreign correspondent in dangerous Victorian times.Pyramids, dark magic, and dead bodies are what the intrepid Nellie encounters when she takes off for Mexico after her editor refuses to let her work as a foreign correspondent because "it's no job for a lady." It's 1886 and Mexico has not cast off all its bloodthirsty Aztec past. Among the towering pyramids in the ghost city of Teotihuacán, Nellie is stalked by ruthless killers seeking Montezuma's legendary treasure and an ancient cult that resorts to the murderous Way of the Aztec to protect it.Nellie travels with Gertrude Bell, who will go on to be called Queen of the Desert for her later exploits in Egypt, as well as the most glamorous and beautiful woman of the era, Lily Langtry, consort to the Prince of Wales. Along for the ride is a young gunfighter called the Sundance Kid. And there's the mysterious Roger Watkins, who romantically and physically challenges Nellie's determination to be an independent woman in a man's world. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.Sock: A Novel
By Penn Jillette. 2004
Twisting the buddy cop story upside down and inside out, Penn Jillette has created the most distinctive narrator to come…
along in fiction in many years: a sock monkey called Dickie. The sock monkey belongs to a New York City police diver who discovers the body of an old lover in the murky waters of the Hudson River and sets off with her best friend to find her killer. The story of their quest swerves and veers, takes off into philosophical riffs, occasionally stops to tell a side story, and references a treasure trove of 1970's and 1980's pop culture. Sock is a surprising, intense, fascinating piece of work.Petty Treason: A Sarah Tolerance Mystery (The Sarah Tolerance Mysteries #2)
By Madeleine E. Robins. 2004
Welcome to Miss Tolerance's Regency London, where nothing is what it seems and the only way to serve justice is…
to follow conscience rather than law.It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must, soon or late, descend to whoredom.Miss Sarah Tolerance refuses to follow the path of the Fallen Women who have gone before her. She's a straight shooter, with her pistol as well as her wit, and her mind is as sharp as the blade of her sword.Miss Tolerance is an Agent of Inquiry, a private investigator of sorts--the sole one of her kind in London, in this year of 1810 with mad King George III on the throne and Queen Charlotte acting as his Regent. Her aim was to trace lost trinkets, send wastrel husbands back to their wives, and occasionally provide protection to persons with more money than sense--but she is continually drawn into the plots of others. Her newest case poses a puzzle unlike any she has faced before: who killed the Chevalier d'Aubigny? The French émigré was beaten to death in his own bed, found by his retainers the next morning, all the doors and windows of the house sealed tight. The murder is a classic locked-room mystery, but Miss Tolerance knows she can find the key.As Miss Tolerance examines the situation and interviews witnesses and suspects, she realizes things are far more complicated than she originally suspected--for the Chevalier had more enemies than he had friends, and Miss Tolerance is hard pressed to find someone who didn't wish him dead. Her search for his killer takes her from the lowest brothels of the seedy London underworld, where men go to indulge their more aggressive desires, to the Royal Family and a Duke who must hide his perversions or risk the Throne.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.