Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Mystery

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.

Sunny Randall is a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an aspiring painter, a divorcée, and the owner of a miniature bull terrier named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents' preconceived notion of what a detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts, she tracks down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution. Rescuing her from a vicious pimp, Sunny finds herself the unlikely custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to her family.

Listen to mystery stories by today's top writers and the masters who inspired them. The idea for this collection came to Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Lawrence Block when he was asked, "What is your favorite mystery story?" Block compiled this unique collection by posing the same question to some of today's favorite writers of the genre, including Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, and John Lutz.

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.

The hardworking single mother of young daughter, Joanna Brady still feels the acute pain of loneliness and loss, the hole that was left in her heart when her policeman husband was murdered. But Sheriff Brady is the law in Cochise County, and murder has shattered the small town's fragile peace. A local gun dealer has died violently, and his stock of high-powered weapons has been cleared out. When two more slayings follow soon after, suspicion falls upon rancher Alton Hosfield.

After a holiday trip to the Big Apple, Midnight Louie, a hard-boiled, hairy-chested, 19-pound black tomcat detective, returns home to death on the Nile. Two battling Egyptian barges outside the Oasis hotel cause a dead body to rise to the surface. The soggy victim is well known to Temple Barr—Louie's redheaded, high-heeled human companion—and her two best beaux both have reasons to want him dead.

Cruising on his yacht off the rugged coast of Corsica, Harry Stanford—one of the world's wealthiest men—drowns under mysterious circumstances. In a chain of events that reverberates around the globe, a beautiful young woman appears at Stanford's funeral, claiming to be the tycoon's daughter and thus heir to a share of his estate. As the Stanford family seeks to learn whether Julia is genuine or an imposter, a hidden web of blackmail, drugs, and murder emerges from behind the facade of fame and glamour.

Murder for Love: Murder for Women is a collection of wickedly witty crime-of-passion short stories by some of the best women writers inside and out of the mystery field.

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.

Living in an abandoned apartment building in South-Central L.A., Socrates is one step away from the streets. He bags groceries at the supermarket, collects bottles and cans to recycle for pennies, and feels himself slipping toward invisibility - that is, until he meets 11-year-old Darryl, whose already committed murder and is perilously close to slipping into a life filled with only violence and bloodshed. Socrates' determination to fight for and save Darryl lights his own pathway to self-forgiveness.

Spenser will do anything for his long-time love, Susan, but finds himself with more than he bargained for when he agrees to help Susan's ex-husband fight sexual harassment charges. Spenser soon discovers he has more questions than answers as a body is found, a shadowy mob connection surfaces, and the P.I. is fighting a two-front war against some very bad men and an increasingly unpredictable Susan.

At the Blue Dahlia, where homicide detective Carmen Molina moonlights as a torch singer, she finds a dead woman lying next to her can in the parking lot. The words "she left" are spray-painted nearby. Soon, a second anonymous woman is found dead in another parking lot across town. Is a serial killer at work? Will the tough lieutenant have to resort to the despised help of amateur sleuth Temple Barr to crack the case?

This is the classic story of the young Theseus - Prince of Troizen, King of Eleusis and Athens, slayer of the Minotaur. Mary Renault's powerful novel captures the modern imagination by weaving myth, legend, history, and fiction into the story of a young hero's search for his destiny, or moira. If you like The King Must Die, try The Bull from the Sea.

Ah, the pleasures of Christmas: the hanging of lights, the traditional feasts, the gathering of families, and...a bit of murder, conspiracy, and theft. The holiday season seems to inspire the imagination of the best mystery writers, and their talents shine here in these delightful tales of Yuletide crime. In this busiest of seasons, seize a few hours to enjoy a sleigh—or slay—full of mysterious treasures, served with the finest of flair.

When Athena disappeared from St. Polycarp's College at Oxford, her friends assumed she had run away - to hide from her overbearing, wealthy Greek family, or even to marry some unacceptable young man. To their shock, they find out at their 10-year reunion that her body has been discovered in an excavation. Private investigator Regan Reilly, Athena's former college roommate, is determined to track down her friend's killer.

For $2 million, scientist Alex McAuliff is hired by Dunstone, Ltd. to survey the geology of Jamaica's dark, mysterious interior. There is a catch: no one can know Dunstone is involved. When British Intelligence learns of Alex's mission, they let him in on a little secret: the last survey team never made it home. McAuliff's reception to the island is far from warm, and now Alex is a marked man. Someone wants him dead—but who? The only one clue to his survival is a single, mysterious word: Halidon.

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.

They all loved her. That was their mistake. Two husbands, her college fiancé, an influential boss—every man who gets close to Jordan Price is made to pay in blood. And the list is growing. The more investigator Rick Carson delves into the string of deaths from which Jordan has profited handsomely, the more convinced he becomes that he is dealing with an unstoppable killer.

The survivors of The Other Side of Midnight come back for one last round of play in this compelling sequel set in post-war Europe. Catherine Douglas, victim of tragedy and amnesia, is taken in by the world's richest man, Greek shipping tycoon Constantin Demiris. Haunted by faint memories of the past, Catherine must remember the truth before Demiris, the man who killed her husband, sets his murderous sights on her.

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.