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The Ponson Case (Detective Club Crime Classics)
by Freeman Wills CroftsFrom the Collins Crime Club archive, the forgotten second novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’ and recognised as one of the ‘big four’ Golden Age crime authors.
Surrender Value (Simon Kenworthy #6)
by John Buxton HiltonWhy has John Everard, a gentle-mannered teacher of old-fashioned outlook surrendered an insurance policy and vanished? Is it really because, as he has told his wife, he fears a deterioration in his health and wants to go out ‘living it up’ in his own way? Have the tensions in a permissive sixth form college got him down? Did other women in his life really matter to him? Or has he absconded with one of his pupils, prim little Susan Shires, who has also disappeared? Why has Sue dumped her bag and booked a double room at a sleazy London hotel? Kenworthy, now retired from the Yard, is called in by Mrs Everard and finds himself exploring a world of some strange values. Meanwhile, reports on missing persons all over the country are being collated. Are Everard and Sue indulging in love-hate tantrums up an down the Norfolk coast? Or are they in the West Country, being turned away by suspicious landladies? The mystery is not simplified when a girl’s body in Sue’s clothes is found in two different places. Kenworthy, working for a change as unofficial assistant to his former side-kick Shiner Wright, breaks this one by his familiar mixture of leaping imagination, bizarre deception – and by his instinct for the motives behind human eccentricities.
Death Comes to Pemberley: Enhanced Edition
by P. D. JamesThe world is classic Jane Austen. The mystery is vintage P.D. James. This enhanced ebook of Death Comes to Pemberley contains video and audio that can be viewed and heard on a tablet device such as the iPad. There is a video interview with P. D. James, a longer audio interview, and an audio author reading. The year is 1803, and Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband Bingley live nearby and the orderly world of Pemberley seems unassailable. But all this is threatened when, on the eve of the annual autumn ball, the guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland. As it pulls up, Lydia Wickham - Elizabeth Bennet's younger, unreliable sister - stumbles out screaming that her husband has been murdered. Two great literary minds - master of suspense P.D. James and literary icon Jane Austen - come together in Death Comes to Pemberley, a bestselling historical crime fiction tribute to Pride and Prejudice. Conjuring the world of Elizabeth Bennet and Mark Darcy and combining the trappings of Regency British society with a classic murder mystery, James creates a delightful mash-up that will intrigue any Janeite. From the bestselling author of The Murder Room, Children of Men and A Certain Justice, comes a wonderful mixture of the nation's greatest romance and best-loved crime fiction. In 2013, this novel was adapted as a miniseries by the BBC, starring Matthew Rhys as Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jenna Coleman as Lydia Wickham.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles: The First Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mystery Ser.)
by Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie’s first ever murder mystery. Includes an introduction by Christie archivist John Curran, and the original unpublished courtroom chapter as an alternate ending to the novel.
Trent’s Last Case (Detective Club Crime Classics)
by E. C. BentleyWritten in reaction to what Bentley perceived as the sterility and artificiality of the detective fiction of his day, Trent's Last Case features Philip Trent, an all-too-human detective who not only falls in love with the chief suspect but reaches a brilliant conclusion that is totally wrong.
