Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Crime Fiction

Ellis Alves is no angel. But his lawyer says he was framed for the murder of college student Melissa Henderson...and asks Spenser for help. From Boston's back streets to Manhattan's elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects, including Melissa's rich-kid, tennis-star boyfriend. But when a man with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, the hope for justice may die with him.

Tracy Whitney is on top of the world. Young, beautiful, and intelligent, she is about to marry into wealth and glamour—until a ruthless mafia gang frames her, and she is sentenced to prison. Though beaten and broken, Tracy emerges from her savage ordeal determined to avenge herself against those who have destroyed her life. With dazzling ingenuity, she embarks on a series of extraordinary escapades across the globe, as she plays for the highest stakes in a deadly game. Only one man can challenge her—a man handsome, persuasive, and every bit as daring as Tracy.

Boston hoodlum Julius Ventura wants to find his daughter's missing husband. At least that's how he puts it to Spenser and Hawk, even though it's clear that Julius isn't telling the whole truth—or maybe not any part of the truth. Something about the case appeals to Spenser's passion for justice, though, and he launches an odyssey that leads him and Hawk into the netherworld of organized crime.

Brad Sterling - former Harvard football player, ne¿er-do-well, and Susan Silverman's long out-of touch ex-husband, is by all appearances a successful businessman. But when, in the course of running a vast fundraiser called Galapalooza, he is charged with sexual harassment, he turns to Susan for help.

Toby Temple is a superstar, the world's funniest man. He gets any woman that he wants, but under the superstar image is a lonely man. Jill Castle is a sensuous starlet. She has a dark and mysterious past and has an ambition even greater than Toby's. Together they rule Hollywood.

When Robin Nevins, the son of Hawk's boyhood mentor, is denied at an exclusive university, Hawk asks Spenser to investigate. It seems the denial is tied to the suicide of a young gay activist, and as Spenser digs deeper, he is nearly drowned in a multicultural swamp of politics: black, gay, academic, and feminist. At the same time, Spenser's inamorata, Susan, asks him to come to the aid of an old college friend, K.C. Roth, the victim of a stalker. Spenser solves the problem a bit too effectively when K.C. turns the tables and begins to stalk him.

Ed McBain, author of the best-selling 87th Precinct series, takes us Downtown in this harrowing tale of a lone out-of-towner running for his life in New York CIty. Meet Michael Barnes, a Florida orange grower who finds himself in a Wall Street bar with a couple of hours to kill. It's a couple of hours that almost kill him, as he's swindled, robbed, framed for murder, and hunted down by an assassin in one of the wildest, scariest, funniest, fastest 24 hours ever packed into one novel.

The fifth volume of The Greatest Mysteries of All Time is an intriguing anthology of crime and suspense short stories by some of the most renowned writers in the field. This unique collection of master writers includes the usual suspects such as Patricia Highsmith and Mickey Spillane, but also writers better known for other genres, such as Isaac Asimov and Ogden Nash. Edited by the legendary multi-award-winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler—whose name is a hallmark of quality and expertise—this thrilling mixture of mystery and suspense will have you guessing up until the very end.

There's the Durango in Colorado, the one in Mexico, and the one in Spain; then there's the fourth one—the California town where the Franciscans forgot to fund a mission. Now, all it has going for it is the climate— and its hideout industry.

On one fateful day in Britain, fortunes change hands as a suicidal Junior Minister, an avaricious tycoon, and a seasoned criminal all play parts in a scheme that moves paper money around at a dizzying pace. Meanwhile, an ambitious young reporter for the Evening Post scrambles to crack the story. This early novel from Ken Follett, the author of On Wings of Eagles and The Key to Rebecca, plunges the reader into the worlds of crime, high finance, and journalism on the way to a masterfully plotted dramatic climax.

Hanson died quickly—with a knife in his back. Carole was next—covered with acid and tortured to death. Now it's Judd's turn—a New York pschoanalyst, he'd known them both. Two faceless executioners on a murderous mission, searching for a secret which is unknown to Judd. Not safe at home or at work, Judd feels his professional grip slipping while he faces constant threat of imminent attack. To whom can he ultimately turn?

The Sternwood family, immortalized in Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, is in trouble again. Lovely Vivian's psychotic sister, Carmen, has disappeared from the sanitarium, and Vivian herself has once again fallen into the clutches of the shady underworld character Eddie Mars. Enter Philip Marlowe, the original tough-but-tender private eye. He saved the Sternwoods once before. The question is: Can he do it again?

A banker with a smile that conceals a devilish impulse, a literary agent who is quick to anger, a mechanic with a desperate need to be liked, and a psychologist who keeps all their secrets—as well as his own—meet every week in the dingy back room of a New York City bar. These men have one thing in common: They all suffer the sting of a broken heart. Soon, anger turns to hate, and the Broken Hearts Club spins violently out of control, exploding into murderous acts of vengeance. Detective Conrad Voort is assigned the case, determined to catch an elusive killer who is always one death ahead.

This sixth volume of The Greatest Mysteries of All Time offers a variety of works by some of the most lauded writers in the field of suspense and literature.

After Jessica Leeds—wife of a prestigious, wealthy Florida landowner—is brutally raped, three Vietnamese immigrants are charged with the crime. After the trial results in their acquittal, Jessica's husband Stephen vows vengeance. Then, the three immigrants are found savagely murdered. When all of the evidence ties Stephen Leeds to the grisly killings, Jessica turns to Florida lawyer Matthew Hope. He takes the case—and discovers a situation far more complex and explosive than he, or his client, imagined.

Paul Madriani was once a promising associate with a prestigious law firm, cofounded by his mentor, Ben Potter. But after a scandalous affair with Ben's wife, Paul left the firm to begin a brilliant career as a criminal defense attorney. Meanwhile, Ben's impeccable reputation has made him a leading candidate for the Supreme Court, until he is found dead on the eve of the nomination. As the evidence against Ben' s wife snowballs, Talia hires her former lover to defend her against the ruthless chief prosecutor, who wants to send her to the gas chamber.

Boston P.I. Sunny Randall goes on the road to protect a best-selling author - and uncovers a world of dark secrets - in the new novel by the grand master. Sunny Randall, the beautiful blond P.I. with a yen for dogs, painting, and her ex-husband, Richie, has won over even the most hard-core of Robert B. Parker's many fans.

Attorney Matthew Hope had hired Otto Samalson to conduct a simple marital investigation—so how does Samalson end up dead on a deserted highway? Hope's search for an answer takes him into Florida's drug underworld on the trail of a hooker—one who has the style and looks necessary to transform herself into a high-class cocaine-stealing Cinderella. What Hope uncovers is a complicated web of circumstances and a terrifying twist on a hooker's fairy tale.

A long shadow looms above the wife of filmmaker Carlton Markham. Then a hand clamps over her mouth, and a blade sinks into her back. Blood splatters on the film reel case beside her, and a young life is cut short. Lawyer Matthew Hope gets a call from Markham, who's been arrested for his wife's murder, but he says he didn't do it. Witnesses fly forward to proclaim his guilt, but Markham's not giving up on his innocence that easily. And when Hope digs deeper into the victim's business—he finds she may not have been the perfect lady that she seemed.

It's not every day a federal judge comes knocking at one's door, especially with a curious request—to review the final appeal of a murderer on Death Row. California lawyer Greg Monarch has every intention of saying no to the request—until he discovers the prisoner is his former lover. Six months from execution, Sarah Trant has turned to the one man she hopes can save her. Greg failed once before trying to rescue Sarah from her private demons. This time, however, the demons may not be just in her head.