Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Publishing" in Mystery

The fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series, edited by Don Bruns, Bat Out of Hell is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. An anthology unlike any other, this collection includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from Andrew Child, a never-before-seen Pignon Scorbion prequel from Rick Bleiweiss, as well as exciting new mysteries from Heather Graham, Don Bruns, John Gilstrap, Dave Bruns, C. J. Kudlacz, and Charles Todd.

Nils Shapiro embarks on an international quest to avenge his wife’s murder in this gripping, emotionally charged thriller from New York Times bestselling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman.

Lauren Riley is an accomplished detective who has always been on the opposite side of the courtroom from slick defense attorney Frank Violanti. But now he’s begging to hire her as a private investigator to help clear his client of murder. At first Lauren refuses, wanting nothing to do with the media circus surrounding the case - until she meets the 18-year-old suspect. To keep an innocent teen from life in prison, Lauren must unravel the conflicting evidence and changing stories to get at the buried facts.

After vowing never to return, Kara Wade is back in New York City. She’s come to claim the body of her twin sister, Kelly, and to find out how she died. No secret as to the cause of death - a nearly nude, 12-story plunge from a room in the Plaza Hotel - but Kara is determined to learn what led to that plunge. Enlisting the help of an old lover, now an NYPD detective, Kara delves into her sister’s life. Startling and bizarre facts begin to surface. Instead of answers, Kara finds more questions. Who was the stranger Kelly became during the months prior to her death?

Eric Ward thinks there is something odd about Arthur Egan’s life and death. But Ward is a former police inspector and trained to be suspicious. Egan left a large sum. But Ward makes no progress tracing the dead man’s offspring. A photograph of an unknown tombstone is his only clue. He discovers Egan served a term for manslaughter and that the evidence against him may have been planted. Why had he accepted his fate so meekly?

This star-studded anniversary anthology features over twenty-five unforgettable stories from internationally bestselling authors and literary legends. From the Nordic noir of Jo Nesbø and the lyricism of Tennessee Williams to the timeless imagination of Ray Bradbury and the courtroom wit of John Mortimer, these vivid tales reflect the range and tone that have defined The Strand Magazine for a quarter century.

A grand opening for Captain’s Quarters Bed & Breakfast on the outskirts of the little Chesapeake Bay town of Port Anne is creating quite a stir. Real estate agent Helen Morrisey sold the neglected Victorian to state senate candidate Eliot Davies and his wife, Alison. Despite rumors of ghostly images, they’ve toiled for months to bring the painted lady back to its prime. Now, the couple is ready to celebrate and the whole town is invited. A piercing scream cuts through the chatter as their party winds down.

One sweltering summer night, a notorious, international big-game hunter and his beautiful wife are shot dead—at long range—while swimming naked at their seaside estate in Rancho Bonita, California. The police are convinced the perpetrator is an outspoken animal-rights activist—who happens to have both military experience and a criminal record. The evidence seems overwhelming, but soon rumors start to surface that indicate there may be more than one person with the means and motive for murder.

Philippa Watson, a good-natured yet troubled 17-year-old, has just moved to Washington, DC. She’s lonely until she meets Judy Peabody, a brilliant and tempestuous classmate. The girls become unlikely friends and fashion themselves as intellectuals, drawing the notice of Christine Martins, their dazzling English teacher, who enthralls them with her passion for literature and her love of noirish detective fiction. When Philippa returns a novel Miss Martins has lent her, she interrupts a man grappling with her in the shadows.

The Irving retirement home for actors in their twilight years is never short of drama. Not least when legendary thespian Sir Frank Taylor is discovered dead in his bloodstained bed. A Nazi dagger plunged deep in his chest. Sir Frank was once England’s most dazzling leading man, but someone is clearly not a fan. Detectives French and Edwards are called to the home to investigate. And soon find out the star of the stage was hiding a shocking secret he never wanted his public to know. The residents at the Irving are now living in perpetual fear.

