What does a man really know about love? "Francis Widmer is a well-bred, beautiful, provocative young woman with a good mind. When she is raped by Harry Koslak, she decides to press charges. Her attorney father sends her to George Thomassy, as successful criminal lawyer. Thomassy, against his better judgment, involves himself in the case and finds himself attracted to Francine more than he cares to admit. Stein lays bare the unsavory, manipulative aspects of criminal law as he explores today's sexuality--its cruelties, hypocrisies, joys and mysteries. This fast, suspenseful, unusual love story is best seller material."-- Publishers Weekly "Bound to be a success!"-- The New York Times Book Review "Wonderful...full of unexpected twists and breathless turns."-- The Washington Post "Sure to cause a sensation...a fast-moving story that reveals the dark underside of unanswered love."-- Boston Herald American "Highly original. Stein gives readers what they want."-- Cleveland Press "Riveting...shocking...so many intriguing characters, as credible as they are memorable."-- King Features Syndicate "A timely, powerful story."-- Library Journal

A Moses Wine Mystery “...Observant, wry, wise, funny, vulnerable and tough-minded, Moses Wine has truly come into his own.” —Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle “Here is today’s Sam Spade or Lew Archer, a post-’60s analogue...Moses Wine is a private eye that bears looking into.” —The Washington Post With a new introduction by Roger L. Simon Despite a string of successful cases, despite the fact that his work has, on occasion, garnered national attention, when the opportunity suddenly presents itself for private eye Moses Wine to become head of security at the Tulip Computer Corporation, he jumps at the chance. But then one of Tulip's young geniuses is killed, and Moses quickly finds himself trailing a murderer from Northern California to Los Angeles, then across an ocean to the mean streets of Tokyo. Along the way, he discovers that there's far more to the ins and outs of life in Silicon Valley than corporate in-fighting and bureaucratic bungling—especially when it involves international computer theft, the Japanese mafia, and the GRU.

The dazzlingly clever and always entertaining Raymond Smullyan takes an unorthodox approach to chess puzzles by treating them as mysteries—with Sherlock Holmes as guide and mentor. The key concept is retrograde analysis. Rather than figuring out how to achieve some end from a given arrangement of chess pieces, the game is to examine the board and deduce what has happened in the past: Which side is white? What were the previous moves? Prove that a promotion did or did not occur. Which piece has been replaced by a coin? These are just a few of the challenges Smullyan presents through the eyes of Holmes and Watson. He even manages about as passable an imitation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style as can be expected from a tongue-in-cheek presentation. To enjoy these problems you need only know how chess pieces move. The first puzzles in the book teach all the concepts you need to know to decipher the later ones; the process prepares you to join Holmes in solving a baffling double murder—the keys to which reside in a series of devilishly clever puzzles. The chess game is afoot, and it's almost too much fun!

"A dissolute member of the British aristocracy, 'Lucky' Lucan has been missing since he accidentally murdered his children's nanny in an abortive attempt on his wife's life. His puzzling disappearance in the mid-seventies created a sensation in Britain and a tantalizing mystery as yet unsolved. In Muriel Spark's daring and sophisticated fictional version of Lucan's flight, his adversary is Beate Pappenheim, a fake Bavarian stigmatic who embezzled millions from devout followers before assuming a new identity as a celebrated psychiatrist."--Jacket

HE HAS... West Crosse is a genius at creating spaces uniquely fitting the people who will inhabit them. The catch: he works under a shroud of secrecy, charges his clients a fortune, and then sometimes, in the most skillful and horrifying ways, he kills them... A MOST INTELLIGENT DESIGN.... West has the best of reasons. He's designing lives as well as homes, obliterating everything that is ugly, accidental, or ill-conceived. And with each meticulous murder he commits, he's getting better--leaving behind carved bodies that make a bone chilling statement of their own... FOR MURDER. Forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger is hunting an outrageous serial killer whose victims seem to have only wealth in common. With his own life in shambles and the murderer two steps ahead of him, Clevenger can't know that the next killing ground will be the White House, where an innocent life just needs the perfect touch... "The pages turn faster than you can say 'taut psychological thriller'." -- Entertainment Weekly "Deeply compelling." -- Booklist Visit Keith Ablow's Web site at: www.keithablow.com

"HIGHLY ENTERTAINING...SIT BACK IN THE BUBBLES AND ENJOY." --The Philadelphia Inquirer Brenda Kovner, a Washington columnist, advice dispenser, and amateur psychologist, doesn't consider herself intrusive, just extremely interested in helping. If she knows the answer, she can't shut up--even if no one's listening. Since Brenda knows what's best--for everyone--she secretly decides she must murder her son Wally's prospective father-in-law, before he can get to Wally. She has a foolproof plan. In fact, she has a million of them. But first she's got a few kinky desires of her own to satisfy (. "Viorst keeps us laughing....A serious look at family and cultural issues while still a farce, narrated by a needling Machiavellian who keeps winning us over." --San Francisco Chronicle "A wry look at the follies of superficial urbanites...Enjoy." --The Washington Post Book World "Acerbic and extremely funny...Done with the arch, sardonic flavor familiar to readers of Ms. Viorst." --The Baltimore Sun

