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The Mystery of the Tolling Bell (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #23)
by Carolyn KeeneNancy becomes involved in a maze of mystery when she accepts an invitation from Mrs. Chantrey, a client of Mr. Drew, to vacation at her cottage in a picturesque seaside town. Carson Drew has promised to join his daughter, but fails to arrive. The alarming disappearance of Mr. Drew and the odd circumstances surrounding his rescue are only the start of a series of highly dangerous adventures for Nancy and her friends Bess and George. In the late 1950s, the first 34 Nancy Drew books were condensed and revised. This is the version published before that revision.
Nightmare Alley
by Nick Tosches William Lindsay GreshamNightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a freak-show geek--alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd's gleeful disgust and derision--going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There's no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he's going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute bimbo (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan's for the taking. At least for now.
Past All Dishonor
by James M. CainA Confederate spy risks his life to win the heart of a fallen womanEarly in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento, to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory towards the Southern cause. It&’s a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but Duval hasn&’t been there long before he comes into mortal danger. On a swim in the Sacramento River, he gets knocked on the head by a paddleboat, and is drowning in the muck when Morina, a quick-witted woman of the night, tosses him a rope. Suffocated by instant, irresistible love, Roger follows Morina to her home turf: Virginia City, Nevada. For the miners, gamblers, and gunfighters who populate this hardscrabble town, her price is negotiable. But for a man in love, she charges a thousand dollars. Roger will sacrifice body, mind, and soul to get that money—but will his sacrifice be enough to make her love him?
Past All Dishonor
by James M. CainA naïve young man follows a fallen woman to a Nevada mining town and risks his life to win her: “Entertaining . . . Cain [has a] flair for realistic detail.” —The New York TimesEarly in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory toward the Southern cause. It’s a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but he hasn’t been there long before he comes into mortal danger.Duval nearly drowns in the Sacramento River but is saved by Morina, a quick-witted sex worker, who tosses him a rope. Suffocated by instant, irresistible love, Roger follows Morina to Virginia City, Nevada. For the silver miners, gamblers, and gunfighters who populate this hardscrabble town, her price is negotiable. But for a man in love, she charges a thousand dollars. Roger will sacrifice body, mind, and soul to get that money—but will any sacrifice be enough to make her love him?“A classic.” —Newsweek “[Cain is] one of the greats of American noir.” —The Guardian
The Peril Ahead (Department Z #22)
by John CreaseyDepartment Z tracks down a doomsday weapon in an edge-of-your-seat spy thriller from the Edgar Award–winning author who sold eighty million books worldwide. Professor Toller has created a weapon that could change the world as we know it. The threat is imminent as the professor and his formula are kidnapped, and it is left to the head of Department Z, Gordon Craigie, to save the day. Department Z is a small and little-known faction of the intelligence service. Among the other branches, its work is legendary. The department’s agents are scattered across most of the world’s capitals and even in smaller cities, and many strange matters pass through their hands. Or, more accurately, the hands of Gordon Craigie and Bill Loftus. Craigie must take enormous risks as both Washington and Moscow begin to suspect Britain of seeking out such a destructive weapon. His investigation leads him to an English seaside resort where Craigie must track down the men that have taken the professor, while evading the master conspirator who is out to get him. When the conspirator goes after the prime minister, Craigie is in real trouble. “Mr. Creasey realizes that it is the principal business of thrillers to thrill.” —Church Times “Little appears in the newspapers about the Secret Service, but that little makes anything on the subject probable fiction. Mr. Creasey proves himself worthy of the chance.” —Times Literary Supplement
Presidential Mission (The Lanny Budd Novels #8)
by Upton SinclairWith America at war, Lanny Budd risks life and limb from North Africa to Moscow on behalf of the Allied cause Members of the German high command believe that American art expert Lanny Budd is sympathetic to their cause, but since 1938 he has been an undercover agent working for President Franklin Roosevelt. Now, in 1941, the United States has been pulled into the fray by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and Lanny's services are required more than ever. In Algiers he must convince the French troops to stand with the Allies in advance of the Axis invasion. A meeting in Moscow, intended to sway Communist despot Joseph Stalin, precedes Hitler's disastrous decision to invade Russia. Over the course of the next two years, Lanny faces death at virtually every turn as his important presidential missions carry him from the sands of the African desert to the bomb-blasted streets of Berlin. Presidential Mission is the electrifying eighth chapter of Upton Sinclair's Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatization of twentieth-century world history. An astonishing mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author's vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Puzzle for Fiends: A Peter Duluth Mystery (The Peter Duluth Mysteries #5)
