Short Mystery Collection

A private investigator, a beautiful dame, and a missing boy. But Mickey's having trouble figuring out what's real and what's not as he tries to get to grips with the people and places of Refuge.

He’s a lady’s man, a man’s man—and a wanted man, on the run in 1930s Europe.... Meet Blacky Lee, ruggedly handsome with a quick wit and a roguish charm—with larceny in his heart and a price on his head. A price put there by the German Gestapo. But Blacky’s always got an angle, and this time it’s as audacious as they come. He’ll hide in plain sight, impersonating the crowned head of a Balkan kingdom. He’ll become The Iron Duke.

American Ann Halliday is as fiery as the Sahara sun. And now she’s feeling some real heat, as the prize captive of the Berber leader Abd el Malek also known as “The Killer”. But Abd el Malek wants Ann alive - and in chains - subject to his every whim and fantasy. Dusty Colton, however, an American deserter from the French Foreign Legion, has a different idea, and he’s determined to give “The Killer” a taste of his own bloody medicine. The only problem is Dusty himself is wanted for murder.

Mart Kincaid may be the fastest gun in the state, but it does him no good - because his gun and his life are not his own. They belong to Gar Malone, the King of Concha Basin, a ruthless rancher driven by his thirst for power, wealth, and conquest. Now Gar has set his sights on the Singing Canyon spread - the richest land in the basin - and he commands Kincaid to run its true owners off. If not, he threatens to reveal a dark secret that could ruin Kincaid's brother.

Saddle tramp Petey McGuire doesn’t have much to live for. The trail in front of him stretches out long and hot, and there’s no end in sight. He’s been beaten down, beaten up, and kicked around so long, he’d run away from his own shadow if he could. But there’s one fight he can’t run from - the fight against hunger. Petey needs a job quick, before he drops dead in the dust. But the only way to get one is to act cool and talk tough - in other words, become the exact opposite of Petey McGuire.

Tim Beckdolt, rangy and self-reliant, is as American as the frontier itself. But after spending eight treacherous months digging $175,000 in gold out of Desperation Peak - all he has left is desperation. Two sadistic strangers have taken his gold, and now they want to take his life. He's on the run - the target of a Devil’s Manhunt.

Penniless, homeless, and virtually lifeless, the vagrant “Doughface” Jack is about to discover that where medical marvels meet the mysteries of the human mind, amazing things happen. The Tramp acquires a capability beyond his imagination and without equal on Earth. Riding the rails, Jack runs afoul of a local sheriff and ends up with a crushed skull. He’s as good as dead until a savvy country doctor performs a bit of medical magic.

An obscure original manuscript of Marco Polo’s travels ... A tantalizing clue to the site of Kublai Khan’s fabled burial site ... A chance to unearth the truth behind a long-lost treasure. It’s an opportunity that would make Indiana Jones drop everything but his whip and race off to China. But he’d be too late. Lieutenant Jonathan Daly is way ahead of him. Two bullet holes and a bad case of malaria may not be enough to stop Daly, but a crew of criminals, a brood of British agents, and the entire Chinese army are all in the game ... and determined to keep him out of it.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott is as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he’s about to lose everything - his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Johnny’s mission is to track down drug runners in the Gulf of Mexico, and he’s got his eye on the biggest fish of all - Georges Coquelin. But an SOS from a downed plane that’s sinking fast leads him straight to disaster. Coquelin springs a trap. Stranding Johnny and the plane’s passengers on a deserted island, the drug smuggler commandeers Johnny’s boat and his name.

Some men look to keep the peace. Others look to make trouble. But sometimes even the most law-abiding of men are compelled to cross the line. Easy Bill Gates is just such a man - quick with a smile and as slow to anger. He’s a model of restraint...until he’s forced to strap on a holster and kill the outlaw who murdered his brother. But more than his honor is at stake. A ruthless land baron is out to grab Bill's ranch and he's hired a gang of gunslingers to get Bill out of the way.

In the last days of pre-World War II China and the rise of Communism, Jim Dahlgren, representative of the Amalgamated Aeronautical Company, has had enough of the fatalistic brand of diplomacy from other nations that claim to want a united China, one that can resist invasion from without and treason within - but which refuses to intervene and prevent it's demise. When Dahlgren disappears - purportedly to find a mysterious aviator, the man called "Wind-Gone-Mad" - he ignites a series of actions which just may spell disaster.

In the last Cooper Story, #86 - The Next Great Adventure, Clay helped get Harry Fleming out of town and saved his life. In this installment, Harry wants to repay Clay and invites him to come to Denver for a week. On the way there, Clay meets a woman on the plane and they become friends. Before the plane reaches Denver, however, it collides with a flock of geese and goes down in the Rocky Mountains. The only survivors are Clay and the woman he met. Now how do they get out of this mess? Or do they?

Fighter pilot Gary Forsythe is a man on fire. He’s tough, steely-eyed, hunted by many and feared by all. He’s British Secret Service - a striking predecessor to James Bond - with a chip on his shoulder and a .50 caliber machinegun in his flying killing machine. He is the devil - with wings. The Japanese have invaded Manchuria, and Forsythe has made it his mission to stop them. Japanese Military Intelligence has made it their mission to knock the Devil out of the skies.

David Bain presents six tales of small town supernatural horror.

Brash and bold and daring, Lieutenant Lee Briscoe will never back away from a good cause or a good fight. Briscoe’s gone undercover to infiltrate a slave-labor camp on an island in Southeast Asia, knowing full well that once he goes in, he may never get out. Posing as a man on the run for murder, he may soon wish he had run in the opposite direction. His adversary on the island is Schwenk - a man who is not only a connoisseur of cruelty, but an expert at delivering it.

Flying into action, daredevil photojournalist Johnny Brice is always looking for trouble...and more often than not, finding it. But he doesn’t know what real trouble is until he rescues the beautiful woman he calls Jinx from a sinking ship. They’re made for each other - even if they are a dangerous mix.

As a young man Monte Calhoun was as wild as they come, thinking the measure of a man was how hard he could drink and how straight he can shoot. But several years of schooling back East have changed him. Monte has become The No-Gun Man. The East Coast has civilized him, and he’s bringing some of that civilization home to Superstition, Arizona...even if it means refusing to avenge the murder of his own father.

This is not your typical Cooper story. That is, the main character in this story, Eddie Heller, crosses paths with Matt Cooper but the story is really about Eddie and his quest to become a cop in Hollywood during the 1930s. It follows Eddie life from birth on, ending up on the streets of Hollywood in the 1950s.

Pilot Pete England used to think there was nothing more exciting in the world than flying off into the wild blue yonder. But lately, the blue yonder hasn’t been wild at all...it’s been downright dull. Pete’s hungry for adventure - and he’s about to get his fill. Pete has fallen into a rut, flying the same route - New York to DC - with the same passengers, day after day after day. He might as well be driving a bus...until “her highness” climbs aboard. Apparently a princess, and for one flight, she’s bought up every ticket on the plane.

He’s a handsome American Lieutenant in the French Foreign Legion. She’s a beautiful woman who’s as fiery as the North African sun...and as mysterious as the far side of the moon. And she’s all his - bought and paid for in the village square. Put them together, and you’re sure to get fireworks.