Best of
Mystery

1986

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume II


Arthur Conan Doyle - 1986
    Watson has faithfully recorded Holmes’s feats of extraordinary detection in such famous cases as the thrilling The Adventure of the Red Circle and the twelve baffling adventures from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.Conan Doyle’s incomparable tales bring to life a Victorian England of horse-drawn cabs, fogs, and the famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street, where for more than forty years Sherlock Holmes earned his undisputed reputation as the greatest fictional detective of all time.

A Murder for Her Majesty


Beth Hilgartner - 1986
    Horrified at having witnessed her father's murder and fearing that the killers are agents of Queen Elizabeth I, eleven-year-old Alice Tuckfield hides in the Yorkshire cathedral by disguising herself as one of the choirboys.

The Lost Get-Back Boogie


James Lee Burke - 1986
    Now the war vet and blues singer is headed to Montana, where he hopes to live clean working on a ranch owned by the father of his prison pal, Buddy Riordan. In prison, Iry tinkered with a song -- "The Lost Get-Back Boogie" -- that never came out quite right. Now, the Riordan family's problems hand him a new kind of trouble, with some tragic consequences. And Iry must get the tune right at last, or pay a fateful price.

Past Caring


Robert Goddard - 1986
    Martin is shown the leather-bound journal of another ruined man, former British cabinet minister Edwin Strafford.Martin is offered a job - to return to England and investigate the rise and fall of Strafford, an ambitious young politician whose downfall, in 1910, is as mysterious as the strange deaths that still haunt his family.Martin is intrigued. Strafford resigned at the height of his career, disappearing from the public eye. The woman he loved, for whom he was willing to sacrifice everything, suddenly and coldly rejected him. All the reasons for his fall from grace are shrouded in darkness.Martin's investigations trigger a violent series of events, throwing him straight into the path of those who believed they had escaped punishment for crimes long past but never paid for ... And Martin himself may find that he must risk his life to discover the truth.

Frost at Christmas


R.D. Wingfield - 1986
    Her mother, a pretty young prostitute, is desperate. Enter Detective Inspector Jack Frost, sloppy, scruffy and insubordinate. To help him investigate the case of the missing child, Frost has been assigned a new sidekick, the Chief Constable's nephew. Fresh to provincial Denton in an oversmart suit, Detective Constable Clive Barnard is an easy target for Frost's withering satire.Assisted and annoyed by Barnard, Frost, complete with a store of tasteless anecdotes to fit every occasion, proceeds with the investigation in typically unorthodox style. After he's consulted a local witch, Dead Man's Hollow yields up a skeleton. Frost finds himself drawn into an unsolved crime from the past and risks not only his career, but also his life.

Great Cases of Sherlock Holmes (Franklin Library of Mystery Masterpieces)


Arthur Conan Doyle - 1986
    A collection of 19 of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories.

Robicheaux: The Early Years: "The Neon Rain", "Heaven's Prisoners", "Black Cherry Blues"


James Lee Burke - 1986
    Neon Rain is the first highly acclaimed novel in the Dave Robicheaux series. Heaven's Prisoners: Dave Robicheaux is trying to put a life of violence and crime behind him, leaving homicide to run a boat-rental business in Louisiana's bayou country. But one day a small two-engine plane suddenly crashes into the sea and Robicheaux dives down to the wreckage to find four bodies and one survivor: a little girl miraculously trapped in a pocket of air. When the authorities insist only three bodies were recovered from the plane, Robicheaux decides to investigate the mystery of the missing man. But it is a decision that will exact a chilling retribution of terror, torture and sudden death. Black Cherry Blues: Personal tragedy has left Dave Robicheaux close to the edge. Battling against his old addiction to alcohol and haunted nightly by vivid dreams and visitations, Dave finds his only tranquillity at home with his young ward Alafair. But even this fragile peace is shattered by the arrival of Dixie Lee Pugh who brings with him a brutal trail of murder and violence.

Meg Mackintosh and the Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball - title #1: A Solve-It-Yourself Mystery


Lucinda Landon - 1986
    The reader is challenged to interpret each clue before Meg solves it.

The Best Mysteries Of Isaac Asimov


Isaac Asimov - 1986
    This collection contains 31 short pieces that are among his personal favorites. Two sections contain his series stories, the ``Black Widower'' and the ``Union Club'' mysteries. Brief introductions to each section and story will serve to acquaint readers with the general background of the series. A third section contains miscellaneous mysteries. All are clear and entertaining. This is a book to be read on ``a little here, a little there'' basis. The stories are short, and prolonged reading results in a series of mental stops and starts that are wearying. Also, the stories are written according to a set formula. However, read on the installment plan, the book is worth the effort. If the recent spate of series in juvenile publishing is any guide, this collection should please adolescents, including reluctant readers. - School Library Journal

Postmark: Murder: Four in One Volume (A Caribbean Mystery / Nemesis / Murder in Mesopotamia / Appointment With Death)


Agatha Christie - 1986
    It contains "A Caribbean Mystery" and "Nemesis" starring Miss Marple and "Murder in Mesopotamia" and "Appointment with Death" starring Hercule Poirot.

