Best of
Detective

2009

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes


John Joseph AdamsTanith Lee - 2009
    This reprint anthology showcases the best Holmes short fiction from the last 25 years, featuring stories by such visionaries as Stephen King, Neil Gaimen, Laura King, and many others.

The Crucifix Killer


Chris Carter - 2009
    Naked, strung from two parallel wooden posts, the victim was sadistically tortured before meeting an excruciatingly painful death. All the skin has been ripped from her face - while she was still alive. On the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer. But that's impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him? Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining.

The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2009
    His creator, Conan Doyle, imbued his detective hero with intellectual power, acute observational abilities, a penchant for deductive reasoning and a highly educated use of forensic skills. Indeed, Doyle created the first fictional private detective who used what we now recognize as modern scientific investigative techniques.Doyle ended up writing four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson. All but four are told in the first person by Watson, two by Holmes, and two are written in the third person. Together, this series of beautifully written Victorian literature has sold more copies than any other books in the English language, with the exceptions of the Bible and Shakespeare.Volume 1 in this series consists of two novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, followed by a collection of short stories entitled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

J.D. Robb CD Collection 9: Creation in Death, Strangers in Death, Salvation in Death


J.D. Robb - 2009
    Carved into her torso is the time it took her to die - in hours, minutes, and seconds. And on the third finger of her left hand has been placed a silver ring. Eve is catapulted back to an unsolved case nine years earlier, when “The Groom” put the city on edge with a killing spree that took the lives of four women in fifteen days. Now The Groom seems to have come back to where he started.Strangers in Death:It doesn’t surprise Lieutenant Eve Dallas that Thomas Anders’s scandalous death is a source of titillation and speculation for the public - and humiliation for his family. But the facts don’t add up. Physical evidence suggests that the victim didn’t struggle. The security breach in his highly fortified apartment indicates that the killer was someone close to Anders, but everyone’s alibi checks out. Was this a crime of passion - or a carefully planned execution?Salvation in Death:At the most solemn moment of a Catholic funeral Mass, the priest brings the chalice to his lips. Seconds later, he is dead on the altar. For the mourners packed into the pews, Father Miguel Flores's sudden demise is an unimaginable shock. When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained enough potassium cyanide to kill a rhino, she's prepared to plunge in and find out why.

The Whisperer


Donato Carrisi - 2009
    Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls' bodies, alive or dead, are nowhere to be found.Lead investigators Mila Vasquez, a celebrated profiler, and Goran Gavila, an eerily prescient criminologist, dive into the case. They're confident they've got the right suspect in their sights until they discover no link between him and any of the kidnappings except the first. The evidence in the case of the second missing child points in a vastly different direction, creating more questions than it answers.Vasquez and Gavila begin to wonder if they've been brought in to take the fall in a near-hopeless case. Is it all coincidence? Or is a copycat criminal at work? Obsessed with a case that becomes more tangled and intense as they unravel the layers of evil, Gavila and Vasquez find that their lives are increasingly in each other's hands.THE WHISPERER, as sensational a bestseller in Europe as the Stieg Larsson novels, is that rare creation: a thought-provoking, intelligent thriller that is also utterly unputdownable.

The Hound of the Baskervilles


Ian Edginton - 2009
    Culbard have teamed up again to create a visually compelling graphic novel adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s masterpiece. The superb writing and beautiful art takes Conan Doyle’s supernatural tale to new heights.All the elements are here for a thrilling tale: A gnarled walking stick, missing boot, neglected family portrait, convicted killer on the loose, and the ancestral curse of a phantom hound. The great detective himself, Sherlock Holmes—with the help of Dr. Watson—has his work cut out for him in a dramatic mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Meredith Gentry CD Collection 2: A Stroke of Midnight, Mistral's Kiss, Lick of Frost


Laurell K. Hamilton - 2009
    The Unseelie Court infuses me with its power. But at what price does such magic come? How much of my human side will I have to give up, and how much of the sinister side of faerie will I have to embrace?Mistral’s Kiss:I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne of fairie. Princess has now become a full-time occupation. My aunt, Queen Andais, will have it no other way. And so I am virtually a prisoner in fairie - trapped here with some of the realm’s most beautiful men to serve as my bodyguards…and my lovers. For I am compelled to conceive a child: an heir to succeed me on the throne. The only certainty is death at the hands of my cousin Cel, or his followers, if I fail.A Lick of Frost:I am Meredith Gentry, princess and heir apparent to the throne in the realm of faerie. King Taranis, powerful and vain-glorious ruler of faerie’s Seelie Court, has leveled accusations against my noble guards of a heinous crime. But I know that Taranis’s charges are baseless, and I sense that his true target is me. He tried to kill me when I was a child. Now I fear his intentions are far more terrifying.

