Amateur Detective

Præcis midnat bliver Neil Griffon kidnappet fra sit hjem af ukendte gerningsmænd. Da han efter flere timer vågner op, bliver han tvunget til at samarbejde - hans fars uvurderlige væddeløbsheste mister livet hvis han nægter. Tilbage i stalden kan Neil ikke afsløre omstændighederne for nogen. Men han bukker ikke så let under. Han må slå forbryderne i deres eget spil.

The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew.

Miss Marple er Agatha Christies amatørdetektiv, hvis evner altid undervurderes, fordi hun udadtil bare ligner en sød og lettere påtrængende gammel dame. Miss Marple optræder i 12 af Agatha Christies romaner og adskillige noveller, og det er hendes nysgerrighed og menneskekundskaber, der som regel resulterer i opklaringen af selv de mest indviklede sager – altid til politiets store forbavselse.

Liget af en ung smuk danserinde bliver fundet i biblioteket på familien Barrys gods. Mrs. Barry, der frygter, at sagen er forbundet med hendes mands utroskab, beder sin veninde miss Marple om hjælp, og sammen giver de sig til at undersøge det hotel, hvor den unge pige arbejdede som danserinde. Det viser sig, at en yderst velhavende ældre mand havde i sinde at adoptere den unge pige og derved skrive hende ind i sit testamente, hvilket hans to forgældede biologiske børn naturligvis var ganske utilfredse med.

When Robin Anstey KC comes upon the beautiful Miss Blake, who has been wounded while courageously attempting to detain a fleeing murderer, he calls upon his long-time legal collaborator Dr. John Thorndyke to investigate the killing. But what at first looks like a mere robbery gone wrong, leaving a scene awash with clues, in fact proves to be far from straightforward. And while trying to untie that knot, Thorndyke also interests himself in the still more complex mystery of Miss Blake's family inheritance, and the cat's eye pendant....

From the moment he steps on the plane, Inspector Cockrill loathes his fellow travelers. They are typical tour group bores: the dullards of England whom he had hoped to escape by going to Italy. He gives up on the trip immediately, burying his nose in a mystery novel to ensure that no one tries to become his friend. But not long after the group makes landfall at the craggy isle of San Juan el Pirata, a murder demands his attention. The body of a woman is found laid out carefully on her bed, blood pooled around her and fingers wrapped around the dagger that took her life.

Simply wonderful: Mit dem "Marlow Murder Club" ist der gute alte englische Krimi zurück! Die siebenundsiebzigjährige Judith Potts lebt allein in einem Herrenhaus im idyllischen Marlow und arbeitet als Kreuzworträtsel-Autorin. Sie genießt ihren beschaulichen Alltag mit gelegentlichem Nacktschwimmen in der Themse. Ihr Leben wird jedoch auf den Kopf gestellt, als sie Zeugin eines Mordes auf dem Nachbargrundstück wird. Weil es weit und breit von der Leiche keine Spur gibt und die Polizei den Fall nicht ernst nimmt, beginnt Judith, auf eigene Faust zu ermitteln.

Simply wonderful: Mit dem "Marlow Murder Club" ist der gute alte englische Krimi zurück! Die siebenundsiebzigjährige Judith Potts lebt allein in einem Herrenhaus im idyllischen Marlow und arbeitet als Kreuzworträtsel-Autorin. Sie genießt ihren beschaulichen Alltag mit gelegentlichem Nacktschwimmen in der Themse. Ihr Leben wird jedoch auf den Kopf gestellt, als sie Zeugin eines Mordes auf dem Nachbargrundstück wird. Weil es weit und breit von der Leiche keine Spur gibt und die Polizei den Fall nicht ernst nimmt, beginnt Judith, auf eigene Faust zu ermitteln. 

A crime reporter investigates the case of the deadly do-gooder! While Mike Lanson, reporter for the Gazette, was checking up on Clarence Proost, director of the Anti-Vice League, Proost was slain. There was a strip-tease dancer named Luzy who thought that "maybe" she murdered him. The police thought so too, but Mike didn't so he helped her hide out, hoping for the bigger story to break. All the gangsters in town didn't care who killed whom, all they wanted were the blackmail files Luzy had in hiding with her.

Rutherford Hall, campagna inglese, anni cinquanta. Manca poco a Natale. La signora McGillicuddy ha passato la giornata a fare acquisti e sta ritornando a casa in treno quando, improvvisamente, un altro convoglio si affianca al suo e l'anziana donna assiste suo malgrado a uno spettacolo sconvolgente: in una delle carrozze un uomo sta strangolando una donna. Terrorizzata, la signora cerca di avvertire il controllore e la polizia, ma nessuno le crede: non sono stati rinvenuti cadaveri e non è stata denunciata la scomparsa di nessuno.

Mark Ablett is hosting all his friends at his English country house when he receives a letter from his estranged brother, Robert, announcing Robert's intention to arrive from Australia. Not long after his arrival, Robert turns up dead, his body found with a bullet wound to the head, and Mark is nowhere to be seen. Antony Gillingham and his friend Bill Beverly play Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to solve this whodunnit mystery. This is Milne's only mystery novel.

