Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Robert van Gulik, William Faulkner, Dashiell Hammett, Edmund Cripn, Raymond Chandler, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout, Ray Bradbury, P.D. James, Donald Westlake, and Ed McBain. From Zangwill's 1892 classic The Big Bow Mystery to James's never-before-published “The Murder of Santa Clause,” these detective stories offer every kind of tension, shock and intrigue—a century's worth of excitement.The New York Times has called Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels “the best series of detective novels by an American,” and The Chill is vintage Archer. His investigation of the disappearance of a bride on her honeymoon leads him to a small southern California college and to three related murders spinning two decades and half a continent.In Ruth Rendell's Death Nothes, Inspector Wexford is called upon to investigate the accidental death of a world-famous flutist. As he probes the case, he discovers false identities, odd coincidences, and the certainty that the death was no accident, but a meticulously planned murder.Dashiell Hammett's private eye Sam Spade appears only in The Maltese Falcon—and in three short stories, “A Man Called Spade,” “They Can Only Hang You Once,” and “Too Many Have Lived.” All three are included here—together for the first time in decades.Featuring Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlow, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey, and the formidable Ellery Queen, Great Detectives assembles the star sleuths of the last century and a dazzling array of tales—the best by the best.Contents: Foreword / David Willis McCullough — The Big Bow Mystery—Israel Zangwill — The Queen’s Square—Dorothy L. Sayers — The Invisible Man—G. K. Chesterton — The Girl in the Train—Agatha Christie — The Murder on the Lotus Pond—Robert van Gulik — Hand Upon the Waters—William Faulkner— The Sam Spade Stories—Dashiell Hammett— A Man Called Spade—Dashiell Hammett — They Can Only Hang You Once—Dashiell Hammett — Too Many Have Lived—Dashiell Hammett — The Hunchback Cat—Edmund Crispin — Trouble is My Business—Raymond Chandler — The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln’s Clue—Ellery Queen — See No Evil—Rex Stout — Yesterday I Lived!—Ray Bradbury — The Chill—Ross Macdonald — The Murder of Santa Claus—P. D. James — Never Shake a Family Tree—Donald E. Westlake — Death Notes—Ruth Rendell — Sadie When She Died—Ed McBain

     A Soupçon of Poison (Kat Holloway Victorian Mysteries) Kat Holloway, a young cook who is highly sought after by the wealthy of Victorian London, becomes embroiled in murder and must clear her name. Only the mysterious Daniel McAdam, who is much more than he seems, can come to her aid. Blood Debts (Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries) Leonidas, freedman, once the most popular gladiator in Rome and champion of the games, now must fight for his life outside the arena. A man who owed him money was murdered, and Leonidas is a prime suspect. With the assistance of Cassia, daughter of a Greek scribe who has been bestowed upon him as his slave, Leonidas fights for justice in the back lanes of Imperial Rome. The Necklace Affair (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries) Captain Lacey agrees to help a society matron discover what has become of her cherished diamond necklace and to clear her maid, who has been arrested for its theft. Lacey quickly becomes enmeshed in scandal and past secrets, and finds himself competing with the underworld criminal, James Denis, for the necklace's retrieval. This collection includes three novellas of about 25,000-30,000 words each.

    Writing short stories takes “Skill. Discipline. Knowledge of the form while not being formulaic,” contends Louise Penny in her introduction. “In a short story there is nowhere to hide. Each must be original, fresh, inspired.” Originality is just what’s in store for readers of the twenty clever, creative selections in The Best American Mystery Stories 2018. There’s no hiding from a Nigerian confidence game, a drug made of dinosaur bones, a bombing at an oil company, a reluctant gunfighter in the Old West, and the many other scams, dangers, and thrills lurking in its suspenseful pages.  The Best American Mystery Stories 2018 includes T. C. Boyle, James Lee Burke, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Charlaine Harris, Andrew Klavan, Martin Limón, Joyce Carol Oates, and others.

