Mark Ablett's stately mansion is filled with proper guests when his improper brother returned from Australia. Arguing is heard, then the brother gets a bullet between the eyes, the study is locked, and Mrak is missing! Wealthy Antony Gillingham plays Sherlock Holmes, ably assisted by Bill Beverly as his Watson.

The House on the Cliff is a gripping mystery novel from the renowned Hardy Boys series, authored by Franklin W. Dixon. In this thrilling tale, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, along with their best friend Chet Morton, find themselves drawn into a perplexing case that leads them to a secluded cliffside mansion with a dark and mysterious past. The story unfolds when the Hardy boys receive a cryptic message from their father, Fenton Hardy, a renowned detective,...

"An all-around skeptic when it comes to the supernatural, literature professor William Porter gives no credence to claims that Twin Towers, the seaside manor he's just inherited, might be haunted. He finds nothing mysterious about the conditions in which his Uncle Horace died, leaving the property behind; it was a simple case of cardiac arrest, nothing more. So, though his wife, more attuned to spiritual disturbance, refuses to occupy the main house,...

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Agatha Christie's debut novel, published in 1920, and it marks the first appearance of Hercule Poirot, her iconic detective. The story is set during World War I at Styles Court, a sprawling manor in the English countryside. When the wealthy widow Emily Inglethorp is poisoned, her household is thrown into turmoil, and suspicion falls on various family members and associates, each with their own motives. The novel...

Travis McGee, savior of embattled womanhood, didn't much care for Mona Yeoman, even though she did have beautiful robin's-egg-blue eyes. But she needed help, and so here was McGee, in the sunbaked Southwest almost persuaded to give it. According to Mona, after her wealthy daddy died, her father's best friend, now her husband, had proceeded to embezzle her estate, and Mona wanted it back. But before she could even finish telling McGee her story, someone...

An essay on detective fiction accompanies eight stories about a politician's murder, a hotel detective, missing pearls, and gangsters.

Drawing on the talent of many of Florida's notable writers, Stuart Kaminsky offers an enticing selection of Florida mystery stories. Follow professional investigators and amateur sleuths alike as they steadfastly and patiently uncover one clue at a time to finally reveal the identity of a killer or the answer to a riddle. And in some of these thought-provoking stories, the only sleuth is the reader. Go figure.

Kate O'Donnell and her police sergeant partner, Harry Barnard enter dangerous waters when they uncover evidence of a top-level conspiracy. On a busy Friday night in 1964, a woman's partially clothed body is discovered in London's Soho Square. She has been raped and strangled. With no one reported missing, her identity remains a mystery. Assuming the victim to be a prostitute, DCI Jackson is inclined to dismiss the case. Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard...

Where there's smoke there's fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie's name is on the killer's list. Short on time to find evidence proving the killer's identity, Stephanie faces further complications when...

Published in 1924, "Poirot Investigates" is a collection of short stories featuring Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. This compilation is significant in Christie's oeuvre as it demonstrates her ability to craft compelling mysteries in a shorter format, while still maintaining the complex plots and misdirection for which she was becoming known. The collection includes eleven stories in the UK edition (and fourteen in the US...