Crime on My Hands: A George Sanders Mystery (Ipl Library Of Crime Classics)
by George SandersDescription George Sanders is frankly bored. Lionized the world over as the ultimate on-screen bounder, cad and ladies' man, he is in serious danger of becoming typecast as the particular kind of gentleman sleuth seen in his long-running film series The Saint and The Falcon. George would actually be quite happy at home, tinkering with his inventions, but if he must act he wants something he can sink his teeth into. Now George's firecracker agent, Melva, has got him the part of a lifetime - the lead in a hot new western, starring alongside screen goddess Carla Folsom. But when shooting begins, someone takes the term a little too literally, and the dead body of an extra is found. That wasn't in the script - and neither was George's unwilling debut as real-life private detective, only this time he's also been cast as the police's number one suspect. Before you can shout 'action' the game is afoot and the victims start to mount up, with George remaining just one step ahead of the law until the final denouement. Crime on My Hands, the debut George Sanders mystery, is a suspenseful and highly entertaining backstage crime novel, which perfectly captures the wit and charm of George Sanders, especially his quintessentially polished, sardonic dialogue. Anyone who loves All Abour Eve, or enjoys golden age crime fiction, will find Crime on My Hands irresistible. Praise 'Lots of fun and a sufficiency of bloodshed.' New York Times 'Fast and funny.' Saturday Review 'A highly readable thriller with laughs on the side.' New York Herald-Tribune
Stranger At Home: A George Sanders Mystery
by George SandersFour years. That's how long it took Californian playboy Michael Vickers to regain his memory and come home. Four years. That's how long Vickers spent battered, bruised and south of the border, following the attack which sought to end his life - all because he'd mistaken a mortal enemy for a friend. Or a lover. And now Vickers is looking for four years' worth of payback from the devil responsible for his near-demise. But within days of Vickers' return, a murder attempt is made on one of his suspects - and this time it succeeds. Enter a very shrewd detective, whose eyes are on everyone. Especially Vickers. In Stranger at Home, the second George Sanders mystery novel, we are taken to a world removed from the backstage comic mystery of Crime on My Hands, but nonetheless a milieu very familiar to the actor - Southern California in the 1940's. A world of stars and millionaires, but also vice, organized crime and shattered dreams. And Michael Vickers himself is a hero very much after the mould of Sanders' irresistibly attractive screen persona - gilded and charming, languid and pleasure-seeking... but with a steely, remorseless core.
Stamboul Train
by Graham GreeneWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENSCarleton Myatt meets Coral Musker, a naïve English chorus girl, aboard the Orient Express as it heads across Europe to Constantinople. As their relationship develops, they find themselves caught up in the fates of the other passengers and drawn into a web of espionage, murder and lies...
The Hound Of The Baskervilles (PDF)
by Arthur Conan DoyleOne of the most iconic and memorable of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. A terrible beast, a house wreathed in fog, treacherous moorland and a cold-blooded murder - these are the things Sherlock and his faithful assistant Dr Watson are up against. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES gripped readers when it was first published and continues to endure today.
Dead Man's Quarry: A Golden Age Mystery
by Ianthe JerroldDescription"the murderer was also riding a bicycle... why, if we can trace it, we shall have the murderer!"On a cycling holiday in the idyllic Wales-Herefordshire border countryside, Nora and her friends make a gruesome discovery - the body of their missing comrade at the bottom of a quarry. But an apparently accidental fall turns out to have been murder - for the man was shot in the head.Fortunately John Christmas, last seen in The Studio Crime (1929), is on hand with his redoubtable forensic assistant, Sydenham Rampson. Between them they shed light on an intricate pattern of crimes... and uncover a most formidable foe.Dead Man's Quarry is the second of Ianthe Jerrold's classic and influential whodunits, originally published in 1930. This edition, the first for more than eighty years, features a new introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
The Studio Crime: A Golden Age Mystery
by Ianthe JerroldDescription "He is dead. It is quite impossible that he should have killed himself. He has been murdered. About half an hour ago. By a long knife passed under the left shoulder-blade into the heart."On a fog-bound London night, a soirée is taking place in the studio of artist Laurence Newtree. The guests include an eminent psychiatrist, a wealthy philanthropist and an observant young friend of Newtree's, John Christmas. Before the evening is over, Newtree's neighbour is found stabbed to death in what appears to be an impossible crime. But a mysterious man in a fez has been spotted in the fog asking for highly unlikely directions...The resourceful John Christmas takes on the case, unofficially, leading to an ingenious solution no one could have expected, least of all Inspector Hembrow of Scotland Yard.The Studio Crime is the first of Ianthe Jerrold's classic whodunit novels, originally published in 1929. Its impact led to her membership of the elite Detection Club, and its influence can be felt on later works by John Dickson Carr, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L. Sayers among others.This edition, the first in over eighty years, features a new introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Praise for The Studio Crime"The best out of a new batch of detective stories." J.B. Priestley in The Evening News"Very carefully constructed, is very well written, and keeps its secret until the end." The Morning Post"Can be most heartily recommended to those who like a good mystery story written in good English." Newcastle Chronicle"The book is a pleasantly written record of an admirable piece of detective work." Times Literary Supplement
The Enduring Flame
by Denise RobinsA sweeping tale from the original Queen of Romance, originally published in 1929 and now available in eBook for the first time. Joanna is distraught when Richard leaves. It is difficult to be brave, knowing he is returning to his wife. The decision seemed right; but alone now, she writhes in the torment of separation. The vast wastes of snow and spruce stretch out into the black of the moonless Arctic night and Joanna loses herself in the overwhelming expanse...Suddenly, a sled pulls up to the cabin and stops. A man in furs jumps off and shakes back the hood to reveal a face that Joanna once knew... a face that now makes her heart beat faster in terror.
