The brilliant Belgian detective rings in the New Year with a chilling murder investigation on a Greek island in this all-new holiday mystery from Sophie Hannah, author of Hercule Poirot's Silent Night. New Year's Eve, 1932. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool arrive on the tiny Greek island of Lamperos to celebrate the holiday with what turns out to be a rather odd community of locals living in a dilapidated house. A dark sense of foreboding overshadows the beautiful island getaway when the guests play a New Year's Resolutions game after dinner and one written resolution gleefully threatens to perform "the last and first death of the year." Hours later, one of the home's residents is found dead on the terrace. In light of the shocking murder, Poirot reveals to Catchpool the real reason he's brought him to the island--the life of another community member has been threatened. Now both men resolve to ensure that the first murder will be the last.

Trouble with water / H. L. Gold --Nothing in the rules / L. Sprague de Camp --Fruit of knowledge / C. L. Moore --Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius / Jorge Luis Borges --Compleat werewolf / Anthony Boucher --Small assassin / Ray Bradbury --Lottery / Shirley Jackson --Our fair city / Robert A. Heinlein --There shall be no darkness / James Blish --Loom of darkness / Jack Vance --Man who sold rope to the gnoles / Margaret St. Clair --Silken-swift / Theodore Sturgeon --Golem / Avram Davidson --Operation afreet / Poul Anderson --That hell-bound train / Robert Bloch --Bazaar of the bizarre / Fritz Leiber --Come lady death / Peter S. Beagle --Drowned giant / J. G. Ballard --Narrow valley / R. A. Lafferty --Faith of our fathers / Philip K. Dick --Ghost of a Model T / Clifford D. Simak --Demoness / Tanith Lee --Jeffty is five / Harlan Ellison --Detective of dreams / Gene Wolfe --Unicorn variations / Roger Zelazny --Basileus / Robert Silverberg --Jaguar Hunter / Lucius Shepard --Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight / Ursula K. Le Guin --Bears discover fire / Terry Bisson --Tower of Babylon / Ted Chiang.

From his first appearance in Detective Comics No. 27 in May 1939, Batman has thrilled imaginations across the globe. This character portrait pays tribute to the World's Greatest Detective, from his early days as a pulp-inflected comics hero to his current stature as a global icon, one of the greatest cultural artifacts of modern times. Through Robin, Catwoman, the Joker, and beyond, this volume looks at the complicated personality and the dynamic relationships that defined Batman. With 192 pages of the greatest Batman images and text by Paul Levitz, author of the Eisner Award-winning 75 Years of DC Comics, The Little Book of Batman is your definitive guide to the tragedy and triumph of the Dark Knight. All DC characters and elements are trademarks of and (c) DC Comics. (s15)

Countless school children have recited the opening line of Poe's The Raven: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary..." But Poe is valued not only for his poetry. He was also a prolific writer of short stories, the creator of two literary forms that readers everywhere enjoy--the detective story and the horror thriller.

Although remembered mostly for her audacious bestseller, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein was a unique literary artist of the twentieth century who left a voluminous body of work, including novels, essays, poetry, and prose. Stymied--just once--by a case of writer's block, Stein forayed into the world of mystery fiction to rediscover her path to creativity. Combining elements of free association and interior monologue that earned her reputation as an avant-garde stylist, Stein drew from a summer's worth of mysterious events at her French country home for inspiration. Blood on the Dining-Room Floor is the brilliant result. A possible murder disrupts the peaceful setting when, in a nearby village, Madame Pernollet is found on the cement courtyard of her husband's hotel. Did she fall from a window above . . . or was she pushed? Was there someone who wanted the preoccupied woman out of the way? In a departure from the typical whodunit, with nary a detective to lead the way, Stein lays out a series of crimes and clues, enticing readers to come up with their own verdict on the baffling events of one unnatural summer.

Two friends venture out at night to see if a tree is really haunted in the fifth book in the Ghosts of Fear Street middle grade series from master of horror R.L. Stine—now with a brand-new look! No one ever goes into the Fear Street woods at night. Not if they want to come out again. But Dylan and Steve just found a cool tree house there—one that’s supposed to be haunted. Are the creepy stories true? Dylan and Steve are going to find out. They’re spending the night in the tree house in the woods. Just the two of them…and maybe a ghost.

