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A personal devil: A Magdalene la Batarde Mystery (Magdaline la Batarde Ser. #No. 2)
By Roberta Gellis. 2001
London, 1139. Beautiful brothel-keeper Magdalene la Bâtarde enlists the help of her admirer, Sir Bellamy, when blind prostitute Sabina, one…
of Magdalene's former employees, needs assistance. Sabina's lover, Master Mainard the saddle maker, has been accused of murdering his nagging wife. Some descriptions of sex. 2001The cruellest month: With the Assistance of Jane Austen's Letters
By Hazel Holt. 2009
Sheila Malory finds herself at Oxford's New Bodleian library, digging into the past of a decidedly unpleasant librarian who was…
found dead under collapsed bookshelves. This librarian had numerous enemies, so Sheila turns to the victim's old diary from World War II for some answers. Some strong language. 1991The murderer in ruins (Inspector Frank Stave #01)
By Cay Rademacher, Peter Millar. 2015
Hamburg, 1947. Career policeman Frank Stave worries about his missing son, even as he works with colleague Maschke from the…
vice squad and Lt. MacDonald of the British military to track down a killer. Translated from the original 2011 German edition. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2015The Bobbsey twins' visit to the Great West (Bobbsey Twins Ser.)
By Laura Lee Hope. 1966
The forger (Inspector Frank Stave #03)
By Cay Rademacher. 2020
Hamburg, 1948. During a routine operation, Chief Inspector Frank Stave is shot. After he recovers, he transfers from the office…
combatting the black market. But then the women clearing rubble discover works of art from the Weimar period--next to a corpse. Translated from original 2013 German edition. Some violence and some strong language. 2018Entanglement
By Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Zygmunt Miloszewski. 2007
Praise for Entanglement:"An exquisite contemporary crime story. Polish literature boasts a real master."--Jerzy Pilch, author of The Mighty Angel"A tightly…
plotted mystery novel, dark humor and contemporary Warsaw perfectly rendered."--Przekrój MagazineThe morning after a group psychotherapy session in a Warsaw monastery, Henry Talek is found dead, a roasting spit stuck in one eye.Public prosecutor Teodor Szacki, world-weary, suffering from bureaucratic exhaustion and marital ennui, feels that life has passed him by. But this case changes everything. Because of it he meets Monika Grzelka, a young journalist whose charms prove difficult to resist, and he discovers the frightening power of certain esoteric therapeutic methods. The shocking videos of the sessions lead him to an array of possible scenarios. Could one of the patients have become so absorbed by his therapy role-playing that he murdered Telak? Szacki's investigation leads him to an earlier murder, before the fall of Communism.And why is the Secret Police suddenly taking an interest in all this? As Szacki uncovers each piece of the puzzle, facts emerge that he'd be better off not knowing, for his own safety.Zygmunt Miloszewski, born in Warsaw in 1975, is an editor currently working for Newsweek. His first novel, The Intercom, was published in 2005 to high acclaim. Entanglement followed in 2007, and the author is now working on screenplays based on The Intercom and Entanglement as well as on a sequel to the latter, also featuring Teodor Szacki.Twin Cities Noir
By Steven Horwitz, Julie Schaper. 2013
"Local editors Schaper and Horwitz have assembled a noteworthy collection of noir-infused stories mixed with laughter...The Akashic noir short-story anthologies…
are avidly sought and make ideal samplers for regional mystery collecting."--Library Journal"The best pieces in the collection turn the clichés of the genre on their head . . . and despite the unseemly subject matter, the stories are often surprisingly funny."-City Pages (Minneapolis)Brand-new stories from John Jodzio, Tom Kaczynski, and Peter Schilling, Jr., in addition to the original volume's stories by David Housewright, Steve Thayer, Judith Guest, Mary Logue, Bruce Rubenstein, K.J. Erickson, William Kent Krueger, Ellen Hart, Brad Zellar, Mary Sharratt, Pete Hautman, Larry Millett, Quinton Skinner, Gary Bush, and Chris Everheart."St. Paul was originally called Pig's Eye's Landing and was named after Pig's Eye Parrant--trapper, moonshiner, and proprietor of the most popular drinking establishment on the Mississippi. Traders, river rats, missionaries, soldiers, land speculators, fur trappers, and Indian agents congregated in his establishment and made their deals. When Minnesota became a territory in 1849, the town leaders, realizing that a place called Pig's Eye might not inspire civic