The 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century
As selected by The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association
(In Alphabetical Order)

The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
Meg Elginbrodde's plans to marry millionaire Geoffrey Levett stop dead when she begins receiving snapshots of a man who could be her husband--if he hadn't been killed at war five years before. When Meg's old friend, the charming and erudite Albert Campion, takes on this case of perplexing identity, he enters a spine-chilling manhunt in London's sinister underworld.

A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel with a penchant for British crime novels leads Charles Latimer, himself the author of a handful of successful mysteries, into a world of sinister political and criminal maneuvers throughout the Balkans in the years between the world wars. At first merely curious to reconstruct the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery.

A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong

Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton
Lori thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a family bedtime story until a law firm summoned her to a reading of her relative's last will and testament. Lori will inherit a sizeable estate--if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters tucked away at Dimity's English country cottage.

In the Heat of the Night by John Ball
It's the 1960s. A hot August night lies heavy over the Carolinas. The corpse -- legs sprawled, stomach down on the concrete pavement, arms above the head -- brings the patrol car to a halt. The local police pick up a black stranger named Virgil Tibbs, only to discover that their most likely suspect is a homicide detective from California -- and the racially tense community's single hope in solving a brutal murder that turns up no witnesses, no motives, no clues.

Death by Sheer Torture by Robert Barnard
It was a most embarrassing way for a policeman's father to die: garbed in gauzy spangled tights and dangling from his own Marquis de Sade strappado machine. It didn't matter that he had broken with the old boy years before. The murder at Harpenden House was sure to make Detective inspector Perry Trethowan the laughingstock of the CID.

So it was sheer torture for Perry to return to his ancestral home to investigate this unconventional crime. But who better than a prodigal son could tell which one of the addled aunts, crackpot cousins, or decidedly sinister siblings had turned the screw that fatal night and made private vice the perfect vehicle for a perversely clever killing?

Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
Anna Pidgeon is seeking peace in Guadalupe Mountain National Park, but the brutal death of a fellow ranger raises her suspicions. Her unauthorized investigation into thctragedy places her squarely in harm's way.

The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake
Determined to find the motorist who killed his son, crime writer Frank Cairnes decides to commit a crime of his own, but his quest takes an unexpected turn, and amateur sleuth Nigel Strangeways, accompanied by Georgia, sets out to separate fact from fiction.

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
Now back in print, the acclaimed Matt Scudder novel in which the hard-nosed detective turns his life around. Forced to leave the N.Y.P.D., Matt Scudder survives the only way he knows how--drink by drink, until his barroom cronies lure him into some nasty business that includes blackmail, double cross and murder. Previously published by Jove.

Green for Danger by Christina Brand
Set in a military hospital during the blitz, this novel is one of Brand's most intricately plotted detection puzzles, executed with her characteristic cleverness and gusto. When a patient dies under the anesthetic and later the presiding nurse is murdered, Inspector Cockrill finds himself with six suspects--three doctors and three nurses--and not a discernible motive among them.

The Fabulous Clipjoint by Frederic Brown

The 39 Steps by John Buchan
John Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps while he was seriously ill at the beginning of the First World War. In it he introduces his most famous hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an 'ordinary fellow', is caught up in the dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. Hannay is hunted across the Scottish moors by police and spy-ring alike, and must outwit his intelligent and pitiless enemy in the corridors of Whitehall and, finally, at the site of the mysterious thirty-nine steps. The best-known of Buchan's thrillers, The Thirty-Nine Steps has been continuously in print since first publication and has been filmed three times. In this, the only critical edition, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via The Thirty-Nine Steps, ended the war as spymaster and propaganda chief.

Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke
Ex-cop Dave Robicheaux: his wife has been murdered and now they're after his little girl. From the Louisiana bayou to Montana's tribal lands, he's running from the bottle, a homicide rap, a professional killer . . . and the demons of his past.

Cain, James M.. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
A young vagrant and the sexy, bored wife of a restaurant owner plan to murder her husband, with unexpected results. One of the master works of hard-boiled detective fiction now reformatted for a much broader audience.

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell
Overweight and unmarried, Ellie Simons balks at the prospect of attending her family reunion. But with a hired escort in tow--posing as husband--she summons the courage to go, little realizing that the weekend will lead to unexpected romance, a treasure hunt--and murder.

