As a thief in the night

R. Austin Freeman

Synopsis

Looking back on events by the light of experience I perceive clearly that the thunder-cloud which burst on me and on those who were dear to me had not gathered unseen. It is true that it had rolled up swiftly; that the premonitory mutterings, now so distinct but then so faint and insignificant, gave but a brief warning. But that was of little consequence, since whatever warnings there were passed unheeded, as warnings commonly do, being susceptible of interpretation only by means of the subsequent events which they foreshadowed.
The opening scene of the tragedy—if I had but realized it—was the arrival of the Reverend Amos Monkhouse from his far-away Yorkshire parish at the house of his brother Harold. I happened to be there at the time; and though it was not my concern, since Harold had a secretary, I received the clergyman when he was announced. We knew one another well enough by name though we had never met, and it was with some interest and curiosity that I looked at the keen-faced, sturdy, energetic-looking parson and contrasted him with his physically frail and rather characterless brother. He looked at me, too, curiously and with a certain appearance of surprise, which did not diminish when I told him who I was.

Disponible depuis: 10/06/2024.

D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

Night in the City

Michael McGarrity

Accused of the murder of his former lover, Korean War veteran Sam Monroe is forced to abandon his job as an assistant district attorney and fight to clear his name.
Sam Monroe thought his steamy love affair with Manhattan socialite Laura Nielson was dead and buried, but when she didn’t show up after unexpectedly calling him late at night and asking to meet, he decides to investigate. He finds her naked on her penthouse balcony, strangled, his dog tags wrapped around her neck. With a bull’s-eye on his back as the prime suspect, Sam begins a search for the killer that reveals Laura’s involvement with several men, some with ties to a well-known crime family.
As circumstantial evidence mounts against him, the cops close in, especially a heavy-handed rogue patrolman carrying a grudge against Sam and looking for serious payback. Forced to operate in the shadows, he relies on the unofficial help of several coworkers in the DA’s office and Debora Jean Ryan, a private investigator who offers to assist but has an agenda that she refuses to disclose. As they probe Laura’s past looking for clues, they must also figure out Laura’s mysterious trip out west, the death of a young man in New Jersey during her childhood, and who is making attempts on his life.
From the crime-ridden precincts of Lower Manhattan, the mean streets of Spanish Harlem, and the lofty mansions along Millionaires’ Row, Night in the City is classic crime noir fiction at its best that wonderfully evokes the vibrant world of 1950s New York. Michael McGarrity again proves himself to be one of the most accomplished writers of mysteries working today.
"[A] sleek noir … Fans of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man will enjoy the echoes peppered throughout this twisty journey through the underbelly of mid-century New York. It’s a hardboiled good time."—Publishers Weekly

Voir livre

Dead Set - A Cozy Mystery

Vannetta Chapman

It was supposed to be a simple remodel. 
 
 
 
She didn't plan on finding buried treasure . . . or looking down the barrel of a gun. 
 
 
 
Agatha Lapp is elated when Channel 4 News decides to run a feature story on Amish businesses. The extra publicity should guarantee even more success for her Plain and Simple B&B, especially after she's finished with the remodel. The cameras are rolling live when Agatha raises the rubber mallet and punches the first hole in her living room wall. That's when things get complicated . . . 
 
 
 
Hidden inside the wall is a diamond-studded belt buckle stolen twenty years earlier. The police return the buckle to the owners and refuse to re-open the case. When overzealous treasure hunters break into the B&B and a dead body is found half a mile down the road, Agatha knows she needs to take this investigation into her own hands. 
 
 
 
With the help of a retired detective and her best friend, Agatha sets out to solve the mystery of the Lost Texas Treasures and find a killer. Their chase leads them to the famed YO Ranch where Agatha finds herself looking down the barrel of a gun. Suddenly, she's no longer worried about a remodel. She just wants to live through this showdown.

Voir livre

Murder at the Tower of London -...

