American Mystery Classics – förlag

The "timing and gothic atmosphere are second to none" in this classic mystery where "the suspense steadily builds . . . until the satisfying denouement" (Publishers Weekly).From the moment nurse Sarah Keate arrives at the gloomy mansion of Adolph Federie, she senses trouble afoot, from the mysterious occupants of the house to the penetrating stare of a black cat named Genevieve. But Mr. Federie has just suffered a stroke and needs a live-in aid and Sarah is not one to shirk her duties. When a murder occurs in the same room as her patient, Sarah starts investigating along with the help of a local police officer. But how will she sleep at night knowing shes sharing a house with a killer? An early title in the career of a crime writer whose many novels landed on bestseller lists for much of the twentieth century, While the Patient Slept is a creepy and atmospheric whodunit sure to please any fan of classic mysteries. It was included in the legendary Haycraft-Queen list of the greatest mystery novels of all time.

A Shakespearean actor-turned-sleuth wonders if a suicides been stagedand suspects the members of an eccentric New York family . . .A ramshackle trawler, the Lavinia D rumbles into New York harbor with empty nets. When its crew spies something floating in the water, they drag it in, hoping for a profitable catch. Their prize flops on the deck, limp, cold, and bloody: the corpse of a man. His name was York Hatter, and he had disappeared from his house on the fashionable Washington Square several days before. He hadn't left a note and he wasn't carrying any money. The police assume he killed himselfbut they are very wrong. The Hatter family is famously eccentric, and when a murder attempt is made on York's invalid stepdaughter, any one of them could be the culprit. Solving the case will fall to Drury Lane, the retired Shakespearean actor who has turned his genius to solving crimes. But he may find that these Hatters are so crazy and so deadly, they even put Hamlet to shame.

When a spiritual medium is murdered in a locked hut on a haunted estate, Sir Henry Merrivale seeks a logical solution to a ghostly crimePlague Court is old and crumbling, long neglected after its lord, hangman's assistant Louis Playge, fell victim to the black death hundreds of years before. Famously haunted by Playge's ghost, the property finally has a new owner and banishing the spirit is the first order of business. And when the medium employed with this task is found stabbed to death in a locked stone hut on the grounds, surrounded by an untouched circle of mud, the other guests at Plague Court have every reason to fear an act of supernatural violencefor who among them would be diabolical and calculating enough to orchestrate such an impossible execution?Enter Sir Henry Merrivale, an amateur sleuth of many talents with deductive powers strong enough to unspool even the most baffling crimes. But in the creepy, atmospheric setting of Plague Court, where every indication suggests intervention from the afterlife, he encounters a seemingly-illogical murder scene unlike anything he's ever encountered before...Reissued for the first time in thirty years, The Plague Court Murders is the first novel in the Sir Henry Merrivale series. Originally published under the name Carter Dickson, it is a masterful example of the "impossible crime" novel for which John Dickson Carr is known.

The "brilliant" and baffling puzzle book that launched the "solve-it-yourself" mystery craze of the 1920s and '30s (New York Times).Calling all mystery puzzle fans! This is the book that launched the solve-it-yourself detective book craze of the 1920s and 30s, spawning numerous imitators and a four-book series of its own. These thirty short crime problems incorporate all of the clues needed to find their solutions, including maps, charts, cryptograms, and additional illustrationsbut its up to the reader to put all of this together and find out whodunit. (Correct answers included at the end of the book.) Challenging and entertaining, The Baffle Book promises hours of armchair sleuthing delights, either on your own or at a Baffle Party as the books opening recommends. The authors award credits for each of the questions posed, depending on their difficulty, with a chart onto which scores can be added and a grade given for how well the amateur sleuth performed.

