Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Mystery

Soon after banker Willard Carmichael and his young bride arrive in Pickax, a string of petty burglaries follow. Then Willard meets his demise—an apparent victim of a mugging—and the banker's home restoration project goes to the widow's cousin. Though the clues are as elusive as a cat burglar, the suspicious Qwill and his feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, are determined to catch a thief—and a killer.

Malice Domestic distinguishes the personal and private aspects of crime from the public and impersonal. Our murderers don't kill for the fun of it (serial killers) or for a misguided ideal (assassins and terrorists) or for pay (hired hit men). They only do in people they know and love (or hate).

In Paris, in Washington, and in Greece, an innocent American becomes a pawn in a game of vengeance and betrayal. Catherine Douglas is a woman caught in a web of four lives intertwined by passion as her handsome husband pursues an incredibly beautiful film star, while Constantin Demeris, a legendary Greek tycoon, tightens the strands that control them all. This number-one New York Times best-selling novel by Sidney Sheldon features tortured romantic entanglements, reverses of fortune, thrilling suspense, and ultimate justice.

When the bride of a Boston police detective vanishes, he hires Spenser to find her. His path leads from a New England college campus to glamorous L.A. sports clubs. When the trail turns to a world of prostitution, drug abuse, and self-destruction, Spenser must enter ghetto tenements to continue his search. Ultimately, Spenser must hire a Chicago hitman to help him free the girl from a sociopathic ex lover.

A single pilot can fly the U.S. Air Force's powerful fighter plane, DreamStar - and he's a KGB mole. Captain Kenneth Francis James - a.k.a. Andrei Maraklov - has been ordered to steal DreamStar, an XF-34 fighter that has the frightening ability to respond to its pilot's thoughts and issue its own commands. It's up to Lieutenant Colonel Patrick McLanahan - the hero of Dale Brown's earlier thriller, Flight of the Old Dog - to remove the DreamStar threat.

Dermot Michael Coyne of Chicago goes to Ireland to uncover the true story of his grandparents, who left Ireland under a veil of mystery in the 1920s. There, Coyne meets Nuala Anne McGreal, a college student who helps him translate his grandmother's diaries. His grandparents, the O'Riadas, and the bloody history of Ireland from 1919 to 1923 are mysteriously linked to present-day peace talks between the Irish and English.

Spenser is forced by loyalty into an alien world where violence is a way of lie and outsiders enter at a lethal risk. When Spenser's cohort Hawk is hired by the tenants of a gang-plagued Boston housing project known as "Double Deuce," he enlists his friend's aid. A friend's girl and her infant daughter have been gunned down. Though the act at first appears to be an accidental drive-by shooting, it soon becomes clear that it was premeditated murder.

A young man resurfaces from Spenser's past to seek out the likeable P.I.'s guidance and help to solve the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the boy's mother. The most personal and revealing Spenser thriller of all, the hardboiled yet caring detective faces danger and a reckoning with his own past. Pastime is Robert B. Parker's electrifying masterpiece of crime fiction, both personal and revealing.

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.

Back in Pickax, Jim Qwilleran expects to resume a quiet life, but the people and animals of Pickax have other ideas. A noisy cardinal wakes him every morning, nosy neighbors drop by uninvited, and the Siamese cats—Koko and Yum Yum—misbehave, even sneezing on guests. As if they weren't bad enough, Qwill's long-time companion, Polly Duncan, acts as though she is in love—with another man. Worst of all, Qwill finds a body in his apple orchard.

As the world is on the brink of mutual destruction between the East and the West, Mary Ashley—a bright, young political science professor—is appointed U.S. Ambassador to an Iron Curtain country. Her husband dies in a suspicious car crash, and Mary becomes the target of a mysterious murder plot by unseen and powerful enemies. Thrust from her comforting life in Kansas, she finds herself lost amongst the political turmoil in a foreign country where she is seen as the enemy, and no one is to be trusted.

Steel-nerved master thief Parker has his eyes on a fat prize. The prize, a slow stuffed with money—a gambling casino on the Hudson River. It is not in Parker's nature to gamble, so he leaves nothing to chance. From the phony politician to the getaway boat, from bringing guns on board to getting the money off, Parker has it all planned. There are only a few problems.

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.

A.J. Lewinter is an American scientist, for years an insignificant cog in America's complex defense machinery. While at an academic conference in Tokyo, Lewinter contacts the KGB station chief and says he wants to defect. He tantalizes the Russians with U.S. military secrets he claims to possess, but is his defection genuine? Neither the Russians nor the Americans are sure.

When Jim Qwilleran's friend Polly decides to spend two weeks on vacation with an old girlfriend in Oregon, he finds himself at a loose end—but not for long. A visit from Nick Bamba brings news of a hotbed of mystery.

Hired by an aggrieved Boston aristocrat who believes his wife's brutal slaying to be something other than random violence, Spenser immediately senses that his client's picture-perfect portrayal of his family life is false. For starters, the victim's reputation is too saintly, her house is as lived-in as stage set, and her troubled children don't appear to be products of a happy home.

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?

Separated from friends and family and haunted by personal demons, park ranger Anna Pigeon finds solace in the quiet ruins of the Anasazi civilization of Colorado's Mesa Verde. But the rugged beauty of the park and the mystery of the Anasazi are cruelly overshadowed by danger and death. Lately, visitors to Mesa Verde have been bringing home more than photos - they're also carrying a strange, deadly disease, and once it strikes, Anna Pigeon must find the very human source of the evil wind.

This exciting collaborative by the Private Eye Writers of America and Sisters in Crime contains short stories by well-known mystery writers including Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. The stories are presented in pairs, each linked to the other by a common theme or topic.

New York Times best-selling authors and recipients of the Mystery Writers of America "Grand Master" award, Mary Higgins Clark and Elizabeth Peters present this delightfully chilling assortment of original mystery stories. Featuring acclaimed contributors at the height of their games, this collection includes "Nice Gorilla," which won an Agatha Award for best short story.