James Patterson Summer Omnibus: The Beach House & Beach Road


James Patterson - 2009
    

Too Many Cooks/Champagne for One


Rex Stout - 2009
    In this pair of classic Nero Wolfe mysteries, Stout is at his unparalleled best as the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth and his trusty man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, are served two lethally appetizing cases. Too Many CooksEveryone knows that too many cooks spoil the broth, but you’d hardly expect it to lead to murder. But that’s exactly what’s on the menu at a five-star gathering of the world’s greatest chefs. As guest of honor, Wolfe was lured from his brownstone to a posh southern spa to deliver the keynote address. He never expected that between courses of haute cuisine he and Archie would be compelled to detect a killer with a poison touch—a killer preparing to serve the great detective his last supper.Champgne for OneFaith Usher talked about taking her own life and even kept cyanide in her purse. So when she died from a lethal champagne cocktail in the middle of a high society dinner party, everyone called it suicide—including the police. But Nero Wolfe isn’t convinced—and neither is Archie. Especially when Wolfe is warned by four men against taking the case. Deception, blackmail, and a killer who may have pulled off the perfect crime…it’s a challenge Nero Wolfe can’t resist.

Logan McRae #1-3: Cold Granite, Dying Light, Broken Skin


Stuart MacBride - 2009
    DS Logan McRae investigates after a year off the job sick – but knows time is running out fast…Dying Light: A woman is found dead by the docks, in the heart of Aberdeen’s Red Light District. For DS Logan McRae it’s a bad start to another bad day. Rosie Williams is just the first – how many more will die?Broken Skin: A serial rapist leaves a string of victims as DS Logan McRae’s investigations suggest that someone in the local bondage community has developed a taste for full-blown violence. The Granite City’s seedy side is about to be exposed…

The Cutting


James Hayman - 2009
    He sought to raise his young daughter away from the violence of the big city . . . so he’s unprepared for the horrific killer he discovers, whose bloody trail may lead to Portland’s social elite.Early on a September evening, the mutilated body of a pretty teenaged girl, a high school soccer star, is found dumped in a scrap-metal yard. She had been viciously assaulted, but her heart had been cut out of her chest with surgical precision. The very same day a young businesswoman, also a blonde and an athlete, was abducted as she jogged through the streets of the city’s west end. McCabe suspects both crimes are the work of the same man---a killer who’s targeting the young---who is clearly well-versed in complex surgical procedures, and who may have struck before. Just as the investigation is beginning, McCabe’s ex-wife reemerges, suddenly determined to reclaim the daughter she heedlessly abandoned years earlier.With the help of his straight-talking (and, at times, alluring) partner, Maggie Savage, McCabe begins a race against time to rescue the missing woman and unmask a sadistic killer---before more lives are lost.

Keller in Dallas


Lawrence Block - 2009
    A phone call and an economic downturn is all it takes to put him back in business.Keller in Dallas, a Kindle bestseller, serves too as the opening episode of Lawrence Block's brand-new bestseller, Hit Me.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: "The Daddy" and "The Bone"


Alexander McCall Smith - 2009
    1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

Killer Mission


Franklin W. Dixon - 2009
     LOCATION: The mountains of New England. POTENTIAL VICTIMS: The brothers of Gamma Theta Theta, the most elite fraternity on campus, seem to be on the receiving end of all of Firth's biggest (and most dangerous) problems. SUSPECTS: The members of the frat may seem like brothers to everyone else, but Gamma Theta Theta insiders know that within the ivy-covered walls the boys are definitely not one big happy family.... This mission requires your immediate attention. This message will be erased in five seconds.

The Night Watchman


Mark Mynheir - 2009
    Numbing the pain with alcohol and attitude, Ray takes a job as a night watchman at a swanky Orlando condo.But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in one of the condos in an apparent murder-suicide, Ray can no longer linger in the shadows. The pastor’s sister is convinced her brother was framed and begs Ray to take on an impossible case–to challenge the evidence and clear her brother’s name. Ray reluctantly pulls the threads of this supposedly dead-end case only to unravel a murder investigation so deep that it threatens to turn the Orlando political landscape upside down and transform old friends into new enemies. As Ray chases down leads and interrogates suspects, someone is watching his every move, someone determined to keep him from ever finding out the truth–at any cost.

