Private Investigators Fiction

A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.

A hard-faced woman clad in a blue mink stole and dripping with diamonds hires Lew Archer to track down her former maid, who she claims has stolen her jewelry. Archer can tell he’s being fed a line, but curiosity gets the better of him and he accepts the case. He tracks the wayward maid to a ramshackle motel in a seedy, run-down small town, but finds her dead in her tiny room, with her throat slit from ear to ear. Archer digs deeper into the case and discovers a web of deceit and intrigue, with crazed number-runners from Detroit, gorgeous triple-crossing molls, and a golden-boy shipping heir who’s gone mysteriously missing.

This story is based on the actual murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers, a crime that paralyzed New York because of the unprecedented violence that the murderer turned on her. Mary Cecilia Rogers was born in Connecticut in 1820 and disappeared on October 4, 1838, in unclear circumstances. Some days later the newspapers announced that she had been found and had fled to marry a naval officer. The case was closed, but three years later, on July 25, 1841, Mary Cecilia Rogers disappeared again. Her lifeless body was found floating in the Hudson River

Au lendemain d'Halloween, une silhouette masquée, drapée de noir, apparaît dans le parc de Three Pines. L'inconnu semble épier quelqu'un, mettant tout le village mal à l'aise. Comme les autres, Armand Gamache voudrait bien le voir disparaître, mais le fraîchement nommé directeur de la Sûreté du Québec ne dispose d'aucun motif pour l'appréhender. Quelques jours plus tard, alors que la triste figure s'est évanouie, un cadavre est trouvé dans la petite église Saint-Thomas.

An ancient skeleton tossed in a garbage dump is the first conundrum to rattle Gideon Oliver when he arrives in Egypt. There to appear in a documentary film, he expects an undemanding week of movie star treatment and a luxurious cruise up the Nile with his wife, Julie. But then Gideon discovers a tantalizing secret in the discarded bones - and violence claims a famous Egyptologist's life. Plying his calipers as the world's foremost forensic anthropologist, Gideon's investigation of the goings-on leads him through the back alleys and bazaars of Cairo.

Sam Rockwell came home from the Second World War to work as a fledgling private investigator specializing in helping "Returns": recently deceased ghosts who've come back with unfinished business. Short on experience and long on the imitated swagger of the detectives found in his dog-eared collection of pulp fiction P.I. mysteries, the quick-witted Sam waits for his big break - and his chance to win the heart of Amelia, his Girl Friday. But when his no-nonsense father is murdered and becomes a Return himself, everything changes.

It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case.

Private investigator Heredia spends his days reading detective novels; commiserating with his cat, Simenon; and peering out over the Mapocho River from his Santiago apartment. The city he loves may be changing, but Heredia can't stop chasing the ghosts of the past. This time, they've come to him...

Five years after the crashof TWA Flight 800, the government has declared it a result of mechanical failure. But John Corey, an ex-NYPD detective who is now a contract agent with the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is persuaded by Kate Mayfield, his wife and task force partner, that the case deserves a second look.

Tempted out of his bookstore into the world of horseracing, Janeway accepts an invitation from wealthy horse trainer H.R. Geiger to travel to Idaho and look at some rare first-edition books. The books are stunning, flawless children's classics that render the usually eloquent Janeway speechless.

Popular mystery author Carolyn Haines is the recipient of the prestigious Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence, as well as the Harper Lee Award. In Greedy Bones, Sarah Booth Delaney returns to Dahlia House when a mysterious illness breaks out in her hometown. Sarah’s best friend Tinkie’s husband seems to be dying of the ailment, so Sarah must act fast to avoid a devastating loss.

On the night before Halloween, the people of Scarlet Cove annually gather at the castle on the hill in hopes of spotting the headless spirits that are rumoured to stalk the grounds. What starts off as a silly legend for ex-detective Liz Jones soon becomes all too real when she discovers a severed head. Her hopes of settling into her new home on the coast are once again hampered when she is dragged into another murder investigation.

In this 12th entry in the award-winning series, Carolyn Haines' intrepid PI Sarah Booth comes up against porn-star-turned-psychic Sherry Cameron, who runs a medium business from a haunted estate on the edge of town. After growing suspicious that Sherry might be exploiting her emotionally vulnerable - and extremely wealthy - clients, Sarah disguises herself as a maid and sneaks onto Sherry's estate. But what she discovers there is deadlier than she could have imagined.

Adrian Monk has journeyed into the realm of the cult science fiction show Beyond Earth, where he meets fans just as obsessive as he is. Monk is at their convention because there may be a killer lurking in the Beyond Earth community: someone in a starship uniform has very publicly gunned down the show's legendary creator, Conrad Stipe. Could a fan be that furious at him for selling out to an exploitative Hollywood producer? Or is there more going on behind the scenes in Stipe's life?

She may be a Mississippi belle, but Sarah Booth Delaney is no pampered daddy’s girl. Unwed and over thirty, Sarah has her own set of problems - like coping with regular hauntings by her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, a busybody of a ghost who’s set on marrying her off to the first suitor who comes calling. But when an old friend is in trouble, Sarah Booth doesn’t hesitate to get involved.

Summer's end approaches, and it's time for the Harvest Festival, the last big event of the season, held by Mamie Fish, wife of millionaire railroad tycoon Stuyvesant Fish, at their grand "cottage", Crossways. The crowning jewel of the evening will be the guest of honor, Prince Otto of Austria. As acting editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, Emma must attend the Harvest Festival. The next morning, the prince is found dead in the side garden at Crossways, making it clear a murderer crashed the party.

Sam Acquillo has spent most of his time in the Hamptons hanging out with the other half of the moneyed wonderland cops and bartenders, carpenters, store clerks, and firemen. He couldn't care less about the concerns of the one percent, until his best friend, a certified billionaire, is dragged into a high-profile death investigation. For some, there is no power without prestige, and no prestige that can't be bought. The rich can achieve a level of depravity and hate both invisible, and incomprehensible, to the rest of us.

Sitting in cold cars for hours, serving lowlifes with summonses...being a PI means riding out a lot of slow patches. But sometimes the most familiar paths can lead straight to danger - like at Cass's go-to diner, where new delivery guy Jung Byson wants to enlist her expertise. Jung's friend, Tim Ayers, scion of a wealthy Chicago family, has been found dead, floating in Lake Michigan near his luxury boat. And Jung is convinced there's a murderer on the loose....

Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac is known for three things: pâte de fois gras, truffles, and prehistoric remains. The little village, in fact, is the headquarters of the prestigious Institute de Prehistoire, which studies the abundant local fossils. But when a pet dog emerges from a nearby cave carrying parts of a human skeleton - by no means a fossilized one - Chief Inspector Lucien Anatole Joly puts in a call to his old friend, Gideon Oliver, the famed “Skeleton Detective.”

The Ninja Daughter is an action-packed thriller about a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja with family issues who fights the Los Angeles Ukrainian mob, sex traffickers, and her own family to save two desperate women and an innocent child. After her sister is raped and murdered, Lily Wong dedicates her life and ninja skills to the protection of women. But her mission is complicated. Not only does she live above the Chinese restaurant owned by her Norwegian father and inspired by the recipes of her Chinese mother, but she has to hide her true self from her Hong Kong tiger mom.