Rabbi David Small makes a private exodus to Israel to soothe his soul. Soon he finds himself in the thick of a frightening incident involving Arab militants.

To the fear-filled eyes of criminals everywhere, he is a man without a past--a Darknight Defender of the helpless and oppressed, a towering symbol of swift and vengeful justice, a wraith-like guardian of Gotham City's asphalt corridors. But to comic book fans throughout the world he is...Batman and he is a man with a mission. Now, for the first time in paperback, readers can discover the deepest secrets of the masked crimefighter, from his own origin to his first meeting with Robin, his partner in the war on crime. This spectacular re-telling of The Batman legend includes his initial encounters with his most menacing foes, as well as a fact filled tour through the Darknight Detective's secret headquarters, The Batcave. A veritable encyclopedia of the Cowled Crimefighter's past, The Untold Legend of the Batman will delight comic adventure fans everywhere!

When ex-FBI Agent Patrick Henderson calls in an 'X-Ray Sierra India' incident, the operator doesn't understand. He tells them to pass it up the chain till someone does. That person is Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds. Arriving in snowbound Northern Wisconsin, she finds that a tornado has flattened half the town - and there's no sign of Henderson. Things soon go from weird to worse, as neighbours report unsettling sightings, key evidence goes missing, and the snow keeps rising - cutting off the town, with no way in or out... As the clues lead to the coldest of cold cases - a cursed expedition into the frozen wilderness - Reynolds follows a trail from the start of the American nightmare, to the horror that still lives on today...

Detective Jeffrey Bones solves crimes?but this time it?s personal. He?s at a science museum when his blue Tyrannosaurus rex goes missing. Could someone have stolen it? Bones must find his T-rex! Hopefully there?s something in Bones?s detective bag that can help him solve this roar of a mystery!

This mystery collection presents many selections never before collected in book form and nemerous selections chosen by the author himself from his famous "Black Widower" and "Union Club" series, as well ad a wide variety of other stories.

On a pleasure trip to the Holy Land, Rabbi David Small looks in on the troubled son of friends. Young Jordan Goodman has embraced the extreme ideals of a controversial fundamentalist Jewish group. Now his newfound beliefs lead him to perform an act of dubious heroism that results in a murder charge. Can Rabbi Small show him the error of his ways . . . and save him from the murder rap?

On her return to her island home of Lahnt, Elodie discovers that Replica, a statue that prevents a volcano from erupting and destroying the island, has been stolen, and she must use her deductive skills to find the thieves and save the island.

The book that gave Goodis his greatest success. James Vanning, artist, suffers through blackouts and hallucinations. He's not sure if he's even committed robbery and murder. A police psychologist says he's there to help, but only wants to entrap Vanning. Meanwhile, a bunch of crooks are after Vanning for the proceeds of that robbery he might have done. First published 1947 as "Nightfall." Also published as "Convicted," and "Missing: Believed-Murdered."

In this spooky book from the nonfiction An Unsolved Mystery from History picture book series, tragedy strikes Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 as the community is torn apart by accusations of witchcraft. When a group of girls came down with a horrible, mysterious bout of illness, they pointed the finger at people in their community they claimed were witches. Soon, the whole town was convinced they were in danger from supernatural forces. Today, we have details about the accusations, trials, and those who lost their lives, but the question remains: What caused the mass hysteria? Become a detective, study the clues, and see if you can help solve this chilling mystery from history!

When it appeared in 1972 'Bloody Murder' was greeted as the classic study of crime fiction, a book "heartily recommended to anyone who has ever enjoyed a detective story or a crime novel" as Kingsley Amis wrote. Subsequent edition ensured that this study was kept up to date to include later authors, and a third and final revised edition was issued in 1993 in celebration of distinguished author/critic Julian Symons' 80th year. The views expressed are as candid as ever. One bestselling writer is called unreadable, another compared to writers of "strip cartoon stories". But the general tone is warmly appreciative of every sort of book within the genre.