Luke
by Noel StreatfeildAndrew and Freda Dawson are enjoying a happy, second marriage in the English countryside with their collective brood of three children. But their idyllic existence is shattered when Freda finds her husband dead one evening . . .It becomes apparent his death was not from natural causes and all evidence points to suicide, but there are lingering doubts about Freda’s role in the death . . . and about the possible role her precocious son Luke could have played.Carnegie Medal winning author Noel Streatfeild delves into the cracks of a seemingly perfect marriage in her interwar family novel, Luke.
The Silent Speaker
by Noel StreatfeildHelen Blair is famous for her dinner parties. She hand picks her guests to ensure that every evening is a success, and tonight’s will be the most memorable dinner party of all . . . An hour after the sparkling evening comes to a close, one of the women takes her own life. There was no indication of her unhappiness during the evening, and this unexpected suicide sends shockwaves through the other guests.As each guest tries to uncover the truth and motive behind this death the narrative unfolds like a multi-stranded detective story. The Silent Speaker is a tragic and enthralling story of suicide from Carnegie Medal winning author, Noel Streatfeild.
The Malady in Madeira: A Julia Probyn Mystery, Book 7 (The Julia Probyn Mysteries)
by Ann BridgeThe last thing recently widowed Julia Probyn expects to find on the lush and charming island of Madeira is a clue to her husband's mysterious death, for Colonel Jamieson perished somewhere in the wilds of Central Asia while on a top-secret mission for British Intelligence. No sooner does Julia arrive at Madeira with her infant son and his devoted Nanny, however, than a series of strange, sinister, but apparently unconnected events begin to occur.Suspecting a Cold War plot, Julia summons her cousin, Colin Munro, and together they might just be able to blow the entire Russian scheme wide open. The Malady in Madeira, book seven in the Julia Probyn Mysteries, is a high adventure interwoven with all the sights, sounds and scenes of fecund Madeira.
Trouble is My Business
by Raymond ChandlerTrouble is My Business is a collection of four riveting novellas from Raymond Chandler. In the first of the four cases in Trouble is My Business, LA PI Philip Marlowe is offered a job that leaves a bad taste in the mouth: smearing a girl who's 'got her hooks into a rich man's pup'. Before too long Marlowe's up to his neck in corpses and cops and he's taken pity on the girl. There's nothing like making trouble of your business . . .The four novellas collected here are quintessential Raymond Chandler: slick, crystal-clear writing that pins the reader to the seat and won't let go until the last page is turned.Praise for Raymond Chandler:'Chandler's prose flies off the pages like a burst from a Tommy gun. Chandler was perhaps the finest exponent of the fledgling genre now known as pulp fiction' Scottish Field'One of the greatest crime writers, who set the standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times 'Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner . . . An original . . . A great artist' Boston Review'Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America, and America has never looked the same to us since' Paul AusterRaymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and moved to England with his family when he was twelve. He attended Dulwich College, Alma Mater to some of the twentieth century's most renowned writers. Returning to America in 1912, he settled in California, worked in a number of jobs, and later married. It was during the Depression era that he seriously turned his hand to writing and his first published story appeared in the pulp magazine Black Mask in 1933, followed six years later by his first novel. The Big Sleep introduced the world to Philip Marlowe, the often imitated but never-bettered hard-boiled private investigator. It is in Marlowe's long shadow that every fictional detective must stand - and under the influence of Raymond Chandler's addictive prose that every crime author must write.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes 5 (Collins Classics #Vol. 5)
by Arthur Conan DoyleHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes 6 (Collins Classics #6)
by Arthur Conan DoyleHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
The Sign of the Four: Second Of The Four Sherlock Holmes Novels (Collins Classics)
by Arthur Conan DoyleHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel - Primary Source Edition (Collins Classics #7)
by Arthur Conan DoyleHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: First Of The Five Sherlock Holmes Short Story Collections, With Active Table Of Contents (Collins Classics #Vol. 9)
by Arthur Conan DoyleHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.