The Child Taker


Conrad Jones - 2009
    When twins are abducted from a tent in the Lake District, the hunt for a dangerous trafficking ring begins. The Child Taker follows the desperate search for the missing children. Packed with action and twists, this is one of the best thriller novels around. Guardian Reviews A Crime thriller that will have you chewing your fingers as you read! ; Review What people are saying about Conrad Jones "I have never read a book before where I have had to stop reading because I couldn’t cope with the emotions the book engendered in me but the author writes so powerfully that I HAD to finish it." Joanna Lanum - Guest Reviewer "Such an intense, chilling and eye-opening novel which is guaranteed to leave you utterly speechless." Kaisha Holloway - The Writing Garnet "The plot line is superb and the characters are brilliant and really help carry the story forward." Donna Maguire - Donnas Book Blog "It had me captivated until the end. An easy, fast-paced read!" Gemma Myers - Between The Pages Book Club

The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide


Daniel Smith - 2009
    This expansive volume gathers together an astounding range of Holmesian information that can be read cover to cover or dipped into at random. There are synopses of the four novels and 56 stories; profiles of such beloved characters as Mrs. Hudson (the great detective’s long-suffering landlady) and Lestrade (the perennially baffled Scotland Yard detective); essays discussing themes such as Holmes’s attitude to women and his use of contemporary forensic science; and highlights of the various renditions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories on screen, including interviews with actors who have played the roles of Holmes and Watson. These articles are accompanied by such visual aids as the classic work of Sidney Paget—who illustrated the original stories in the Strand Magazine—stills from film and television adaptations, cover artwork for the various editions published over the years, and contemporary photographs of the settings of various stories. Filled with facts and little-known trivia, this is a captivating account of literature’s most famous detective.

Anatomical Clues


Oana Stoica-Mujea - 2009
    She is also crippled by mental instability and the fact that she can't leave her flat. Anatomical Clues (Indicii anatomice) is a gripping, grotesque exploration of damaged psychologies, fear and greed in a constantly shifting social landscape - a tale, which, like Iolanda, will creep into your head and stay there." (Mike Phillips) "The eyes had been plucked and laid carefully on the living room table, in between two withered roses. For the home of a pensioner, the two-room apartment was neater and cleaner than the policemen had expected. In fact, everything was in perfect order, and it was just these eyes - so real - which didn't fit with the rest of the picture. On the other hand, they were not strikingly out of place. There was, however, no sign of the body to which they must have belonged."

Key Readings in Criminology


Tim Newburn - 2009
    It provides students with convenient access to a broad range of excerpts (over 150 readings) from original criminological texts and key articles, and is designed to be used either as a stand-alone text or in conjunction with the same author's textbook, Criminology.This volume can be used in a number of ways in support of the study of criminology:as a source of both key and supplementary reading for lectures; as the basis for organized reading in advance of seminars and tutorials; as the basis for classroom discussion and analysis; as a broad source of reading for exam revision; in addition it provides students with access to a broad range of materials with which to follow up their reading of their main textbook; it includes readings that include more recent summaries of particularly important criminological issues, as well as excerpts from criminological classics; it also introduces students not only to criminological argument and debate, but also encourages them to read primary as well as secondary or summary sources."

The Larkhill Barrow and others: Three Carnacki: Ghostfinder stories (The William Meikle Chapbook Collection 13)


William Meikle - 2009
     In THE LARKHILL BARROW an investigation in a Neolithic burial barrow leads Carnacki to experimentation with sound and vibration with almost catastrophic results In THE SISTERS OF MERCY a soldier's hospital needs Carnacki's help to rid it of a spectral manifestation These were the first three stories I wrote back in 2009 and originally appeared in the now rare chapbook box set CARNACKI: GHOSTFINDER. They are reprinted here as an introduction to my take on William Hope Hodgson's character

Killerbyte


Cat Connor - 2009
    SA Ellie Conway works serial crime cases. When someone tries to kill her, it becomes obvious it's linked to her after-hours pursuits in cyberspace. Matters become complicated when her assailant is found dead in the trunk of her car. Despite a plethora of crime scenes, no evidence can be found to identify a motive or perpetrator. The death toll rises and eventually includes those close to her. A chance remark provides the first real clue to unraveling the killer's twisted goals.

