Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Traditional Detectives

'Earthquake country,' said the Professor. 'San Francisco is geologically and seismologically a city that waits to die. Los Angeles is ringed by earthquake centres – seven massive quakes so far. We have no idea where the next, the monster, will hit…' …until a criminal fanatic kidnaps a nuclear scientist and builds his own atomic bombs. If exploded on California's fault lines they could trigger off the mightiest earthquake of them all – killing half its population and dumping the entire city of San Francisco into the sea.

Winner of the 2016 EDGAR, AGATHA, MACAVITY and H.R.F.KEATING crime writing awards, this real-life detective story investigates how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction. Detective stories of the Twenties and Thirties have long been stereotyped as...

A single death could plunge the Empire into chaos... Silus, a member of Emperor Caracalla's elite assassins, the Arcani, is dispatched to Numidia. Rumours of assassination plots against Marcellus, the Emperor's closest aide, are rife. Silus must stop them. But the forces arrayed against the Arcani are now as powerful as they are clandestine. Inducted into the Emperor’s bodyguard, his Lions, Silus soon discovers secrets that should have stayed hidden. And as the Emperor becomes ever more reckless in battle, Silus unearths a conspiracy that runs deeper than his worst nightmares.

When the body of an elderly woman is discovered propped against her bedroom door clutching her heart, locals are saddened but not surprised. But when the body of a man is discovered in the house, it falls to Freya Bloom and her team to investigate the suspicious deaths. However, piecing together the life of a woman who neighbours refer to as Mad Alice will not be an easy job, and if Freya is to solve the mystery she must question her own sense of reality.

In the 1920s, in post - World War I England, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, newly engaged to Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher, is asked by her brother-in-law to discreetly investigate a series of poisoned pen letters that many of the local villagers have been receiving. When the pompous and unbearable brother of the local vicar is killed by a very large rock, dropped on his head from a great height, it seems clear to all that this campaign of gossip has escalated to murder.

Island life suits Susan, and she can’t imagine ever moving from her beloved Isle of Wight. So it gives her real pleasure to see her young lodger Colette settle in to life by the sea, especially knowing that she has such a troubled past.

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the forgotten second novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’ and recognised as one of the ‘big four’ Golden Age crime authors. When the body of Sir William Ponson is found in the Cranshaw River near his home of...

Fine-art aficionado. Master of disguise. Jewelry expert. Historian. Gentleman. Burglar. Arsene Lupin is all of these and more. In 1905, Maurice Leblanc introduced his gentleman-burglar in the story "L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin". Shortly thereafter, the stories were collected as one single volume. In these charming adventures, Lupin orchestrates a myriad of extravagant heists in the very face of the determined Inspector Ganimard.

Miss Marple is told that her old friend, Carrie, is in danger and she goes to stay with her at Stoneygates, a home for maladjusted adolescents. While she is there, tragedy strikes as Carrie's step-son, Christian Gulbrandsen, is shot dead. There are at least seven suspects and two more murders follow. But the man with the obvious motive has a cast-iron alibi, as he could hardly be in two places at once - or could he? June Whitfield once again stars as the indomitable amateur detective.

There are two sides to every story, the truth and the lies… Twenty years ago, two women from the village of Parton, vanished, sending shock waves through the tranquil seaside Cumbria community. Now, with the horrors of the past a distant memory, a body washes up on the beach and sends a haunting shock wave through the tight-lipped village. Long-buried secrets. A devastating past. A terrifying lie that must never be told. As Fenella and her team delve deeper into a twisted world of deceit and treachery, the investigation takes a sinister turn, and one thing becomes clear.

Lord Pastern fired his revolver. The figure in the spotlight fell, and the coup-de-theatre had become murder. Could Inspector Alleyn believe Pastern had let hatred of his future son-in-law go too far? Or would the tangle of jealousies and blackmail among the guests reveal another murderer?

Up on the hill above Cherringham sits Mabb's Farm. It's a place with a dark history dating back to the 17th century - a time when locals lived in fear of the devil, and witches were burnt at the stake. Legend has it that the farm - and all who live there - are cursed with misfortune. But is it really just a curse when this year's crops fail, the livestock sicken, and deadly fires break out? Or is there a hidden reason behind the dangerous events? Neither Jack nor Sarah believe in the supernatural, and soon they uncover very human suspects.

Campion investigates once more, but this time he is on the run from the police - classic British crime writing at its best. Celebrated amateur detective Albert Campion awakes in hospital accused of attacking a police officer and suffering from acute amnesia. All he can remember is that he was on a mission of vital importance to His Majesty's government before his accident. On the run from the police and unable to recognise even his faithful servant Lugg or his own fiancée

When a postwar search for London lodgings introduces ailing doctor John H. Watson to quirky chemist Sherlock Holmes, their collaboration in the art of observation and deduction begins. Congenial flatmates and even better colleagues, the pair is quickly drawn into a case of murder and revenge that has Scotland Yard at their wits’ end.

Am Heiligabend belauscht die 22-jährige Pia ein Gespräch ihrer Eltern – und erfährt, dass sie mit vier Jahren adoptiert wurde. Auf der Suche nach ihrer Herkunft reist sie in das winterliche Wasserburg am Inn, den Heimatort ihrer leiblichen Mutter. Während in den Raunächten dunkle Gestalten durch die Altstadt ziehen, holen Pia die Schatten der Vergangenheit ein.

In a city as old as London, the discovery is hardly surprising. But when scratch marks are found on the inside of the coffin lid, Detective Jane Tennison believes she has unearthed a mystery far darker than any she's investigated before. However, not everyone agrees. Tennison's superiors dismiss it as a historic cold case and the Church seems desperate to conceal the facts from the investigation. It's clear that someone is hiding the truth and perhaps even the killer. Tennison must pray she can find both - before they are buried forever.

When a body is found draped over Swanage’s iconic Globe monument, DCI Lesley Clarke is called in. A message points to the motive: Go Home. Is this a hate crime? Or something closer to home? Lesley must find the killer before he or she strikes again, all while dealing with a mutiny in her team and political pressure from her boss. At the same time, a local journalist has been investigating the death of Lesley's predecessor — and claims to have key information. Wary of involving her team, Lesley brings in her old colleague Zoe Finch to help.

World famous concert pianist Felix Lansman has a collection of postcards sent to him anonymously. He is sure they are from the love of his life, Jamie McLeash. But Jamie disappeared six years ago - the night Felix’s father was murdered. Police failed to make any arrests and the case was closed. Was Jamie a suspect and if so, why is he sending the postcards? Felix wants Ian to find out.

A savage murder interrupts a May-December marriage and leaves Brother Cadfael with a dark, terrible mystery to solve. For the key to the killing - and a secret - are hid among the lepers of Saint Giles. Now Brother Cadfael's skills must ferret out a sickness, not of the body, but of a twisted soul - in the fifth Brother Cadfael Chronicle, a work that displays Ellis Peters' special genius at her best.

With Mrs. Hudson gone from their lives and domestic chaos building, the last thing Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, need is to help an old friend with her mad and missing aunt. Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, since the loss of her brother and father in the Great War. And although her mental state seemed to be improving, she’s now disappeared after an outing from Bethlem Royal Hospital...better known as Bedlam.