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The Case of the Rolling Bones
by Erle Stanley GardnerPerry Mason is almost stumped by the case of the Klondike millionaire imprisoned in Seattle and wanted for murdering the same man in both Alaska and California.
The Case of the Rolling Bones: A Perry Mason Mystery (An American Mystery Classic #0)
by Erle Stanley GardnerPerry Mason investigates a case of blackmail with a side of loaded dice Years ago, Alden Leeds struck it rich when he discovered a vein of gold. Now, aging and single, he finds himself surrounded by family waiting patiently to inherit his fortune. When he announces his engagement to a much younger woman, it sends that family into a panic, fearing that it might threaten their future gains. They have him admitted into a sanitarium, claiming incompetence—and that’s when lawyering super-sleuth Perry Mason gets involved, but the case is about to get much more complicated… Before all is said and done, Mason will tangle with a cheating gambler, a blackmailer, multiple aliases, multiple corpses, and enough red herrings to lead even the most astute reader astray. It will push the attorney’s deductive powers to their very limits before all is revealed, finally, in his masterful courtroom cross-examination. A fast-paced yarn with a delightfully convoluted plot, The Case of the Rolling Bones is among the best of the long-running Perry Mason novels, which would go on to inspire multiple television series as well as adaptations for radio and film. The book exemplifies the masterful page-turning action for which its prolific author is remembered today.
Case with 4 Clowns: A Sergeant Beef Mystery (Sergeant Beef Series)
by Leo BruceA murder is yet to be committed—that much is certain—but who will be the victim? And who will be the murderer? It is Sgt. Beef's job to discover these facts, if he can, in time to prevent the deed from being done. But when he reaches the small traveling circus where the murder is to take place, he finds that practically everyone there is seething with hatred, each has a motive which might make him a killer; and any one of a dozen people could easily be the victim. The doughty Sgt. Beef has broken some pretty tough cases, and this one—with mystery entagled within mystery—stirs the bulldog within him. The clues are there, but unless the reader is very astute, he or she will overlook them; but Sgt. Beef misses nothing.
Case with No Conclusion: A Sgt. Beef Mystery (Sergeant Beef Series)
by Leo BruceOnce again Lionel Townsend, Beef's Dr. Watson, faithfully records the redoubtable Sergeant's escapades. Beef has left the Braxham police and gone into business for himself. Beef gets a client: Stewart Ferrars, who has been arrested for the Sydenham Murder. Beef is hired by Stewart's brother Peter to prove Stewart is innocent of the murder of Dr. Benson, who has been found stabbed in the throat in the library of Peter's gloomy Victorian mansion, The Cypresses. An ornamental dagger with Peter's fingerprints on it has been left on a table near the dead man's armchair.
The Cases of Susan Dare
by Mignon G. EberhartA mystery author finds her knowledge of murder put to practical useInside the lovely head of Susan Dare, grisly murder lurks. A mystery author who makes her living providing tidy solutions to imaginary crimes, Dare is enjoying a much-needed vacation when the mood at her host&’s house turns sour. Ugly secrets lurk in the Frame family&’s past, and jealousy stirs beneath the surface of their tranquil country estate. Dare makes plans to leave before her hosts turn on each other, but she is too late. On the morning of her departure, a gunshot echoes through the fog. Only a beautiful author with a head full of murder mysteries can pinpoint the killer. In this handful of elegant, classic stories, Mignon Eberhart&’s amateur detective proves her worth time and time again. Decades before Murder, She Wrote, Eberhart realized that those who write mysteries can solve them too.
The Cat Saw Murder: A Rachel Murdock Mystery
by Dolores HitchensOne woman drugged, another murdered - and a cat is the only witness. If you like Miss Marple, you'll love this!Terrific classic crime - with a new introduction by Joyce Carol Oates.'You will never regret having made the acquaintance of Miss Rachel Murdock' NEW YORK TIMESWhen Rachel Murdock and her sister Jennifer receive a call for help from their favourite niece, Lilly, they quickly hop on a train to see her - but not before collecting their prized cat Samantha in a picnic basket and bringing her along for the ride. Samantha, it turns out, is an heiress, the inheritor of a fortune left by a wealthy relative, and so the attempt on the cat's life, made right after they arrive, comes as a shock. The cat survives, but Lilly, murdered soon thereafter, is not so lucky.By the time the police arrive, the clues are already falling into place, with gambling debts just being the tip of a brutal killing spree iceberg. With the authorities distracted by lurid details, it's up to Rachel and her furry friend to uncover the truth.
