Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.

    I Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) 12 stories: The .. 1 Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers2 Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question3 Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will4 Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag5 Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker6 Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention7 Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran8 Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste9 Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head10 Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach11 Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face"12 Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba"II Hangman's Holiday (1933) 4 stories: The ..1 Image in the Mirror"2 Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey"3 Queen's Square"4 Necklace of Pearls"III In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939)1 In the Teeth of the Evidence2 Absolutely Elsewhere"IV Striding Folly (1972)1 Striding Folly2 The Haunted Policeman3 Talboys* Sayers, Lord Peter and God by Carolyn Heilbrun* Greedy Night, A Parody by E. C. Bentley

    Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense -- stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination. A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffery Deaver's most beloved character, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance. Diverse, provocative, eerie and inspired, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits the amazing range and signature plot twists that have earned him the title "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People). With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe, these beautifully crafted pieces, never before compiled in one volume, pulse with subtle intrigue and Deaver's incomparable imagination.

    This funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten, author of the Irene Huss investigations, features two-never-before translated stories that will keep you laughing all the way to the retirement home.Ever since her darling father’s untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family’s spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract. That was how Maud learned that good things can come from tragedy. Now in her late eighties, Maud contents herself with traveling the world and surfing the net from the comfort of her father’s ancient armchair. It’s a solitary existence, but she likes it that way.Over the course of her adventures—or misadventures—this little bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud’s apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors. But when the local authorities are called to investigate a murder in her apartment complex, will Maud be able to avoid suspicion, or will Detective Inspector Irene Huss see through her charade?

    And The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is the type of story–swift, twisted, hilarious, somehow hopeful—that only he could dream up.The fact is, whether it’s a dog hit by a train or an old lady who had a heart attack on the can, someone has to clean up the nasty mess. And that someone is Webster Fillmore Goodhue, who just may be the least likely person in Los Angeles County to hold down such a gig. With his teaching career derailed by tragedy, Web hasn’t done much for the last year except some heavy slacking. But when his only friend in the world lets him know that his freeloading days are over, and he tires of taking cash from his spaced-out mom and refuses to take any more from his embittered father, Web joins Clean Team—and soon finds himself sponging a Malibu suicide’s brains from a bathroom mirror, and flirting with the man’s bereaved and beautiful daughter.Then things get weird: The dead man’s daughter asks a favor. Her brother’s in need of somebody who can clean up a mess. Every cell in Web’s brain tells him to turn her down, but something else makes him hit the Harbor Freeway at midnight to help her however he can. Is it her laugh? Her desperate tone of voice? The chance that this might be history’s strangest booty call? Whatever it is, soon enough it’s Web who needs the help when gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep. What’s the deal? Is it something to do with what he cleaned up in that motel room in Carson? Or is it all about the brewing war between rival trauma cleaners? Web doesn’t have a clue, but he’ll need to get one if he’s going to keep from getting his face kicked in. Again. And again. And again.Full of black humor, stunning violence, singular characters, and neon dialogue, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is classic Charlie Huston: a wild ride that’ll leave you breathless and shaken, grinning and begging for more.

    Long suffering under Christopher's unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening. Could it have been the ne'er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister's trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together? No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only the very best thriller writers could achieve.

     J. D. Robb's In Death novels have been praised as "Law & Order: SVU-in the future" (Entertainment Weekly). Now, together for the first time in one volume, are three stories that spotlight Lieutenant Eve Dallas doing what she does best: solving crime with skill, integrity, and passion. Eternity in Death A seductive killer is luring in victims with a promise of the impossible-immortality. Eve Dallas must strip away the fantasy to catch the coldhearted madman. Ritual in Death Eve is plunged into the violent aftermath of a ritualistic murder-and into the mind of an alleged witness who can't remember a thing to save his life. Missing in Death When a woman disappears from a New York City ferry, it's a case that only Eve Dallas can solve- because the woman didn't jump, and yet she's not on board.

    A series of brutal murders has occurred, and, as Ackroyd leads us down London's dark streets, the sense of time and place becomes overwhelmingly immediate and real. We experience the sights and sounds of the English music halls, smell the smells of London slums, hear the hooves of horses on the cobblestone streets, and attend the trial of Elizabeth Cree, a woman accused of poisoning her husband but who may be the one person who knows the truth about the murders.

    The voices here include  professional crime solvers who take you from the mean  streets of V.I. Warshawski's  Chicago in a case of music and murder... to the  California freeway where Kinsey Millhone's beloved VW  skids into a shooting... to the gang-held turf of  Sharon says mum's the word. And then there are  mothers, grandmothers, battered wives, and social  workers -- ordinary women in extraordinary situations  whose voices reveal contemporary life as seen  through a woman's eye. From the opening tale of a girl  down-and-out in London and what she steals from a  corpse... to the final story of a summer vacation  in the Berkshires, complete with romance and  sudden death... this unique collection brings us great  mystery writing that engages both our intellects  and our hearts.Lucky Dip - Liza CodyFull Circle - Sue GraftonBenny's Space - Marcia MullerThe Puppet - Dorothy Salisbury DavisThe Scar - Nancy PickardMurder Without a Text - Amanda CrossDiscards - Faye KellermanGetting to Know You - Antonio FraserA Match Made in Hell - Julie SmithTheft of the Poet - Barbara WilsonDeath and Diamonds - Susan DunlapKill the Man for Me - Mary WingsThe Cutting Edge - Marilyn WallaceLooking for Thelma - Gillian SlowoDeborah's Judgment - Margaret MaronA Man's Home - Shelley SingerHer Good Name - Carolyn G. HartGhost Station - Carolyn WheatWhere Are You, Monica? - Maria Antonia OliverSettled Score - Sara ParetskyThat Summer at Quichiquois - Dorothy B. Hughes

    Published in crime magazines, composed for events, broadcast on radio, they all share the best qualities of his phenomenally popular Rebus novels.Brought together for the first time, and including brand new material, this is the ultimate Rebus short-story collection and a must-have book for crime lovers and for Ian's millions of fans alike.No Rankin aficionado can go without it.

    This modern classic continues to be a touchstone of historical suspense fiction for readers everywhere.The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over.Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences.

    and no evidence.Dead Famous is a killer read from Ben Elton – Reality TV as you've never seen it before.

    For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago. These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster

    THEY THOUGHT WRONG.It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she'd been shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she'll get to the bottom of what's been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way...

    Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Celine, this novel demonstrates Bukowski's own brand of humour and realism, opening up a landscape of seamy Los Angeles.