by Patrick QuentinIn this “bright, amusing addition to this series” by an Edgar Award winner, sleuth Peter Duluth faces his greatest challenge: remembering who he is . . . (Kirkus Reviews). Patrick Quentin, best known for the Peter Duluth puzzle mysteries, also penned outstanding detective novels from the 1930s through the 1960s under other pseudonyms, including Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge. Anthony Boucher wrote: “Quentin is particularly noted for the enviable polish and grace which make him one of the leading American fabricants of the murderous comedy of manners; but this surface smoothness conceals intricate and meticulous plot construction as faultless as that of Agatha Christie.” When Gordy Friend wakes up in the hospital, he’s got a broken arm, a broken leg, and apparently a broken head, since he can’t remember anything that’s happened before now. Luckily, Gordy learns he has a doting mother, a loving sister, and an absolute knockout wife to care for him and remind him of his lavish, hedonistic lifestyle. He’s also in line to inherit a great deal of money from his recently deceased father—if the will isn’t contested by some killjoys who think Gordy isn’t up to snuff. Then, his trip down easy street hits the skids as Gordy realizes not everything around him is what it seems, and that his father’s passing might not have been so peaceful. Plus, he’s got some weird thoughts clanking around his head—strange memories about the bright lights of Broadway and a beautiful starlet. The more Gordy finds out about himself, the more he suspects that his entire life might be a lie. And that the lie might just kill him . . .
The Rainbow Riddle (Judy Bolton Mysteries #17)
by Margaret SuttonJudy and Peter’s honeymoon turns into a working vacation as they puzzle out the pieces and locations in the riddle of rainbow colors. Add in a fearless child, Roberta, and you have the making of another fun Judy Bolton mystery. The thirty-eight volume Judy Bolton series was written during the thirty-five years from 1932-1967. It is one of the most successful and enduring girls' series ever published. The Judy Bolton books are noted not only for their fine plots and thrilling stories, but also for their realism and their social commentary. Unlike most other series characters, Judy and her friends age and mature in the series and often deal with important social issues. To many, Judy is a feminist in the best light-smart, capable, courageous, nurturing, and always unwavering in her true beliefs; a perfect role model.
Ride the Pink Horse (Murder Room #467)
by Dorothy B. HughesIt's carnival time in Santa Fe, and three out-of-town visitors are drawn together in the heat, the smells and the colour of the festival . . Sailor, a hood from Chicago, is there to confront his boss, Sen, a crooked politician, to try to get money for what he knows about the murder of Sen's wife, killed supposedly during a robbery gone wrong.Following them both is Mac, a man from the same side of the tracks as Sailor, but who has made very different choices. He's a cop now, and wants Sailor to testify against Sen and put him away.The three strangers collide, retreat and advance through the streets of New Mexico, moving ever closer to a charged and unexpected outcome . . .
Ride the Pink Horse (Murder Room Ser.)
by Dorothy B. HughesDuring the annual Fiesta, three desperate men converge in a perilous New Mexico town in this &“extraordinary&” crime novel (The New Yorker). It takes four days for Sailor to travel to New Mexico by bus. He arrives broke, sweaty, and ready to get what&’s his. It&’s the annual Fiesta, and the locals burn an effigy of Zozobra so that their troubles follow the mythical character into the fire. But for former senator Willis Douglass, trouble is just beginning. Sailor was Willis&’s personal secretary when his wife died in an apparent robbery-gone-wrong. Only Sailor knows it was Willis who ordered her murder, and he&’s agreed to keep his mouth shut in exchange for a little bit of cash. On Sailor&’s tail is a cop who wants the senator for more than a payoff. As Fiesta rages on, these three men will circle one another in a dance of death, as they chase truth, money, and revenge.
A Room on the Route
by Godfrey BlundenThis is the story of lives under the constant scrutiny of the N.K.V.D.Here is a monumental novel that shows how the fantastic Communist will-to-power has led to the enslavement of the Russians themselves. Here are the intellectuals, factory workers, spies, soldiers, big-shot Communists, and plain family people. This is the story of their lives under the constant scrutiny of the N.K.V.D. as told by expert author Godfrey Blunden.
A Room on the Route
by Godfrey BlundenThis is the story of lives under the constant scrutiny of the N.K.V.D.Here is a monumental novel that shows how the fantastic Communist will-to-power has led to the enslavement of the Russians themselves. Here are the intellectuals, factory workers, spies, soldiers, big-shot Communists, and plain family people. This is the story of their lives under the constant scrutiny of the N.K.V.D. as told by expert author Godfrey Blunden.