The Cat Saw Murder: A Rachel Murdock Mystery
by Dolores HitchensAn elderly woman drugged, a young woman killed, and the cat’s the sole witness… When Rachel Murdock and her sister Jennifer receive a call for help from their favorite niece, Lilly, in Breakers Beach, CA, they quickly hop a train from Los Angeles to see her — but not before collecting their prized cat Samantha in a picnic basket and bringing her along for the ride. Samatha, it turns out, is an heiress, the inheritor of a fortune left by a wealthy relative, and so the attempt at the cat’s life, made right after they arrive, comes as a shock. The cat survives, but unfortunately, Lilly, murdered soon thereafter, is not so lucky. By the time the police arrive, the clues are already falling into place. The source of Lilly’s trouble is revealed to be a gambling debt incurred during an attempt to cheat at bridge, and the suspects in her slaying quickly pile up. But then another corpse is discovered, buried in the nearby sand, and it becomes clear that the killing spree concerns more than just the young lady’s personal money trouble. With the authorities distracted by lurid details, it’s up to Rachel and her furry friend to uncover the subtleties containing the solution to the puzzle. A prototypical early “cat mystery,” written before the subgenre became a staple of cozy mystery fiction, The Cat Saw Murder is an entertaining and endlessly surprising whodunit with a focus on felines. Reissued for the first time in over half a decade, the book, written pseudonymously by the author better known for her hardboiled and suspense novels, is the first in the long-running Rachel Murdock series. Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.
The Chiffon Scarf
by Mignon G. EberhartA woman and her nemesis are caught in a cycle of romantic intrigue in this seductive mystery by the Edgar Award–winning author of The Patient in Room 18. Averill Blaine should have been married years ago, but Eden Shore stole her fiancé Noel&’s heart. Eden, a fashion model, needed only a few weeks with Noel before he broke his engagement and proposed to her instead, but she never went through with the marriage. Years later, Averill has found a new fiancé, and nothing—not Eden, not even murder—will get in her way. Eden goes to Averill&’s wedding in hopes of seducing Noel once more. As the two couples circle warily, death intrudes—in the shape of a suspicious airplane crash that kills Averill&’s uncle. He is an expert pilot, but no amount of skill can stop the flames that leap from his engine as he crests 15,000 feet. Still, Averill and Eden are determined to say &“I do,&” no matter how many die on their way to the altar.
The Clock in the Hatbox: Classic golden age mystery from a true icon of crime fiction (Murder Room #582)
by Anthony GilbertDid the twelfth member of the jury know something the rest did not...?Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubCircumstantial evidence was as good as proof in the trial of Viola Ross. Everything pointed to the conclusion that this beautiful woman had smothered her wisp of a husband. But the twelfth juror, Richard Arnold, would not agree. Perhaps he knew something which the others didn't - perhaps he only guessed.When a retrial is ordered, Arnold sets out to conduct his own investigation. But soon he is faced with three attempts on his life.
The Clue in the Cobweb (The Dana Girls Mystery Stories #8)
by Carolyn KeeneJean and Louise Dana continue as students at Starhurst School. Jean come up with a new invention. Will she be able to make it work correctly? Their uncle, Captain Ned, lost a passenger. Can Jean and Louise help their uncle unravel this new mystery? Follow Jean and Louise, and their new friend, Frances Roy as they untangle a mystery of illegal immigrants and jewelry thieves from Penfield to New Mexico and back again.
The Confidential Agent: An Entertainment (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics)
by Graham GreeneIn Greene’s “magnificent tour-de-force among tales of international intrigue,” rival agents engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse in prewar England (The New York Times). D., a widowed professor of Romance literature, has arrived in Dover on a peaceful yet important mission. He’s to negotiate a contract to buy coal for his country, one torn by civil war. With it, there’s a chance to defeat fascist influences. Without it, the loyalists will fail. When D. strikes up a romantic acquaintance with the estranged but solicitous daughter of a powerful coal-mining magnate, everything appears to be in his favor—if not for a counteragent who has come to England with the intent of sabotaging every move he makes. Accused of forgery and theft, and roped into a charge of murder, D. becomes a hunted man, hemmed in at every turn by an ever-tightening net of intrigue and double cross, with no one left to trust but himself. Written during the height of the Spanish Civil War, Graham Greene’s “exciting . . . kaleidoscopic affair” was the basis for the classic 1945 thriller starring Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall (The Sunday Times).