The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell
The first mystery in Caudwell's popular series featuring amateur investigator Hilary Tamar and a cast of clever and trouble-prone young London barristers. When a young man is found dead in Julia Larwood's bed, her barrister friends are the only ones who can uncover the truth of this masterpiece of murder.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Chandler's first novel, published in 1939, introduces Philip Marlowe, a 38-year-old P.I. moving through the seamy side of Los Angeles in the 1930s. This classic case involves a paralyzed California millionaire, his two psychotic daughters, blackmail, and murder.

The Murder of Rogerby Agatha Christie
In the quiet village of King's Abbot a widow's suicide has stirred suspicion and gossip. There are rumors that she murdered her first husband, that she was being blackmailed, and that her secret lover was Roger Ackroyd, who was stabbed to death in his study. And there are rumors that his neighbor, Hercule Poirot, doesn't have a clue.

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connely
The Dollmaker, a serial killer terrorizing L.A., left a calling card on the faces of his female victims. With one shot, Det. Harry Bosch thought he had ended the city's nighmare. He was wrong. A new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature. For the second time, Harry must hunt down a killer who is very much alive, before he strikes again.

The Man Who Liked Slow Tomatoes by K.C. Constantine

The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
This is the novel that introduced Elvis Cole, L.A. Private Eye and his partner, Joe Pike. Ellen Lang walks into Cole's Disney-Deco office and hires Elvis to find her husband and son. Elvis and Joe search through Hollywood leads to a world of drugs, sex and murder.

The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin

Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie
In "Dreaming of the Bones", a biographer asks Scotland yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma Jones to help her prove that a talented poet did not commit suicide, but was murdered. Kincaid and Jones believe the biographer is simply too close to her subject--until they discover startling news that leads them into an engrossing history of poetry and scandal, found secrets and lost innocence.

The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
An unforgettable detective story starring C.W. Sughrue, a Montana investigator who kills time by working at a topless bar.

The Yellow Room Conspiracy by Peter Dickinson

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the tale of an ancient curse suddenly given a terrifying modern application. The grey towers of Baskerville Hall and the wild open country of Dartmoor hold many secrets for Holmes and Watson to unravel. The detective is contemptuous of supernatural manifestations, but the reader will remain perpetually haunted by the hound from the moor.

Rebecca by Daphne Dumaurier
Rebecca has been dead for several months, but her sinister influence is still very much alive at Manderley, as Maxim de Winter's second wife soon comes to realize.

Booked to Die by John Dunning
This introduction of book-loving homicide detective Cliff Janeway follows him on a deadly case to find the killer of a down-and-out rare book hunter. But the suspect is a master at eluding murder convictions, and for Janeway, his swift form of off-duty justice costs him his badge.

Old Bones by Aaron Elkins
A French inspector has a mystery for Gideon Oliver that can turn a dull conference into a chilling murder investigation. A pile of human bones has been unearthed in the dank cellar of the ancient du Rocher estate on the isle of Mont St. Michel...a perfect case for the famous American "skeleton detective."

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
This explosive debut novel introduces Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter. Stephanie's assignment is to nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop charged with murder--and the man who took her virginity at age 16. Powerful chemistry still exists between the two, making for one of the most original mysteries of the season.

Time and Again by Jack Finney
Since it was first published in 1970, Time and Again has become a truly timeless cult classic with a vast and loyal following. This 25th anniversary edition, filled with its original unique period illustrations, is being published to coincide with its long-awaited sequel, From Time to Time.

Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? By G.M. Ford
Leo Waterman is hired to locate an errant mob heiress who's stumbled onto something extremely toxic. And unless Waterman can clear the air, her deadly dedication could poison him as well. Reissue.

Whip Hand by Dick Francis
Ex-jockey and private investigator Sid Halley is approached by the wife of an elite racehorse trainer, begging his help in figuring out why her husband's most promising horses have been performing so poorly. At first Halley thinks she's overreacting and the losing streak is just dumb luck. But now he's beginning to think it's something far more dangerous.

The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin
Louise Henderson is trapped in a nightmare: the baby cries almost all night, every night, and the other children must be gotten off to school... Louise is so tired that she is afraid she is becoming psychotic; why does she have this feeling of apprehension, almost of terror? Is it connected with the lodger, a respectable school teacher? What is happening in the henderson household? This novel, which won an Edgar in 1957, is one to be read in a single sitting.

A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
George's first novel featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. Lynley and Havers search through a dark labyrinth of secrets and crimes to find a brutal murderer.

Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Could such a thing happen to the impeccable old legal firm of Horniman, Birley and Craine? The use of hermetically sealed deed-boxes is one of the finer points of the Horniman system; and it was scarcely to be expected that the body of one of the firm's esteemed clients should be found dead(after some weeks) in the Ichabod Stokes Trust Box.

