Best of
Mystery

2004

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    Klinger's brilliant new annotations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Holmes short stories in 2004 created a Holmes sensation. Inside, readers will find all the short stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, with a cornucopia of insights: beginners will benefit from Klinger's insightful biographies of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle; history lovers will revel in the wealth of Victorian literary and cultural details; Sherlockian fanatics will puzzle over tantalizing new theories; art lovers will thrill to the 450-plus illustrations, which make this the most lavishly illustrated edition of the Holmes tales ever produced. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes illuminates the timeless genius of Arthur Conan Doyle for an entirely new generation of readers.

Abduction!


Peg Kehret - 2004
    Bonnie's brother left his classroom to use thebathroom —and disappeared. A police dog traces his scent to the curb, where he apparently got into a vehicle. But why would Matt go anywhere with a stranger? Overwhelmed with fear, Bonnie discovers that her dog is gone, too. Was Pookie used as a lure for Matt? Bonnie makes one big mistake in her attempt to find her brother. In a chilling climax on a Washington State ferry, Bonnie and Matt must outsmart their abductor or pay with their lives.

Maisie Dobbs / Birds of a Feather


Jacqueline Winspear - 2004
    '...an exclusive QBP 2-in-1 edition, are two of best-selling author Jacqueline Winspear's critically acclaimed World War I-era novels, featuring our new favorite female sleuth, Maisie Dobbs.'

Jude


Kate Morgenroth - 2004
    But to save his own life, he can't tell the police what he knows. Still, Jude is determined to clear his name and win the approval of his mother -- the district attorney he has not seen since he was an infant. At the urging of his mother's longtime companion, Jude agrees to a crazy scheme to protect her political future. But what Jude doesn't know is that there are buried secrets that will require him to sacrifice more than he ever dreamed. And his search for approval will turn into one for revenge.

The Old Willis Place


Mary Downing Hahn - 2004
    They aren’t allowed to leave the property or show themselves to anyone. But when a new caretaker comes to live there with his young daughter, Lissa, Diana is tempted to break the mysterious rules they live by and reveal herself so she can finally have a friend. Somehow, Diana must get Lissa’s help if she and Georgie ever hope to release themselves from the secret that has bound them to the old Willis place for so long.    Mary Downing Hahn has written a chilling ghost story in the tradition of her most successful spine-tingling novels. The intriguing characters, frightening secrets, and plot twists will delight her many fans.

The Cold Dish


Craig Johnson - 2004
    Two years earlier, Cody and three accomplices had been given suspended sentences for raping a Northern Cheyenne girl. Is someone seeking vengeance? Longmire faces one of the more volatile and challenging cases in his twenty-four years as sheriff and means to see that revenge, a dish that is best served cold, is never served at all.

Deadly Lies


Chris Collett - 2004
    A syringe is in his arm and a note by his side reads, ‘No More.’Open and shut case of suicide? Not for DI Mariner. Hours before, he saw Barham picking up a woman in a bar. And then Mariner discovers Barham's younger brother, Jamie, hiding in a cupboard under the stairs.Jamie is the only witness to his brother's death, but his severe autism makes communication almost impossible. Mariner is determined to connect with Jamie and get to the truth. Is the journalist’s death related to his investigation of a local crime kingpin? What other dark secrets does Jamie hold the key to and can Mariner keep his relationship professional with Barham’s attractive sister, Anna?In a nail-biting conclusion, Mariner races against time to prevent more lives being lost.Perfect for fans of Peter James, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.

The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd


Bruno Lachard - 2004
    Famed for her crime masterpieces, Agatha Christie's books have become the best-selling in the world, appealing to readers young and old for their ingenious plots and immediately recognizable characters. The stories have also transcended the printed page, become bestselling audiobooks and award-winning films, plays and television series. Now words and pictures combine in an exciting new way of telling these stories -- full-colour graphic novels which enhance the original stories and offer a completely new way of enjoying some of the world's most popular and exciting mysteries. Roger Ackroyd knows too much. He knows that the woman he loves poisoned her brutal first husband. He also suspects that someone has been blackmailing her. Now, tragically, the news has come that she has taken her own life with a drug overdose. But the evening post brings Roger one last fatal scrap of information. Unfortunately, before he can finish reading it, he is stabbed to death!

See Jane Die


Erica Spindler - 2004
    .

Above Suspicion


Lynda La Plante - 2004
    The murders couldn't be more gruesome. The method of killing is identical, the backgrounds of the girls very similar -- all are prostitutes. As the book opens, a seventh body is found, same modus operandi but the victim this time is a sweet young student. Anna stumbles on a vital piece of information that links one man to the killings, a well-known, much-loved actor. His protestation of innocence is convincing, and Anna might be succumbing to his flattering attention. What if he is arrested, the media erupts, and he is the wrong man?

A Drink Before the War/Darkness, Take My Hand


Dennis Lehane - 2004
    The private investigators know about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they’ve seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate.But an evil for which even they are unprepared is about to strike, as secrets that have long lain dormant erupt, setting off a chain of violent murders that will stain everything – including the truth.With razor-sharp dialogue and penetrating prose, Darkness, Take My Hand is another superior crime novel from the author of Mystic River; Gone, Baby, Gone; and Shutter Island.

Winter's Secret


Lyn Cote - 2004
    Smashed heirlooms, ripped upholstery and rifled drawers--who is breaking into homes--stealing and vandalizing? And targeting the most vulnerable--the seniors of the small town? As the new sheriff, Rodd Durand, home again to small town Steadfast, Wisconsin, takes on the Snowmobile Burglar. In the course of her duties, Wendy Carey, the home health nurse, discovers each new break-in. The small town reels as the burglar eludes capture and steps up his crimes. A vindictive woman and a secret baby heighten the suspense. When Wendy and Rodd begin to fall in love, family complicates matters. But the real stumbling block to their love lies within. Can they break through their own insecurities over the past?Note to readers:This series (Winter's Secret, Autumn's Shadow, Summer's End) came out a decade ago from Tyndale House Publishers in trade paperback and large print. This is the revised and updated edition. In the intervening years since this series first debuted, I wrote another thirty books. When I looked over the pages of the original books, I realized that I like how I write now better. PLUS technology (ie cell phones, etc) has changed so much that these books needed sprucing up. Besides when an author writes a story, it feels like her child. And I want my "children" to look their best as I send them out into the reading world once more. So I hope you'll enjoy these books in their second improved edition. Caront reviewed Winter's Secret (Northern Intrigue #1) A fun read! March 5, 2012"I love Lyn Cote's writing, so I was excited when I saw her new book Winter's Secret. She didn't let me down, in fact, I had a hard time putting it down! ... Seriously, if you're looking for a hard core mystery or a romp, that's not Lyn's style. But if you're looking for a book that has great characters, a sweet romance, a mystery that will keep you guessing, this is for you, I know you'll enjoy it!!""Lyn Cote has the ability to write about a snowstorm with such delicious description that I can get shivers in the middle of August. In Winter's Secret, she portrays a small Wisconsin town filled with characters of depth and substance, while leading us deeper into their collective past." Hannah AlexanderWinter's Secret, book one in the Northern Intrigue series, is an excellent suspense story with a good hook and an interesting twist sure to hold a reader's interest. Ms. Cote continues to hone her craft and gain fans. Reviewed By: Bev Huston, Romantic Times ReviewsbioAn award-winning author of both contemporary and historical inspirational romance, LYN COTE has been a 2006 RITA finalist as well as a finalist for the HOLT Medallion and the National Readers Choice Award, and in 2011 a winner of the prestigious American Christian Fiction Writer's CAROL Award. Lyn lives with her husband and four cats in the northwoods of Wisconsin.Lyn has published two more romantic suspense series. If you enjoyed this one, drop by her website and Click "Buy Books" and then "Suspense" to find them listed. All are for sale on Kindle. Or look for Dangerous Season, Dangerous Game, and Dangerous Secrets, the "Harbor Intrigue" series Also His Saving Grace, Testing His Patience and Loving Constance in "Sisters of the Heart" series.

Déjà Dead / Death du Jour


Kathy Reichs - 2004
    'Too decomposed for standard autopsy. Request antrhopologic expertise.' Enter Dr Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Antrhopology for the province of Quebec, who has been researching recent disappearances in the city. Despite the deep cynicism of Detective Claudel who head the investigation, Brennan is convinced that a serial killer is at work. Her forensic expertise finally convinces Claudel, but only after the body count has risen...Tempe takes matters into her own hands, but her determined probing places those closest to her in mortal danger. Can Tempe make her crucial breakthrough before the killer strikes again?Death Du Jour originally published: London : Heinemann, 1999.Another day. Another death. Death du Jour. My God, how many such days would there be? On a bitterly cold March night in Montreal, forensic anthropologiest Dr Temperance Brennan is exhuming the remains of a nun proposed for sainthood in the grounds of an old church. Just hours later, Tempe is called to the scene of an horrific arson. A young family has perished, and there seems to be no witness, no motive, no explanation. From the charred remains of the inferno, to a trail of sinister cult activity and a terrifying showdown during an ice storm, Tempe faces a nerve-shattering test of both her forensic expertise and her instinct for survival.