The Scarlet Imperial
by Dorothy B. HughesHanded a mysterious package, a woman finds herself caught in a deadly gameHer name is not Eliza Williams. A fashionable young woman with a taste for adventurous men, she made the mistake of falling in love with Towner Clay—a New York City playboy whose international jetsetting conceals dangerous secrets. On Towner&’s behalf, she has spent six months pretending to be Eliza Williams, a dowdy Midtown secretary. It&’s dull work until the day Gavin Keane, a blue-eyed associate of Towner&’s, leaves her with a mysterious package. Eliza understands that protecting it is a question of life and death. When he comes to pick up the package that night, Gavin is followed, and he shoots the man to protect the parcel&’s secret. With blood on her carpet and a mystery on her hands, the woman who is not Eliza will have to act quickly to survive.
The Seventh Cross (Voices Of Resistance Ser.)
by Anna Seghers Margot Bettauer Dembo Thomas Von SteinaeckerA revelatory World War II novel about a German prisoner of war fleeing for the border and encountering a variety of Germans, good and bad and indifferent, along his way. Now available in a new English translation.The Seventh Cross is one of the most powerful, popular, and influential novels of the twentieth century, a hair raising thriller that helped to alert the world to the grim realities of Nazi Germany and that is no less exciting today than when it was first published in 1942. Seven political prisoners escape from a Nazi prison camp; in response, the camp commandant has seven trees harshly pruned to resemble seven crosses: they will serve as posts to torture each recaptured prisoner, and capture, of course, is certain. Meanwhile, the escapees split up and flee across Germany, looking for such help and shelter as they can find along the way, determined to reach the border. Anna Seghers’s novel is not only a supremely suspenseful story of flight and pursuit but also a detailed portrait of a nation in the grip and thrall of totalitarianism.Margot Bettauer Dembo’s expert new translation makes the complete text of this great political novel available in English for the first time.
The Seventh Cross (Virago Modern Classics #779)
by Anna Seghers'At once a suspenseful manhunt story and a knowing portrait of the perils of ordinary life in Hitler's Germany, The Seventh Cross is not only an important novel, but an important historical document. This new, unabridged translation is a genuine publishing event' - Joseph Kanon, author of 'The Good German' and 'Leaving Berlin''A masterpiece. Written in the midst of terror, but with such clarity, such acuity; Seghers is a writer of rare insight' RACHEL SEIFFERT author of A Boy in WinterSeven prisoners escape from Westhofen concentration camp. Seven crosses are erected in the grounds and the commandant vows to capture the fugitives within a week. Six men are caught quickly, but George Heisler slips through his pursuers' fingers. It becomes a matter of pride to track him down, at whatever cost.Who can George trust? Who will betray him? The years of fear have changed those he knew best: his brother is now an SS officer; his lover turns him away. Hunted, injured and desperate, time is running out for George, and whoever is caught aiding in his escape will pay with their life.The Seventh Cross is one of the most powerful and influential novels of the twentieth century, a tense thriller that helped to alert the world to the grim realities of Nazi Germany.'It was [Seghers] who taught my generation and anyone who had an ear to listen after that not-to-be-forgotten war to distinguish right from wrong. The Seventh Cross shaped me; it sharpened my vision' GUNTER GRASS'A fascinating insight into life in pre-war Nazi Germany just as the horrors of the Nazi regime were beginning to unfold. This is an important novel, as much for its picture of German society as for its insight into the psyche of ordinary people confronting their personal fears and mixed loyalties' SIMON MAWER, author of The Glass RoomIn The Seventh Cross, Seghers's aim was to write, 'A tale that makes it possible to get to know the many layers of fascist Germany through the fortunes of a single man.' She had four copies of the manuscript: one was destroyed in an air raid; a friend lost the second copy while fleeing the Nazis; another was found by the Gestapo; only the fourth copy survived, which, fortunately, she sent to her publisher in America just before she escaped Nazi-occupied France. Published in 1942, The Seventh Cross was an immediate bestseller and was the basis for an MGM film starring Spencer Tracy in 1944. It has been translated into more than 40 languages.Margot Bettauer Dembo's expert new translation makes the complete text of this great political novel available in English for the first time.