The Back-Door Man


Rob Kantner - 1986
    

Tinplate


Neville Steed - 1986
    Faced with threats from their owner, he sets out to recover them but finds himself up against far more than the greed of unscrupulous collectors.He’s in way over his head but at least the prospect of a countryside dig to excavate the remains of a crashed Spitfire can provide a little solace. Yet even this isn’t easy, and a growing resistance to the dig is being led by a local, indignant landlord.When rather more than the plane and its pilot are unearthed, Marklin finds himself up to his neck in skeletons from the past — skeletons that lead to attempts on his life …

The Game of the Pink Pagoda


Roger Moss - 1986
    Here, twenty-six tales, or "model games," evoke twenty-six different literary styles, from the Victorian novel to vintage mystery, Greek myth to science fiction, medieval romance to adventure story, each revolving around a pink pagoda in the English countryside. Here find stories of love, of friendship, of the supernatural, of legend...stories of adventure, murder and kidnapping...stories with a philosophical flavor--of good versus evil, of greed, of life itself. The Game of the Pink Pagoda is more than a book...Think of it as a small town, seen through the eyes of the different inhabitants, each with his or her own interpretation. Think of it as a game, where each time you sit down to play, the goals shift, the players change places, the opportunities are disguised. Think of it as a literary marvel, a collection of stories with an eclectic style all its own, as varied and different and unique as ourselves. Think of it as a quest, for truth, for riches for answers to questions that have always been asked. Think of it as an experience, a myriad tapestry that will change the way you look at your world forever. Think of the Pink Pagoda, and you'll begin to understand the Game--andwhy you are playing....

Surfboard To Peril: A Miss Mallard Mystery


Robert M. Quackenbush - 1986
    While surfing in Hawaii, world-famous Miss Mallard launches into one of her most dangerous cases, one which involves the ownership of sacred land and leads to kidnapping, mistaken identities, bribery, blackmail, and death-defying chases.

Best Detective Stories of Agatha Christie


Agatha Christie - 1986
    - The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge- The Million Dollar Bond Robbery - The Adventure of the Clapham Cook- Accident - The Lernean Hydra - The Stymphalean Birds- Tape-Measure Murder

Body Heat: The Screenplay


Lawrence Kasdan - 1986
    A married socialite beds a seedy small-town lawyer and convinces him to murder her husband. Their passionate affair cools when it becomes uncertain if they can pull off their diabolical scheme. Body Heat was Kathleen Turner's first film and Kasdan's directorial debut. The screenplay was nominated in 1982 for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen by the Writers Guild of America.

The Nightmare File


Jack Livingston - 1986
    

Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones, Study Guide


Bea Davis - 1986
    Written in chapter—by—chapter format, the guide contains a synopsis, pre—reading activities, vocabulary and comprehension exercises, as well as extension activities to be used as follow—up to the novel.In a homogeneous classroom, whole class instruction with one title is appropriate. In a heterogeneous classroom, reading groups should be formed: each group works on a different novel on its reading level. Depending upon the length of time devoted to reading in the classroom, each novel, with its guide and accompanying lessons, may be completed in three six weeks.Begin using NOVEL—TIES for reading development by distributing the novel and a folder to each child. Distribute duplicated pages of the study guide for student to place in their folders. After examining the cover and glancing through the book, students can participate in several pre—reading activities. Vocabulary questions should be considered prior to reading a chapter; all other work should be done after the chapter has been read. Comprehension questions can be answered orally or in writing. The classroom teachers should determine thee amount of work to be assigned, always keeping in mind that readers must be nurtured and that the ultimate goal is encouraging students' love of reading.The benefits of using NOVEL—TIES are numerous. Students read good literature in the original, rather than in abridged or edited form. The good reading habits, formed by practice in focusing on interpretive comprehension and literary techniques, will be transferred to the books students read independently. Passive readers become active, avid readers.

The Woman Who Knew Too Much


Thomas Gifford - 1986
    After an afternoon binge at the sprawling Strand bookstore, she emerges with a baker’s dozen of second-hand thrillers. Inside one of the novels she finds a real-life mystery that will prove to be the greatest she’s ever read. She discovers a slip of paper listing nine bullet points, starting “in re the murder of the Director.” Who is the Director, why would someone want him dead, and what on earth does Dan Rather have to do with it? As Celia dives into the puzzle, she finds herself locked in a life-or-death struggle with a gang of international conspirators. These evil men would scare her to death if she weren’t a veteran of New York’s toughest battlefield: the audition room.

Tefuga


Peter Dickinson - 1986
    The break-out book for the "master of the literate thriller" (Boston Globe) Peter Dickinson, praised as a superlative novel, more than just a novel of suspense.