The Execution of Justice


Michael Phelps - 2009
    On a frigid, snowy Christmas Eve, he and his partner are dispatched to a domestic dispute. As they arrive shots pierce the still air, his partner is seriously wounded. A derranged gunman stands at the door; gun in one hand, holding a little girl hostage with the other. Arriving Police units and Fire-Rescue can do nothing but watch the unfolding drama. Walsh crawls on his belly to place himself between his fallen partner, then stands to face the gunman, with his gun in hand. After several tense moments, he succeeds in talking the man into surrendering and releasing his child-hostage. Walsh's partner is rushed to the hospital. His heroic act leads to his promotion to Detective in the elite Robbery-Homicide Division, where he is partnered with his one-time mentor, Detective Sergeant Jack Lovell. In the ensuing months, they handle a variety of cases; armed robberies, and a couple of murders. Walsh finds that the hours required of being a detective are much longer than being on patrol. His marriage begins to suffer, and his alcohol intake increases. He and his partner, Lovell are assigned the case of a vicious gang of armed robbers. With no real clues to follow, victims' and witnesses' descriptions that are strange and conflicting, the gang is on a spree and they become more violent with each crime, resulting in the cold-blooded murder of a Brinks Armored Guard. In a subsequent bank robbery, memebrs of the gang get involved in a shoot-out with an off-duty cop. He wounds one of the fleeing suspects, who begs for help from his cohort, the gunman shoots him in the head. The slain robber is identified, and provides Lovell and Walsh with their first solid lead to the gang's identities. Lovell and Walsh asemble a team of detectives and uniformed officers for backup and carefully plan a raid of three dwellings, where they have a tip the gang members are hiding out. Lovell plans the raid to be executed simultaneously in the pre-dawn hours of a cold December morning, just two weeks before Christmas. Tragedy is about to strike the team, and Walsh's life is turned upside-down. He is forced to make changes, both professionally and personally. Will he survive?

Menagerie


G. Wells Taylor - 2009
    All the detective has to do is hide him from a gang of relentless hit men who are racing from all over to compete for the prize.Wildclown takes him to an isolated cabin on a lake but he didn't figure beautiful blondes, circus treasure or a zombie lobster boy into the plan.

Stolen Treasures (Tropical Persuasions #1)


Laurie Ryan - 2009
    She could care less about a group of pirates preying on San Diego. Nothing will derail her. Or so she thinks, until she finds herself an unwilling passenger aboard a schooner at sea. A reluctant participant in a covert operation, she sails further and further away from everything she’s worked so hard for. Without her there, everything she’s worked so hard for will fall apart.Hot-shot agent Dion Gaetani can’t believe he’s been saddled with a civilian. Worse—a woman. Guilt-ridden over a prior op gone bad, this is a burden he doesn’t need.Together, they must work in close quarters to capture a rogue band of pirates. The stakes are high. Dion’s own boat, the Treasure, is the bait. And an unwelcome yet undeniable desire is the complication.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Volume Three (BBC Audio)


Bert Coules - 2009
    John Watson tantalize us with references to mysteries which his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never wrote about in full? In these full cast original adventures Bert Coules, the chief dramatist of BBC Radio’s celebrated complete Sherlock Holmes canon, has imaginatively fleshed out four more unrecorded cases. Clive Merrison and Andrew Sachs star as Holmes and Watson in these four brand new full-cast adventures.

பைசாசம் (Paisaasam)


கோகுல் சேஷாத்ரி - 2009
    The responsibility of driving the ghost away from its station falls on Tiruvarangan, the village guard. Unable to resolve the issue which is getting complicated by the day, the young lad seeks the help of Vennadar his guide and mentor. Once Vennadar, an old man in his late fiftys enters the scene, the situation dramatically changes eventually culminating into a totally unexpected nail biting finish. Based on a stunning 11th Century CE inscription that directly talks about a Ghost.பைசாசம் ,வரலாற்று நாவல் உலகில் சற்று வித்தியாசமான முயற்சி.ஒரு சிறிய கிராமத்தில் சுற்றிச் சுழன்று நடக்கும் கதை. இராஜாக்கள் கத்தியைக் தூக்காமல் ஒற்றர்கள் வேவு பார்க்காமல் இளவரசிகள் காதல் புரியாமல் எளிமையான மனிதர்கள் இயல்பாக வந்து போகும் கதை. புகை சூழ்ந்த மயக்க உலகில் நிகழாமல் மண்ணோடு மண்ணாக வேர்பாய்ச்சி, கற்பனையின் எல்லை நிஜத்தின் விளிம்பைத் தொட்டுக் கொண்டு நிற்கும் கதை.கல்வெட்டுகளும் கோயில்களும் இதர ஆதாரங்களும் சுட்டிக்காட்டும் வலுவான வரலாற்றுப் பின்னணியில் அமைந்த வித்தியாசமான ஒரு வரலாற்று சரித்திர திகில் கதை.