Left for Dead


Kevin O'Brien - 2004
    She doesn't recognize the concerned faces of her husband and friends. She knows only that she is lucky to be alive, the single surviving victim of a vicious serial killer.

Brink of Death


Brandilyn Collins - 2004
    She felt her forehead wrinkle, the fingers of one hand curl as she tried to discern what had awakened her.Something was not right . . .Annie Kingston moves to Grove Landing for safety and quiet—and comes face to face with evil.When neighbor Lisa Willet is killed by an intruder in her home, Sheriff’s detectives are left with little evidence. Lisa’s daughter, Erin, saw the killer, but she’s too traumatized to give a description. The detectives grow desperate.Because of her background in art, Annie is asked to question Erin and draw a composite. But Annie knows little about forensic art or the sensitive interview process. A nonbeliever, she finds herself begging God for help. What if her lack of experience leads Erin astray? The detectives could end up searching for a face that doesn’t exist.Leaving the real killer free to stalk the neighborhood . . .

Poirot: The Perfect Murders


Agatha Christie - 2004
    It seems Hercule Poirot can never escape murder -- and in this collection, the crimes are probably the finest he has ever had to solve. Locked rooms, wealth and jealousy -- outwardly all very similar, but when the detective begins to dig, the motives and solutions couldn't be more different. . . The Murder of Roger Ackroyd In the quiet village of King's Abbot, a wealthy widower is found stabbbed to death in his study. . . Murder on the Orient Express A wealthy American dies of multiple stab wounds on a train bound for Paris. . . Murder in the Mews A widow is murdered in her apartment. . . Hercule Poirot's Christmas A sadistic old man is brutally murdered in his locked study. . .

Abducted


Brian Pinkerton - 2004
    That was all it took. In that second Anita Sherwood sees the face of the young boy in the window of the bus as it stops at the curb...and she knows it is her son. The son who had been kidnapped two years before. The son who had never been found and who had been declared legally dead. But now her son is alive. Anita knows it in her heart. She is certain that the boy is her son, but how can she get anyone to believe her? She'd given the police leads before that ended up going nowhere, so they're not exactly eager to waste much time on another dead end on a dead case. It's going to be up to Anita, and she'll stop at nothing to get her son back.

The Diamond Brothers in...Three of Diamonds


Anthony Horowitz - 2004
    Whether it's finding out who flattened a philanthropist with a steamroller in The Blurred Man, outsmarting Parisian drug smugglers on a vacation gone miserably wrong in The French Confection, or catching the murderer behind a deadly class reunion in I Know What You Did Last Wednesday, there's never a dull moment with this crimesolving duo around. Find out if Nick can get to the bottom of these mysteries before Tim messes everything up, or worse, gets them both killed.This volume includes The Blurred Man, The French Confection and I Know What You Did Last Wednesday.

The Case of the Singing Sword


Tee Morris - 2004
    There are a thousand stories in the naked city; and when you're a dwarf at four-foot-one, they all look that much taller." It is The Era of Prohibition, where crime runs rampant in the streets and a city divided into territories serves as the ultimate prize. Somewhere in this Underworld of Chicago, an enchanted weapon holds the key to ending The Gangland Wars. In the wake of The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, only one is man enough to stand up against Al Capone... ...a four-foot-one dwarf named Billibub Baddings. "Billi," as his friends come to know him, is a working stiff dwarf in the all too-human sized world of Chicago. Seems that a brood of orcs and a renegade warlock had opened a Portal of Oblivion in his homeworld and was planning to submerge his nine lands of Acryonis into an Age of Darkness. Billi had managed to throw a monkey wrench into those plans...but not before getting himself caught in the pull of that portal. When he came to, he found himself in the heart of The Windy City during The Roaring Twenties. After dealing with trolls, goblins, and rock dragons, Al Capone and Bugs Moran are about as intimidating as choir boys. Billi sets himself up as a tough-talking, waist-high, straight-dealing detective, and business was looking bleak, until a dark-eyed beauty crossed his threshold with the case that involved the mob, the upper-crust of Chicago society, and Billi's past. Get ready for The Lord of the Rings written by Mickey Spillane! Poking fun at the hard-boiled detective novel, Fantasy mainstays, and even the legend of Chicago's 1920 underworld!

Devil's Peak


Deon Meyer - 2004
    A young woman makes a terrible confession to a priest. An honorable man takes his own revenge for an unspeakable tragedy. An aging inspector tries to get himself sober while taking on the most difficult case of his career. From this beginning, Deon Meyer weaves a story of astonishing complexity and suspense, as Inspector Benny Griessel faces off against a dangerous vigilante who has everything on his side, including public sympathy. A gruesome abuse case has hit the newsstands, and one man has taken it upon himself to stand up for the children of Cape Town. When the accused is found stabbed through the heart by spear, it's only the beginning of a string of bloody murders - and of a dangerous dilemma for detective Griessel. The detective is always just one step behind as someone slays the city's killers. But the paths of Griessel and the avenger collide when a young prostitute lures them both into a dangerous plan - and the two find themselves with a heart-stopping problem that no system of justice could ever make right.

Meant to Be


Edie Claire - 2004
     On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Meara O’Rourke can’t help but feel alone. With her last remaining relative newly buried and her potentially disastrous engagement freshly broken, she makes a resolution to begin her life anew -- only to have an unexpected phone call turn her whole world upside down. Her biological mother Sheila, whom she met only once six years before, lies in critical condition in a nearby hospital. And though the woman once refused to see her daughter ever again -- her last wish is just the opposite.A few whispered words, and Sheila is gone. But the questions she has put into her daughter’s head, and the historic stone inn she has unknowingly bequeathed, sweep Meara up into the whirlwind of another life -- and a legacy of deception. When Meara begins to have memories of a place she's never been, she realizes that while finding out the truth about her birth and adoption could answer all her questions -- it could also tear her apart.

Silent Epidemic (The Carol Freeman Series Book 1)


Jill Province - 2004
    As time is of the essence, and the FDA will not be bought, the company is forced to conduct one last research study. They must prove through 500 study volunteers that the drug can be terminated at any time without severe side effects. But how will they achieve this when the volunteers all begin to drop like flies? And the volunteers are not the only obstacle, as Dominex finds it has some surprising adversaries.Carol Freeman discovers her medication prison after innocently becoming part of the drug company’s deceptive plan. As she works through her devastating reality, she uncovers the horrible truth about sedatives and one pharmaceutical company that will stop at nothing to get their new drug on the market, Carol, along with 499 other volunteers, like it or not, are in for the most frightening ride of their lives.Silent Epidemic, inspired by too many true stories, takes the reader on a wild journey. At the end of this adventure you will know the truth about the world’s best kept secret.

Caught Stealing


Charlie Huston - 2004
    But now Hank is here, working as a bartender and taking care of a cat named Bud who is surely going to get him killed.It begins when Hank’s neighbor, Russ, has to leave town in a rush and hands over Bud in a carrier. But it isn’t until two Russians in tracksuits drag Hank over the bar at the joint where he works and beat him to a pulp that he starts to get the idea: Someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it.Within twenty-four hours Hank is running over rooftops, swinging his old aluminum bat for the sweet spot of a guy’s head, playing hide and seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor.All because of two cowboys, two Russian mafia men, and some of the weirdest goons ever assembled in one place. All because of Bud. All because once, in another life, in another world, the only thing Hank wanted was to take third base—without getting caught.

The Lord Peter Wimsey Collection 3: Murder Must Advertise / The Nine Tailors / Busman's Honeymoon


Dorothy L. Sayers - 2004
      A gentleman needs hobbies. For Lord Peter Wimsey—a Great War veteran with a touch of shell shock—collecting rare books, sampling fine wines, and catching criminals are all most pleasant diversions. In these Golden Age whodunits, “Lord Peter can hardly be spared from the ranks of the great detectives of the printed page” (The New York Times).  Murder Must Advertise: The iron staircase at Pym’s Publicity is a deathtrap, so no one in the advertising agency is surprised when Victor Dean tumbles down it, cracking his skull. His replacement arrives just a few days later—a green copywriter named Death Bredon. Though he displays a surprising talent for selling margarine, alarm clocks, and nerve tonics, Bredon is not really there to write copy. He is, in fact, Lord Peter Wimsey, come in search of the man who pushed Dean.  The Nine Tailors: During their stay in the countryside, Lord Peter and his manservant Bunter encounter hospitality, dinner, and an invitation from the local rector to go bell ringing to welcome the New Year. They also encounter murder, a mutilated corpse, and a decades-old jewel theft for which locals continue to die. In this land where bells toll for the dead, the ancient chimes never seem to stop.  Gaudy Night: When mystery novelist and acquitted murder suspect Harriet Vane returns to Oxford for her college reunion, she finds that her troubles are far greater than a damaged reputation. The first poison-pen letter calls her a “dirty murderess,” and those that follow are no kinder. As the threats become more frightening, she calls on Wimsey for help. Among the dons of Oxford lurks a killer, but it will take more than a superior education to outwit the gentleman sleuth and his ladylove.  Busman’s Holiday: A murderer kills the mood for newlyweds Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane on their honeymoon, when they discover the house’s caretaker bludgeoned to death in the manor’s basement. In a house full of suspects, the only thing harder than finding the killer will be finding time to be alone.