Chronicles the story of the Reconstruction-era Secret Service and its battle against the KKK's effort to suppress the emancipated African-American vote, sharing particular insights into the career of controversial Secret Service chief, Hiram C. Whitley. In the years following the Civil War, a new battle began. Newly freed African American men had gained their voting rights and would soon have a chance to transform Southern politics. Former Confederates and other white supremacists mobilized to stop them. Thus, the KKK was born. After the first political assassination carried out by the Klan, Washington power brokers looked for help in breaking the growing movement. They found it in Hiram C. Whitley. He became head of the Secret Service, which had previously focused on catching counterfeiters and was at the time the government's only intelligence organization. Whitley and his agents led the covert war against the nascent KKK and were the first to use undercover work in mass crime--what we now call terrorism--investigations. Like many spymasters before and since, Whitley also had a dark side. His penchant for skulduggery and dirty tricks ultimately led to his involvement in a conspiracy that would bring an end to his career and transform the Secret Service. Populated by intriguing historical characters--from President Grant to brave Southerners, both black and white, who stood up to the Klan--and told in a brisk narrative style, Freedom's Detective reveals the story of this complex hero and his central role in a long-lost chapter of American history.

Phoebe Siegler first meets Charles Heist in a shabby trailer on the eastern edge of Los Angeles. She's looking for her friend's missing daughter, Arabella, and hires Heist to help. A laconic loner who keeps his pet opossum in a desk drawer, Heist intrigues the sarcastic and garrulous Phoebe. Reluctantly, he agrees to help. The unlikely pair navigate the enclaves of desert-dwelling vagabonds and find that Arabella is in serious trouble caught in the middle of a violent standoff that only Heist, mysteriously, can end. Phoebe's trip to the desert was always going to be strange, but it was never supposed to be dangerous.

A SUNDAY TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH PICK ****** The new V.I. Warshawski novel from the New York Times bestselling author pits acclaimed detective V.I. Warshawski against some of today's most powerful figures. 'The 19th Warshawski novel is also a panoramic vision of Chicago at a time when the city is so polarised that decent people don't know who to trust' The Sunday Times 'Paretsky is a genius' Lee Child Legendary sleuth V.I. Warshawski returns to the Windy City to save an old friend's nephew from a murder arrest. The case involves a stolen artifact that could implicate a shadowy network of international criminals. As V.I. investigates, the detective soon finds herself tangling with the Russian mob, ISIS backers, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen art that stretches from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East. In Shell Game , nothing and no one are what they seem, except for the detective herself, who loses sleep, money, and blood, but remains indomitable in her quest for justice.

IN THIS CAPTIVATING, OFTEN HILARIOUS DEBUT MYSTERY, ONE OF THE GREAT COMEDIANS OF OUR TIME BLENDS FACT WITH FICTION, AS "LAW & ORDER: SVU'S" RICHARD BELZER'S OFF-CAMERA PERSONA COMES TO LIFE ON THE PAGE, EMPLOYING INVESTIGATIVE KNOW-HOW AND COMEDIC TIMING IN EQUAL MEASURE TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A TRUSTED FRIEND. When Richard Belzer meets Rudy Markovich, nyc medical examiner, for dinner in Brighton Beach, he has little reason to expect anything more than a friendly bull session. But in the next twenty-four hours Belzer finds himself in the middle of a vicious street brawl, splashed across the tabloid headlines as an out-of-control celeb, and fearing for the life of his good pal Rudy -- who police assume is sleeping at the bottom of the East River. As Belzer finds himself increasingly required to call upon the resources he taps to portray Detective Munch on nbc, he maintains his sense of humor and carries us along on a rollicking ride through the underworld of New York City. With Rudy kidnapped, or worse, it falls to The Belz to track him down and solve the riddle to the vanishing act. The lives of Detective Munch and Richard Belzer collide and mesh in "I Am Not a Cop!" as one of America's great comics and TV cops brings all of his talents to bear in book form and provides a triumph of the mystery genre.