"Summer in London-the sun is finally shining, the flowers are in bloom, and life is humming merrily along for book editor Samantha Clair, off to lunch with her old friend, art-dealer Aidan Merriam. Humming merrily until she learns that his partner has just been found dead in their gallery, slumped over his desk with a gun in his hand. Could anything be worse? Oh yes, the police investigation is being led by Inspector Jake Field, who just happens to be Sam's new boyfriend. And Aidan, who just happens to be Sam's ex-boyfriend, wants Sam's help. Finding herself drawn into another investigation, Sam does the only sensible thing and calls her mother. Before long, Sam finds her loyalties stretched to the limit as she herself is threatened. Armed with nothing more than her trusty weapons of satire, cynicism and a stock of irrelevant information culled from novels, Sam races to find a killer who is determined to find her first in the newest fast-paced, uproarious novel in the critically acclaimed series from New York Times bestselling author Judith Flanders"--

Investigative reporter Bobby Kelleher has just about given up the hope of landing the Big Hit: the story that will win him a Pulitzer and make him a star. Then the governor of Maryland is assassinated. . . . Feinstein is the New York Times bestselling author of A Season on the Brink.

Cesare Cardinali is a young Italian aristocrat with an inborn penchant for violence who owes his lush lifestyle to the favors of a Mafia overlord. He is more than happy to return the favors by silencing four men awaiting trial in a sensational case against organized crime. Special Agent George Baker is the man who has assembled the evidence to put those same four men away for life. When one is knifed under the watchful eye of a policeman outside a New York courtroom, and another is found slumped over a Las Vegas gaming table, Baker enters a cat-and-mouse game to entrap Cardinali before his whole case is destroyed. But for Baker's adversary, it is the sting of the stiletto as it sinks into another human being that keeps Cesare Cardinali killing - not the debt he presumes to owe to the Mafia kingpin. And once he has begun to savor that encompassing rush, nobody - friend, enemy, or mistress - is likely to stop him from knowing it again.

When a popular singer goes from retired to dead the day before New Year's Eve, Ellery Queen is certain it's murder. Luckily, just before she died, the victim managed to scribble out a single mysterious word: F A C E. Unfortunately, no one knows what it means. With the help of a new acquaintance, Inspector Harry Burke from Scotland, Queen uncovers even more baffling clues written in invisible ink. Enter the beautiful, discarded conquests of the dead singer's playboy husband, who prove a dangerous distraction for both Queen and Burke. Will erotic temptation derail the investigation? If it does, hearts will be broken, and what's worse -- someone will get away with murder.

Book by Breslin, Jimmy, Schaap, Dick

Detective Frank Behr finds himself neck deep in white collar crime and facing off with cold-blooded killers more terrifying than anything he's faced before. Bernard "Bernie Cool" Kolodnik is a hard-driving business mogul in the process of making a move into big-time Indiana politics, and it's Frank Behr's job to protect him. When a gunman takes a shot at Kolodnik, Frank does what he does best: saves Kolodnik's life. So why then was he taken off the detail? And why are the usually adept Indianapolis cops making no headway? To discover the truth, Behr navigates a labyrinthine landscape of hardened former Feds, crooked real estate developers, casino magnates, and power seekers feeding on the edge of a dangerous and deadly political scheme.

Mystery and adventure in Ancient Roman times for Flavia Gemina and her friends . . . Sacred chickens, a jellyfish and a Roman mystery set in Britannia - this collection of mini-mysteries is the perfect recipe for a gripping read! Includes an exclusive interview with Caroline Lawrence on the secrets of writing mystery stories!

After the shocking murder of her husband, 19-year-old Ros and her one-year-old son relocate to her childhood home to live with her parents. Palm Springs--full of sunlight, small and safe--should be the perfect place to bring up a child. But things aren't always as they appear. When the father of one of Ros's friends is shot in front of her house--an incident that also lands Ros in the hospital--it marks the beginning of a terrible string of events. Someone is out to get her, and they seem determined not to stop until her friends and family are also drawn in. As she struggles to uncover the identity of her mysterious enemy, Ros finds herself looking for answers in the most unusual places. Could the attacks have something to do with her increasingly disturbing dreams? And if so, how can she make them stop? In Past Crimes, bestselling author Carol Matas once again asks her readers to question their assumptions about the world around them. Are we capable of fully understanding the lives we lead, or do the things we fail to understand far outnumber those that we do? Growing out of her work in books like The Freak, Past Crimes offers an innovative twist on the mystery/thriller genre, and is a must-read for fans of Matas's work. Veteran novelist Carol Matas knows that a fast-paced plot is mandatory for youth raised on television. In Ros [the protagonist], Matas has created a heroin who will appeal to teenage girls Canadian Review of Materials Ive read Past Crimes and its interesting that shes tackled something typically new. Shes gone from one genre to another and not many writers can. Shes willing to challenge different kinds of writing, and shes incredibly productive. Helen Norrie, Childrens reviewer from the Winnipeg Free Press as quoted in the Jewish Tribune