The D. A. Draws a Circle
by Erle Stanley Gardner[from the back cover] "THE D.A. DRAWS TWO CIRCLES Selby narrowed the compass so that it would draw a circle a scant half inch in diameter. Slowly, deliberately he drew a circle around a point on the map. "There, Carr, is your limit. Stay within that circle, and you won't be molested. Start moving around outside of it, and you'll wish you hadn't." With these words Douglas Selby brought to an end one of the most baffling cases the young District Attorney of Madison County had been called upon to solve--a case that had begun with a blood-stained suit reported by a driver for the Acme Cleaners & Dyers. A naked man was found dead in a barranca out at Orange Heights, shot twice in exactly the same place. Another man disappeared. Then a speedometer which registered ninety miles for each trip led the D.A. to draw his first circle, and with the help of Sheriff Rex Brandon and reporter Sylvia Martin he forced the hand of a slick and ingenious criminal lawyer and brought to justice a slick and ingenious criminal."
The D.A. Draws a Circle (Doug Selby D.A.)
by Erle Stanley GardnerThe murdered man had been shot - twice. Either bullet could have caused the death.D.A. Doug Selby had both the bullets and one of the guns. On that gun were the fingerprints of Pete Ribber, a known criminal. The other bullet was from a different - and missing - gun.Which bullet had caused the death? That was the D.A.'s problem. Because there's no law against firing a bullet into a corpse ...
Dangerous Curves
by Peter CheyneyA dame has to have more than beauty and breeding to stop Slim Callaghan doing things his way. Mrs Riverton has plenty of both, but when she begins to interfere in Slim's search for her stepson, things start to hot up.Slim's motto is: 'We get there somehow and who the hell cares'. The problem is that someone does . . .
Death and the Maiden (The Lieutenant Trant Mysteries #3)
by Q. PatrickPatrick 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.” Lee Loverling knew her roommate, Grace, had become somewhat of an enigma. After her father’s suicide and her family’s failed fortunes, Grace had changed into a willful woman whose romantic dalliances bordered on reckless—and whose moods had become almost sinister. But Lee could not have known just how far Grace had fallen until, after a night of fun in New York City, she’s found dead in a river, apparently the victim of murder. All of Wentworth College is abuzz with the tragedy, and Lee is suddenly at the center of an investigation led by the intrepid Lieutenant Trant of the New York Homicide Squad that threatens to expose a great many people—both students and faculty—to the scandals Grace left in her wake. Working together, Lieutenant Trant and Lee must unravel the tangled web of Grace’s life to uncover the truth behind the young woman’s death.
Dividend on Death: A Mike Shayne Mystery (The Mike Shayne Mysteries #1)
by Brett HallidayA girl begs Mike Shayne to help keep her from killing her own mother Mike Shayne has just poured himself a drink when Phyllis Brighton tries to throw herself out the window of his downtown apartment. Luckily, he blocks her just before she can launch herself over the sill. She tried to warn him she was crazy, but he didn't listen. Her doctor and her new stepfather, on the other hand, both believe Phyllis is suffering from a kind of Electra complex-- a fixation with her mother that is so intense that Phyllis would rather kill her than share her with anyone else. Shayne agrees to do whatever he can to keep Phyllis from killing her mother, but that doesn't ensure that the woman will live. When Mrs. Brighton is found with a knife buried in her back, all signs point to the Phyllis's guilt. But this hard-boiled private investigator didn't stop someone from jumping out a window just to send her to the electric chair. And it doesn't take a degree in psychology to find a killer--it takes brains, eyes, and two strong fists. Mike Shayne is just the man for the job.
Double for Death (Tecumseh Fox #1)
by Rex StoutTecumseh Fox thinks that he is seeing double when financier Ridley Thorpe is shot twice, two gorgeous suspects appear, two very good motives are revealed, and two murder weapons surface.
The Dragon's Teeth
by Ellery QueenEllery Queen joins forces with a new partner to investigate a millionaire’s murder After the death of his longtime friend Inspector Rummell, Ellery Queen drops in on Rummell’s son, a struggling lawyer named Beau. Before their meal is through, Queen and young Rummell are partners in a newly minted company: Ellery Queen, Confidential Investigations. Rummell promises not to burden Queen with any of the work—he only wants to capitalize on the name of the world-famous amateur sleuth. But when they are hired by an eccentric millionaire who refuses to say just why he wants their services, Rummell has no choice but to turn to Queen for help. And when their client dies at sea, they discover that the wealthy old man had countless enemies who might have put him out of his misery—most of them within his own family.