Jim Eldridge

London, 1899. A shocking murder is discovered at the heart of the Tower of London. The dead body of a Yeoman Warder is found inside a suit of armour belonging to Henry VIII, having been run through with a sword, and when details of this outrage are reported to the Prince of Wales, he fears this may be an expression of Republican unrest striking at the very home of the Crown Jewels. In the hopes of hampering the spread of news about the crime, the Prince reluctantly calls upon the services of Daniel Wilson and Abigail Fenton, the museum detectives, to investigate further.
As their inquiries proceed, Wilson and Fenton learn about the long and bloody history of the Tower of London, but dark deeds are not confined to the Tower's shadowy past. More bones will see the light of day and the twists and turns of a dastardly plot will unravel before the museum detectives' case is closed.

Voir livre

Illusions of Trust

Jeffrey S. Stephens

When attorney Russell Palmer agreed to handle the divorce of a beautiful socialite, he never anticipated the tangled web of deceit, corruption—and murder—he would be forced to confront. 
 
Russell Palmer is known for taking on unusual and high-risk cases alongside his private detective associate, Robbie Whyte. When the wealthy and alluring Christina Franco approaches him to represent her during divorce proceedings, he finds her story impossible to resist.As Christina recounts the abuse she has suffered, Palmer's protective instincts kick in. His interest deepens when she mentions a dangerous associate of her husband—someone Palmer has clashed with before.Soon, a series of events begins to unfold that may or may not be related to Christina and her family. There is the apparent suicide of a prominent lawyer. That is followed by a murder for which another of Palmer's clients is charged. Then, a federal investigation into a major pharmaceutical company is tied to Christina's husband.As Palmer and Whyte work to solve an increasingly complex puzzle, they follow a trail that leads them from New York's underground to the rarified world of the ultra-rich—and even into the halls of Congress.

Voir livre

Quilt City: Measure Once Cut...

Bruce Leonard

During a weekly Paducah Quilters Quorum session, Hadley worries about her looming deadline for the cookbook she's writing, the pain her best friend is in, her depressed young housemate, and the Paducah mayoral race she's favored to win against her nemesis—corrupt businessman Nick Stoddard. Then she learns that fellow quilter Donna considers the death of a coworker to be suspicious. 
 
 
 
Adding to her concerns, Hadley will meet the family of her beau, Detective Brandon Green, that night, and her younger sister, Jenny, will arrive for a visit, bringing three kinds of trouble with her. 
 
 
 
But then bricks shatter Hadley's windows, transforming worry into danger. 
 
 
 
Just when Hadley fears her burdens will cause her to crack up, people in and around Paducah die in what could become a major public health crisis. 
 
 
 
She steels herself and enlists the services of private eye Garrett Hunt. They investigate the murders, but when her family's secrets emerge from her late mother's trunk, Hadley questions who she is and whether her future is doomed.

Voir livre

A Rattle of Bones

Douglas Skelton

When banners proclaiming the innocence of James Stewart spring up at the gravesite of his famous namesake—a clan leader who was falsely accused of murder and hanged almost three hundred years ago in a miscarriage of justice that still resonates—investigative reporter Rebecca Connolly smells a story. 
 
 
  
The publicity stunt was clearly meant to draw attention, but what's behind it and why now? The young Stewart has been in prison for ten years for the brutal murder of his lover, lawyer and politician Murdo Maxwell, in his home in Appin, near the site of the Stewart monument. Rebecca soon discovers that, prior to his murder, Maxwell believed he was being followed, and his phones were tapped. What would justify a government phone tap against a public figure? And why is a Glasgow crime boss so interested? As Rebecca keeps digging, she finds herself in the sights of Inverness crime matriarch Mo Burke, who wants payback for the damage caused to her family in a previous case. 
 
 
  
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, A Rattle of Bones is a tale of injustice and mystery, and the enduring echo of the past in the present.

Voir livre