The Red House Mystery (Dover Mystery Classics)
by A. A. MilneTRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERYFar from the gentle slopes of the Hundred Acre Wood lies The Red House, the setting for A.A Milne's only detective story, where secret passages, uninvited guests, a sinister valet and a puzzling murder lay the foundations for a classic crime caper. And when the local police prove baffled, it is up to a guest at a local inn to appoint himself 'Sherlock Holmes' and, together with his friend and loyal 'Watson', delve deeper into the mysteries of the dead man. The Red House Mystery is a lost gem from a time before Tigger and a perfectly crafted whodunit with witty dialogue, deft plotting and a most curious cast of characters.
The Bath Mysteries: A Bobby Owen Mystery (Bobby Owen Mysteries Ser. #Vol. 7)
by E.R. PunshonBobby Owen is on a mission of unusual delicacy, finding himself conducting an investigation which involves his own titled but impecunious family. This time the cards were stacked against Bobby. He knew full well the cause of his cousin's mysterious disappearance, but he could not understand the baffling circumstances surrounding Ronnie Owen's death. Ronnie was a drunkard, but even a drunkard has sufficient presence of mind to refrain from remaining in a tub of boiling water for thirty-six hours! Was Ronnie's death caused accidentally, or was it a deliberate case of murder? Moreover, why had Ronnie taken out a heavy insurance policy shortly before his death? The Bath Mysteries is the seventh of E.R. Punshon's acclaimed Bobby Owen mysteries, first published in 1936 and part of a series which eventually spanned thirty-five novels. Praise"What is distinction? The few who achieve it step - plot or no plot - unquestioned into the first rank… in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time." Dorothy L. Sayers"Mr E.R. Punshon is one of the most entertaining and readable of our sensational novelists because his characters really live and are not merely pegs from which a mystery depends." Punch
Crossword Mystery (Bobby Owen Mysteries Ser. #Vol. 3)
by E.R. PunshonDescription What could be more innocent than a crossword puzzle? A game to while away an idle hour, a diversion for the lonely. And yet its cunning formula could still be turned to sinister purpose. The curious crossword devised by Mr. George Winterton turned out to be part of a game for high stakes - it was the creation of a man whose brother had just drowned and who feared for his own life. Yet the dog hadn't barked... When Detective-Constable Owen (B.A. Oxon, pass degree only) arrives in the picturesque village of Suffby Cove, he is faced with the mystery of an appallingly ingenious murder - one whose ramifications reach out of England to the continent, and touch the lives of many men and women. Crossword Mystery is the third of E.R. Punshon's acclaimed Bobby Owen mysteries, first published in 1934 and part of a series which eventually spanned thirty-five novels. This edition features a new introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "What is distinction? The few who achieve it step - plot or no plot - unquestioned into the first rank. We recognized it in Sherlock Holmes, and in Trent's Last Case, in The Mystery of the Villa Rose, in the Father Brown stories and in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time." Dorothy L. Sayers
Death Among The Sunbathers (Bobby Owen Mysteries Ser. #Vol. 2)
by E.R. PunshonDescription The body of a brilliant woman journalist is recovered from the wreck of a burning car. It is soon discovered that the smash did not kill her; she was dead already, shot by a Browning automatic that was found near by. Superintendent Mitchell, with the help of Owen, a young University graduate turned policeman, follows the enigmatic clues backwards and forwards between a furrier, a picture dealer, and the establishment of a fanatical sunbathing enthusiast. Then dramatically the story begins to repeat itself, as the persistently recurring figure of an old lag who calls himself 'Bobs-the-boy' carries another body out into the night. Death Among The Sunbathers is the second of E.R. Punshon's acclaimed Bobby Owen mysteries, first published in 1934 and part of a series which eventually spanned thirty-five novels. This edition features a new introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "What is distinction? The few who achieve it step - plot or no plot - unquestioned into the first rank. We recognized it in Sherlock Holmes, and in Trent's Last Case, in The Mystery of the Villa Rose, in the Father Brown stories and in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time." Dorothy L. Sayers