"A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
Out on parole from a conviction of murdering her husband, Niki Fife hires PI Kinsey Millhone to follow a trail leading to the real killer.

The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
Badger's Drift -- a tranquil English village, home to Miss Emily Simpson, a kindly, well-liked spinster. But a gentle stroll in the woods near her home one day brings an abrupt end to her peaceful existence, for she sees something among the trees that she was never meant to see, and someone makes certain she will never reveal what it was. Chief Inspector Barnaby's investigation reveals an unexpectedly seamy side to Badger's Drift. Then a second, horrifically gruesome killing shocks Barnaby into running the murderer to ground...

The Man With the Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes
The debut novel by the "New York Times" bestselling author--and the first featuring Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury--is available once again. Two murders in two pubs bring Jury to the village of Long Piddleton. While the villagers look outside for the killer, only one points Jury toward the darkest parts of his neighbors' hearts.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet
Archer, Sam Spade's partner, is shot on a case, and it's Spade's obligation to find the killer. In this search for both the murderer and the Maltesr Falcon, a statue rumored to be of incalculable value, Spade runs mortal risks as he comes closer to the answer--what he finds almost destroys him.

An English Murder by Cyril Hare
What would an `English' murder be? It must be a murder of a kind entirely peculiar to England, such as are the murders related in this particularly ingenious novel. And, naturally, it takes a foreigner to savour the full Englishness of a specifically English crime. Such a foreigner is Dr Bottwink who plays a very important part in the shocking events at Christmastide in Warbeck Hall. The setting seems, at first, to he more conventional than is usual in Mr Hare's detective stories. The dying and impoverished peer, the family party, the snow-bound country house, the faithful butler and his ambitious daughter. But this is all part of Mr Hare's ingenious plan, and there is nothing at all conventional about the murders themselves and the manner of their detection.

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the only person who can give the FBI the psychologicalprofile it needs to track down a ruthless serial killer.

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
A reporter-turned-private eye moves from muckraking to uncovering murder in a caper that mixes football players, politicians, and a very hungry crocodile.

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Like a hero in a latter-day Henry James novel, Tom Ripley travels to Italy with a commission to coax a prodigal young American back to his wealthy father. But Ripley finds himself very fond of Dickie Greenleaf. He wants to be like him--exactly like him. Turning the mystery form inside out, Highsmith shows the terrifying abilities afforded to a man unhindered by the concept of evil.

On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill
After 12 years of silence, a child killer has resurfaced in Yorkshire. Detective Andy Dalziel is determined not to fail again. But his only chance of uncovering the killer's identity rests on what one small child saw and what another child, now grown, fears with all of her heart to remember.

A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
When two corpses appear amid stolen goods and bones at an ancient burial site, Navajo Tribal Policemen Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee must plunge into the past to unearth the astonishing truth behind a mystifying series of horrific murders.

Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes
Con man Deak O'Hara is out of the state penitentiary and back on the street working the scam of a lifetime. The ś87,000 he has schemed to get has been hijacked and hidden in a bale of cotton. Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones are on everyone's trail in one of their most entertaining thrillers.

Hamlet, Revenge by Michael Innes
At Seamnum Court, seat of the Duke of Horton, The Lord Chancellor of England is murdered at the climax of a private presentation of Hamlet, in which he plays Polonius. Inspector Appleby pursues some of the most famous names in the country, unearthing dreadful suspicion.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
Handsome Cambridge dropout Mark Callender died hanging by the neck with a faint trace of lipstick on his mouth. When the official verdict is suicide, his wealthy father hires fledgling private investigator Cordelia Gray to find out what led him to self-destruction. What she discovers instead is a twisting trail of secrets and sins, and the strong scent of murder.

The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman
Policeman Peter Decker investigates the brutal rape of a woman as she returns from a bathhouse where women perform their cleansing ritual. There he meets the beautiful Rina Lazarus, the only one willing to cooperate with the police. But as the two grow closer, the investigation conflicts with Rina's beliefs and threatens to tear them apart.

When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
Child psychologist Alex Delaware examines a disturbed young girl and uncovers evidence of a brutal double murder, a child molester's grisly suicide, and a horrible 40-year-old secret that continues to have an effect today.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King
In his retirement, the great detective Sherlock Holmes grooms a young woman to follow in his footsteps. 15-year-old Mary and the elderly beekeeper Holmes are led into a series of adventures which escalate in gravity until Holmes is in peril of his life. At the frightening climax, the maturing Mary proves herself a worthy partner and successor.