The Seventh Cross (Virago Modern Classics #779)
by Anna SeghersA rediscovered German classic novel from 1942, never before published in the UK, The Seventh Cross is both a gripping escape story and a powerful novel of resistance. 'At once a suspenseful manhunt story and a knowing portrait of the perils of ordinary life in Hitler's Germany, The Seventh Cross is not only an important novel, but an important historical document. This new, unabridged translation is a genuine publishing event' JOSEPH KANON, author of The Good German and Leaving Berlin'A masterpiece. Written in the midst of terror, but with such clarity, such acuity; Seghers is a writer of rare insight' Rachel Seiffert, author of A Boy in WinterSeven prisoners escape from Westhofen concentration camp. Seven crosses are erected in the grounds and the commandant vows to capture the fugitives within a week. Six men are caught quickly, but George Heisler slips through his pursuers' fingers and it becomes a matter of pride to track him down, at whatever cost.Who can George trust? Who will betray him? The years of fear have changed those he knew best: his brother is now an SS officer; his lover turns him away. Hunted, injured and desperate, time is running out for George, and whoever is caught aiding his escape will pay with their life.The Seventh Cross powerfully documents the insidious rise of a fascist regime - the seething paranoia, the sudden arrests, the silence and fear.'A fascinating insight into life in pre-war Nazi Germany just as the horrors of the Nazi regime were beginning to unfold. This is an important novel, as much for its picture of German society as for its insight into the psyche of ordinary people confronting their personal fears and mixed loyalties' Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room'It was [Seghers] who taught my generation and anyone who had an ear to listen after that not-to-be-forgotten war to distinguish right from wrong. The Seventh Cross shaped me; it sharpened my vision' - Gunter GrassThe Seventh Cross was written by one of the most important German writers of the twentieth century. Her aim was to write, 'A tale that makes it possible to get to know the many layers of fascist Germany through the fortunes of a single man.' She had four copies of the manuscript: one was destroyed in an air raid; a friend lost the second copy while fleeing the Nazis; another was found by the Gestapo; only the fourth copy survived, which, fortunately, she sent to her publisher in America just before she escaped Nazi-occupied France. Published in 1942, The Seventh Cross was an immediate bestseller and was the basis for an MGM film starring Spencer Tracy in 1944. It has been translated into more than 40 languages.
The Silent Speaker (Nero Wolfe #11)
by Rex StoutWhen a powerful government official scheduled to speak to a group of millionaires turns up dead, the business world clamors for a solution, and Nero Wolfe takes the case.
The Spinster's Secret (Mr Crook Murder Mystery)
by Anthony GilbertForget The Girl on the Train - meet the woman who watches from her window, and finds herself caught up in murder...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club'Watching, fascinated and horrified, he saw thin fingers creep around the edge of the black curtain. Someone from inside was tugging to loosen it . . .'Miss Janet Martin, a 74-year-old spinster, enjoys her daily habit of watching passers-by from her window. When she strikes up a friendship with one of them - the golden-haired Pamela - she has no inkling that the innocence of her fading years is about to be turned upside down.The little old lady becomes inextricably involved in the child's fate, and when she calls in private eye Arthur Crook to help, a plot of abduction, fraud and murder unfolds . . .
Three Bedrooms in Manhattan
by Georges SimenonAn actor, recently divorced, at loose ends in New York; a woman, no less lonely, perhaps even more desperate than the man: they meet by chance in an all-night diner and are drawn to each other on the spot. Roaming the city streets, hitting its late-night dives, dropping another coin into yet another jukebox, these two lost souls struggle to understand what it is that has brought them, almost in spite of themselves, together. They are driven—from moment to moment, from bedroom to bedroom—to improvise the most unexpected of love stories, a tale of suspense where risk alone offers salvation. Georges Simenon was the most popular and prolific of the twentieth century's great novelists. Three Bedrooms in Manhattan—closely based on the story of his own meeting with his second wife—is his most passionate and revealing work.
Trouble Follows Me
by Ross MacdonaldIn the last days of World War II, a sailor discovers a transcontinental conspiracy in this classic from &“the greatest mystery novelist of his age&” (John Connolly, author of Every Dead Thing). It is February 1945, and the war in the Pacific is nearing its climax. In Hawaii on his way to a new post, US Navy ensign Sam Drake stumbles across the girl of his dreams. Mary is a disc jockey, with a voice that&’s famous across the islands for playing late-night jazz that no young lover can resist. Before he can follow this modern siren home, they go to check on Mary&’s coworker Sue—but that lovely young lady will never spin another record. They find her strung up and dangling outside the window of a bathroom, her face twisted into an ugly mask. The police call it suicide, but Sam is not so sure. Few beautiful women, even suicidal ones, are willing to be so hideous in death. Looking into Sue&’s past, he finds another corpse—and a dangerous conspiracy that stretches all the way back to his Motor City home.
