Private Detective Fiction

It is February, 1929. Cyrus Skeen is hired by an Austrian aristocrat whom Skeen calls a "One-Worlder Gadabout", Count Paul Axel Heinrich Joachim von Wormuth-Esterházy, of Vienna, to find out who is trying to kill him. He gives Skeen a list he has compiled of 20 attempts to murder him, including flowerpots are dropped from above, a bottle of poisoned schnapps is given to him in a "welcome basket", and nearly being run over by a speeding automobile.

Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners. Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English.

P.I. Charity Deacon uses her full workload to bury her aching heart. So despite her bad blood with the Vancouver police, she takes on a trio of unsolved cases while they attend to a high-profile homicide. But as she digs deeper, Charity becomes convinced all four killings share a sinister link...With the famous widow of one of the victims pushing for results, Charity offers a stunning deduction for the killer’s identity. But when no one supports her claims and her liaison suddenly leaves the force, Charity sets up a dangerous sting as her last resort....

With her husband, Emrys, still missing in action, Ann Morgan faces the prospect of spending her first wedding anniversary, and Christmas, alone. However, a phone call from Alistair Blythe, a young man she briefly walked out with before her marriage to Emrys, sets Ann on a trail that leads to murder, encounters with black market spivs, and threats to her life. With assistance from spymaster Charles Montagu and Detective Inspector Max Deveraux, Ann uncovers a major secret of the war. And, with the snow falling at Christmas, she receives a present she will never forget.

Jack Frost was supposed to be on holiday, but with one child dead and another reported missing, there was no chance, no matter how much it pained Chief Superintendent Mullett to recall his scruffiest, most irreverent officer to duty. Had the same person taken both boys? Was there any connection with the pervert who silently entered houses at night to stab babies in their cots? Questions, questions and more questions. And so very few answers.

The Adventure of the Dying Detective, in some editions simply titled "The Dying Detective" (first published 1913), is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with seven other stories, it is collected as His Last Bow (published 1917). Dr. Watson is called to tend Holmes, who is apparently dying of a rare tropical disease, Tapanuli fever, contracted while he was on a case. Watson is shocked, not having heard about his friend's illness. Mrs. Hudson says that Holmes has neither eaten nor drunk anything in three days.

The Adventure of the Dying Detective, in some editions simply titled The Dying Detective (first published 1913), is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with seven other stories, it is collected as His Last Bow (published 1917). Dr. Watson is called to tend Holmes, who is apparently dying of a rare tropical disease, Tapanuli fever, contracted while he was on a case. Watson is shocked, not having heard about his friend's illness. Mrs. Hudson says that Holmes has neither eaten nor drunk anything in three days.

Jarvis Mann is a private detective whose business thrived on the mundane - paying the bills by shadowing cheating spouses, getting in the middle of messy divorces, and working for the fat-cat insurance companies running down false claims. On a winter’s Sunday afternoon, a young man graces his office steps. His words coaxing with the simple declaration of “please” convinces Jarvis to help find a valuable missing Ernie Banks rookie baseball card.

Who knew a watch could cause so much trouble? Lucy certainly didn't think so. But now she's found herself thrust into a mystery far bigger than she thought she'd have to. Which should be what every PI wants. But not this one. She has enough going on without ending up in life-or-death situations.

The Adventure of the Dying Detective, in some editions simply titled The Dying Detective (first published 1913), is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with seven other stories, it is collected as His Last Bow (published 1917). Dr. Watson is called to tend Holmes, who is apparently dying of a rare tropical disease, Tapanuli fever, contracted while he was on a case. Watson is shocked, not having heard about his friend's illness. Mrs. Hudson says that Holmes has neither eaten nor drunk anything in three days.

Detective Dave Robicheaux becomes entangled in the affairs of the Fontenot family, descendants of sharecroppers whose matriarch helped raise Dave as a child. They are in danger of losing the land they've lived on for more than a century. As Dave tries to discover who wants the land so badly, he finds himself in increasing peril from a lethal, rag-tag alliance of local mobsters - and a hired assassin with a shady past.

LA detective Kacey Chance partners up with sophisticated matriarch Tippy Booker to search the city for a missing kitty. Kitty...as in tiger. An honest-to-goodness, full-grown tiger. This case takes Kacey into the world of magic and stage magicians. Will she be able to separate truth from illusion? It isn't easy to see through the spells cast by a talented illusionist.

A recipe for murder, romance, lies, and mystery is on the menu. In the first episode in the series, in the upscaled suburbs of Bay City, a wealthy man is found murdered in his own bedroom. His wife is missing, and he is the prime suspect. Enter private investigator Johnny Blake, a former homicide detective for the BCPD. Leads become more entangled, and not everything is as it seems. John enlists aid from street-smart kid Jimmy McNeil to help solve the case.

Grahame Mayer specialises in selling books, not solving mysteries. So when he’s asked to play private investigator and track down a soldier from the Spanish Civil War, he wonders if it’s some sort of test – and if so, what will happen if he fails.... Armed with fresh information, he is sent to Glasgow on the trail of Jock Cameron, and a meeting with a former nurse who knew him back in Spain furnishes Grahame with further clues. But despite these new leads, the elusive Jock remains tantalisingly out of reach.

Gus has been hired by a man to find out if his secretary is cheating on him, even though the man is married. On top of that, the man's wife has had her half-million-dollar necklace stolen. Gus is conflicted when the wife hires him to find the necklace and tie her husband to the crime. Should he follow the cheating secretary, who may have the necklace, and turn her in?

Jonas Watcher had no memory of how he got there. As he started climbing up the ladder to the wharf, he found he was tangled in some sort of net. Suddenly a large heavy object dropped onto him and he fell into the bay still snared by the net, which had also captured the object. Luckily, the weight of the object had tightened the net, so he was able to pull himself out of the water and climb up to the wharf.

New Orleans PI "Red" Gammon has a very much unwanted knack for encountering the diabolical. When three high profile citizens of the Big Easy die under bizarre circumstances, all seemingly linked by a peculiar mark in the palm of their hands, Gammon follows the clues to a very peculiar casino run by the mysterious Mr. Moretti.

Meet Kyle King - a 30-something cop who has already accumulated the bitterness of a retiree and spends most shifts lapping the streets of Fullerton, California, with 90s hip hop as his siren song. Sick of having his own hands cuffed by the rigidness of traditional law enforcement, Kyle yearns to pursue the next generation of criminals who are making a mockery of the police force and running amok in cyberspace. The keyboard warriors have had free rein of the virtual world for too long without any accountability - until now.

After Parker and the Avery Detective Agency leave Kansas, they are contracted to work in conjunction with the ATF and FBI on solving the mysterious oil-trafficking case that is plaguing the area. The group is sent to Chicago in an attempt to get to the bottom of the crime ring that is terrorizing local farmers by confiscating oil from their land, but as they dive deeper into the case, figures from the past emerge, and the group might find that the culprit behind the whole thing is right under their nose.

An honorably discharged Navy SEAL, Jack Sterling moves to Dayton to emotionally support his recently divorced mother. Rather than find her crushed as he expected, she’s surprisingly energized by a new, religious faith. Hired as a bounty hunter, Jack begins tracking down a war veteran fugitive that jumped bail, while encountering his own spiritual crisis. There's action, humor and personal reflection as Jack, in a dual pursuit, searches to find a brother in arms and his own soul.