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The Musical Comedy Crime (Scott Egerton)
by Anthony GilbertIt began with the theatre - and ended with drugs, blackmail and a decades old crime...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubMajor John Hillier is found dead in his flat, early one morning, in strange circumstances. Inspector Field traces the dead man's last movements and learns that, after breaking up a dinner party, he visited a remote suburban theatre to see a leading lady he didn't even know by sight.Field traces the Major's history back some years and finds himself entangled in a net of underworld intrigue in England and further afield. Drugs, blackmail and a crime years old all play their part in an affair that starts to attract wide attention.
The People Opposite
by Georges Simenon'You'll get used to things, you'll see. But you have to watch very carefully what you say and what you do.'Adil Bey is an outsider. Newly arrived as Turkish consul at a run-down Soviet port on the Black Sea, he receives only suspicion and hostility from the locals. His one intimacy is a growing, wary relationship with his Russian secretary Sonia, who he watches silently in her room opposite his apartment. But this is Stalin's world before the war, and nothing is as it seems. Georges Simenon's most starkly political work, The People Opposite is a tour de force of slow-burn tension.'Irresistible... read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss' Sunday Times
The Siamese Twin Mystery
by Ellery QueenA group of strangers are forced to take shelter in a remote house - and then the murders begin...'A new Ellery Queen book has always been something to look forward to' Agatha Christie'Ellery Queen is the American detective novel' Anthony BoucherWhen Ellery Queen and his father take shelter from wildfires in an isolated manor, they don't expect their detective skills to be required. But the next morning a body is discovered. The suspects include a society beauty, a highly secretive valet, and a pair of conjoined twins.When another murder follows, and the only clue is a torn playing card, Queen must use all his powers of deduction to unpick a web of alibis, motives and evidence, before the killer strikes again.
The Bellamy Trial
by Frances Noyes HartA scandalous murder trial reaches the heart of high society'An enthralling story' NEW YORK TIMESThe trial of Stephen Bellamy and Susan Ives, accused of murdering Bellamy's wife, lasts eight days. That's eight days of witnesses (some reliable, some not), eight days of cross-examination, and eight days of sensational courtroom theatrics lively enough to rouse the judge into frenzied calls for order. As each witness is brought to the stand, the mystery of the case only increases in all its sordid detail. By the time the closing arguments are made, the verdict shocks the entire courtroom.
The Body on the Beam (Scott Egerton)
by Anthony GilbertSuicide - or murder? The tiniest clue holds the answer. Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubWhen Florence Penny's body is found hanging from a beam in the bedsit she has been renting, it looks to Inspector Field like a case of suicide. Soon, though, he realises murder is the motive, and the discovery of a single pink bead among the disordered bedclothes leads him to prime suspect Charles Hobart.It's now up to Scott Egerton, Hobart's prospective brother-in-law, and an astute private inquiry agent named Gordon to establish Hobart's innocence . . .
The Egyptian Cross Mystery
by Ellery Queen'Murder on Christmas day' is the newspaper headline no one wanted to read...A true classic from the golden age of crime fiction.'Brilliant' PUBLISHERS WEEKLYWhen a small-town schoolteacher is discovered dead, beheaded, and tied to a T-shaped cross on December 25th, Ellery Queen is intrigued enough to take a closer look. But when he arrives, Queen is met with too few clues and too little evidence to produce a satisfactory verdict, even for a master sleuth such as himself, and so returns home, defeated.But when an identical murder occurs - followed by several more - Queen discovers a horrific connection to a strange cult. This is a disturbing puzzle unlike anything he's encountered before, and it will take all of his powers of deduction to uncover the killer.
The Hanging Captain
by Henry WadeSir Herbert Sterron is found dead, hanging by the neck from a curtain cord. He had good reason to want to kill himself, so nobody is unduly surprised.But then hints of foul play start to emerge: Sterron's wife, Griselda, was desperately unhappy with the marriage; and shocking evidence is uncovered that incriminates not just the County Sheriff but a Catholic priest.Now what looked to be a straightforward suicide is turning into something quite different - a complex case of murder . . .
Inspector French: Death on the Way (Collins Crime Club Ser.)
by Freeman Wills CroftsTo mark the publishing centenary of Freeman Wills Crofts, ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’, this is one of six classic crime novels being issued in 2020 featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television.
Inspector French: Sudden Death (Collins Crime Club Ser.)
by Freeman Wills CroftsTo mark the publishing centenary of Freeman Wills Crofts, ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’, this is one of six classic crime novels being issued in 2020 featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television.
Miss Pinkerton (The\hilda Adams Mysteries Ser. #1)
by Mary Roberts Rinehart'A literary celebrity with few rivals ... she wrote more bestselling novels ... over a longer period than almost any other American writer' WASHINGTON POSTEveryone agrees that Herbert Wynne wasn't the type to commit suicide. But he has been found, shot dead, the only other possible killer his bedridden aunt.Inspector Patton of the Homicide Division sees this as the perfect opportunity to send in Hilda Adams, a nurse with a very special talent for detection. But when the sleuthing nurse arrives at the mansion, she finds more intrigue than anyone outside could possibly have imagined - and a killer on the loose...