    Great new holiday cozies by two well-loved authors THREE... fun full-length whodunits that will make you want to ignore the frost and snow outdoors and snuggle in with a thick blanket and a cup of sweet cocoa! A Little Taste of Murder-–First in the NEW Brightwater Bay series-- A dead car, a vacation that’s really all about running away, and a guy face down on the steps to her rented cottage make Claire crave home. Even the promise of hopping a ferry for the beautiful San Juan Islands seems like an impossibility when everyone is trying to point fingers at each other. Right in the middle of it all, Miranda has to convince the tight-knit town that she’s not the murderer, even if the clues tell another, horrible story.Cookies and Catastrophe--The 2nd Chance Diner is ready for Christmas! Rose has taken up knitting and has produced scarfs enough for half the town. The windows are painted with fake snow, the menu has added pumpkin and peppermint in all their forms. They’re even having a Christmas cookie bake-off. Things take a sinister turn when one of the bakers turns up dead. Was it the competition run amok? Was it some secret crime underbelly of Silver Falls? Maybe the gossip is off, and it was just a terrible accident? Rose decides that she won’t have another event at her diner ruined and decides to investigate. With the snarky Zee in tow, the two of them gossip their way through the murder while trying to avoid Rose’s budding romance—the detective who wants neither of them involved. Winter Storms and Deadly Thorns--The year is 1901, and Katherine, a wealthy scion of a powerful Boston family has just buried her father. She is distraught, but her terror is only beginning when she learns that he was killed by those she thought she could trust. Now, she must wrest her life back from the brink of destruction with only the help from her failing grandfather and an orphaned houseboy. Will they succeed, or will her family’s legacy be irrevocably cast into shadow. Set within the Red Pine Falls cozy mystery series, this prequel explains the origin of the Morgan Family Treasure and the legend of Kat Morgan herself.

    Then in the twinkling of an eye, goes its rich and eldely owner. and, for the grand finale, both reappear--each as dead as the other.TRICK II--From the House of Darkness issues more bafflement. In total darkness and from a distance of twelve feet, four bullets are pumped within an inch of each other into a spectator's back. A feat utterly impossible to perform--yet brazenly and undeniably done.TRICK III-- The piece de resistance. This time it's an entire house, a real house, a solid house which Ellery Queen had been in only the day before...vanished from the face of the earth. And in its place, one of the most incredible conundrums ever to face the master crime solver.* The Lamp of God (Detective Story, October 1935 as House of Haunts)* ...The Treasure Hunt (Detective Story, 1935)* ...The Hollow Dragon (Redbook, December 1936)* ...The House of Darkness (The American Magazine, February 1935)* ...The Bleeding Portrait (original title: "The Gramatan Mystery"* Man Bites Dog (Blue Book, June, 1939)* Long Shot (Blue Book, September 1939)* Mind Over Matter (Blue Book, October 1939)* The Trojan Horse (Blue Book, December 1939)

    J. Box.C. J. Box , #1 New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Joe Pickett series, selects the best short mystery and crime fiction of the year in this annual “treat for crime-fiction fans” (Library Journal).

    King illuminates the hidden corners of her beloved Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series in this dynamic short story collection.In nine short stories, seven of which have never previously been available in print, and one brand-new, never-before-seen Sherlock Holmes mystery available together for the first time Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand. At the heart of the collection is a prequel novella that begins with England’s declaration of war in 1914. As told in Mary Russell’s teenage diaries, the whip-smart girl investigates familial mysteries, tracks German spies through San Francisco, and generally delights with her extraordinary mind until an unimaginable tragedy strikes.Here too is the case of a professor killed by a swarm of bees; Mrs Hudson’s investigation of a string of disappearing household items and a lifelong secret; a revealing anecdote about a character integral to The God of the Hive; the story of Mary’s beloved Uncle Jake and a monumental hand of cards; and a series of postcards in which Mary searches for her missing husband, Sherlock Holmes. Last but not least, fans will be especially thrilled by Mary's account of her decision, at age ninety-two, to publish her memoirs and how she concluded that Ms. King should be the one to introduce her voice to the world.

    In a wry send-up of the classic “locked room” puzzle, an Egyptian sage ponders the mystery of a locked tomb. In another tale, a Roman slave’s investigation of a theft leads him to people in very high places. Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin has been resurrected for a new adventure, as have historical figures, from William Shakespeare—hot on the trail of Christopher Marlowe's murderer—to Samuel Johnson, with Boswell playing his Dr. Watson! (And speaking of Watson… the wizard of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes himself, appears in an original story written by the son of Arthur Conan Doyle!) These 23 tales comprise a mixed bag of delicious crime capers designed to tickle the fancy of any dedicated mystery buff.Contents: The locked tomb mystery / Elizabeth Peters — The thief versus King Rhampsinitus / Herodotus — Socrates solves a murder / Brèni James — Mightier than the sword / John Maddox Roberts — The treasury thefts / Wallace Nichols — A Byzantine mystery / Mary Reed and Eric Mayer — He came with the rain / Robert van Gulik — The High King’s sword / Peter Tremayne — The price of light / Ellis Peters — The confession of Brother Athelstan / Paul Harding — The witch’s tale / Margaret Frazer — Father Hugh and the deadly scythe / Mary Monica Pulver — Leonardo da Vinci, detective / Theodore Mathieson — A sad and bloody hour / Joe Gores — The Christmas Masque / S. S. Rafferty — Murder lock’d in / Lillian de la Torre — Captain Nash and the Wroth inheritance / Raymond Butler — The Doomdorf mystery / Melville Davisson Post — Murder in the Rue Royale / Michael Harrison — The gentleman from Paris / John Dickson Carr — The Golden Nugget poker game / Edward D. Hoch — The case of the Deptford horror / Adrian Conan Doyle — Five rings in Reno / R. L. Stevens — Afterword : Old-time detection / Arthur Griffiths