Just One Look


Harlan Coben - 2004
    After picking up her two young children from school, Grace Lawson looks through a newly developed set of photographs. She finds an odd one in the pack: a mysterious picture from perhaps twenty years ago, showing four strangers she can’t identify. But there is one face she recognizes—that of her husband, from before she knew him. When her husband sees the photo that night, he leaves their home and drives off without explanation. She doesn’t know where he’s going, or why he’s leaving. Or if he’s ever coming back. Nor does she realize how dangerous the search for him will be. Because there are others interested in both her husband’s past and that photo, including Eric Wu: a fierce, silent killer who will not be stopped from finding his quarry, no matter who or what stands in his way.Her world turned upside down, filled with doubts about her herself and marriage, Grace must confront the dark corners of her own tragic past she struggles to learn the truth, find her husband, and save her family.

Nancy Drew: Girl Detective: #1-4


Carolyn Keene - 2004
    I'm Nancy Drew. Some call me a girl detective. Others call me "that girl who cooked my goose." But everyone calls me sharp -- especially when it comes to crime. And since mystery and I follow each other everywhere, I'm pretty busy. Take a look inside at some of my favorite cases, and you'll see what I mean! #1 Without a Trace #2 A Race Against Time #3 False Notes #4 High RiskBook Details: Format: Box Set Publication Date: 10/5/2004 Pages: 640 Reading Level: Age 8 and Up

Double Forté


Aaron Paul Lazar - 2004
    To deal with the loss, he plays endless Chopin etudes on his piano and lavishes love on his grandson and dog, but nothing lessens the pain. Life spirals out of control when Gus heads for the snow-covered hills on an early morning skiing excursion to find a mute child shackled to a bedpost in a cabin. Gus rescues the child but the kidnapper, Baxter, escapes into the woods to stew in hot revenge. Unexpectedly thrown together with Camille, a social worker who takes the child into her own home, Gus falls hard. The first woman who’s stirred his soul since his Elsbeth, Camille is polite enough toward him -- but her own dark secrets have her pulling away despite the mutual attraction. When Gus’s little grandson goes missing, he fears the worse. Does Baxter have the little boy? Does he want to trade for the mute child? Gus braces for the fight of his life, struggling to protect Camille and his family before time runs out.

The German


Lee Thomas - 2004
    1944 - Barnard, Texas. At the height of World War II, a killer preys on the young men of a quiet Texas town. The murders are calculated, vicious, and they are just beginning. Sheriff Tom Rabbit and his men are baffled and the community he serves is terrified of the monster lurking their streets. The only clues the killer leaves behind are painted snuffboxes containing notes written in German. As the panic builds all eyes turn toward a quiet man with secrets of his own. Ernst Lang fled Germany in 1934. Once a brute, a soldier, a leader of the Nazi party, he has renounced aggression and embraces a peaceful obscurity. But Lang is haunted by an impossible past. He remembers his own execution and the extremes of sex and violence that led to it. He remembers the men he led into battle, the men he seduced, and the men who betrayed him. But are these the memories of a man given a second life, or the delusions of a lunatic?

Poirot: The Complete Battles of Hastings, Vol. 1 (Hercule Poirot & Arthur Hastings Omnibus, #1)


Agatha Christie - 2004
    A brand new Agatha Christie omnibus, featuring four of the eight novels in which Captain Arthur Hastings appears alongside the world-renowned detective, Hercule Poirot: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links, The Big Four and Peril at End House.

Poirot: The Complete Battles of Hastings, Vol. 2 (Hercule Poirot & Arthur Hastings Omnibus, #2)


Agatha Christie - 2004
    Captain Arthur Hastings is well-known as Poirot's trusty sidekick, the perfect foil for the great detective and his 'little grey cells'. Yet although Agatha Christie wrote 33 novels about her famous detective, only eight of them actually feature Captain Hastings. Considered by many to be some of the very best Christie stories, the distinctive Hastings novels are distinguished by being recounted in the first person, just as Dr Watson wrote for Holmes. This omnibus volume brings together the last four Poirot and Hastings novels, including Lord Edgware Dies, The ABC Murders, Dumb Witness and, returning Poirot to the scene of his first novel for his very last case, Curtain.

A Play of Isaac


Margaret Frazer - 2004
    TO BRING US MURDERThe year is 1434, and preparations are under way for the Corpus Christi festival in Oxford, England. Plays are a traditional part of the celebration, and Joliffe and the rest of his troupe are to perform Isaac and Abraham. Until then, their theatrical antics are in demand by a wealthy merchant who offers them an opportunity to ply their trade for room and board.But when the body of a murdered man is found outside the barn door where the troupe is lodging, Joliffe must raise the curtain on the merchant's mysterious past and uncover the startling truth behind a murder most foul...PRAISE FOR THE PLAYER JOLIFFE SERIES "Everything I'd hoped to find: memorable characters, a meticulously detailed world, an intriguing crime, and a satisfying conclusion." - Roundtable Reviews"Will entertain and confound you with its intricately plotted mystery and richly detailed writing... Ms. Frazer knows the fifteenth century and it shows..." - Romance Readers Connection"Deftly drawn characters acting in a stage of intricate and accurate details of medieval life." - Affaire de CouerCarefully and faithfully rendered, 15th-century England and France and all the political difficulties come easily to life... Medieval mystery fans will once again enjoy the clever player Joliffe and his adventures. - The Mystery ReaderPRAISE FOR MARGARET FRAZER"Prepare to be enchanted as Margaret Frazer transports you back to the 15th century." - Romantic Times"More than just a good read. The reader comes away sadder and wiser, knowing that what tehy've read is that stuff of real life. Brava!" - Historical Novels Review"A smooth and absorbing saga of conspiracy and treachery in 15th-century England... A tantalizing secret turns out to have stunning political implications." - Publishers Weekly"Finely plotted and subtly shaded. Frazer has the detailed substance that brings an era to life, while her characters' psychological makeup is as cunningly wrought as the historical background." - Publishers Weekly"Margaret Frazer has quietly claimed her place as one of the preeminent writers of historical crime fiction, delivering the whole package - a good mystery, wonderful characters, and a fascinating period of history. Her novels are a dream to read." - Aunt Agatha's NewsletterHerodotus Award Winner.Twice nominated for the Edgar AwardTwice nominated for the Minnesota Book AwardA Romantic Times Top Pick.

Blood Lure / Hunting Season / Flashback


Nevada Barr - 2004
    But back in her beloved mountains, where the air is pure and cool, Anna fails to find the spiritual renewal she expected. Instead, nature seems to have become twisted, carrying a malevolence almost human in its focus. Hunting Season (Ruth Bloomquist, Melissa Coates): When Anna answers a call to historic Mt. Locust, the last thing she expects to encounter is murder. But the man Anna finds in the stand's old bedroom is no tourist in distress. He's nearly naked, and very dead, his body bearing marks consistent with an S & M ritual gone awry. When hidden agendas and old allegiances are revealed, it's suddenly Anna's life on the line. Flashback (Ruth Bloomquist, Mikael Naramore): Running from a proposal of marriage from Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon takes a post as a temporary supervisory ranger on remote Garden Key in Dry Tortugas National Park. This island paradise served as a prison for the Lincoln conspirators during and after the Civil War. When a mysterious boat explosion - and the discovery of unidentifiable body parts - keeps her anchored to the present, Anna finds crimes of past and present closing in on her. A tangled web that was woven before she arrived begins to threaten her sanity and her life.

Murder Never Takes a Holiday


Jessica Fletcher - 2004
    In Manhattans & Murder, Jessica?s new book tour brings her to New York for Christmas, where she sees notorious Cabot Cove crook Waldo Morse dressed as a sidewalk Santa?and ends up witnessing a murder. With the police slow on their feet, and the victim?s wife on the run, Jessica decides to do whatever it takes to stop a killer from spoiling the season. And in A Little Yuletide Murder, Cabot Cove local Rory Brent is found shot to death on his farm, and everyone assumes the culprit is Brent?s longtime enemy, Jake Walther, the meanest man in town. But Jessica thinks otherwise, and she?s determined to deliver the real killer before Christmas. The trouble is, the next sound she hears this silent night may be a scream?her own.