Murder by an Aristocrat (The\sarah Keate Mysteries Ser. #5)
by Mignon G EberhartAn aristocratic family hiding secrets - and murder.Classic crime from 'One of American's favourite writers' Mary Higgins Clark'Suspense to the very end' NEW YORK TIMESNurse Sarah Keate is no stranger to mystery - she has solved conspiracies and murders in places as varied as her once-sleepy hospital ward, a gothic mansion, and the Sand Hills of Nebraska. But the Thatchers are different. As close to aristocracy as an American family can get, one of their own requires Keate's care for a suspicious bullet wound to his right shoulder. A wound a relative insists was self-inflicted ...When the victim dies under even stranger circumstances, Keate knows that he was murdered. As the family closes ranks and struggles to keep its darkest secrets buried, Nurse Keate will stop at nothing to find the truth - but at what cost?
Peril at End House: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Poirot #8)
by Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery, reissued with a striking cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.
Sexuality and Gender in Fictions of Espionage: Spying Undercover(s)
by Ann ReaAn exploration of how espionage narratives give access to cultural conceptions of gender and sexuality before and following the Second World War, this book moves away from masculinist assumptions of the genre to offer an integrative survey of the sexualities on display from important characters across spy fiction. Topics covered include how authors mocked the traditional spy genre; James Bond as a symbol of pervasive British Superiority still anxious about masculinity; how older female spies act as queer figures that disturb the masculine mythology of the secret agent; and how the clandestine lives of agents described ways to encode queer communities under threat from fascism. Covering texts such as the Bond novels, John Le Carré's oeuvre (and their notable adaptations) and works by Helen MacInnes, Christopher Isherwood and Mick Herron, Sexuality and Gender in Fictions of Espionage takes stock of spy fiction written by women, female protagonists written by men, and probes the representations of masculinity generated by male authors. Offering a counterpoint to a genre traditionally viewed as male-centric, Sexuality and Gender in Fictions of Espionage proposes a revision of masculinity, femininity, queer identities and gendered concepts such as domesticity, and relates them to notions of nationality and the defence work conducted at crucial moments in history.
The Case Against Andrew Fane
by Anthony GilbertA grotesque murder and a mysterious woman lead to the most difficult choice of his life.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubAndrew Fane is faced with five years in prison for fraud, and a penniless future. When he appeals for help from his uncle his pleas go unanswered, but on visiting him Fane is welcomed by a mysterious and heavily veiled woman.When he finds his uncle's body, murdered in horrible and grotesque circumstances, she suddenly disappears leaving Fane faced with the dilemma of telling the police or covering his tracks . . .
The Dutch Shoe Mystery
by Ellery QueenA millionaire ... murdered as she was about to be saved...'A new Ellery Queen book has always been something to look forward to for many years now' Agatha Christie'Ellery Queen is the American detective story' New York TimesThe son of a police detective, Ellery Queen is no stranger to death, and has seen more than his fair share of dead bodies. Yet the thought of seeing a living person sliced open makes him ill. So when a doctor invites him to sit in on an operation, Queen braces himself. The patient is a millionaire in a diabetic coma. To prepare her for surgery, the hospital staff has stabilised her blood sugar level and wheeled her to the operating theatre - but just before the first incision, the doctors realise she is dead, strangled while lying unconscious.Now Ellery Queen moves from observer to detective in his most mysterious case yet.
The Grand Banks Café: Inspector Maigret #8 (Inspector Maigret #8)
by Georges Simenon David CowardA new translation of Georges Simenon's gripping novel set in an insular fishing community, book eight in the new Penguin Maigret series.It was indeed a photograph, a picture of a woman. But the face was completely hidden, scribbled all over in red ink. Someone had tried to obliterate the head, someone very angry. The pen had bitten into the paper. There were so many criss-crossed lines that not a single square millimetre had been left visible.On the other hand, below the head, the torso had not been touched. A pair of large breasts. A light-coloured silk dress, very tight and very low cut.Sailors don't talk much to other men, especially not to policemen. But after Captain Fallut's body is found floating near his trawler, they all mention the Evil Eye when they speak of the Ocean's voyage.Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as The Sailors' Rendezvous.'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent
The Murderer Invisible
by Philip WylieTwo lovers rush toward doom, as an unseen killer stalks the world. A novel of the fourth dimension's conquest of Earth.