Ex-St. Paul cop Rushmore McKenzie has more time, and more money, than he knows what to do with. In fact, when he’s willing to admit it to himself (and he usually isn’t), Mac is downright bored. Until he decides to do a favor for a friend facing a family tragedy: Nine-year-old Stacy Carlson has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the only one with the matching bone marrow that can save her is her older sister, Jamie. Trouble is, Jamie ran away from home years ago.

When a twin-engine Beechcraft crashes into one of Richmond’s watering holes and turns happy hour into Hell, theories run rampant. Was it terrorists who, for some reason, decided to vent their spleens on unsuspecting Richmond? Was it a statement by homegrown killers less-than-thrilled that the city still, in the 21st century, chooses to honor Confederate leaders on its most prominent avenue? The obvious answers, though, just don’t pan out. Hard-charging reporter Willie Black’s search for the truth eventually leads him to a small town on the Chesapeake....

Taylorsford Public Library director Amy Webber’s friend “Sunny” Fields is running for mayor. But nothing puts a damper on a campaign like an actual skeleton in a candidate’s closet. Sunny’s grandparents ran a commune back in the 1960s on their organic farm. But these former hippies face criminal charges when human remains are found in their fields - and a forensic examination reveals that the death was neither natural nor accidental.

Alvin Benson is found slumped over an easy chair in a room locked from the inside with a bullet in his head, and Wall Street and the high society of Manhattan are set ablaze with the news of the playboy stockbroker’s death. But when NYPD’s top detectives and ballistics experts can’t solve the mystery, it falls to Philo Vance, an art connoisseur and amateur sleuth, to find the killer. Vance’s intellectual and artistic background helps him uncover a series of odd clues, starting with a missing toupee and false teeth, and soon he is delving deep into the case.

Who is murdering female college students, and can they be stopped? The only link between the victims is their participation in an unusual psychology experiment. Leading the investigation is Detective Dana Gates. She has a past no one talks about and a husband and daughters she hardly ever sees. She’s a dedicated, by-the-book investigator. And now a serial killer is ripping through the local college campus, and everything she knows is going to change.

Magee was given a key to the Baldpate Inn so he might write in solitude, but he soon discovers that he is not the only person with a key. In fact, he is only one of seven! And the other guests, including a young woman who catches Magee’s eye, are all there on a mission to find a mysterious package with a large sum of money.

The Shakespearean hamlet is bursting with fresh spring energy. Fragrant lilacs and the sweet aroma of vanilla cake fill the air as everyone in town gathers at Lithia Park for the celebration of the year—Thomas and Kerry’s wedding. It’s a picture perfect day. Guests gather on picnic blankets in front of the bandshell to watch Kerry walk down the aisle and wed Ashland’s favorite detective in training, Thomas.

Janet Baxter is a con woman on the run from her obsessive ex. One dark and stormy night, she stumbles across rambling old Bagnett Hall. She’s struck gold. Bridget Messite, the lady of the house, invites her in. She offers Janet a job and a place to stay. No questions asked. The arrangement suits Janet just fine. Until Bridget drops dead, leaving Janet with quite the dilemma. The mistress of Bagnett Hall was a timid recluse with no family or friends to mourn her. Everything that was hers could now belong to Janet.

Nils Shapiro accepts what appears to be an easy, lucrative job: find out if Beverly Mayer’s grandson is foolishly throwing away his trust fund in Hollywood, especially now, in the wake of his fiancée’s tragic death. However, that easy job becomes much more complicated once Nils arrives in Los Angeles, a disorienting place where the sunshine hides dark secrets. Nils quickly suspects that Ebben Mayer’s fiancée was murdered and that Ebben himself may have been the target.

Since her partner on the Cold Case team has been out of action after being shot in the line of duty, Lauren Riley has been working Homicide. Her latest case involves an Icelandic man murdered on the streets of Buffalo mere feet from his hotel. The brutality of the case hits Lauren hard. When she realizes the murder was committed on the night of a Full Cold Moon, it triggers memories of the first cold case she investigated that she’s been unable to solve.