confidence, changed the name to St. Paul, after the largest church in the city . . . Across the river, Minneapolis has its own sordid story. By the turn of the twentieth century it was considered one of the most crooked cities in the nation. Mayor Albert Alonzo Ames, with the assistance of the chief of police, his brother Fred, ran a city so corrupt that according to Lincoln Steffans its 'deliberateness, invention, and avarice has never been equaled.' As recently as the mid-'90s, Minneapolis was called 'Murderopolis' due to a rash of killings that occurred over a long hot summer . . . Every city has its share of crime, but what makes the Twin Cities unique may be that we have more than our share of good writers to chronicle it. They are homegrown and they know the territory--how the cities look from the inside, out . . ."A Grain of Truth
By Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Zygmunt Miloszewski. 2012
"A Grain of Truth, like every great crime novel, digs up more unsettling questions than it does answers; it also…
demonstrates the seemingly endless possibilities of the form itself to serve as smart social criticism." --Maureen Corrigan, on NPR's Fresh AirPraise for the first novel in the Teodor Szacki series:"In Entanglement Miloszewski takes an engaging look at modern Polish society in this stellar first in a new series starring Warsaw prosecutor Teodor Szacki. Readers will want to see more of the complex, sympathetic Szacki."-Publishers WeeklyIt is spring 2009, and prosecutor Szacki is no longer working in Warsaw-he has said goodbye to his family and to his career in the capital and moved to Sandomierz, a picturesque town full of churches and museums. Hoping to start a "brave new life," Szacki instead finds himself investigating a strange murder case in surroundings both alien and unfriendly.The victim is found brutally murdered, her body drained of blood. The killing bears the hallmarks of legendary Jewish ritual slaughter, prompting a wave of anti-Semitic paranoia in the town, where everyone knows everyone. The murdered woman's husband is bereft, but when Szacki discovers that she had a lover, the husband becomes the prime suspect. Before there's time to arrest him, he is found murdered in similar circumstances. In his investigation Szacki must wrestle with the painful tangle of Polish-Jewish relations and something that happened more than sixty years earlier.Zygmunt Miloszewski was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1975. His first novel The Intercom was published in 2005 to high acclaim. In 2006 he published The Adder Mountains; in 2010, the crime novel Entanglement; and this year its sequel, A Grain of Truth.A Dark Song of Blood
By Ben Pastor. 2014
Praise for the Martin Bora series:"The tone of Liar Moon has a flu-like grimness, appropriate the 1943 setting. Pastor is…
excellent at providing details (silk stockings, movie magazines, cigarettes) that light up the setting."-Booklist"Lumen's plot is well crafted, her prose shap . . . a disturbing mix of detection and reflection."-Publisher's WeeklyRome, 1944. While the Allies are fighting their way up the Italian peninsula, Rome lives the last days of Nazi occupation. Their world is falling apart as the German Army, the Gestapo, and the SS vie for power while holding glittering and debauched parties. But this is also a time of Italian partisan attacks, arrests, and mass executions, all to the sound of Allied artillery bombardment just outside the walls of the city.Baron Martin von Bora, an officer in the Wehrmacht, has the complex and delicate task of solving not one, but three murders. A young German embassy secretary has "accidentally" fallen to her death from a fourth-floor window, and a Roman society lady and a headstrong cardinal of the Roman Curia are found dead in her apartment. The cardinal is personally known to Bora and, like the officer, secretly active in the resistance against the Third Reich. With Italian police inspector Sandro Guidi at his side, Bora sets off to establish the truth. Different as they are, the two men confront crime, war, and dictatorship in the awareness that the dignity of man comes at a price beyond all imagination.Over a century since his first appearance in print, Sherlock Holmes remains an iconic figure today. This unique companion is…