Ein Mörder in der Familie? Das kann nur Agatha Christie so spannend mitteilen! Stets hatte Jacko Argyle beteuert, seine Mutter nicht ermordet zu haben. Trotzdem wird er für die Tat verurteilt und stirbt kurz darauf im Gefängnis. Zwei Jahre später überbringt Arthur Calgary der Familie den Beweis für Jackos Unschuld. Diese ist wider Erwarten alles andere als erfreut, denn nun hat sie Gewissheit: Der Mörder muss einer von ihnen sein.

Auf einer Cocktailparty belauscht die Tearoom-Besitzerin Gemma Rose zufällig eine ominöse Unterhaltung - kurz darauf wird eine Studentin vergiftet. Gemma hegt den Verdacht, dass beides zusammenhängt und der neue Freund ihrer besten Freundin Cassie in den Mord verstrickt ist.Mit der Unterstützung von vier neugierigen alten Damen aus ihrem Dorf in Oxfordshire stellt Gemma ihre eigenen Ermittlungen an, sehr zum Ärger ihrer alten Collegeflamme, CID Detective Devlin O'Connor.

London, 1556. Hal Westmecott, one of the city's most feared executioners, reckons Jack Blackjack owes him a favour - and now he's come to collect his dues. Hal has ordered Jack to track down his long-lost son. But when Jack's search draws him to the attention of a ruthless nobleman, a dead priest's vengeful brother and finally to a bloodstained body in a filthy lodging house, he comes to realise he is an unwitting pawn in a mesh of schemes dreamed up by the most powerful people in England. Just who is a friend, who is a foe - and will Jack escape with his life intact?

Questo volume raccoglie i dodici racconti preferiti da Agatha Christie all'interno della sua vasta produzione. Dodici miniature di altrettanti drammi umani ai quali assistono due insoliti spettatori: l'anziano signor Satterthwaite, pigro ma osservatore attento e curioso della vita che gli si svolge attorno, e il suo misterioso amico Harley Quin.

La prima esperienza con "Miss Marple" non partì sotto i migliori auspici. Avevo la febbre e, quando mia madre era uscita, le avevo chiesto di portarmi un Asterix; quindi mi aspettavo un fumetto. Appena lo vidi, con sospetto, chiesi che libro fosse. "Un giallo di Agatha Christie" rispose lei "di quelli che piacciono tanto a tuo fratello". Di bene in meglio. "Sai, il protagonista non è un poliziotto, e nemmeno un investigatore privato. È una vecchietta che risolve i casi mentre lavora a maglia". E mi lasciò il libro sul comodino. Dalla prefazione di Marco Malvaldi.

"Le fatiche di Hercule" - Un bel giorno Hercule Poirot scopre che un eroe della mitologia classica ha avuto non solo l'impertinenza di portare il suo stesso nome, ma anche l'ardire di compiere imprese che un professore universitario sembra giudicare superiori a quelle compiute da lui. Ma chi è questo mitico Ercole, se non un omone tutto muscoli, privo di eleganza e buone maniere? E come è possibile paragonare le imprese di Poirot, frutto dell'impeccabile funzionamento delle sue "cellule grigie", alle fatiche di Ercole?

Joseph Timar soll für eine Handelsgesellschaft in Gabun arbeiten. In Libreville angekommen, erfährt er, dass es keine Aufgabe für ihn gibt. Der junge Mann fällt in eine quälende Lethargie, er trinkt, vertreibt sich die Zeit beim Billardspiel - und beginnt eine Affäre mit Adèle, der verheirateten Wirtin seines Hotels. Sie ist die Einzige, zu der er eine Beziehung an diesem fremden Ort entwickelt. Dann wird der Hotelboy ermordet, und bald stirbt auch Adèles Mann. Obwohl er einen schrecklichen Verdacht hat, reist Joseph mit Adèle ins Landesinnere.

What looks more impressive on a resume? Nosy amateur sleuth or struggling no-name actress? Neither one pays the bills, and Becky Robinson has a lot of bills. So, when she's invited to the reading of her rich uncle Al's will, she daydreams about her inheritance. The problem, Becky doesn't have an uncle Al. And she never met the deceased. The mysterious stranger leaves her a ceramic flamingo with a hidden message. Turns out her fake uncle was murdered, and she was hired from the grave to find whodunit.

It's the week before New Year's Eve, and genealogist Lucy Lancaster is ready to mix work and play at the beautiful Hotel Sutton, enjoying herself while finalizing the presentation for her latest client, hotel heiress Pippa Sutton. Freshly arrived at the hotel - and determined not to think about Special Agent Ben Turner, who went radio silent on her after one date - Lucy is stopped in her tracks when a strange man comes staggering toward her. He presses a classic Montblanc pen onto her hand, gasps, “Keep them safe”, and collapses at her feet, dead.