The Madman's Tale


John Katzenbach - 2004
    Francis Petrel was barely out of his teens when his family committed him to the asylum, after his erratic behavior culminated in a terrifying outburst. Now middle-aged, he leads an aimless, solitary life housed in a cheap apartment, periodically tended to by his sisters, and perpetually medicated to quiet the chorus of voices in his head. But a reunion on the grounds of the shuttered institution stirs something deep in Francis’s troubled mind: dark memories he thought he had laid to rest, about the grisly events that led to Western State Hospital’s demise. It begins in 1979, when twenty-one-year-old Petrel descends into the state-run purgatory of an overcrowded, understaffed Massachusetts mental hospital. Surrounded by inmates roaming the halls like drugged zombies and raving behind locked doors, well-meaning orderlies, jaded nurses, and patronizing doctors, Francis finds friendship with a motley assortment of fellow patients: a would-be Napoleon, a wise ex-firefighter, and a man obsessed with battling imagined devils. But there’s nothing imaginary about the young nurse found sexually assaulted and brutally murdered late one night after lights-out.The police suspect an inmate, while patients whisper about visions of a white-shrouded “angel.” But the striking and mysterious prosecuting attorney who arrives to investigate has her own chilling theory—about the grim, telltale “signature” left on the victim’s body, a string of unsolved sex killings, and a very real devil who, by chance or design, has come to turn a madhouse into a slaughterhouse.Now, with the past creeping back to haunt his thoughts, and nothing but a pencil and the bare walls of his bleak apartment, Francis surrenders to the overwhelming need to tell the story of those nightmarish days. But because the crime was never solved, it’s a story doomed to remain unfinished. Until, like Francis’s long-buried recollections, the killer resurfaces . . . with a vengeance.A tour de force narrative journey through the eerily unpredictable mind of an utterly unusual hero, The Madman’s Tale will keep even the most astute thriller reader uncertain, unnerved, and unable to resist the tantalizing twists and turns of this fiendishly suspenseful shadow show.From the Hardcover edition.

Kiss Her Goodbye


Wendy Corsi Staub - 2004
    For Kathleen Carmody, Woodsbridge is an escape from memories of her own rough childhood and a place where her 13-year-old daughter Jen will have everything Kathleen didn't. But suddenly, the sleepy, affluent suburb is gripped by fear: One by one, teenage girls are disappearing from the "safe" streets.

The Stories


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    His inventor, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, named twelve stories as his special favorites; we add six more to distill the very best of Holmes. Join the master of scientific deduction (and Dr. Watson, his long-suffering sidekick) as they solve the insoluble, defend the innocent, and stalk the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. In a climactic story, "The Final Problem," Holmes and Moriarty battle to the death—or do they? Holmes's last adventure—or is it?—inspires the 2011 film Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows. Enjoy the movie...read the book! Scarlet Oak Press presents the classic tales that inspire today's best movies: high-quality e-texts for book clubs, students, and all lovers of page and screen.Each download includes a professionally-edited text, plus maps and illustrations, instant chapter links, and a unique introduction with annotated study guide, written by Princeton University faculty. The study guide features: • an expert introduction, providing historical and biographical background;• key discussion questions, custom-designed for book club or classroom; • original page-to-screen histories, tracing the evolution of character and plot; • lists of recommended novels, stories, and films, to enhance reader enjoyment.See also http://www.scarlet-oak-press.com

A Deadly Audio Collection: Déjà Dead / Death du Jour / Deadly Décisions


Kathy Reichs - 2004
    Temperance Brennan fights one-woman battle to expose a link between similar brutal rapes and murders that have occured in the city of Montreal. As she herself becomes the target, Tempe must rely on her wits to save her life."DEATH DU JOUR"Read by Katherine BorowitzIn the bitter cold of Montreal winter, Dr. Temperance Brennan digs for a corpse buried more than a century ago. Though she thrives on enigmas from the past, a chain of contemporary deaths and disappearances in South Carolina seizes her attention. Tempe is ideally placed to make a chilling connection between seemingly unrelated events. But time is running out and a nerve-shattering test of her forensic expertise is the key to her survival."DEADLY DECISIONS"Read by Katherine BorowitzNine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is shot dead on a Montreal street. A North Carolina teenager disappears from her home. Parts of what may be her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. For. Dr. Temperance Brennan the deaths kindle deep emotions that propel her on harrowing journey through the world of outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Dead Wrong


Mariah Stewart - 2004
    Now the first is free. It was inescapably chilling, as if the murderer was methodically working his way down a page torn from the phone book. The three victims brutally killed in their own homes had one thing in common: they were all listed as M. Douglas. The fact that Mara Douglas is next on the list has her jumping at shadows, until FBI agent Aidan Shields shows up to make sure she doesn't become the fourth victim.Aidan has been out of commission since an undercover operation went bad more than a year ago. Back on the job, his razor-sharp instincts are returning. But it will take all of Aidan's wits to stay one step ahead of the elusive killer who has engaged him in a deadly game--a game in which Mara's life is the prize. A game only one can win ...

Just Add Water


Jinx Schwartz - 2004
    Pushing forty and still single, Hetta is the epitome of the b word: bold, bossy, brassy, breezy and brash. After leaving a lifelong swath of failed multi-national affairs in her jet stream, it is no wonder Hetta prefers living with her dog R.J. But old habits die hard, and trolling for triceps is Hetta s hobby. Plying the waterfront in search of Saturday brunch, Hetta s attention is snagged by a parade of passing yacht--especially their predominantly male skippers--and experiences a champagne-induced epiphany: if she had a boat, she could get a man. In hopes a floating Valhalla will overcome an all-time low-water mark in her life, Hetta buys her dream boat in spite of a spectacular ignorance of all things nautical. But a shadowy stalker, an inconvenient body, and Hetta s own self-destructive foibles imperil not only her new life, but a newly- found romance.

The Torment Of Others / The Mermaids Singing


Val McDermid - 2004
    The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of a deeply disturbed young man named Derek Tyler.But there's no way Tyler could have killed the latest victim. He's been locked up in a mental institution since his trial, barely speaking a word. So is there a copycat?All his years of experience tell top criminal psychologist Dr. Tony Hill that there isn't-but that would make the murders literally impossible. While Hill tries to crack Tyler, DCI Carol Jordan and her team must mount a desperate undercover operation to trap the murderer-a decision that will have terrible consequences.The Mermaids Singing:This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling.The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim.A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it...

If She Should Die


Carlene Thompson - 2004
    Now a body has been found in the creek. A body, Christine Ireland suspects, that could very well belong to her adopted sister Dara. Deputy Sheriff Michael Winter certainly seems to think so. But if Dara's dead, who's been sending Ames prince the letters he cherishes: always with a different postmark and always signed with his missing daughter's initial?When Dara's diary turns up unexpectedly, Christine is plunged into her lost sister's dark and mysterious world. Clearly, in the days before her disappearance, Dara was certain somebody was stalking her. As past melds hauntingly with present, people who knew Dara are meeting tragic fates. Now, someone is watching Christine's every move--perhaps just the way they once watched Dara, right before she died. If, indeed, she really did die...

The Phryne Fisher Mysteries, Vol. 1 : Cocaine Blues / Flying Too High


Kerry Greenwood - 2004
    She collects men, fast cars and designer dresses. But no matter how delicious the distractions, Phryne never takes her eyes off the main prize: bringing down villains.

The Best of Nancy Drew Classic Collection: Volume 2


Carolyn Keene - 2004
    #25 The Ghost of Blackwood Hall: Nancy and her friends travel to the colorful French Quarter in New Orleans to search for missing jewelry and to solve the mystery of the Ghost of Blackwood Hall. #56 The Thirteenth Pearl: Nancy�s search for a missing pearl takes her on a journey to the Far East.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 2


Bert Coules - 2004
    This second volume of four stories, written by the main dramatist on the complete BBC Radio 4 Sherlock Holmes canon, imaginatively flesh out the cases behind those references to wonderful effect. As in the complete dramatised canon, Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth. Doctor Watson is played by Andrew Sachs, while the star cast includes Lindsay Duncan, Mark Gatiss, Christian Rodska, Ioan Meredith and Joanna McCallum. The stories are: ‘The Abergavenny Murder’; ‘The Shameful Betrayal of Miss Emily Smith’; ‘The Tragedy of Hanbury Street’ and ‘The Determined Client.’ Of the first series the Daily Telegraph said - 'A joy from beginning to end ... ingenious extensions of the Conan Doyle originals'.4 CDs. 4 hrs.

The Play's the Thing / The Grey Lady


Paul McCusker - 2004
    Father Gilbert must find out who's behind the suspicious "accidents" in The Play's the Thing. But everyone in the acting troupe seems to be a suspect! Two identical murders take place within two days on the Woodburton Army Base--and the suspects swear a ghost is responsible! Father Gilbert faces a dangerous conspiracy in The Gray Lady--or is there something truly supernatural at work? Two original Radio Theatre audio dramas with outstanding actors and cinema-quality sound design.

The Chase


Susan Wales - 2004
    To make matters worse, her high-profile boyfriend ends their relationship because it could damage his own political career. Returning to her hometown of Delavan, Wisconsin, to lick her wounds, Jill must settle for work at the town's small weekly newspaper. But the former Washington Gazette star soon finds herself caught up in a chilling race to uncover the evidence that will help her reclaim her job, preserve her family's reputation, and save her life. This exciting page-turner expertly blends suspense, romance, and a dynamic female lead into a gripping political thriller.

