Book picks similar to
Room 13 by Edgar Wallace


mystery
krimi
edgar-wallace
fiction

I'm Traveling Alone


Samuel Bjørk - 2013
    She is dressed in strange doll's clothes. Around her neck is an airline tag that says "I'm traveling alone." A special homicide unit in Oslo re-opens with veteran police investigator Holger Munch at the helm. Holger's first step is to persuade the brilliant but haunted investigator Mia Krüger to come back to the squad--she's been living on an isolated island, overcome by memories of her past. When Mia views a photograph of the crime scene and spots the number "1" carved into the dead girl's fingernail, she knows this is only the beginning. She'll soon discover that six years earlier, an infant girl was abducted from a nearby maternity ward. The baby was never found. Could this new killer have something to do with the missing child, or with the reclusive Christian sect hidden in the nearby woods?Mia returns to duty to track down a revenge-driven and ruthlessly intelligent killer. But when Munch's own six-year-old granddaughter goes missing, Mia realizes that the killer's sinister game is personal, and I'm Traveling Alone races to an explosive--and shocking--conclusion.

Was It Murder?


James Hilton - 1931
    In the manner typical of the Golden Age whodunnit, the solution is only presented in the final pages of the novel. Throughout the book, an amateur sleuth and a Scotland Yard detective vie with each other to solve the riddle, with only one of them successful in the end. It should be noted that Was It Murder? remained Hilton's only detective novel-a brief youthful foray into crime fiction he shares with writers such as C. S. Forester (Payment Deferred, 1926; Plain Murder, 1930) and C. P. Snow (Death Under Sail, 1932). Plot summary:Oakington is one of the lesser-known public schools in England, and Dr Roseveare, its headmaster, has been trying hard for seven years to improve its reputation. When, in the winter term of 1927-28, one of the pupils is killed in his sleep by an old gas fitting falling down from the ceiling he contacts Colin Revell, an Old Boy, to discreetly investigate the matter. Not entirely convinced that there was no foul play involved but unable to pin down a motive on anyone, Revell leaves again after a few weeks, and most of the evidence is destroyed by the installation of electricity in the whole building. A few months later Revell is shocked to learn that the deceased boy's brother has also died under mysterious circumstances-he seems to have jumped into the school's indoor swimming pool late at night after the water had been drained-and travels to Oakington of his own accord. Now it turns out that the closest relative of the two brothers, who have been orphans for years, is actually a teacher at Oakington, and that he stands to inherit a small fortune. At the same time Revell falls in love with that teacher's beautiful young wife. source: Wikipedia

Odds Against


Dick Francis - 1965
    Now, he has to go up against a field of thoroughbred criminals--and the odds are against him that he'll even survive.

The Jump


Martina Cole - 1995
    Georgio swears he's been set up and persuades Donna to help him escape.Implementing 'the jump' takes Donna into a twilight world she never believed existed - a world of brutal sex and casual violence. Finally, she is confronted by a series of shattering revelations that threaten not only everything she believes in but also, ultimately, her own life . . .

The Four Last Things


Andrew Taylor - 1997
    But everything starts to slip out of control when Angel steals her latest victim, Lucy Appleyard. Having massacred the innocents over the years, she now wants someone to know about it.

The Mask of Atreus


A.J. Hartley - 2005
    A secret room...in an obscure museum has become the final resting place of its proprietor, whose dead body lies surrounded by an astonishing collection of Greek antiquities--a treasure once looted from the Nazis.The face of death...A priceless Mycenaean death mask has been taken, along with the bones of a legendary hero thought to exist only in ancient myth.AN UNHOLY GRAIL OF EXTRAORDINARY POWERThe theft draws museum curator Deborah Miller into a terrifying web of murder, mystery, and devastating retribution by those whose dreams of glory remain undefeated...

Home Before Dark


Charles Maclean - 2009
    Frustrated with the police inquiry, Ed sets out to discover who killed her, & why. His quest brings him ever closer to the charming, lethal psychopath Ward, & his website, Home Before Dark.