a collector's dream, allowing fans to delve into the criminal environment of foggy, gas-lit Victorian London-the world of the all-time greatest detective. The book brings to life the elements of Holmes's success, the crime scene of his day, his history in film and television, and the present-day Holmes legacy. Featured throughout are famous figures such as Holmes's faithful sidekick, Dr. Watson; his nemesis, Professor Moriarity; and Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Filled with more than 150 images-many of the works by the great original illustrators of Conan Doyle's stories-this volume presents an excellent mix of information to satisfy legions of Holmes collectors, mystery fans, and historians fascinated by a bygone era.One Perfect Lie
By Lisa Scottoline. 2017
Lisa Scottoline, internationally bestselling author of KEEP QUIET and EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES, returns with a gripping new tale of family…
and survival. Sure to keep fans of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN hooked until the last page.Single mother Heather would do anything for her son, Jordan. His talent on the high-school baseball field could be his only ticket to college. Yet there are those in Jordan's team who have the potential to lead him down a darker path. Not least their coach - a new teacher with a dark, hidden agenda of his own.But there is no such thing as a perfect façade. And under pressure the cracks will soon appear...If your child conceals the truth, how can you be sure that they are safe?The Temptations of Anna Jacobs: Dangerous Liaisons Book 2 (Dangerous Liasons)
By Robyn DeHart. 2014
The second enthralling romance in the Dangerous Liaisons series, filled with passion, danger and intrigue from beloved author Robyn DeHart,…
for fans of Sabrina Jeffries, Stephanie Laurens, Julie Anne Long and Courtney Milan.When Drew Foster is released from prison, he doesn't much care about salvaging his soiled reputation. Though he's working undercover, everyone in Victorian London believes him guilty of the Jack the Ripper murders and that his brother paid for his 'innocence'.Despite her genteel upbringing, Anna Jacobs is intent on finishing medical school and becoming a physician. Society's ridicule has never bothered her, but when her brother, the Yard's best detective, is scorned for letting Drew go, she confronts the one man who can set the record straight at a ball. She certainly doesn't count on the rogue being dashing and handsome, nor on him stealing a passionate kiss.Anna's brazen contempt for his dangerous reputation captivates Drew, but he is harbouring secrets that make him unfit to court any proper woman. As he finds himself an outsider among his colleagues at Scotland Yard, the feisty beauty offers up her medical knowledge to assist him on the case. But when the real killer returns to London to continue his reign of terror, can Anna find safety in Drew's arms?Experience another thrilling 'dangerous liaison' with the compelling mystery The Secrets of Mia Danvers.The Dean Koontz Collection: Three spell-binding thrillers
By Dean Koontz. 2002
The Dean Koontz Collection is an unmissable omnibus of three of his most spine-tingling thrillers, By the Light of the…
Moon, One Door Away From Heaven and Seize the Night. A terrifying treat perfect for Stephen King fans...By the Light of the Moon: When Dylan O'Conner pulls into a motel, all he wants is sleep. But he soon finds himself bound, gagged and being injected with a mysterious fluid by a lunatic doctor, who claims Dylan will be the carrier of his 'life's work'. He warns Dylan and fellow victim Jillian that he's being pursued and that they too are now targets. They're sceptical. But soon they realise that perhaps he isn't so mad after all... One Door Away From Heaven: Leilani Maddoc's tenth birthday is nine months away. Micky Bellsong is convinced that in nine months and one day, the girl will be dead. Micky's decision to save the child's life - and pit herself against an adversary as fearsome as he is cunning - takes her on a journey of incredible peril and stunning discoveries, a journey that will change her for ever...Seize the Night: One by one, the children of Moonlight Bay are disappearing. No one knows if they are dead or alive. Christopher Snow has glimpsed the dark and torrid secrets of the small-town community where he has spent his life. And only he has the key to the truth - a truth that could only exist in the genetic chaos of Moonlight Bay.A Lady Undone: A Mad Passions Novella 2.5 (Mad Passions)
By Maire Claremont. 2014
In this dazzling novella from the award-winning author of The Dark Lady and Lady In Red, comes a story of…