Uneasy Terms
by Peter CheyneyThree dazzling sisters are suspects in the killing of their own mother. If only Viola could have predicted the potential for danger when she drafted the will that prevents any of her daughters from being married strictly for her fortune.But no case of murder and intrigue is too knotty for shrewd detective Slim Callaghan, who stirs up the calm waters of the tiny village of Alfriston, leaving chaos in his wake and a stunningly solved puzzle at this adventure's thrilling close.
The Unsuspected
by Charlotte ArmstrongA murderous, charismatic theatre owner . . . and a deadly new role...'Suspense enough to spare' NEW YORK TIMES'A fantastic recommendation for readers who enjoy classic Hitchcockian thrillers' BOOKLISTWhen Rosaleen Wright was found hanging, a note beside her body, the police are sure it is suicide. But her best friend Jane cannot believe it. Rosaleen was full of vitality and wit - and the note had no signature. Instead, Jane suspects Rosaleen's boss, New York theatre impresario Luther Grandison. Grandison is rich, powerful and charismatic, but Rosaleen's letters to Jane show a completely different man. One who is duplicitous, greedy - and dangerous. A man who would kill to protect his secrets. Jane is determined to find out the truth - and takes the ultimate risk when she gets a job with Grandison's company, and finds herself up against one of Broadway's deadliest actors in a desperate play for the truth.
The Unsuspected (An\american Mystery Classic Ser. #0)
by Charlotte ArmstrongTo catch a murderous theater impresario, a young woman takes a deadly new role in this mystery with &“suspense enough to spare&” (The New York Times). Why did Rosaleen Wright hang herself in a soundproof room? She left an unsigned note, peppered with stiff religious references and no trace of her trademark vitality or wit. The police believe it was suicide, but Rosaleen&’s best friend, Jane, is suspicious. To prove Rosaleen was murdered, she takes a job with the man who killed her. Luther Grandison, Rosaleen&’s boss, is a New York theatrical impresario with a lethal charm. To the world at large, he&’s powerful and charismatic, but Rosaleen&’s letters to Jane described a greedy man who stole from his adopted daughter when his bank account ran low. Jane thinks Grandison killed her to protect his secret, but to prove it she will have to face down one of the finest murderers Broadway has ever seen.
The Wrong Way Down (Henry Gamadge #11)
by Elizabeth DalyAn amateur sleuth with an eye for fakes is on the lookout for a murderer in this mystery by Agatha Christie&’s favorite American author. What begins as a courtesy call on his wife&’s friend, Miss Julia Paxton, turns into another case for Henry Gamadge, antiquarian book dealer, handwriting expert, and amateur detective. Miss Paxton presents Gamadge with a mystery: a framed etching that had always hung in the hallway of the Ashbury mansion has suddenly sprung an inscription dated 1793. Miss Paxton swears nothing had been written on that portrait before the previous Sunday. Did Iris Vance, a relative and professional medium, made it happen? And how? Henry Gamadge is pretty sure the solution to this mystery has nothing to do with the supernatural, but he can&’t quite make out what it all means. Was it a joke? Petty larceny? Or is something much more dangerous going on, and has Gamadge somehow stumbled onto a criminal conspiracy?
The Birthday Murder (An American Mystery Classic #0)
by Lange LewisWhen her husband is murdered using a method from one of her books, a screenwriter becomes the main suspect A successful writer and a B-movie director seem like the perfect match in the Hollywood hills, and with him working to produce her novel for an upcoming film, the pair’s recent marriage isn’t the only way that they’re connected. But when the husband is found murdered on the wife’s birthday, using a method of poisoning that was described in one of her books, Victoria suddenly becomes the main suspect as her new happy life comes crashing down around her. The case appears straightforward from the outside, but the LAPD investigator on the scene finds the truth to be anything but. Though all the signs point to Victoria, there’s no motive to be found. Now, to solve the mystery of whodunnit, he’ll have to dig beneath the veneer of the household and reveal its inner workings, and to understand the deadly drama that unfolded just beneath the surface. Reprinted for the first time in over half a century, The Birthday Murder is a beautifully written and psychologically astute Golden Age mystery set in old Los Angeles. It will appeal to fans of vintage whodunnits and of standout domestic suspense authors from the era such as Dorothy B. Hughes, Charlotte Armstrong, and Margaret Millar.