Booked Twice: Booked to Die and The Bookman's Wake


John Dunning - 2004
     Includes "The Book Collector," advice and special tips from John Dunning on collecting rare books. BOOKED TO DIE Denver cop Cliff Janeway probably knows as much about books as he does about homicide. His living room resembles an adjunct to the public library. He's aware that some Stephen King first editions can bring more money than most Mark Twain firsts, and a copy of Raymond Chandler's Lady in the Lake is worth more than $1,000. And he realizes that, contrary to popular belief, "older" doesn't necessarily mean "more valuable." He also knows that valuable volumes can be hidden in plain view among otherwise ordinary book collections. It's not easy to find such books, but some people seem to have an extraordinary talent for honing in on the treasures. Such a man is bookscout Bobby Westfall. Bobby once earned $900 in a single weekend and has generally spotted enough valuable books to keep himself and his beloved cats fed and housed. Now Bobby is dead, murdered at the witching hour on Friday the thirteenth, his body dumped under a ladder in a dark alley. It's not a good end for a superstitious man. Janeway is sure he knows who did it. But can he catch him? And, in the process, will Janeway's own life change forever? THE BOOKMAN'S WAKE The story starts and ends, aptly, with a very special book: a 1969 edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, published by the tiny, prestigious Grayson Press of North Bend, Washington. The Grayson bibliography mentions no such edition. If, indeed, it exists, it could be worth a fortune to the right collector. It's the kind of book somebody might kill for. In fact, somebody probably already has. Ex-Denver cop Janeway is happily at work selling rare and used books when former police colleague Clydell Slater arrives with an offer. Slater runs a detective agency and he wants Janeway to go to Seattle to pick up a young female fugitive and deliver her to Taos, New Mexico. The woman is wanted for burglary and assault. More to the point, as far as Janeway's concerned, she may also have in her possession a stolen copy of the 1969 Grayson Press Raven, taken when she ransacked a Taos home. The rare-book angle gets to Janeway every time. He could turn down thousands of dollars in fees, but he can't say no to The Raven. Janeway signs on to the case because of a book, but he stays because of a vulnerable young woman. He will discover not only her painful story but the poignant tale of a once-great small press, where paper and ink became beautiful books in the hands of a master craftsman.

The Darkness Did Not


William L. Biersach - 2004
    In the County Morgue lay the bodies of murdered young women, garlic and Crucifixes resting upon each bloodless form. Something is loose in the City of Angels, and the police are not only stumped .... but afraid. With such ominous events transpiring and each day bringing new terrors, there is only person to whom they can turn ---- ex-cop-turned-priest Fr. John Baptist.

A Very Merry Murder, She Wrote: Manhattans And Murder; A Little Yuletide Murder (2-in-1)


Jessica Fletcher - 2004
    Two Christmas Mysteries in one special 2-in-1 edition feature Cabot Cove crime-solver Jessica Fletcher: Manhattans and Murder; A little Yuletide Murder.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 1


Bert Coules - 2004
    Then a chance encounter with a bookseller suddenly leads him to familiar surroundings.'The Norwood Builder': An obvious motive and copious clues finger Holmes' client as a murderer. Holmes himself has doubts but finds there are many places for a criminal to hide.'The Dancing Man': An inspired piece of code-breaking launches an investigation into what first appears to be childish scribblings and ends up bringing tragedy to a Norfolk family.'The Solitary Cyclist': A music teacher is being followed whenever she leaves the house. A shy admirer or someone who wishes her ill? A hedgerow seems the best place for Holmes to find out.

Vanished


Lynn Gardner - 2004
    In Maggie McKenzie's case, the saying is not only true, but the starting point for a troubling--and deadly--mystery.Maggie has just begun her first job as a full-fledged newspaper reporter. It’s a dream come true. But soon the young journalist finds she is captivated by what should be old news – a girl who vanished years ago – who looks amazingly like her. Intrigued by what she has heard about the missing girl, Maggie takes advantage of her travels for another assignment to try to solve the mystery of Alyssa Lawson’s disappearance. While on her cross-country quest, Maggie meets psychologist Dr. Flynn Ford, who is interested in helping her solve the puzzle--and in getting to know Maggie better. But as the pair inches closer to the truth, witnessed begin turning dead. And it appears Maggie and Flynn could be next. Could the woman Maggie thinks might be her sister be trying to kill her?

The Complete Quin And Satterthwaite: Love Detectives


Agatha Christie - 2004
    Quin, The Shadow on the Glass, At the Bells and Motley, The Sign in the Sky, The Soul of the Croupier, The World's End, The Voice in the Dark, The Face of Helen, The Dead Harlequin, The Bird With The Broken Wing, The Man From The Sea, Harlequin's Lane.

Murder In Mesopotamia: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation


Agatha Christie - 2004
    As hired nurse to a paranoid and isolated new patient, Amy wonders what to make of the woman's "nervous terrors," of her bizarre stories of a vengeful but dead husband, of the dire warnings...or for that matter, of her charge's sudden, brutal murder.

The Ghost Wore Polyester


Gail Koger - 2004
    She just woke up at forty-one to find herself without a husband, without a life, and without a clue - then she inherits a New Age bookstore in Sedona, Arizona - a mystical place where psychics (and maybe a few psychos) are not only accepted, not celebrated.There, she finds new friends, a new purpose, and a new home complete with a pain-in-the-ass ghost. The dead guy is Houston Powers, a journalist murdered twenty-five years ago while tracking down a lead on the car-bomb death of newspaper reporter Don Bolles. Houston needs Tildy to find out who killed him so he can pass over. Desperate to get rid of this Saturday Night Fever wannabe, she agrees to take on the mantle of - ta daa - Detective to the Dead.Tildy's not exactly Dana Scully, but her hit-and-miss investigation somehow manages to turn up a geriatric Mafia Don who thinks he's Elvis and who'd be hilarious if he wasn't so dangerous; an engimatic Navajo sheriff with a shocking secret; an aging playboy land developer with everything to lose if Tildy reveals his involvement in an old Arizona land scam. A powerful Senator is also determined to keep her from linking him to the land scam and the Bolles murder, and destroying his career.Can she find the killer without becoming a victim herself?

Mini Mysteries: 20 Tricky Tales to Untangle (American Girl Library)


Rick Walton - 2004
    Along with Marie and her best friend, Noelle, girls must figure out which clues in the story will help solve the mystery and which ones are red herrings those false leads that can send a reader in the wrong direction. A repeating cast of characters and real-life girl situations allow readers to connect with the stories they're reading. Once the reader solves the mystery, she can tear open a case folder in the back of the book to check her answer!

His Last Bow: Volume 2


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    His only hope lies in a planter from Sumatra whose expert knowledge comes at a price.The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax - Watson goes to Switzerland to find an aristocrat who has vanished, but the trail leads back to a funeral parlour in London. The Devil's Foot - Watson enforces a relaxing holiday on Holmes to cure his work-related exhaustion. The eerie Cornish coast provides exactly the opposite when death and horror strike a local family and Holmes risks death to solve the case. His Last Bow - Holmes is lured away from retirement to help his country on the eve of World War I and employs one of his most successful disguises to penetrate a German spy ring.

Sober Justice


Joe Hilley - 2004
    While defending his client, Connolly stumbles into a conspiracy and quickly finds himself in the midst of a complicated web of intrigue and deceit.The action builds to a dramatic and surprising conclusion as Connolly faces certain death and learns that sometimes even time and circumstance must yield to the purposes of God.Click Here to Meet the Author Download the Readers' Guide.

The Early Investigations of Joanne Kilbourn


Gail Bowen - 2004
    In Deadly Appearances, a successful politician sips his water before a speech at a picnic on a sweltering August afternoon and, within seconds, he is dead; in Murder at the Mendel, Joanne’s childhood friend may have a far more complicated, far more sordid, and far more deadly past than Joanne knows about; and in The Wandering Soul Murders, a centre for street kids holds a dark and disturbing secret, forcing Joanne to act when her own children are drawn into a web of intrigue that will leave you breathless.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 3


Denys Hawthorne - 2004
    Clive Merrison stars as Holmes with Michael Williams as Watson in these adventures, part of the unique fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle's short stories and novels featuring the world-famous sleuth.

A Dangerous Dance


Pauline Baird Jones - 2004
    Now is his chance to quit talking about reform and make his move to change things, but two things stand in his way. One is a woman, the other a killer.

The Remorseful Day / The Wench is Dead


Colin Dexter - 2004
    A year after the dreadful crime they are still no nearer to making an arrest. But one man has yet to tackle the case - and it is just the sort of puzzle at which Chief Inspector Morse excels.So why is he adamant that he will not lead the re-investigation, despite the entreaties of Chief Superintendent Strange and dark hints of some new evidence? And why, if he refuses to take on the case officially, does he seem to be carrying out his own private enquiries?For Sergeant Lewis this is yet another example of the unsettling behaviour his chief has been displaying of late...THE WENCH IS DEAD'That night he dreamed in Technicolor. He saw the ochre-skinned, scantily clad siren in her black, arrowed stockings. And in Morse's muddled computer of a mind, that siren took the name of Joanna Franks...'The body of Joanna Franks was found at Duke's Cut on the Oxford Canal at about 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 June 1859.At around 10.15 a.m. on a Saturday morning in 1989 the body of Chief Inspector Morse - though very much alive - was removed to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. Treatment for a perforated ulcer was later pronounced successful.As Morse begins his recovery he comes across an account of the investigation an trial the followed Joanna Franks death... and becomes convinced that the two men hanged for her murder were innocent...