    "How in Tartarus," cried Flambeau, "did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?" -- "Oh, one's little flock, you know!" said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. "When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets." Not long after he published Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton moved from London to Beaconsfield, and met Father O'Connor. O'Connor had a shrewd insight to the darker side of man's nature and a mild appearance to go with it--and together those came together to become Chesterton's unassuming Father Brown. Chesterton loved the character, and the magazines he wrote for loved the stories. The Innocence of Father Brown was the first collection of them, and it's a great lot of fun.

    King, author of the New York Times-bestselling Mary Russell series (in which Holmes plays a co-starring role), and Leslie S. Klinger, editor of the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, have assembled a stellar group of contemporary authors from a variety of genres and asked them to create new stories inspired by that canon. Inside you ll find Holmes in times and places previously unimagined, as well as characters who have themselves been affected by the tales of Sherlock Holmes. The game is afoot again!

    Dalgliesh is drawn into a case that is "pure Agatha Christie." . . . A "pedantic, respectable, censorious" clerk's secret taste for pornography is only the first reason he finds for not coming forward as a witness to a murder . . . A best-selling crime novelist describes the crime she herself was involved in fifty years earlier . . . Dalgliesh's godfather implores him to reinvestigate a notorious murder that might ease the godfather's mind about an inheritance, but which will reveal a truth that even the supremely upstanding Adam Dalgliesh will keep to himself. Each of these stories is as playful as it is ingeniously plotted, the author's sly humor as evident as her hallmark narrative elegance and shrewd understanding of some of the most complex--not to say the most damning--aspects of human nature. A treat for P. D. James's legions of fans and anyone who enjoys the pleasures of a masterfully wrought whodunit.From the Hardcover edition.

    Among the first-rate short mysteries in this collection, the brand-new "Garden of Eden" and "Open House" feature the famous sleuthing duo Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. "Bull's-Eye" introduced Cindy Decker to the crime-fiction world, and "Mr. Barton's Head Case" appears here for the very first time in English. In addition, two rare personal essays allow readers glimpses into Kellerman's private life, revealing her true grit in "Small Miracles" and childhood memories of working in her father's deli in the exquisite "Summer of My Womanhood." Compiled at last in one volume, the seventeen pieces in this book feature new introductions by the author and contribute to a unique, compelling portrait of one of America's top masters of suspense. A must-have collection for all mystery fans, The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights showcases how ordinary everyday experiences can be the genesis of extraordinary tales that unveil the darkest sins and secrets of the human heart.

    Ridley Pearson traces a famous author of horror tales who becomes trapped in a real one after his wife vanishes while jogging. Joyce Carol Oates travels to a New Jersey racetrack where the animals that break down are of the two-legged type. Lawrence Block tells the story of Keller, a hitman for hire who happens to live in Greenwich Village, loves spicy food, and collects stamps as a hobby. And Scott Wolven plunges us into the world of an ex-con who takes a job at a private and very illegal Nevada racetrack where each day millions are won and lost. Mostly lost.As Carl Hiaasen notes in his introduction, “The stories in this collection would do honor to any anthology of short literature. More than transcending the genre of crime, they blow away its nebulous boundaries.” The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 is a powerful collection certain to delight mystery aficionados and all lovers of great fiction.

    The only collection of Ngaio Marsh's short stories, published to celebrate her centenary.Contents: IntroductionEssays: Roderick AlleynPortrait of TroyCases of Roderick Alleyn [list]Short cases of Roderick Alleyn: Death on the airI can find my way outChapter and verse: the little Copplestone mysteryOther stories: Hand in the sandCupid mirrorFool about moneyMoreporkTelescript: Evil liverComments: the case with five solutionsNewly discovered: The figure quoted.

    Nick and Nora Charles. Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. That last pair is the creation of beloved mystery writer Anne Perry, who, as the editor of Odd Partners and in conjunction with Mystery Writers of America, has enlisted some of today’s best mystery writers to craft all-new stories about unlikely duos who join forces—sometimes unwillingly—to solve beguiling whodunits.From Perry’s own entry, in which an English sergeant and his German counterpart set out to find a missing soldier during World War I, to a psychological tale of an airplane passenger who wakes up unsure of who he is and must enlist his fellow passengers to help him remember, to a historical mystery about a misguided witch-hunt and the unlikely couple that brings it down, each story deals in the wonderful complexities of human interactions. And not just human interactions: Honey bees avenge the death of their beekeeper, a wandering cat brings home clues to a murder, and a gray wolf and a fly fisherman in the Minnesota woods try to protect their land from a brash billionaire.