Comedy Crime Fiction

Kann es beim Bestatter zu viele Leichen geben? Wie bringt man einen Finnen dazu, mehr als drei Worte zu sagen? Ist man in einem Pyjama im Supermarkt underdressed oder kommt es auf die Accessoires an? Alles Fragen, die Maggie Abendroth nicht beantworten will. Sie hat definitiv andere Sorgen. Maggie ist 37, pleite und wohnt wieder in ihrer alten Heimat Bochum auf 22 qm - ohne Aussicht. Ihr neuer Job als Aushilfssekretärin bei einem Beerdigungsinstitut stellt ihre Nerven zusätzlich auf eine harte Probe.

All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull thief John Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, he sets out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar. Success is not inevitable with Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.

Genuinely Dangerous follows the nightmarish yet hilarious journey of Jasper Tripp, a down-and-out filmmaker who embeds himself in a crew of wild and mysterious criminals so he can film a documentary that'll land him back in the Hollywood fast lane.

Cookbook author Mattie Carrington, Pine County's one and only celebrity, narrowly escapes being burned to a crisp when her kitchen explodes. Then someone tries to poison her. Luckily, Sheriff Cas Larkin is on the case. But when Cas visits the secluded cabin Mattie rented to finish her next book, he finds her nearly dead. With no signs of foul play and just as many clues, Cas is getting more "help" than he needs from the eagle-eyed locals as he tracks an experienced killer with the patience and skill to watch... and wait.

Junior Bender is back to untangle one of the weirdest mysteries in Tinseltown. LA burglar Junior Bender has, unfortunately, developed a reputation as a competent private investigator for crooks. The unfortunate part about this is that, regardless of whether he solves the crime or not, someone dangerous is going to be unhappy with him - either his suspect or his employer. Now Junior is being bullied into proving aging music-industry mogul Vinnie DiGaudio is innocent of the murder of a nasty tabloid journalist he'd threatened to kill a couple times.

Courting Death finds Melanie Wilkerson (from Cotton, book two of the Clarkeston Chronicles) and Arthur Hughes working uncomfortably together in the chambers of a famous federal judge. While Melanie neglects her duties as a law clerk to investigate the mysterious death of a young woman in the courthouse five years earlier, Arthur wades through the horrific habeas corpus appeals of two prisoners: an infamous serial killer and a pathetic child murderer.

Junior Bender is a Los Angeles burglar with a magic touch. Since he first started breaking into houses at age fourteen, he's never once been caught. But now, after twenty-two years building an exemplary career, Junior has been blackmailed by Trey Annunziato, one of the most powerful crime bosses in LA, into acting as a private investigator on the set of Trey's porn venture, which someone keeps sabotaging.

It's '86, the era of Pop Rocks, Jelly shoes, and big hair bands. Rachael O'Brien's freshman plan seems simple: Attend a southern college away from her hometown of Canton, Ohio, earn a degree, party, and meet cute guys-hopefully acing the latter two. But being threatened by a jealous She-Devil, avoiding the advances of a 30-something redneck, and discovering an art fraud scheme mess with her "to do" list.

A young actress, involuntarily committed to City of Roses Psychiatric Hospital, plunges James Flynn into a dangerous new adventure when she claims one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood is trying to kill her. Still convinced he's a secret agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service, Flynn springs into action, helps her escape, and finds himself embroiled in a battle with a dangerous sociopath worth billions. In the process, he uncovers a high-tech conspiracy to control the mind of every human being on Earth.

After a dramatic change in character, a rather usual middle-aged man begins carrying out a series of rather unusual murders. Meanwhile Brad Shape, a crime beat reporter for the Manchester Daily News, is looking for the big scoop to revive his flagging career—and his crumbling marriage. But when he finds one of England's most notorious serial killers, it will be Brad's biggest break...in more ways than one.

Here are kids in trouble and women in jeopardy. Here are private eyes and gangs. Here are loose cannons and innocent bystanders. Here, too, are cops and robbers. These are the stories that prepared Evan Hunter to become Ed McBain, and that prepared Ed McBain to write the beloved 87th Precinct novels. In individual introductions, McBain tells how and why he wrote these stories that were the start of his legendary career.