The Ernest Lamb Mysteries: The Blind Side, Who Pays the Piper?, and Pursuit of a Parcel (The Ernest Lamb Mysteries #3)
by Patricia WentworthThree intriguing World War II–era whodunits featuring the Scotland Yard detectives from the “timelessly charming” Miss Silver Mysteries (Charlotte MacLeod). Inspector Ernest Lamb and Det. Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard, who also made regular appearances in Patricia Wentworth’s beloved Miss Silver mystery series, confront a range of villains—from greedy landlords to ruthless blackmailers to diabolical Nazi spies. The Blind Side: Lucy Craddock has lived at No. 7 Craddock House for years. But now she’s about to be turned out of her home—by her own nephew. Since greedy Ross Craddock inherited the once-magnificent family estate, he has divided it into rented flats. But before he can boot out his aunt, he’s found shot to death with his own revolver. With a mansion full of suspects, Inspector Lamb comes to the door. Who Pays the Piper?: Lucas Dale is not above blackmail to get what he wants—in this case another man’s fiancée. Susan Lenox has no choice but to break off her engagement to up-and-coming architect Bill Carrick and agree to marry Dale—until he’s found in his study with a bullet in his head. Now it’s up to Inspector Lamb and Detective Abbott to construct a solid case. Pursuit of a Parcel: When a parcel from a double agent containing secrets the Nazis would love to get their hands on is delivered to a British law firm, an innocent woman becomes a pawn in a deadly game of international espionage, and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lamb and Detective Abbott—along with Frank Garrett of the Foreign Office—step in to solve a cold-blooded murder.
The Footprints on the Ceiling (The Great Merlini Mysteries #2)
by Clayton RawsonEdgar Award–Winning Author: A sleuthing magician investigates an allegedly haunted house on an island off Manhattan—and uncovers a murder. &“Wanted To Rent: Haunted House, preferably in rundown condition. Must be adequately supplied with interesting ghost.&” Ross Harte knows that only the Great Merlini could be behind such a strange classified ad. A magician, salesman, and occasional sleuth, Merlini is producing radio investigations of paranormal activity, and he needs ghosts to put on-air. His first target is Skelton Island, an eerie speck of land just a few hundred feet off the coast of Manhattan, but seemingly out of another time. On a late-night trip to the island, Merlini and Harte find the house perfectly rundown and well-stocked with ghosts, including one fresh one. Linda Skelton, granddaughter of the famous Scourge of Wall Street, has been poisoned with cyanide. Unless Merlini works quickly, he and Ross will join her among the ranks of Skelton Island&’s famous spirits.
Gaslight
by Patrick HamiltonThis classic Victorian thriller was first produced in 1935. Jack Manningham is slowly, deliberately driving his wife, Bella, insane. He has almost succeeded when help arrives in the form of a former detective, Rough, who believes Manningham to be a thief and murderer. Aided by Bella, Rough proves Manningham's true identity and finally Bella achieves a few moments of sweet revenge for the suffering inflicted on her.
A Holiday for Murder
by Agatha ChristieA millionaire is murdered and there are too many suspects. Poirot's brilliant mind works to unfold the mystery.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
by Agatha ChristiePreviously published in the print anthology Poirots Early Cases. At a flower show, a mysterious woman gives Hercule Poirot an empty seed packet. The next day, she is found dead, and Poirot has his suspicions about the identity of the killer.
In a Glass Darkly
by Agatha ChristiePreviously published in the print anthology The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories. The narrator is startled by a vision in his mirror: He sees a man with a scarred neck strangling a beautiful blonde. He later meets the woman in his vision, Sylvia, and notes her fiances scarred neck. He tells her of his premonition, and the engagement is broken off. But is that all there is to it?
In the Teeth of the Evidence: The best murder mystery series you'll read in 2020 (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries)
by Dorothy L SayersDorothy L Sayers' amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey returns in this collection of mysteries, introduced by crime writer Elizabeth George. A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries. All that was left of the garage was a heap of charred and smouldering beams. In the driving seat of the burnt-out car were the remains of a body . . . An accident, said the police. An accident, said the widow. She had been warning her husband about the danger of the car for months.Murder, said the famous detective Lord Peter Wimsey - and proceeded to track down the killer.