A dying woman staggers from the shadows of the Houston docks. Flinging herself at a passing squad car, she attacks the cop who comes to her aid - biting away part of his face before she dies in agony. Meanwhile, in a wealthy neighbourhood, another beautiful woman is dying the same hideous death. Her body will be found floating in a bayou - yet the coronor's finding is that there is no evidence that she drowned or that there was any violence. Detective Stuart Haydon can't be sure that it is murder - but when another high class prostitute dies mysteriously, he begins a manhunt that will take him to the underworld of high rollers and sex slaves. With the help of a beautiful young call girl, Haydon must set a trap for the most inhuman killer he has ever faced.
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Philip Converse was an extremely wealthy man. He was also kindly, generous, sympathetic - and dead. He was loved by all who knew him, except one - for Philip Converse had been murdered. They came to his beautioful New England home from far and wide, the mourners and the curious - and the murderer among them. Beneath the breeding, success and sophistication of the dead man's family, a careful observer found a hidden desperation - and all candidates for the murderer's role. By the time it was discovered what happened the night Philip Converse died, all had been absolved, except one. And that one who might have been a victim, changed roles - and struck again... -
Grace Dearden is beautiful, clever and admired. The last person to vanish into the lonely Norfolk marshes in the dead of winter. Seven days - and no trace. With police investigations stalled, old family friend Alex O'Neill returns to the haunting landscape of her childhood and immediately begins to uncover disturbing new clues, each one drawing her closer to a family's tragic secret. -
Volume IV of the Chronicles of Matthew Bartholomew. Bartholomew, a physician in 14th century Cambridge, is called to attend to two deaths from poisoned wine. The opening of a new and very well-endowed college has created petty in-fighting amongst the academics as new appointments are made. The winter and spring have been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University and then the poisoned wine kills the first victim - a student. The second victim is Dittone, the deputy master of the new college, but there seems no connection between him and the student. Matthew must establish the facts before relations between town and gown spiral out of control. -
A rigid man of fifty leads a solitary, apparently respectable life, as clerk and bookkeeper for a small business and part-time rent collector for his landlord. He has rented a flat in a London suburb for twenty years because deep in its cellar, unbeknownst to anyone else, is a mannequin that he periodically "strangles" in order to satisfy his homicidal urges. The figure's location in the cellar, the darkness, the furtiveness, all are essential for his satisfaction. But his hardly-won balance is threatened when a young man, healthy in mind and body, a doctoral candidate in psychology, becomes a roomer in the house. The danger the older man senses from the moment the new tenant appears is horribly realized for him when the young man finds the mannequin and uses it as the figure in the bonfire at the Guy Fawkes Night celebration he has organized for the local children. The respectable fifty-year-old now must go back to the streets to find flesh more yielding than a mannequin's...
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Scobie Malone XIII. In the gay community of Sydney, homophobic attacks happen all too often. But now, someone has taken the law into their own hands and is eliminating the culprits. To complicate matters further, each shooting appears to have been done by a different person. Whoever it is, Detective Scobie Malone realises that he is up against an intelligent, highly dangerous killer who is as elusive as he is deadly. At the same time, this difficult case is causing tension within the force as prejudices of all kinds – race, creed, colour and sexual preference – rear their ugly heads. It seems like the killer is always one step ahead, protected by those who believe the ends justify the means. But Malone’s determination to crack the case intensifies when his own precious daughter has a near escape. -
A Different Turf: Jon Cleary
$25.00Scobie Malone 13. In the gay community of Sydney, homophobic attacks happen all too often. But now, someone has taken the law into their own hands and is eliminating the culprits. To complicate matters further, each shooting appears to have been done by a different person. Whoever it is, Detective Scobie Malone realises that he is up against an intelligent, highly dangerous killer who is as elusive as he is deadly. At the same time, this difficult case is causing tension within the force as prejudices of all kinds – race, creed, colour and sexual preference – rear their ugly heads. It seems like the killer is always one step ahead, protected by those who believe the ends justify the means. But Malone’s determination to crack the case intensifies when his own precious daughter has a near escape. -
Berkeley, California, has long been known for its radical politics, its sixties' hold-overs and Bay Area tranquility. Lately it's become more famous for its 'gourmet ghetto' - a string of world-renowned restaurants headed by the famous Chez Panisse - which is turning the flavour of the town from hippie to yuppie. Jill Smith, a Berkeley detective whose tastes run more to American cheese on her burgers than goat's cheese on her arugula, is drawn to the chic new restaurant, Paradise, for more than the haute cuisine. Mitch Biekma, the hottest, trendiest restaurateur in town is found dead - poisoned by his own carrot soup. As she investigates, Jill finds many people who wanted Biekma dead - from the wealthy patrons of society luncheons to the homeless hobos who scour Paradise's garbage cans. One thing is certain - this case is leaving a nasty taste in her mouth.
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Isabel Dalhousie, Volume 11. A new baby brings an abundance of joy to Isabel Dalhousie and her husband, Jamie - but Isabel's almost four-year-old son, Charlie, is none too keen on his newborn brother. In fact, Charlie refuses to acknowledge Magnus, and Isabel must find a way to impress upon her older son the patience and understanding that have served as guiding principles in her own life. These are, of course, the qualities that bring Rosemary Hipple, an old acquaintance of Isabel's, to seek her help in a tricky situation. Rosemary is something of a matchmaker and has brought together a cosmetic surgeon and a successful banker at her most recent dinner party. But new information comes to light about the cosmetic surgeon that causes Rosemary to doubt the auspiciousness of the match. Isabel agrees to find out more, but her inquiries take an unexpected turn - and she starts to wonder which of the two she should be investigating after all. As ever, her intelligence, quick wit and deep empathy for others will come to her aid as she grapples with the issues that are her bread and butter: friendship and its duties, the obligation of truthfulness and the importance of perspective.