Dark Nantucket Noon by Jane Langton

The Spy Who Came in From The Cold by John Le Carre
Alec Leamas' Berlin operation has collapsed, so he is recalled back to London. But soon, he is back behind the Berlin wall, out in the cold. Considered by many to be the finest spy story ever written, it and "A Perfect Spy" are widely considered to be John le Carre's finest novels.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The book's setting is a small town in Alabama, and the action behind Scout's tale is her father's determination, as a lawyer, liberal, and honest man, to defend a Negro accused of raping a white girl. What happens is, naturally, never seen directly by the narrator. The surface of the story is an Alcottish filigree of games, mischief, squabbles with an older brother, troubles at school, and the like. None of it is painful, for Scout and Jem are happy children, brought up with angelic cleverness by their father and his old Negro housekeeper. Nothing fazes them much or long. Even the new first-grade teacher, a devotee of the "Dewey decimal system" who is outraged to discover that Scout can already read and write, proves endurable in the long run.

Take My Hand by Dennie Lehane
Private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro know about the darkness that dwells in the rough streets of Dorchester--a darkness that has their client, a prominent psychiatrist, running scared from the vengeance of the Irish mob. But it is Death himself who bears down on them now, reaching out with cold, bloodstained fingers from 20 years ago to shake their world with a spree of violent, horrific murders that bear the unmistakable signature of a long-imprisoned psychopath.

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
Mob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind. So when he chases a deadbeat client to Hollywood, he decides to stay. This town of dream makers, glitter, and gorgeous, partially-clad starlets seems ideal for an enterprising criminal with a cinematic taste.

Sleeping Dog by Dick Lochte
First Holmes and Watson, then Nero and Archie, Now Leo and Serendipity--two detectives, two narrative voices, twice as much sleuthing and double the fun. First, imagine Katherine Hepburn at fourteen. Next, in your mind's eye, replay Humphrey Bogart, at his middle-aged best, as Sam Spade. Now picture this oddest of couples as the newest duo in detective fiction and you'll have a perfect portrait of the memorable leads in Sleeping Dog." --Los Angeles Times Book Review Originally published in 1985 by Arbor House 0-87795-738-X and by Warner in pbk. 0-446-32661-5, Sleeping Dog won the Nero Wolfe Award and was nominated for the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Anthony Awards. In 1999, the Independent Mystery Booksellers's Association named it one of their 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century. Poisoned Pen Press will republish the sequel, Laughing Dog, later this year.

Rough Cider by Peter Lovesey
The author of the highly acclaimed The False Inspector Dew and The Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray mysteries presents a tense and gripping crime novel about a lonely college professor who is haunted by the arrest and murder conviction of a G.I. in World War II England.

The Deep Blue Good-by John D. MacDonald
Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages and television. He only works when his cash runs out and his rule is simple--he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

The List of Adrian Messenger by Philip MacDonald
The list in question, which is left behind when Adrian Messenger is killed in a mysterious plane explosion, contains ten names. The attempt to find a connection between them involves detective Anthony Gehtryn first in a desperate pursuit and then in a race against the clock to stop the ruthless man behind seven murders. This is a novel of diabolical intent hinging on a single piece of paper..

The Chill by Ross MacDonald
In The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet. What ensues is a detective novel of nerve-racking suspense, desperately believable characters, and one of the most intricate plots ever spun by an American crime writer.

Bootlegger's Daughterby Margaret Maron
This first novel in Maron's Imperfect series, which won the Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 1993, introduces heroine Deborah Knott, an attorney and the daughter of an infamous North Carolina bootlegger. Known for her knowledge of the region's past and popular with the locals, Deb is asked by 18-year-old Gayle Whitehead to investigate the unsolved murder of her mother Janie, who died when Gayle was an infant. While visiting the owner of the property where Janie's body was found, Deb learns of Janie's more-than-promiscuous past. Piecing together lost clues and buried secrets Deb is introduced to Janie's darker side, but it's not until another murder occurs that she uncovers the truth.

Death of a Peer by Ngaio Marsh
The Lampreys were a charming, eccentric, happy-go-lucky family, teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Until the gruesome murder of their uncle--an unpleasant Marquis, who met his untimely death while leaving the Lamprey flat--left them with a fortune. Now it's up to Inspector Roderick Alleyn to sift through the alibis to discover which Lamprey hides a ruthless killer behind an amiable facade.