TODD McFARLANE unleashed his signature creation, SPAWN, in 1992. In doing so, he created the most successful independent comic book in history. From the pages of SPAWN, join Sam and Twitch in SAM AND TWITCH COMPENDIUM, VOL. 1! FIFTY-FIVE ISSUES of our favorite Detectives as they maneuver through the dark underbelly of the city and chase mobsters, serial killers, and monsters! Includes the original 1999 Sam and Twitch series, the 2003 Case Files, and The Writer in FULL COLOR! Collects: Sam and Twitch 1 – 26, Case Files Sam and Twitch 1 – 25, and Sam and Twitch The Writer 1 - 4

From the national bestselling author of Murder Plays House . For private-eye-cum-supermom Juliet Applebaum, business is booming. But there are pros and cons to every assignment. And the con in her latest job is her client, an inmate at Dartmore Prison. She's enlisted Juliet to locate the son she surrendered--as well as the foster parents who've disappeared with him. But this case takes a deadly detour when the desperate young mother is fatally stabbed--allegedly by another inmate. Prison officials dismiss the murder as just one more fatality in lockdown. But Juliet has her doubts. Now she's determined to make the woman's last wish come true, even if it means tracking little Noah--and the killer--through the dark maze of a widespread conspiracy. "A master of smart, snappy repartee." -- Kirkus Reviews "[A] unique, highly likable sleuth." --Judith Kelman "A brassy, funny, quick-witted protagonist."-- Houston Chronicle

From the national bestselling author of The Big Nap and Nursery Crimes. In between planning playdates and playing dress up, Juliet finally gets some much-needed kid-free time, working out at the local health club. It's going well. She's losing weight. She's even happy --until her personal trainer commits suicide. A cheerful aspiring actor, Bobby Katz seemed to have it all--and Juliet can't believe he died at his own hand. She suspects there's a more sinister explanation--and that it may lie with his grieving fiancée, a recovering addict who just fell off the wagon. Or with his birth mother, a woman he recently started to look for. Always up for a task that will get her out of the house, Juliet keeps running down secrets--until, at last, she runs into the truth. "Smoothly paced and smartly told."-- The New York Times Book Review "Sparkling . . . swift and engaging."-- Publishers Weekly "Juliet's got charm, spunk, and . . . a reason to get out of the house."-- Kirkus Reviews

Juliet Applebaum is a public defender turned stay-at-home mom—and a “highly likable sleuth” (Judith Kelman). Now in Murder Plays House, with a new arrival on the way, the Applebaum household is bursting at the seams. And Juliet is balancing clue-chasing and diaper-changing with a new task: house-hunting. Juliet loves her kids. She loves their dirty little faces and skinned knees. She loves the ridiculous and amazing things they say. But when three-and-a-half year old Isaac evicts her husband and her from their own bed one night, love is the last thing on her mind. Juliet now recognizes the need for a few changes…starting with a bigger house. And when the new baby arrives, they’ll welcome the extra space. But if there’s ever a bad time to search for a new house in L.A., it’s now. In a buyer- un friendly real estate market, one practically has to kill to find an affordable home. No wonder Juliet is prepared to overlook a corpse on the grounds of her would-be dream house. To salve her conscience—and get her foot literally in the front door—she vows to find the killer of the homeowner’s sister. The investigation leads her from the madness of house-hunting into a world of washed-up actors and canceled TV shows, a world more depraved than she could ever have imagined. “Smoothly paced and smartly told.”— The New York Times Book Review “Think Chinatown , but with strollers and morning sickness.”— Long Island Press

Alfred Bester's first science fiction novel since The Stars My Destination was a major event -- a fast-moving adventure story set in Earth's future. A band of immortals -- as charming a bunch of eccentrics as you'll ever come across -- recruit a new member, the brilliant Cherokee physicist Sequoya Guess. Dr. Guess, with the group's help, gains control of Extro, the super-computer that controls all mechanical activity on Earth. They plan to rid Earth of political repression and to further Guess's researches -- which may lead to a great leap in human evolution to produce a race of supermen. But Extro takes over Guess instead and turns malevolent. The task of the merry band suddenly becomes a fight in deadly earnest for the future of Earth. Sequoya Guess, whom they love, must be killed. And how do you kill an immortal? THE COMPUTER CONNECTION is a jam-packed extraordinary science fiction novel -- what Alfred Bester's readers have been experiencing for over five decades.