The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and Other Radio Mysteries


Ellery Queen - 2004
    A COLLECTION FO RPEVIOUS UNPBULISHED RADIO MYSTERIES FROM THE 1930'S AND 1940S BY ELLERY QUEEN

The Assassination Plot


Ed Dunlop - 2004
    

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Volume 3


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    'The Second Stain' is the 13th story in 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' and was included in this volume because of tape duration restraints.Gripping, suspenseful and hugely entertaining, these acclaimed dramatisations bring the world of Holmes and Watson to life, and are guaranteed to appeal to any fan of the great detective.

Alone


Lisa Gardner - 2004
    . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences.Alone . . . that’s where the nightmare began for cool, beautiful, and dangerously sexy Catherine Rose Gagnon. Twenty-five years ago, she was buried underground during a month-long nightmare of abduction and abuse. Now her husband has just been killed. Her father-in-law, the powerful Judge Gagnon, blames Catherine for his son’s death . . . and for the series of unexplained illnesses that have sent her own young son repeatedly to the hospital. Alone . . . a madman survived solitary confinement in a maximum security prison where he’d done hard time for the most sadistic of crimes. Now he walks the streets a free man, invisible, anonymous . . . and filled with an unquenchable rage for vengeance. What brings them together is a moment of violence—but what connects them is a passion far deeper and much more dangerous. For a killer is loose who’s woven such an intricate web of evil that no one is above suspicion, no one is beyond harm, and no one will see death coming until it has them cornered, helpless, and alone.

Judith Of Blue Lake Ranch


Jackson Gregory - 2004
    His customary gravity was unusually pronounced.

White Hot


Sandra Brown - 2004
    She plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but instead soon finds herself drawn into the web cast by Huff Hoyle, her controlling and tyrannical father, the man who owns the town’s sole industry, an iron foundry, and in effect runs the lives of everyone who lives there.As she feared, Sayre learns that nothing has changed. Her father and older brother, Chris, are as devious as ever, and now they have a new partner-in-crime, a canny and disarming lawyer named Beck Merchant, who appears to be their equal in corruption. Soon, Sayre is thrown in closer contact with Beck and becomes convinced that something more sinister is at play than her father’s usual need to dominate people and events. As she sets out to learn just what did happen to Danny, she comes to realize that there are many secrets in Destiny—secrets that hide decades of pain and anger, and that threaten at any moment to erupt and destroy not only her father and brother, but perhaps Sayre herself. Underneath the rigid control that the Hoyles exert over the town, trouble is brewing. Old hatreds foster plans for revenge, past crimes resurface, and a maverick deputy sheriff determines that Danny Hoyle’s death was not suicide, but murder. As tensions mount, threatening to ignite a powder keg of long-held hostility, Sayre finds herself inextricably drawn into a struggle with striking laborers, her unscrupulous father, and her own emotions over the love/hate relationship that is growing with Beck, a man apparently with his own agenda, and mysteries of his own. As she has shown in the dozens of bestselling novels in which she has combined hard-edged suspense with intense emotion, Sandra Brown is a master storyteller, and in her new novel she is at her very best.

The Coroner's Lunch


Colin Cotterill - 2004
    Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old medical doctor, has been unwillingly appointed the national coroner of newly-socialist Laos. Though his lab is underfunded, his boss is incompetent, and his support staff is quirky to say the least, Siri’s sense of humor gets him through his often frustrating days.When the body of the wife of a prominent politician comes through his morgue, Siri has reason to suspect the woman has been murdered. To get to the truth, Siri and his team face government secrets, spying neighbors, victim hauntings, Hmong shamans, botched romances, and other deadly dangers. Somehow, Siri must figure out a way to balance the will of the party and the will of the dead.

The Breaking Point


Janaya N. Black - 2004
    Her assignment is to interview Marion Hayes, who was convicted to a life sentence for murdering her husband. At first Vanessa is a little put off about having to do the seemingly mundane interview in the first place, until she researches the case in depth and finds that there is more to the woman's story than meets the eye. What kind of woman murders her husband? Almost immediately upon meeting Marion, Vanessa becomes intrigued with the beautiful woman that is presented to her. She becomes mystified to understand how this woman, who exudes such strength and poise, could be capable of murder. No sooner is this question formed in her mind then the tape recorder starts rolling and she is taken deep into the grim existence of a woman who has known nothing but loss, abuse, and heartache all of her life. You will become enthralled in the story of a woman who has become the prisoner of her mind and emotions and has no other outlet than to tell her story to a complete stranger to expunge her demons. You will feel the heartache of her tremendous loss, the suspense of her trials and tribulations, and the shock of the incident that finally drives her to the point of violence. Travel with her from childhood with her mother-like love for her younger brother and their experience as they get bounced around as foster children at a young age, to the meeting of her childhood sweetheart who would be her soul mate, her battle with drugs and prostitution, and the many other obstacles that plague her life along the way.

The Oxford of Inspector Morse and Lewis


Bill Leonard - 2004
    This much-loved series used as its backdrop the "sweet city of dreaming spires," but revealed this ancient city in more than its traditional light. The celebrated university buildings are there, but as a setting for crimes committed by corrupt academics, the "Gown." The other side of Oxford was portrayed, the "Town" and the countryside around, with its equally devious criminals. Grappling with them, and with growing technology, was an old-fashioned improbable sleuth, modern only in his lack of deference for his superiors. This new edition, updated with new material to include locations for the recent production of "Lewis," is a must-read for all Morse lovers, as well as providing much to interest and inspire locals and tourists alike.

Enchanted Holidays


Kim Cox - 2004
    But when an Egyptian god with supernatural powers wants to marry and sacrifice her, her only hope is Zane. Reader Advisory: Contains a mildly explicit sex scene. Fate's Little Trick By Sheryl Hames Torres When fate robs Gemma of something precious it happens at Christmas. After losing her family and her hearing she runs to her childhood home to escape the pain around her. Can she keep fate at bay when the past comes back to haunt her just days before Christmas? Ghosts of Auld Lang Syne By Maureen McMahon Stacey Christian and Peter Mansfield reunite to celebrate the new year with friends at a remote New England homestead. Are the incidents that befall the guests really just accidents? Why does the restless specter of a young woman walk the halls? And will Stacey and Peter finally acknowledge their true feelings for each other before it's too late? Haunted Hearts By Kim Cox Will Lana Malloy solve the twenty-year-old double murder of her great-aunt and her great-aunt's fianc by Valentine's Day? If she can, they'll spend eternity together. If she can't, they'll be stuck as haunted hearts for another year. Mistletoe Medium By Elizabeth Delisi Can psychic Lottie Baldwin and the handsome new man in her life pool their talents and solve the mystery before the bandit strikes again? Valentine's Inn By Chris Grover After being injured in an automobile accident that killed three friends, Rianna Gordon hopes to erase the past by hiding herself away. She has no idea it's the past that holds the key to her happiness-until one cold February morning when a stranger and a stray cat show up and she starts smelling violets everywhere she goes. Publisher Note. Enchanted Holidays was previously published elsewhere.

A Deadly Class Reunion


Bill Flynn - 2004
    A celebration with his teammates and a pleasant encounter with a first love get interrupted by an act of vengeance. The killer blows up the reunion restaurant, but he’s not finished. His missed targets include Ronan and his high school sweetheart. They join with a jailed computer hacker to find the deranged killer before he can satisfy his revengeful thrust by eliminating all from the class of 1980.

A Violent End


Maggie Wheeler - 2004
    Farran Mackenzie didn’t know she had a past, until her one link to it had been snapped.Raised by her independent mother, Farran had come to accept that she belonged to a family of two. And that had satisfied both of them until her mother’s sudden death revealed glimpses of unknown people and places—including Farran’s mother. Where did she come from? Who were her family? And what was the significance of a newspaper headline reporting the sudden discovery of a body, hundreds of miles away?For the first time in forty years, one of the Lost Villages of the St Lawrence Seaway had emerged from their burial place beneath the flood waters. An unusually dry summer had laid bare streets, foundations, and the remains of a young man tied up in an ancient sleeping bag—Farran’s father.Taking advantage of a much needed sabbatical from her position teaching history at the University of Waterloo, Farran rents a cottage on Ault Island in the St Lawrence and sets about finding her parents. Her first discovery proves a shock. No one had known it was even possible that she could exist. Yet the distress the old-timers from the Lost Villages feel upon learning that Farran’s father had died and her mother had lived pales when two who could most likely sort it out turn up dead.Under the watchful eye of Detective Inspector Jerry Strauss, Farran begins applying her research skills to learn more about the people and events leading up to July 1, 1958, when the great waters of the St Lawrence Seaway were unleashed, tearing apart communities, and destroying her family. But will she uncover the river’s secrets—and her father’s murderer—before it is too late?