Sadie When She Died by Ed McBain
What could be easier? He had a confessed killer, clear fingerprints, and a witness. Everything was sewed up tight. Or was it Detective Steve Carella could not forget Gerald Fletcher standing beside the body of his beautiful wife, Sarah, announcing how glad he was that someone had stabbed her. And when Fletcher kept wining and dining him, flattering and heckling him, tossing him clue after clue, Carella could sniff that there was more to Sarah's death than just bungled burglary. When Sarah's little black book turned up a mile-long record of her nocturnal adventures, Carella knew it was time to call in the boys of the 87th, to find out why everyone was calling her Sadie when she died.

The Sunday Hangman by James McClure

If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy by Sharon McCrumb
The first novel of the acclaimed "Ballard" series. When 1960's folk singer Peggy Muryan moves to a small Tennessee town seeking solitude, terror follows her--and so does trouble for the town's sheriff. From the author of "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" and "She Walks These Hills". A "New York Times" Notable Book.

Stranger in My Grave by Margaret Millar
The times of terror began not in the middle of the night, but on a bright and noisy morning in February when a feeling of death loomed in the air.

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Los Angeles, 1948: Ezekiel "Easy Rawlins" is a black war veteran just fired from his job. Now he's drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage.
That's when De Witt Albright, a quietly vicious white man in a white linen suit, walks in and offers Easy good money if he'll just do a little job for him: find Miss Daphne Monet, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.
It seems simple enough, but Easy soon discovers that Albright isn't the only one looking for the lovely Miss Monet - isn't the only one who's ready to kill anyone, including Easy, who might get in the way.

Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller
When an elderly antiques dealer is murdered, Muller's popular P.I. Sharon McCone follows a killer's trail to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather.

Death's Bright Angel by Janet Neel
At Britex Fabrics, Francesca Wilson's economic investigation and John McLeish's murder inquiry are getting inextricably confused - with an American senator, a pop star and the Bach Choir, as well as each other.

Mallory's Oracle by Carol O’Connell
Kathleen Mallory was saved from the streets of New York and taken in by a police sargeant when she was ten. Fifteen years later, she too is part of the NYPD and about to embark on the case of her life--finding her father's murderer.

Child of Silence by Abigail Padgett
Child abuse investigator Bo Bradley knows the rules: never get emotionally involved with the children you help. It's not always easy. Now, with the boy known as Weppo, it is about to prove impossible.

He was found in a shack amid the lone pines and dusty canyons of Southern California. He is four years old, non-Indian, classified retarded. But Bo knows better: Weppo isn't retarded, he is deaf. And she knows, after seeing the Paiute mystic who found him, that she must heed her own inner voice; and it whispers danger. Then, an attempt to murder Weppo pushes Bo into action. Risking personal involvement and professional ruin, she vows to unearth the truth...as she desperately struggles to save Weppo-and herself-from certain death.

Deadlock by Sara Paretsky
V.I. gets tangled in a web of lies, extortion, blackmail, sabotage, and murder as the search for her cousin Boom Boom's killer leads her into the heart of Chicago's powerful shipping industry.

Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert Parker
When Spenser accepts a job as a "bodyguard" for a beautiful young woman, he gets in way over his head.

The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez Reverte
Rare-book sleuth Lucas Corso is hired to authenticate a manuscript chapter of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers", discovered after its owner's mysterious death.

Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry
Jane Whitefield is in the one-woman business of helping people disappear, teaching fugitives to live with new identities. But this time, Jane walks into a trap that will take all her cunning to escape.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Thirty-one-year-old Victorian gentlewoman Amelia Peabody has not only inherited her father's fortune, but she is also blessed with his strong will as well. Now she's headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology. Little did she know that murder and a homicidal mummy lay in wait for her.

One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters
An ingenious killer disposes of a strangled corpse on a battlefield. Brother Cadfael discovers the body, and must then piece together disparate clues--including a girl in boy's clothing, a missing treasure and a single flower--to expose a murderer's black heart.

Blue Lonesome by Bill Pronzini
Jim Messenger hates his job, loves jazz music and can't forget a woman he has seen eating at the Harmony cafe. Each night he watches the woman, who calls herself Janet Mitchell, as they eat their solitary meals. When Messenger learns that she has committed suicide, he is driven to find out why.

