This second book of Ernest Dudley’s stories about his London-based private eye, Nat Craig, and his lovely French secretary, Simone, features a varied collection of the detective's eccentric clients: young, wealthy women getting themselves blackmailed; upper-class men or women who have the jitters over the safety of their precious family heirlooms; and, occasionally, even members of the criminal class, appealing to their former nemesis for help in clearing their names of false accusations....
Mystery novelist Paisley Sterling is happier than she ever dreamed. As successful writer she is free to return to her mother's farm in Kentucky where she trades in her panty hose and high-heeled shoes for jeans and loafers. Her only problem is the pen name of «Leonard Paisley» that her agent encourages her to assume because «a detective novel will sell better if it's written by a man.» Unfortunately Paisley finds out that every paradise has its snake when her beautiful daughter, Cassie...
For an illusionist to make a woman vanish from a cage is merely a parlor trick, because the person must go somewhere; but in this instance the woman really DOES disappear, in full view of an audience, and cannot be found afterwards. This seeming impossibility is the commencement of a completely baffling puzzle, which even Scotland Yard finds hard to crack. And then the magician himself is found murdered in his flat, lending credence to the notion that the woman has also been killed. Scotland...
As an honest cop, Captain Lanny Just has problems. His Police Chief and several of his men are on the take from local gangster kingpin, “Boss” Myrtle. Myrtle’s daughter Bonnie is in love with Lanny, but the young policeman feels he can't pursue the relationship because of her father’s criminal activities–of which Bonnie is unaware. Lanny’s problems multiply alarmingly as his hometown of Freshwater is threatened by a sudden influx of murderous criminals from New York–a gang of bank raiders...
Martin Slade wants to bury his past as a saboteur in wartime Denmark and smuggler in postwar Europe. Returning to Denmark as a respectable journalist, he's approached by Birgitte Holtesen, an old flame now married to an elderly trader. Birgitte wants Martin to smuggle something back to English for her–but he refuses. She enlists instead a young musician, Sean Clifford. When Martin returns to England, he's attacked in his flat, and the place is ransacked. And then he learns that Sean...
An innocent man is arrested for a murder committed by a woman. A guilty killer confesses to a murder–but the police arrest an innocent woman. A man finds the woman of his dreams–only to discover that he's entrapped in a nightmare. The tenants of a new block of flats are so delighted with their home that they don't ever want to leave–little realizing that they CAN'T leave. A husband and wife find that all their wishes can come true–but with death as the price. Eight great macabre...
When Sterling Seabright is found strangled in the woods outside the small farming community of Abundance, Wisconsin, even her closest friends are shocked to learn of her secret life. When a second body is found murdered in a cabin by the lake, it's up to Deputies Robely Danner and Frack Telusky to discover the link. Sterling's classmates hold various pieces of the puzzle, and although they may be talking among themselves, Robely and Frack are unable to break their code of silence.
The murder is as impossible as it is horrible. Archeologist Reuben Hayles, following written threats to his life, receives police protection at his home. Superintendent Budd stations himself outside the door of his bedroom, while Sergeant Leek remains on alert outside the room's only external window. Yet Hayles is found dead, his head battered by some tremendous blow. Apart from his corpse, the room is empty, devoid of any possible weapon. A search reveals no hidden panels, so how has the...
The creator of the famous criminologist, Dr. Morelle, here gives us four stories of another brilliant detective, whom the newspapers have dubbed «The Amazing Martin Brett.» Brett appears to be selfish and lazy, and his effort at solving crimes is entirely motivated by the size of his fee. His attractive secretary (and narrator) is often the butt of his sardonic humor and sexist remarks, which she finds unnecessary and uncalled for. But she puts up with him because she suspects Brett has a secret...