Unseen Forces


Ed Kovacs - 2004
    Sky Wilder has never proven any of his controversial fringe theories --- until now. When he breaks what had been an impenetrable code, he unearths a long-buried Egyptian stone tablet in Arizona's Red Rock country. Whoever possesses all three hidden tablets holds the key to locate an ancient alchemical text containing a formula for physical immortality. The bodies pile up as Wilder finds himself caught between opposing covert agencies and secret brotherhoods that have been warring for centuries. Tasked with keeping Sky Wilder alive at all costs, Diana Hunt, the U.S. military's most accurate remote viewer - a psychic spy - knows that the players in this deadly game are not what they appear to be. As the trail leads to Asia and with a political assassination looming, Sky and Diana confront powerful forces of Nature and Man as they unravel the conspiracies and expose the true unseen forces behind their opponents - and allies. "A real page-turner rivaling The Da Vinci Code." -- Phenomena Magazine "A spellbinding thriller that will keep you riveted well past midnight" -- The St. Louis Post-Dospatch

Blood on the Leaves


Jeff Stetson - 2004
    All were acquitted of brutally torturing and killing African-Americans during the most explosive period of the civil rights movement. And all are being murdered in the same way as their victims—hung, burned to death, gutted. Now one district attorney must play a deadly game of cat and mouse as he prosecutes the most wrenching case of his career—and walks a dangerous line between retribution, duty, and revenge…For James Reynolds, Mississippi’s only black deputy district attorney, success is almost enough to heal the pain of growing up during brutal segregation—and ease the recurring, unexplained nightmares he’s had sinc childhood. But he knows this case will be more disturbing than anything he’s ever faced—especially when he discovers a local university class that is exposing the perpetrators of “unsolved” civil rights-era murders. Among the class’s unshakable and most dedicated attendees: Brandon Hamilton, a graduate student as relentless about the truth as he was ferocious on the playing field; and teaching assistant Regina Davis, beautiful, brainy, and ruthlessly calculating. Then there’s their renowned, charismatic instructor, Professor Martin Matheson. The handsome son of a venerated African-American civil rights leader, he exhibits a gift for rhetoric that is gaining him fervent public support…and enabling him to play all too well on Reynolds’s professional and personal vulnerabilities.Amid an overwhelming media blitz and mounting racial tensions, Reynolds must not only confront the secrets he’s run from all these years—but play out a devastating endgame against a killer willing to use the law against itself and go to the most deadly extremes for “justice.”A riveting game of intellectual chess that crescendos into a powerful courtroom confrontation, Blood on the Leaves will leave you disturbed, surprised, and, ultimately, dazzled.

Monkology: The Ivan Monk Stories


Gary Phillips - 2004
    In this collection of 13 stories you'll encounter starry-eyed sinners, street corner revolutionaries, Hollywood hustlers, over-heated politicians, rightwing assholes, a ghost or two, cavorting cops, architects with issues, and a little old lady with a popgun--all out to make their mark in the city of dreams and despair.

The House on the Cliff / The Ghost at Skeleton Rock / The Sting of The Scorpion (Best of the Hardy Boys Classic Collection)


Franklin W. Dixon - 2004
    Hardy disappears while investigating a mystery surrounding a vacant house rumored to be either haunted or a hideout for criminals, the Hardy Boys search for the truth. #37 The Ghost at Skeleton Rock: The Hardy Boys travel to Puerto Rico to investigate the mystery behind a secret coded letter that they received from their father. #58 The Sting of the Scorpion: Frank and Joe witness an explosion in the sky near an airborne dirigible owned by Quinn Air Fleet. Facing danger from all sides, the boys decide to investigate the mysterious explosion.

Back Hander: An electrifying racing thriller


John Francome - 2004
     Ex-National Hunt Champion Jockey John Francome presents Back Hander, an electrifying racing thriller. The perfect read for fans of Felix Francis and Lyndon Stacey. 'Back Hander is a tightly plotted and well-schooled story... that delivers everything it promises' - Tangled WebNot much is going right for jockey Alan Morrell. He can't get the rides he needs and when he sets up a bloodstock partnership a tragic accident robs him of the business and his best friend Lee. Now Alan owes £100,000 and his only asset is a racehorse who has yet to be put to the test. But all that fades into insignificance next to the suspicion that Lee's fatal fall was more than an accident... Things aren't looking so hot for fellow-jockey Max Ashwood either. There's the backlash from his affair with a trainer's wife and the little matter of his gambling. There's also the convenient death of another man to whom Max owed money. But surely no one is ever going to find out the truth about his part in that... Two riders, two unexplained deaths - but overshadowing both is a conflict that dwarfs the cosy world of racetrack winners and losers. As the noose closes round the neck of one man's criminal empire, just how many others will swing? What readers are saying about Back Hander: 'A gripping story from start to finish''Highly recommended if you like horse-racing thrillers''Brilliant plotline which hinges on two doomed love affairs'

UFOs Over California: A True History of Extraterrestrial Encounters in the Golden State


Preston Dennett - 2004
    Documented here are diverse early accounts, including native American UFO encounters, the 1896 California Airship Mystery, and the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles. Hundreds of verified sightings include luminaries, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Cliff Robertson, Jill Ireland, and Ronald Regan. Sightings and landings at California Air Force bases include Edwards, George, Norton, and Hamilton, as well as some over Los Angeles International Airport. Cases are described of healing and surgical implants along with UFO landings, on dry land and off the coast. Color photographs of UFOs in flight and illustrations by award-winning artist Kesara will leave every reader searching the skies, seeking the truth!

Through Violet Eyes


Stephen Woodworth - 2004
    Because to every generation are born a select few souls with violet-colored eyes, and the ability to channel the dead. Both rare and precious—and rigidly controlled by a society that craves their services—these Violets perform a number of different duties. The most fortunate increase the world's cultural heritage by channeling the still-creative spirits of famous dead artists and musicians. The least fortunate aid the police and the law courts, catching criminals by interviewing the deceased victims of violent crime.But now the Violets themselves have become the target of a brutal serial murderer—a murderer who had learned how to mask his or her identity even from the victims. Can the FBI, aided by a Violet so scared of death that she is afraid to live, uncover the criminal in time? Or must more of her race be dispatched to the realm that has haunted them all since childhood?

The Return of Sherlock Holmes II


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    A young girl is stalked by a solitary cyclist; while the 'dancing men' hieroglyphics found in Norfolk lead to a sinister connection with America. Holmes enters the murky world of high society blackmail in Charles Augustus Milverton; and finds an abducted student from the Priory School. As always, his friend Dr. Watson is with him to assist and chronicle these cases.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. II


Arthur Conan Doyle - 2004
    But could the detective be too late?'The Man with the Twisted Lip' Watson rescues a patient from a disreputable opium den in London. Whom should he meet there but Holmes - in disguise and on the trail of an unusually well-off beggar.'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' When the Countess of Morcar's missing blue carbuncle is found in a Christmas goose, Holmes must retrace the unfortunate goose's steps to find the thief.'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' A midnight vigil at a ruined ancestral estate presents Holmes and Watson with a case of atrocious villainy in one of Conan Doyle's favourite stories.

Foul Play


Betsy Brannon Green - 2004
    Billie Murphy, a public relations representative and parttime fiction writer, has been watching from the sidelines. But not for long. Soon forces beyond her control will draw her into a deadly game of fraud and deceit initiated by those who will stop at nothing-even murder-to win. To survive, Billie must trust a man whose reassuring exterior hides a devastating past. But time is running out. . . Foul Play, by master storyteller Betsy Brannon Green, is an emotionally charged romantic thriller that will keep you glued to each suspense-filled page.

Philip Margolin Omnibus: The Associate / The Last Innocent Man


Phillip Margolin - 2004
    

The Judgement Of Caesar (Roma Sub Rosa, #10)


Steve Saylor - 2004
    

The Adventures of Nero Wolfe


Rex Stout - 2004
    Nero and his partner Archie Goodwin embody two popular schools of 20th-century detective fiction: the traditional (and eccentric) master sleuth and the modern hard-boiled detective. 17 classic adventures from 1950-51, staring the legendary Sydney Greenstreet (of Casablanca and Maltese Falcon fame)as the gargantuan gourmet.

8170119480


Nilima Sinha - 2004
    form Munia4)Adventure on the Golden Lake6)Adventure before Midnight

Sara's Search


Jan Christensen - 2004
    When she finds him murdered, she has even more questions. As she starts her own investigation, she meets Howard's eccentric, co-inventor partner, his ex-wife and their son who calls his mother "the bank," plus an assorted cast of suspects. She also has to deal with her adopted mother's roadblocks, her crazy roommate's problems, sexual harassment at work and her best friend's strange illness. Sometimes quirky, sometimes serious, Sara's Search, as one reviewer said, will keep you flipping those pages.