Dead Beat


Val McDermid - 1992
    Warshawski has done for Chicago. As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of Leeds and Bradford. But little does she realize that finding Moira is a prelude to murder...

The Chemistry of Death


Simon Beckett - 2006
    Working as a simple country doctor, seeing his lost wife and daughter only in his dreams, David struggles to remain uninvolved when the corpse of a woman is found in the woods, a macabre sign from her killer decorating her body. In one horrifying instant, the quiet summer countryside that had been David’s refuge has turned malevolent—and suddenly there is no place to hide.The village of Manham is tight-knit, far from the beaten path. As a newcomer, Dr. Hunter is immediately a suspect. Once an expert in analyzing human remains, he reluctantly joins the police investigation—and when another woman disappears, it soon becomes personal. Because this time she is someone David knows, someone who has managed to penetrate the icy barrier around his heart. With a killer’s bizarre and twisted methods screaming out to him, with a brooding countryside beset with suspicion, David can feel the darkness gathering around him. For as the clock ticks down on a young woman’s life, David must follow a macabre trail of clues—all the way to its final, horrifying conclusion.

Broadchurch


Erin Kelly - 2014
    He, escaping the spectacular failure of his last case, is having trouble finding his way into this tight-knit community wary of new faces. But professional rivalry aside, both detectives are about to receive some terrible news: 11-year-old Danny Latimer has been found murdered on the beach.For Ellie it's a personal blow; Danny was her older son's best friend. She can't believe anyone in Broadchurch would ever have harmed him. But Alec considers everyone, even Danny's parents, suspect in his death. It's a living nightmare for everyone involved…even before the press arrive and start stirring up the secrets every town member keeps hidden behind closed doors.An intimate portrait of a town and the ordinary grievances that have slowly simmered for years before boiling over in an unthinkable crime, this remarkable adaptation of the hit television show Broadchurch tells the story of a shattered family, a reeling town, and the two imperfect detectives trying to bring them answers.

French Kiss


Eric Van Lustbader - 1988
    Two men have aleady been murdered for the Pray Duaw, and now their brothers, New York lawyer, Chris Haye, and NYPD detective Steve Guarda, are ready to face the savage madman who will stop at nothing to destroy them."Suspense that is sustained to the final page."LOS ANGELES TIMESFrom the Paperback edition.

Entanglement


Zygmunt Miloszewski - 2007
    But this case changes everything. Because of it he meets Monika Grzelka, a young journalist whose charms prove difficult to resist, and he discovers the frightening power of certain esoteric therapeutic methods. The shocking videos of the sessions lead him to an array of possible scenarios. Could one of the patients have become so absorbed by his therapy role-playing that he murdered Telak? Szacki’s investigation leads him to an earlier murder, before the fall of Communism.And why is the Secret Police suddenly taking an interest in all this? As Szacki uncovers each piece of the puzzle, facts emerge that he’d be better off not knowing, for his own safety.

The Getaway


Jim Thompson - 1958
    But when for the first time in Doc's long criminal career, his shot doesn't hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn't complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson's novel set the bar for every heist story that followed--but as Thompson's proved time and again, nobody's ever done it better than the master.

A Judgement in Stone


Ruth Rendell - 1977
    Valentine's Day massacre?On Valentine's Day, four members of the Coverdale family--George, Jacqueline, Melinda and Giles--were murdered in the space of 15 minutes. Their housekeeper, Eunice Parchman, shot them, one by one, in the blue light of a televised performance of Don Giovanni. When Detective Chief Superintendent William Vetch arrests Miss Parchman two weeks later, he discovers a second tragedy: the key to the Valentine's Day massacre hidden within a private humiliation Eunice Parchman has guarded all her life.  A brilliant rendering of character, motive, and the heady discovery of truth, A Judgement in Stone is among Ruth Rendell's finest psychological thrillers.

Runway Zero-Eight


Arthur Hailey - 1958
    At least five passengers are sick. Both pilots are unconscious and in serious condition. My name is George Spenser. I am a passenger on this airplane. Correction: I was a passenger. I am now the pilot. What happened? Who was the new pilot? Would anyone reach the ground alive?