Bossy, impulsive, and unlucky in love, the all-too-human Agatha Raisin has proved to be a surprisingly effective---and endearing---amateur sleuth. But can Agatha make it as a private investigator? After getting mugged on vacation, in what she will always think of as the Paris Incident, she decides to find out.
Agatha soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. Instead of dames in distress with big shoulder pads, her clients are ladies with missing cats and a man whose son has run off with his car. Agatha even worries that she might be outclassed by her sixty-seven-year-old secretary, Emma Comfrey.
But then wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in with their first "real" case. Mrs. Laggat-Brown's daughter has received a death threat, and when Agatha thwarts an attack on the girl at a dinner dance, she recognizes an opportunity to show what Raisin Investigations can do. Even better, the case gives her a chance to reunite with her long-absent friend, Sir Charles Fraith. As they scour the Cotswolds in search of leads, Charles' insights prove invaluable and his charms irresistible, leading poor Emma to fall madly in love with him.
As ever, Agatha bumbles her way through the case, trying her friends' patience and flirting shamelessly with the chief suspect. Will she put her tiny agency on the map, or has even the outrageous Agatha finally bitten off more than she can chew? Views: 66
New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver delivers an electrifying collection of sixteen award-winning stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination. Diverse and provocative, Twisted showcases Deaver's amazing range and signature plot twists: a beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a contemporary of William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Deaver's most beloved character, brilliant criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance.From Publishers WeeklyThe title applies in several ways to this wicked collection of crime short stories by bestselling author Deaver (The Vanished Man, etc.): to many of the stories' characters and protagonists, who include murderers, adulterers, thieves; to the stories' arcs, which offer numerous bends and surprises; and to the general tone of the tales-as Deaver says in a brief introduction, "In a story, I can make good bad and bad badder and, most fun of all, really bad good." Of the 16 stories, 15 are reprints, some from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, some from its counterpart Alfred Hitchcock, while one, a Christmas tale featuring Deaver's beloved quadriplegic crime-buster Lincoln Rhyme and his sidekick, Amelia Sachs, is original to the anthology. The opening story, "Without Jonathan," is representative of Deaver's approach here. A woman, Marissa, drives along a Maine road, tormented by images of her husband drowning at sea. She's on her way to meet a man, presumably her first date since her husband's death. Cut to the man, shown strangling a woman-is our heroine about to encounter a serial killer? The Rhyme/Sachs entry, "The Christmas Present," is the cherry on the tart, as grumpy Rhyme and sweet but dangerous Sachs set out to save a woman from one apparent predator only to have to rescue her from another. Like an afternoon snack, this snappy volume will stave off hunger for Deaver fans until his next novel appears.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistDeaver, the author of a string of deliciously convoluted thrillers (his best work is the Lincoln Rhyme series, featuring a quadriplegic crime solver), offers his fans a real treat. This short story collection lives up to its title in more than one way: the stories are twisted, and so are many of the characters, a tasty assortment of murderers, thieves, con artists, and other no-goodniks. The best thing about the stories, however, is that we don't really know what they're about until the very end. Deaver is the grand master of the plot twist: his novels regularly perform elaborate about-faces, making us rethink much of what we believe about a character, a subplot, a seeming coincidence. His short fiction is like that, too: what appears to be a story about a man plotting the perfect murder, for example, becomes, in its final moments, something altogether more chilling. We're stunned, and then we think, OK, that makes perfect sense, but why didn't we see it coming? That's the beauty of a Deaver story: we never see the twist coming. These 16 stories are polished gems, beautiful examples of what splendid intricacies can be wrought in a small space. As an added bonus, one of the stories, featuring Lincoln Rhyme, has never been published before. For Deaver's fans, and any reader who likes that little thrill you get when a story takes an unexpected right-angle turn, this one's an absolute necessity. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 66
In the magnificent and brutal terrain of Glacier National Park, a devastating forest fire reveals a long ago crime that may be connected to the recent disappearance of a young boy, from the award-winning author of The Wild Inside and Mortal Fall—perfect for fans of Nevada Barr and C.J. Box.In a land sculpted by glaciers, the forest is on fire. Thick smoke chokes the mountain air and casts a twilight glow over the imposing mountains and vistas of Montana's Glacier National Park. When firefighters are called in to dig fuel line breaks near the small town bordering the park, a crewmember is shocked to unearth a shallow grave containing human remains. Park Police Officer Monty Harris is summoned to the site to conduct an excavation. But with a 2,500-degree incendiary monster threatening to barrel through the town and no forensic detective on hand, Monty must work outside protocol. So he seeks help from Gretchen Larson, the county's lead crime scene... Views: 66
In a race against time to save victims of a diabolical serial killer, FBI Special Agent Laura Frost is stumped: she sees that the victims are both alive and dead. Can she trust in herself? And can she decode the riddle in time? “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery.”—Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ALREADY LURED (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller) is book #10 in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller Once Gone (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews. The Laura Frost series begins with ALREADY GONE (Book #1).FBI Special Agent and single mom Laura Frost, 35, is haunted by her talent: a psychic ability which she refuses to face and which she keeps secret from her colleagues. While Laura gets obscured glimpses of what the killer may do next, she must decide whether to trust her confusing gift—or her investigative work.When Laura is faced with visions of victims... Views: 66
The fifth and final volume in the humorous SF series that began with THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is somewhat darker than its predecessors. The Earthman Arthur Dent spends years selling genetic material in exchange for travel to various parallel universes in search of somewhere vaguely resembling his home planet. When he finally settles (actually, crash lands) on a backwater planet, his pleasant new career as tribal sandwich-maker is interrupted by the arrival of his daughter, Random–the result of those many, many sales of his DNA. Meanwhile, Arthur's friend Ford Prefect discovers that the happy-go-lucky executives of his employer, the publishers of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, have been replaced by a frighteningly grim and worryingly familiar new management team. His plot to disturb their business plan puts him once again into Arthur's path...with devastating results. Views: 66
The Kincaid Family Christmas Reunion is threatened by murder …ALL ROADS HOMEOn his way home to San Diego, P.I. Patrick Kincaid takes a detour through San Francisco to check on the wellbeing of a family friend who’s mysteriously been unreachable. What he doesn’t expect is to be shot at before he can find out why attorney Elle Santana won’t ask the police for help in finding a missing girl. Soon, he’s on the run from both good guys and bad as he and Elle race to find the witness and take down a sweatshop run by a corrupt businessman with a penchant for violence.LEAD TO DEAD ENDSNewly sworn FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid can’t remember the last time she spent the holidays with her whole family, but getting home by December 25th is proving to be a bit of a problem. A blizzard shut down the airports and she and her boyfriend Sean Rogan are stuck in a Denver hotel … with a dead body. And if that wasn’t all, back in San Diego Colonel Kincaid ends up in the hospital, where an even greater danger awaits … a man with a vendetta who will kill anyone who gets in his way. This Christmas, the Kincaid family needs nothing less than a miracle to survive. And time is running out.Cold Snap is the seventh Lucy Kincaid Novel from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan. Views: 66
