Traditional Detective Mystery

Can the feisty Agatha Raisin cut it as a private investigator? She soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. But then in walks wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown, and presents Agatha with her first real case. Death threats, blackmail, and worse quickly follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do!

Sidelined by his war injuries in 1916, Captain Hastings travels to his friend’s estate at Styles Court to recover from his wounds. As the summer heats up, a tragic murder occurs, and Hastings calls upon the services of his old acquaintance Hercule Poirot. With seemingly unrelated clues - a scrap of a burned will, a false beard, and an empty packet of bromide - the brilliant detective launches his first investigation on English soil and forges an enduring friendship.

In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, where the local Calvinist element resists the secular trimmings of Christmas, the spirit of old Saint Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. Nor is crime taking a holiday, as Constable Hamish Macbeth soon finds himself protecting an unhappy girl, unlocking the secrets of a frightened old woman, and retrieving some stolen holiday goods. Now the lanky lawman must use all his Highland charm and detective skills to make things right.

Carl Herbold enjoys being bad. After all, he is terrifyingly good at it. Stimulated by violence, he and his brother, Cecil, had easily graduated from juvenile delinquents to full-blown killers. And Carl, now serving a life sentence in an Arkansas penitentiary, carries out a daring escape with a fellow inmate and is on his way back to where he began—Blewer County, Texas. Ann Corbett had been widowed right before her son was born. Beset by debt and personal tragedy, she faces the toughest challenge of her life—unaware that she is at the center of Carl Herbold's vengeful plan.

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.

This mystery novel follows Anthony Cade, a man who unknowingly finds himself in the middle of an international conspiracy and a murder investigation after accepting a simple delivery job from an old friend. As Cade slowly begins to realize his predicament has potentially put him in danger, he begins his own investigation into the strange series of events just as Inspector Battle of Scotland Yard begins the main, official investigation.

Detective fiction has never lacked devoted fans. The undying popularity of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot vouch for that fact. In the early thirties, a detective by the name of Byomkesh Bakshi made an unobtrusive entry into the world of Bengali fiction. He preferred calling himself a satyanneshi, a seeker of truth, and within days was a household name, courtesy his cerebral skills and the exciting situations he found himself in. In the tradition of Doyle and Christie, Byomkesh is accompanied on his adventures by his friend, Ajit, slightly obtuse and the perfect foil to him.

The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.” Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Tandis que le Vieux-Québec scintille sous la neige et s’égaye des flonflons du carnaval, Armand Gamache tente de se remettre du traumatisme d’une opération policière qui a mal tourné. Mais, pour l’inspecteur-chef, impossible d’échapper longtemps à un nouveau crime, surtout lorsqu’il survient dans la vénérable Literary and Historical Society, une institution de la minorité anglophone de Québec. La victime est un archéologue amateur connu pour sa quête obsessive de la sépulture de Champlain.

Spring, 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, amateur sleuth and all-round eccentric, is enjoying a well-deserved rest. But a week after a trip to the cattle market, Spencer Caradine, a local farmer, turns up dead in the pub, face-down in his beef and mushroom pie. Once again, it is up to Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, to solve the case. Armed with wit and whimsy, not to mention Florence’s mean right hook, the pair set out to discover what really happened and why. Was it poison or just ill luck?

Reports of a haunted house soon have amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin snooping around, only to discover the victim of the haunting is a universally disliked old biddy on whom someone is playing a practical joke. But then the old lady is murdered and, for Agatha, solving a crime is much more fun than ghost-busting. Very soon she’s up to her usual tricks, involving the villagers, local police, and, naturally, her handsome new neighbor.

Emily Inglethorp, the rich mistress of Styles Court manor, is found dead. Poisoned. Hercule Poirot is called upon to investigate the death by Captain Hastings, who is a guest at the manor. Though a retired detective, Poirot steps in to unravel the truth. Who could have killed her? And why? The husband who would inherit the wealth or her stepson?

Chief of the Intelligence Department Sir Leonard Wallace - bearing always the hallmark of coolness and wit - is up to his earlobes in trouble. Summoned by the Viceroy of India, he makes a rapid flight to India to investigate the mysterious death of British officer Major Elliot and the theft of some very important dispatches.

Casino Royale, the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming, was published in 1953. As the first James Bond book, it paved the way for a further 11 novels and two short story collections by Fleming, and numerous further Bond novels by other authors. It tells the story of the British secret agent James Bond, gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt the treasurer of a communist union who is a secret member of Soviet state intelligence. The novel is packed with intrigue, action, close escapes, clever spy gadgets, intrigue, and glamorous women.

When James Taylor arrives late for a funeral, he has to stand at the back of the small church. But, as the service progresses, Taylor notices a man six rows in front of him. At first he thinks he must be mistaken, but the more he looks at the man, the more convinced Taylor becomes that this is his old schoolfriend Rufus Rorke. Except it couldn’t be him, could it? Because two years ago Taylor attended Rufus Rorke’s funeral. He even delivered Rufus’s eulogy.

If you haven’t already fallen in love with this internationally acclaimed series by M. C. Beaton, then this cunningly crafted mystery will do the trick. Loaded with authentic Scots dialog vivid enough to make you smell the heather-scented air, Death of a Macho Man is Beaton at her best. Hamish Macbeth - Lochdubh’s one-man police force - has suddenly become a prime murder suspect when a belligerent newcomer turns up dead. To save his career, Macbeth must delve into this Macho Man’s unsavory past. Suddenly, suspects are everywhere....

Tony Colletti, a good suburban cop and father of a child with autism, finds himself drawn into the controversy over the apparent but rarely acknowledged connection between childhood vaccines and autism. His quest to uncover the truth forces him to risk all he holds dear while confronting corrupt government officials, the powerful pharmaceutical industry, and disturbing elements of his own past. Even while holding down his job and dealing with family crises, Colletti spearheads the drive to contend with industrial espionage, Russian gangsters, and sexual predators.

While playing an erratic round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. The man opens his eyes and with his last breath says, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Haunted by those words, Bobby and his vivacious companion, Frankie, set out to solve a mystery that will bring them into mortal danger.... This title was previously published as The Boomerang Clue.

1974. Sur l'île de Valö, une famille disparaît. Seule Ebba, âgée d'un an, est retrouvée dans la maison. Depuis, Ebba reçoit, à son anniversaire, une carte signée d'un mystérieux G. Trente ans plus tard, Ebba et son mari, accablés par la mort de leur fils, reviennent s'installer dans la maison. Mais lorsque surviennent d'étranges incidents, les interrogations du passé resurgissent.

There's a body in a trunk; a dead girl's reflection is caught in a mirror; and one corpse is back from the grave, while another is envisioned in the recurring nightmare of a terrified eccentric. What's behind such ghastly misdeeds? Try money, revenge, passion, and pleasure. With multiple motives, multiple victims, and multiple suspects, it's going to take a multitude of talent to solve these clever crimes. In this inviting collection, Agatha Christie enlists the services of her finest - Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Parker Pyne.