Elderly cat fancier Rachel Murdock, "an appealing Jessica Fletcher antecedent" (Publishers Weekly), tackles a puzzling case in this cozy mystery from a master of domestic suspense.When sisters Rachel and Jennifer Murdock receive a letter from Miriam Hamilton, the daughter of the man who, decades earlier, swindled their father, inviting them to her luxurious home and offering financial amends, the sisters accept and head off with their beloved cat, Samantha, in tow. Shortly after they arrive, they meet their hostor rather, her body. Miriam has been murdered in her bed, and two things become clear: their invitation came with strings attached, and around the many corners of Miriams capacious home, strange things are afoot. There is no shortage of possible motives for Miriams murder, given her ruthless business practices and greedy nature. The appearance and subsequent disappearance of a bloodstained doll, which Miriams two grown stepchildren from previous marriages seem to know more about than they want to let on, raises Rachels suspicion, but the involvement of the local sheriff investigating the case is what ultimately throws Rachel for a loop. No mattertogether with the reluctant Jennifer and curious kitty Samanatha, amateur sleuth Rachel is going to make sense of this befuddling case, even if things arent what they seem. A delightful Golden Age cozy from a master of mid-century domestic suspense, Cats Dont Need Coffins engages playfully with genre conventions to entertaining and often humorous effect. It is the seventh novel in Hitchens long-running Rachel Murdock series (originally published under the name D.B. Olsen), which can be read in any order.

When a box of bootleg liquor washes up on the shores of Cape Cod, it brings a whole lot of trouble along with it in this classic case for Asey Mayo, the Cape's answer to Sherlock Holmes.The picturesque Cape Cod village of East Pochet is not its usual self when Elizabeth Colton arrives. The previous evening, a bootlegger dumped two hundred cases of liquor offshore, and the whole town endeavored to drink it before the hooch could be impounded. When the fog of revelry lifted, however, a bearded mystery writer was found dead in the boat house at the Sandbar estate, and another body was discovered on the nearby beach. As every uncovered clue reveals a new question, Asey Mayo, the Cape's answer to Sherlock Holmes, finds himself investigating one of the trickiest cases of his career. Luckily, though, he's got enough Cape Cod know-how and common sense to cut through the red herrings and discover whodunit. A charming beachside cozy with an unpredictable plot, memorable characters, and loads of 1930s Cape Cod atmosphere, Sandbar Sinister offers hours of vintage reading pleasure, placing it among the greatest mysteries of celebrated author Phoebe Atwood Taylor.

A teenage boy sets out to avenge his father in this noir novel from the author of Specialty of the House.Every sports fan in New York knows Al Judge, the hard-bitten reporter whose column is the scourge of gamblers, gangsters, and corrupt players across the city. Sixteen-year-old George LaMain is Judge's biggest fanuntil the night when his own father becomes the target of the journalist's attacks, taken down in a public spectacle of violent humiliation. Reeling from a moment that upends his whole worldview, George takes his father's gun and sets out into the night on a quest for revenge. But before he can achieve the vigilante justice he seeks, the young man will make a series of discoveries that reveal an unsettling truth about the family he thought he knew. A noir-tinged coming of age novel by the master of the mystery story, Dreadful Summit is a riveting, atmospheric revenge novel rendered with both depth and suspense. It was included in the Haycraft-Queen cornerstone list of the greatest mysteries of all time, and inspired the 1951 Joseph Losey film The Big Night. Introduction by Andrew Klavan.

Fifteen suspenseful tales from the Golden Age of the mystery genre.The art of the suspense story is incredibly varied. Rarely classified as whodunits, these narratives can be more accurately described as when-will-it-be-dones. From hungry tigers stalking their prey to jealous lovers plotting revenge, the binding element of these stories is anticipation. Although humans have delighted in terrifying themselves with this type of anxiety-inducing tale since the caveman days, stories of suspense flourished in the interim between the World Wars. In this collection, Edgar-Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler selects the highlights of the suspense genre during this Golden Age era. Familiar names such as Stanley Ellin, James M. Cain, and Ellery Queen appear alongside lesser known authors worth revisiting. Each of these writers has their own strategy for building tension, making this anthology a robust representation of the many ways to keep readers at the edge of their seat

Fifteen suspenseful tales from the Golden Age of the mystery genre.The art of the suspense story is incredibly varied. Rarely classified as whodunits, these narratives can be more accurately described as "when-will-it-be-dones." From hungry tigers stalking their prey to jealous lovers plotting revenge, the binding element of these stories is anticipation. Although humans have delighted in terrifying themselves with this type of anxiety-inducing tale since the caveman days, stories of suspense flourished in the interim between the World Wars. In this collection, Edgar-Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler selects the highlights of the suspense genre during this Golden Age era. Familiar names such as Stanley Ellin, James M. Cain, and Ellery Queen appear alongside lesser known authors worth revisiting. Each of these writers has their own strategy for building tension, making this anthology a robust representation of the many ways to keep readers at the edge of their seat.