fatal plots, seductive spies, and irresistible passions... Perfect for fans of Sherry Thomas, Lisa Kleypas and Stephanie Laurens.Duchess Clare Ederly is lucky to be alive. Having outlived her violent, abusive husband, she decides to put her significant inheritance to good use helping other battered women by opening a refuge for those seeking to escape. But not everyone is pleased with her work. Someone wants to see her sanctuary torn down - at any cost. Her only hope of protecting her home and tenants is a former spy, whose skill at tracking deadly men is matched only by his dangerous charm...The Earl of Wyndham has done his part for Queen and country; he has had his fill of plotting and politics and simply wants to retire to the pleasant life of his club. But Duchess Clare's razor-sharp wit and fierce determination awaken new purpose and admiration in him. To protect her, he will once again delve into the treacherous world of espionage. To win her love, he will do almost anything...For more deliciously dark Victorian romance, try all the titles in the Mad Passions series: The Dark Lady, Lady In Red, A Lady Undone and The Dark Affair, and check out Maire's alter-ego Eva Devon for sexy and laugh-out-loud funny Regencies.A Woman Much Missed: A Commissario Soneri Investigation
By Valerio Varesi. 2004
Italy's Maigret returns in another smouldering noir from a master of the police procedural "A master storyteller" Barry Forshaw, IndependentA…
few days before Christmas, with Parma gripped by frost and fog, Ghitta Tagliavini, the elderly owner of a guesthouse in the old town centre, is found murdered in her apartment. The case is assigned to Commissario Soneri, but the investigation holds a painful, personal element that sends waves of nostalgia sweeping through him. Tagliavini's guesthouse is where Soneri met his late wife Ada, and where the young couple spent unforgettable hours in each other's company. But the present can embitter even the sweetest memories. An old photograph of Ada with another man sends Soneri into a spiral of despondency, ever more so when he realises her death may be linked to Tagliavina's lucrative sideline as a backstreet abortionist and faith healer. Though Soneri would like nothing more than to be allowed to drop the case, he doggedly persists, uncovering at last, along with the truth behind Tagliavini's death, rife corruption at Parma's rotten heart and a raft of ghosts from Italy's divisive past.Translated from the Italian by Joseph FarrellThe Art of Killing Well
By Marco Malvaldi. 2011
Nothing could please a chef more than a chance to learn the secrets of a Baron's castle kitchen. Having travelled…
the length and breadth of the country compiling his masterpiece, The Science of Cooking and The Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi relishes the prospect of a few quiet days and a boar hunt in the Tuscan hills. But his peace is short-lived. A body is found in the castle cellar, and the local inspector finds himself baffled by an eccentric array of aristocratic suspects. When the baron himself becomes the target of a second murder attempt, Artusi realises he may need to follow his infallible nose to help find the culprit. Marco Malvaldi serves up an irresistible dish spiced with mischief and intrigue, and sweetened with classical elegance and wit. His stroke of genius is to bring Italy's first cookery writer to life in this most entertaining of murder mysteries.Winter Moon: A brilliant thriller of heart-stopping suspense
By Dean Koontz. 1994
A peaceful ranch... or a house of terror? The tension builds to a stunning climax in Dean Koontz's powerful thriller,…
Winter Moon. Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Stephen King. 'America's most popular suspense novelist' - Rolling StoneEduardo is a lonely retiree living on his isolated Montana ranch. His life is peaceful, until one night he is awakened by a fearful throbbing sound and eerie lights in the woods. More mysterious and disturbing events follow over the next few months. Eduardo begins to fear for his sanity and his life, until the terrible night when someone - or something - knocks on his back door...One lovely spring morning in Los Angeles, cop Jack McGarvey is hammered by submachine-gun fire when a madman goes berserk. He barely survives. Jack longs to move his wife and son to a more peaceful place away from the city, but he feels utterly powerless and without prospects. In their hour of desperation, the McGarvey family receives an unexpected inheritance in the shape of a sprawling ranch in one of the most beautiful, peaceful places in the country: Montana.The family sets out from Los Angeles to begin their new life, unaware that the terror-riddled city will soon seem like a safe haven compared to what lies ahead. What readers are saying about Winter Moon: 'The stark contrast between the man-made dangers of LA and the other-worldly, spooky dangers of the Montana wilderness is really well done''One of his best books I've read. If you love horror and deep-thinking and you love that fear of the unknown, then this book is definitely for you''Hats off to the great Mr Koontz for taking the imagination on the rollercoaster ride of a lifetime'Shadowfires: Unbelievably tense and spine-chilling horror