No Friendly Drop (Inspector Poole Series)
by Henry WadeAt first it seems that Lord Henry Grayle has taken an overdose of sleeping medicine, but the autopsy reveals a tiny amount of scopolamine along with the draught - harmless in itself, but fatal when mixed . . .A poisoner with apparently expert knowledge is at work in the great house at Tassart. But from what motive, and how? Before he can find an answer to these questions, Detective Inspector John Poole is faced with a second, more horrible murder.And when there are shocking revelations both above and below stairs, Poole starts to see light breaking on the horizon.
Gladiator: The Enduring Classic That Inspired The Creators Of Superman! (Gateway Essentials #488)
by Philip WylieGladiator is the tale of Hugo Danner, a man endowed from birth with extraodinary strength and speed. But Danner is no altruist. He spends his life trying to cope with his abilities, becoming a sports hero in college, later a sideshow act, a war hero, never truly finding peace with himself.
Gone to Timbuctoo
by John PearsonFrom the author of All the Money in the World comes his thrilling debut novel.Not a tooth is knocked out, not a kidney bashed in… an outstanding thriller that rests on less obvious grounds. The characters are odd but rarely violent. Their aims are bizarre and their methods usually unorthodox. Their story is one of strange and constantly maintained suspense, based on a journey from Dakar to the River Niger and up through the remotest part of West Africa to Timbuctoo. The writing is witty and urbane, and the result is a thriller with all the vividness and authenticity of a sinister travel guide.Winner of the Author's Club First Novel Award."A first novel of exceptional brilliance - exciting, perceptive, wryly amusing." - Malcolm Muggeridge
Inspector French: Sir John Magill’s Last Journey (Inspector French Mystery #6)
by Freeman Wills CroftsFrom the Collins Crime Club archive, the sixth Inspector French novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.
Death at Four Corners (Scott Egerton)
by Anthony GilbertA cliff-top house, a body on the beach, a man who suspects his best friend...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubWhen Doctor Terence Ambrose visits Gervase Blount at Four Corners he notices the body of a man low down on a cliff near the house. His enquiries into the man's death point suspicion at several people, particularly his old friend from Balliol Gervase Blount himself. As he delves into the past a complicated web of intrigue is slowly exposed...
The Harry Palmer Quartet
by Len DeightonThe first four ‘Secret Files’ from the master of fictional espionage, Len Deighton, containing the international exploits of Britain’s uber-cool sixties spy, Harry Palmer, together in one e-bundle for the first time.
All the Tea in China: A Charlie Mortdecai novel (Mortdecai)
by Kyril BonfiglioliAll the Tea in China - a Mortdecai novel by Kyril Bonfiglioli, soon to be a major film starring Johnny Depp'One of the funniest writers ever' UncutAfter committing a crime anyone but a close relative might forgive, Karli Mortdecai Van Cleef leaves Holland double-quick with his uncle's buckshot lodged firmly in the seat of his breeches. Discretion being the least-idiotic part of valour he decides to hide far away in London, among the tea shops and opium dens. On savouring these Eastern delicacies and knowing an opportunity when he sups upon one, young Karli throws in his lot with an opium clipper bound for China's high seas.Life on the ocean waves, however, is full of perils for an officer and his sensitive digestive tract: mountainous waves, an encounter with a malodorous slave ship, the captain's wife's pulse-racingly brief wardrobe, several hordes of pirates, mutiny, the ship's cook's fondness for curry - to name but a few.All the Tea in China is a swaggering, rip-snorting, buckler-swashing tale about one of the men who - for a reasonable fee - made Britain great.'For those who have learnt to relish his elegant, nasty thrillers, Bonfiglioli is a name hard to forget. This farrago represents a change from the thrillers - a good clean salt-water yarn for the decadent' Irish Press'Shows his customary inventive comedy and zest for language' Sunday Times'Bonfiglioli deserves better than cult status' IndependentKyril Bonfiglioli was born on the south coast of England in 1928 of an English mother and Italo-Slovene father. After studying at Oxford and five years in the army, he took up a career as an art dealer, like his eccentric creation Charlie Mortdecai. He lived in Oxford, Lancashire, Ireland and Jersey, where he died in 1985. He wrote four Charlie Mortdecai novels, and a fifth historical Mortdecai novel (about a distinguished ancestor).
Lord Peter Wimsey: The Complete Short Stories
by Dorothy L SayersDiscover Dorothy L. Sayers' inimitable Golden Age detective in this newly published collection of the complete Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Presented in chronological order, these short stories see Lord Peter Wimsey bringing his trademark wit and unique detection skills to all manner of mysteries. From poisoned port to murder in fancy dress, Wimsey draws on his many skills - including his expertise in fine wine and appreciation of fine art - to solve cases far and wide, some even taking him to foreign countries and unexpected hiding places in pursuit of miscreants and murderers.Containing 21 stories taken from Lord Peter Views the Body, Hangman's Holiday, In the Teeth of the Evidence and Striding Folly, now published together for the first time in one volume, this is the ultimate collection for fans of classic detective fiction and Dorothy L. Sayers.'She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit.' P. D. James