When the palace of Arabesque's aide d'camp, a cat named the Tremblees, stumbles upon a translation of an ancient language that reveals the existence of a fabled stone, he vows to find it for reasons of greed and vengeance. With a dead dog stuck to a car bonnet, some burst luggage, a blind bus driver, and an enormous number of olives, it becomes a race for Oscar, his colleague Meesha, and the Tieress of Arabesque to prevent the Tremblees plunging Arabesque back into the Era of Bedlam.

Maggie Thomas doesn't know the first thing about being a private eye. She quickly discovers that running her uncle's faltering Miami Beach P.I. agency is nothing like watching detective show reruns. Even the private eye app on her iPhone can't help. But Maggie's first case is surprisingly easy...or so she thinks until she stumbles upon a dead body. With whizzing bullets, car chases, and spandex-clad bodybuilders, Maggie wonders if she's in over her head.

Constable Nick’s beat is modernized, with his police bike replaced by a mini-van. He gets more than he bargained for as his work draws him into closer contact with villagers, in more ways than one. There are compromising positions aplenty in this next charming installment of Aidensfield life. Nick finds himself lost in heavy fog and runs across a couple of illicit lovers trapped in their car. He advises the village grocer about his very respectable lady shoplifter and discovers how farmer Owens copes with his bossy wife.

Caleb Rush, aka Crush, is the toughest, coolest bodyguard/bouncer in Los Angeles, a man who lives strictly by his own moral code, which doesn't exactly hew to the standards of US law. When Amelia Trask, the wild daughter of a scruples-free billionaire tycoon, comes to Crush for help, his quiet life roars into overdrive, and he has to use his wits, brawn, martial-arts training, and knowledge of the Russian Mafia to stay alive and clean up the mess that young Amelia has created.

An old enemy seeking revenge sends James Flynn back around the bend and into a wild adventure even more deranged than his last one. Once again he believes that his psychiatric hospital is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Secret Service and that he is a secret agent with a license to kill. With the help of Sancho, his reluctant sidekick, Flynn confronts a mysterious new adversary just as unhinged as he is and far more deadly. The entire planet is in danger, and the only one who can save it is someone no one believes.

After serial killer Randall Burton is diagnosed with a terminal disease, he decides to jump bail and go out in a blaze of glory. One woman stands in his way. Her name is Counsel Fungo, and she’s an exceptionally talented bounty hunter, if a little eccentric. Officially, her two canine companions are therapy dogs. But she considers them partners. Counsel will do anything to stop criminals from preying on the vulnerable, and she’s intent on stopping Randall Burton. Randall’s trail leads to sleepy Rancor, Pennsylvania.

Early in July, Northern Nevada’s senior Internal Revenue Service agent, Ronald Soranden - disliked by every agent in the Reno IRS office - vanished without a trace. In September, he makes a dramatic reappearance, of sorts. His skull - stripped clean and white - is dropped through the slashed top of a Mustang convertible. The vehicle belongs to Lucy Landry, PI Mortimer Angel’s gorgeous young assistant now working with him on a seemingly unrelated embezzlement case. But Mort is a former IRS field agent in Reno.

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the type, you start out rescuing a kidnapped scientist from a megalomaniac known only as Mr. E, and in the process, you destroy his doomsday machine, kill at least a baker’s dozen henchmen, and get just a little bit shot. For Shelly and Spacer Sharpe, that’s what they call a Tuesday. It isn’t until they try to take a vacation from their lives as freelance spies that things really begin to turn south.

When Gabriel Lee escapes an unhappy marriage and moves to Porlington to start over, he finds himself part of the Porlington Philharmonia - an orchestra made up of the usual characters you would find in such a thing. Until one of them is found dead following a concert. Suddenly, everybody is a suspect, but nobody seems likely. A thriller full of intrigue and humour, this tale gives an insight into just what a barmy world musicians live in, especially when things go fatally wrong.