By Dean Koontz. 1987
What do you do when there's nowhere left to run? Dean Koontz's Shadowfires is a thrilling novel of jealousy, danger…
and the fight for survival. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Harlan Coben.'Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose... 'Serious' writers... might do well to examine his technique' - The New York Times Book Review Rachael Leben's violently possessive ex-husband, Eric, hideously mangled in a freak accident, is dead. But his body has disappeared from the city morgue.Now someone, or something, is watching Rachael. Calling her. Stalking her. And though no one will believe her, she knows who it is; that his walking corpse is a grotesque mockery of life, and his brilliant, warped mind, once again 'alive', is seething with jealous rage, seeking an unspeakable revenge. What readers are saying about Shadowfires: 'This book is a 'once-you-start-you-can't-put-it-down' exhilarating reading experience''This novel is exceptionally brilliant''This book is entertaining, spine-tingling, and utterly terrifying as the possibilities become ever more real...'Dragon Tears: A thriller with a powerful jolt of violence and terror
By Dean Koontz. 1992
The events of one dark night have far reaching repercussions... Dean Koontz writes a gripping thriller of predator and prey…
in Dragon Tears. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Harlan Coben.'The take-a-deep-breath ending alone is worth the price of the ticket' - PeopleHarry Lyon is a cop who embraces tradition and order. The biggest bane of his life is his partner, Connie Gulliver. Harry doesn't like the messiness of her desk, her lack of social polish or her sometimes casual attitude towards the law. 'Look, Harry, it's the Age of Chaos,' she tells him. 'Get with the times.'And when Harry and Connie have to take out a hopped-up gunman in a restaurant, the chase and shootout swiftly degenerate into a surreal nightmare that seems to justify Connie's view of the modern world. Shortly after, Harry encounters a filthy, rag-clad denizen of the streets, who says ominously, 'Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours.' Struggling to regain the orderly life he cherishes, Harry is trapped in an undertow of terror and violence. For reasons he does not understand, someone is after him, Connie Gulliver and the people he loves. What readers are saying about Dragon Tears: 'With all his best stories [Dean Koontz] draws you in and makes the implausible seem plausible - this is one of his best''[Dean Koontz] combines poignancy and true psychological horror to bring home the plight of characters that you'll love and root for all the way''Another fantastic tale, written in such a way that you can hardly stop turning the pages'The House of Thunder: A psychological thriller of masterful suspense
By Dean Koontz. 1982
How do you know what is real when you wake into a nightmare? The House of Thunder is an unforgettable…
novel of terror and murder from bestselling novelist Dean Koontz. Perfect for fans of Richard Laymon and Harlan Coben. 'Dean Koontz is a prose stylist whose lyricism heightens malevolence and tension. [He creates] characters of unusual richness and depth' - The Seattle Times In a cavern called The House of Thunder, Susan Thorton watched in terror as her lover died a brutal death in a college hazing. And in the following four years, the four young men who participated in that grim fraternity rite also died violently. Or did they?Twelve years later Susan wakes in a hospital bed. Apparently involved in a fatal accident, she is suffering from amnesia. She doesn't remember who she is or why she is there. All she knows is that her convalescence is unfolding into a fearful nightmare - and that the faces that surround her, pretending loving care, are those of the four men involved in that murder years before.Have the dead come back to life? Or has Susan plunged into the abyss of madness? With the help of her neurosurgeon, Susan desperately clings to her sanity while fighting to uncover who or what could be stalking her... What readers are saying about The House of Thunder: 'I have never read a book so filled with mystery and suspense''Koontz creates several ingenious plot twists and mysteries, some of which had me gasping out loud, they were so fantastic''Wonderful plot and living, breathing characters are of course the norm from Koontz, but this book has an indefinable quality about it that sets it apart from the others'