赤い瞳は知っている - The Red Eye Knows (Psychic Detective Yakumo, #1)


Manabu Kaminaga (神永学) - 2004
    However, the person who meets her there is an affected young man with terrible bed hair and sleepy eyes. What does Haruka consult him about? A confinement and murder case at a women’s university, a false suicide case… The great detective who can see the spirits of the dead, Saitou Yakumo, takes these cases on in this astoundingly high-speed spiritual mystery!

The Gay Detective Novel: Lesbian and Gay Main Characters and Themes in Mystery Fiction


Judith A. Markowitz - 2004
    Since then, gay and lesbian detective fiction has been one of the fastest growing segments of the genre. It incorporates gay and lesbian cultural elements and offers crossover appeal. Its authors call upon a century of development in the mystery genre, while providing new, more accurate images of lesbians and gay men than generally found in mainstream literature and popular media. This groundbreaking study of gay and lesbian detective fiction examines mystery series and historically significant stand-alone novels published since the early 1960s. Part I is an overview that describes how these novels make gay and lesbian life visible and forge new, powerful images. It also examines how they fit into the larger history of mystery fiction. The series analyses in Part II are grouped according to the type of main character (police officer, private investigator, amateur sleuth, etc.). Each section discusses main and secondary characters of that type, characteristic themes for the group, and more. The analyses of individual series cover main characters, themes, plot points and other elements. Comments from authors interviewed for this book play a central role in those analyses. Part III lists series-spanning themes (e.g., homophobia, the closet, gay marriage) and the novels and series that address each of those themes.

The White Straw Hat


Hitomi Akino - 2004
    

Group Policy, Profiles, and Intellimirror for Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000: Mark Minasi Windows Administrator Library


Jeremy Moskowitz - 2004
    This book provides all the instruction and insight you need to take full control of your Active Directory with GPMC and other Group Policy tools. You'll also learn techniques for implementing IntelliMirror, making it possible for users to work securely from any location; and you'll find intensive troubleshooting advice, insider tips on keeping your network secure, and hundreds of clear examples that will help you accomplish all your administration goals. You will learn to:Create and manage all Group Policy functions within Active Directory Understand Group Policy differences in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003 systems Troubleshoot Group Policy using Support tools, Resource Kit utilities, log files, registry hacks, and third-party tools Create and deploy custom settings for managing client systems Manage, secure, and audit client and server systems Script complex operations, including linking, back-up, restore, permissions changes, and migrating Set up Local, Roaming, and Mandatory profiles Set up and manage IntelliMirror components with Group Policy Use Group Policy Software Installation to perform hands-off installations Use Remote Installation Services to automate the installation of new Windows systems Ensure the safety of your users' data with Redirected Folders and Shadow Copies About the SeriesThe Mark Minasi Windows Administrator Library is designed to equip system administrators with in-depth technical solutions to the many challenges associated with administering Windows in an enterprise setting. The series editor is leading Windows NT/2003 expert Mark Minasi, who selects the topics and authors and develops and reviews each book to ensure that every entry in the series meets your needs and helps you achieve your goals.

Closely Knit in Scarlatt: A Novel of Suspense


Ardath Mayhar - 2004
    Don't underestimate Little Old Ladies!

The Letters from Fiddler's Green


Michael Fitzpatrick - 2004
    His letters to her are the only surviving clues to his true identity. Now, his modern descendant (Kathy Evans) and her friend (Steve Knox) must take the letters and go on a desperate search for the truth in order to successfully claim an inheritance that is rightfully hers. Standing in their way is a corrupt estate lawyer unwilling to lose control of the trust fund. In the frequent flashbacks, James Franklinas growing relationship with his sweetheart and her border-state family arouses the suspicions and animosity of John Watts, a jealous and vindictive fellow soldier. Following several confrontations, in which he blames Franklin for his failures, Watts becomes convinced that Franklin has been sending military intelligence to the Confederates by way of the letters. The story builds to a climactic confrontation over the letters.

Something Most Deadly


Ann Self - 2004
    ROMANTIC MYSTERY/THRILLER series of atmospheric suspense. A slightly ghostly whodunit running side-by-side with a clean romance and the magic of dressage. A surprise to some, the mansion on Springhill Estate in New England has a hidden connection to history, giving the stone edifice a haunted aura. Far out in the rolling hills the estate’s gothic barn glows like a giant wedding cake, chock full of top-dollar showhorses and top-dollar riders. The barn roof soars above a second floor of storage spaces, empty rooms and haylofts. Someone lurks in these spaces, spying and calculating, turning the antique barn into a theater of cat-and-mouse suspense. Maybe it’s one of the elite riders, or one of the coaches, or just a working stiff caring for the horses and cleaning stalls. A hurricane roaring up the east coast brings tropical-force storm conditions, shrouding the 2,000-acre estate and increasing its isolation. A clever trap snares the wrong victim, and that brings Massachusetts Sate Police Detectives Westerlund and Russell onto the scene to root out a killer. After passing through the stone gatelodge of Springhill, the homicide detectives feel like they’ve arrived at another planet, surprised at the cloistered air of the estate. The intended target of the trap, Jane Husted, has to watch her back and tries to get in tune with a sixth-sense she didn't know she had. ESP was not something she ever needed or believed in, but now this talent, if it was real, could help her to stay a step ahead of a ruthless killer. Shockingly, the ESP is also bringing the estate’s murky past out of the woodwork, connecting her with things she’d rather ignore. To add to the intrigue, Brian Canaday shows up as an investor in the estate’s European sport horses, rekindling an old infatuation. A complication Jane doesn’t want to deal with as she fights to keep her career as a showrider and, most important, stay alive and breathing. But SOMEONE wants her DEAD.

Treasure Hunting 1 : In France


Kim Yun-Su - 2004
    Hunting A Cursed Diamond!While in France for an auction, Pang-Yi, his uncle Professor Gu-Bon and assistant Eun-Ju find themselves tangling with an old enemy, the international art thief and swindler Professor Bong! His target- a magnificent diamond, lost for centuries! Adding to the complications is the fact that a Duke, a friend of Gu-Bon"s, wants the diamond too, but his daughter has her eyes set on a bigger prize- namely, Pang-Yi himself! With scheming henchmen, expensive auctions, Foreign Legionnaires and doggie poo between them and the diamond, do our heroes have a chance at saving and seeing the GREAT TREASURES OF FRANCE? Crack this book open and see!

O'Brien's Desk


Ona Russell - 2004
    Though a joyous occasion for the recently married, fifty-nine year old, the birth sets off a terrifying chain of events, beginning with blackmail and the judge's near-fatal breakdown. His only hope for recovery lies with his trusted friend and colleague, Sarah Kaufman. As Sarah begins to unravel the clues surrounding O'Brien's collapse, she is repeatedly confronted with the explosively paradoxical forces that defined life in the twenties: sexual promiscuity and self-righteous morality, Progressive reform and political corruption, racial tolerance and institutionalized bigotry. It was O'Brien's unique ability to strike a compromise between these forces that made him so popular...and, she realizes, so vulnerable to attack. And soon enough, Sarah, too, becomes a victim, a target of the blackmailer's hatred and revenge. But with the help of a story-hungry reporter to whom she becomes ambivalently attached, the unconventional Jewess sets out to free the judge and herself from their common enemy. How? The answer lurks within the hidden recesses of...O'Brien's desk. Based on true events, this suspenseful novel possesses a unique authenticity. With actual newspaper articles about the real O'Brien O'Donnell beginning each chapter, the story invites readers to solve the mystery along with the protagonist, piecing together a decades-traversing narrative, clip by clip. ONA RUSSELL holds a Ph.D. in literature from the University of California, San Diego. She has published scholarly articles and has taught in various colleges and universities in the San Diego area, currently at the UC San Diego Extension. She is working on her second novel.

Skip Case


R.E. Derouin - 2004
    When Jeffrey Byrne disappears on a business trip, police detective David Dean is assigned to the investigation. All the facts of the case point to an accidental drowning. Byrne left his lovely wife Cynthia, a sports star son and a comfortable, if boring, life. A few million dollars is missing, but that occurred miles away and is a different matter entirely. The case is officially closed, but as Dean's feelings for the missing man's wife grow, so does a nagging suspicion-is there more to the midnight disappearance? When it becomes apparent that someone is on the run, Dean must go outside his police duties, and the choices he faces will change his life forever.

Current River Redemption


Carol June Stover - 2004
    It s 1917 in rural Arkansas, and she s being raised by her strict grandfather, a Bible-thumping preacher and his sinister wife whom town folks call nuts. Their pious demands doom her to guilt-ridden failure and thou shalt hypocrisy, and a dark family secret rules their home. Amy struggles to keep up a smiling facade. When all efforts to please her grandparents fall short, she plots to run away with her sister. Instead, her teenage passion prevails and she marries at sixteen to leave home. Amy s journey is exciting at first, but turns sobering with a string of calamities including death and disease. Even worse, now she s trapped by the high expectations of two families. When her grandmother s dark secret unravels, Amy is devastated but must find the strength to go on. With determination that most adults couldn t muster, she brings love and hope back into her life."

Body Traffic


Alex Domokos - 2004
    But Stan soon finds himself working the meaner streets of the city, exposing a mess of lies and dirty dealings at a national forensic lab.