Cat of Many Tails by Ellery Queen
Fear stole through the city of New York like a choking fog. Within five months, nine people had been strangled to death! And the unknown killer was still at large! Like a savage cat, the murderer pounced without warning, choosing his victims at random. No one was safe. The City was in a panic!
Ellery Queen, ordered on the case by the mayor, believed that there was an insane method to these murders. The facts were clearly laid out like nine neat corpses. But where did they connect? Queen knew that if he waited long enough a pattern of clues would emerge and point straight to the killer. But in the meantime...
When would the Cat strike again ?
Who would be the next victim?

No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell
What kind of a person would kidnap two children?
That is the question that haunts Wexford when a five-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl disappear from the village of Kingsmarkham. When a child's body turns up at an abandoned country home one search turns into a murder investigation and the other turns into a race against time. Filled with pathos and terror, passion, bitterness, and loss, No More Dying Then is Rendell at her most chillingly astute.
With her Inspector Wexford novels, Ruth Rendell, winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, has added layers of depth, realism and unease to the classic English mystery. For the canny, tireless, and unflappable policeman is an unblinking observer of human nature, whose study has taught him that under certain circumstances the most unlikely people are capable of the most appalling crimes.

The Wrong Murder by Craig Rice
There's the bet Jake made on his wedding day when socialite Mona McClane announced that she could get away with murder. Features socialite Helene Justus. Set in Chicago.

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Rinehart's famous story mixes chilling suspense and romance with good humor to produce an absorbing and entertaining mystery. Middle-aged spinster Rachel Innes leases a country house for the summer, and unaware that the old house hides a sinister secret, she unwittingly sets off a chain of mysterious and murderous events.

Blood at the Root by Peter Robinson
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is ordered to run an investigation from his desk without further incident--or find himself on traffic duty. Soon he's outside the investigation and his own department while his own 20-year marriage crumbles around him. On his own, he discovers he's following a trail whose end may lead to his own destruction.

Strike Three You're Dead by Richard Rosen
First published by Walker & Company in 1984, Strike Three, You're Dead introduced both Richard Rosen, a new voice in crime fiction, and his sleuth, Harvey Blissberg, a former Red Sox center fielder, now playing for a lowly expansion team in Providence, Rhode Island. Both were immediately hailed as fresh and important additions by critics and readers, and Rosen won the MWA's Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first novel. Sixteen years later, the impact of that book remains: it was chosen by mystery booksellers as one of the hundred best novels of the twentieth century.

A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross
In 1820's London, Julian Kestrel and an unlikely partner--bold and bewitching prostitute Sally Stokes--stalk a murderer through the high places and low life in Regency London, after Sally mistakenly steals a letter from one of her clients containing an urgent plea for help from a distraught young woman.

Concourse by S.J. Rozan
In this absorbing sequel to China Trade, Bill Smith is hired by an old friend to investigate the brutal killing of a young security guard on the Bronx Home for the Aged grounds. Going undercover, Smith wades out into a sea of violence and lies washing up against the old brick building. With the help of Chinese-American investigator Lydia Chin, Smith uncovers a web of corruption that's found a home in the Bronx. Martin's Press.

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
When ad man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym's Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident. Then Lord Peter Winsey is called in, and he soon discovers there's more to copywriting than meets the eye--cocaine, blackmail and wanton women can be read between the lines.

The Laughing Policeman by Siowall & Wahloo
On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin. The press, anxious for an explanation for the seemingly random crime, quickly dubs him a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad suspects otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck's best detectives--and he, surely, would not have been riding that lethal bus without a reason.

Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout
A championship bull, purchased for ś45,000, leads to a family feud over its fate--will it be bred or breaded? Before they can decide, a young man is found dead and the bull dies of anthrax, though the evidence says otherwise. Before Nero Wolf can sort it all out, a third body turns up. For this case, Wolfe has to leave his beloved brownstone for upstate New York and put up with lousy food, poor-fitting chairs, and warm beer until he solves the crime.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerism's, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the imposter's plan and his life.

Chinaman's Chance by Ross Thomas
An overweight Chinese detective is hired to find a missing woman, but becomes ensnared in a scam involving a buried fortune in Vietnam, the mafia, a rogue CIA agent, and the underworld of a corrupt town.

A Test of Wills by Charles Todd
"An excellent new mystery, and one hopes, the first of a series", raves "The Chicago Tribune" about this "New York Times" Notable Book. In 1919, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge remains haunted by World War I, where he was forced to have a soldier executed for refusing to fight. When Rutledge is assigned to investigate a murder involving the military, his emotional war wounds flare. It is a case that strikes dangerously close to home--one that will test Rutledge's precarious grip on his own sanity. A "Publishers Weekly" Best Book selection.