Three of the best novels of James M Cain, all in one volume, stories that encompass suspense, human lust, greed, and self-absorption, they are The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce, and Double Indemnity.

    

    D. B. Bryan- The necklace by Guy de Maupassant- The adventure of the speckled band by Arthur Conan Doyle- To build a fire by Jack London- Leiningen versus the ants by Carl Stephenson- Eveline by James Joyce- The secret life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber- What stumped the bluejays by Mark Twain- The pearl by John Steinbeck

    A woman is slain in, of all places, the cabin of an airliner in mid flight. A dozen potential witnesses, including the sharply observant Hercule Poirot, are present when the deed is done; yet nobody notices anything amiss until the victim is discovered not to be asleep, as the steward had thought, but cleverly murdered.One great point about Poirot is his ability to judge the true significance of trivia in the light of his special brand of imaginative logic. In no case of Poirot's has his gift been more valuable. Somewhere, among the trifling and apparently inconsequential actions of the passengers, or among the odd assortment of belongings that a search of their baggage reveals, is the key that will begin to make everything clear.Why didn't they ask Evans?People had fallen over cliffs before, and at first there seemed to be nothing extraordinary about the accident at Marchbolt. The man was a stranger, and presumably unaware of the perils of the cliff path.There was nothing Bobby could do except wait with him for the help that would surely arrive too late. As he waited, the dying man suddenly spoke. "Why didn't they ask Evans?"That was all he said; and the words seemed so inconsequential that Bobby did not even mention then at the inquest. Later, when he did report them to mysterious Mr. Cayman, strange and disturbing things began to happen and it began to seem that somebody had powerful reasons for wanting Bobby out of his way. In trying to discover why, Bobby and his friends find themselves involved in something very much more than a simple matter of accidental death.Murder on the Orient ExpressWith one mystery successfully concluded, Hercule Poirot is en route from Aleppo to London where his aid on another case is eagerly awaited. but on this occasion the Orient Express does not run strictly according to the international timetable.In the middle of the night, in the heart of Yugoslavia, the train comes to a halt - and next morning it is still halted. A snowdrift is blocking the line ahead; the passengers, with one exception, face the prospect of a wait which could amount to days.The exception lies dead; stabbed not once but over and over again by an apparently frenzied killer. Or was it two killers? That, like the sleeping compartment bolted from the inside, is part of the puzzle Poirot is asked to solve.

    While travelling by train, Elspeth sees a murder occurring in a train on a parallel track. Since she could not have seen the victim or the killer and she is an old woman, the police ignore her. Only Jane believes her, but can she prove anything when there is not even a dead body present?.Lord Egdware Dies - (Hercule Poirot, book 8) also known as: Thirteen at Dinner = Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to 'get rid of' her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn't help feeling that he was being taken for a ride. After all, how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware to death in his library at exactly the same time she was seen dining with friends? And what could be her motive now that the aristocrat had finally granted her a divorce?Murder in Mesopotamia - (Hercule Poirot, Bk 14) ="I have arrived", said the note. Louise Leidner claimed the writer had followed her halfway around the world and was now coming to kill her. But the others on the dig in Iraq thought the archeologist's wife was suffering from hysteria...until she was found bludgeoned in her bedroom.

    In the telling of her life, Stacey rediscovers for us all the richness of the commonplace, the pain and beauty in being alive, and the secret music that dances in everyone’s soul.

    Stratton of Oak KnollMary and NormaYou Can Always Tell NewarkPat CollinsThe First DayYour Fah Neefah NeefaceThe Friends of Miss JuliaThe ManagerThe Madeline Wherry CaseThe BonfireThe Hardware ManAndreaFlightThe GeneralAfternoon WaltzFatimas and Kisses