A Nick Hoffman / Academic Mystery, Book 7 -Fitness = Death when Nick Hoffman heads back to the gym right after a vacation, finding himself caught in a Desperate Housewives-type mystery. Michigan Muscle is a state-of-the-art health club adjacent to the State University of Michigan. Boasting luxurious facilities, the latest equipment, and topnotch personal trainers, it's a palatial complex for fitness. But every palace has its intrigue, and when Nick stumbles across a dead trainer, he's drawn into a web of passion and privilege unlike anything he's ever experienced before. The prime suspect because he's the one who discovered the body, Nick has to work this mystery out to its bitter end. In this seventh novel in the series, Lev Raphael, Lambda Award winner, takes us on another voyage with one of the mystery world's funniest - and best-read - amateur sleuths. Included in this new edition, a foreword by R E Bradshaw (Rainey Bell Thriller series). "Raphael's latest smoothly delivers a satisfying mystery while providing insight into the middle-aging of America, gay marriage, the excitement of sleuthing as a means of exercising control over our lives, the 'Orwellian' Patriot Act, and more." - Booklist "Hot Rocks is a comic mystery of bad manners, written with the suspenseful touch of Alfred Hitchcock bred to the epigrammatic wit of Oscar Wilde. The hero of the tale, assistant professor Nick Hoffman, is among the most lovably erudite characters in all of mystery fiction." - Robert Eversz, Zero to the Bone "If you like your mysteries smart, witty, and steaming with suspense, you won't find a better read than Lev Raphael's Hot Rocks. The new spa in town is proving hazardous to Nick's health, and it's great to be back at his side while he sleuths in the sauna. Lev's turned up the heat in one of my favorite series in crime fiction." - Linda Fairstein, Bad Blood

From legendary cult writer Jerry Stahl comes Plainclothes Naked, a breakout novel that jacks up crime fiction to new heights of twisted, sexy, mind-blowing brilliance. With searing wit and devastating detail, Stahl -- whose work, Jim Carroll has written, "fills the gap in American literature left void since the death of the late, great Terry Southern " -- takes us deep into the minds of addicts and detectives, fetishists and killers. It's a vision of American misfits in a world of violent crime, official corruption, drug-addled scheming, and -- perhaps strangest of all -- genuine, up-from-the-toes true love. In a wildly careening plot that can only be described as crack noir, two pipe-heads accidentally steal a photo of George W. Bush's presidential package with a happy face tattooed on it and decide to blackmail the Republican Party. Before the crack-crazed thieves can follow through, however, a gorgeous, whip-smart young nurse absconds with the goods. But Nurse Tina's got her own problems -- she's just offed her online "money swami" husband with a bowl of Drano-laced Lucky Charms. When Manny Rubert, a scarred ex-junkie turned codeine-popping detective, is called in to investigate the "foamer" hubby's untimely demise, love hits him like a wrench to the head. Soon Manny and Tina are making plans of their own for the presidential pic -- and for their future together. But the meddling police chiefs and motel room sex-change surgeons of the world just won't leave them alone. And then there are those killer crackheads, still out there and closing in... At once a scathing tale of contemporary insanity and a no-holds-barred, tour de force thriller, Plainclothes Naked forges violence and comedy into a criminal love story as shocking as it is transcendent.

In post-World War II England, former Secret Service operative Mirabelle Bevan takes a job at a debt collection agency, but when she discovers that a pregnant Hungarian refugee who had taken out a routine loan has been reported dead, she decides to investigate--

A serial killer turns Los Angeles into his own personal Monopoly board as he taunts the media and police with a trail of cash, deposit slips and bodies that randomly follow the game. When newly-promoted Detective Jessie Drake is appointed media spokesperson for the police, the killer plans his next move--against her.

great paperback book

"Wine is the latest in an unbroken line of popular private eyes?molded by Dashiell Hammett in the ?20s, psychoanalyzed by Ross Macdonald in the ?50s and ?60s and now dragged kicking and screaming by Simon to face a new decade's cultural crunch . . . Here, obviously, is a mystery writer to reckon with. And a private eye Los Angeles can be proud to call its very own." Los Angeles Times Book Review A year has passed since Moses Wine solved his first major case in The Big Fix, and with it has come a certain amount of celebrity: articles about him and interviews with him have appeared in Newsweek and Esquire. He's even made the cover of Rolling Stone. None of that, however, means squat to guerilla journalist Dr. Gunther Thomas, who shows up at Moses? front door with a challenge: to clear bestselling author Jock Hecht of the murder of ABC anchorwoman Deborah Frank; Thomas, meanwhile, will document the investigation for Rolling Stone. But then the proverbial monkey wrench is thrown into the works when Hecht dies. Of course, there are always a few people Moses rubs the wrong way?like an old gangster named Meyer Greenglass, who seems to be pulling a lot of strings from his prison cell on Terminal Island. Not to mention a group of angry Cuban exiles who constantly trail the private eye on his search for clues. And what in the world is the Sexual Liberation League, and what connection does it have with Hecht's last book?a study of sexual mores in America? Waist-deep in questions that seem to have no answers, Moses must find a way to solve the unsolvable without further weakening the frail relationship he has with his two sons . . . or being portrayed as a jerk in a nationalmagazine.

"An ex-Soviet professor plays amateur detective in this post Cold War romp by New York Times bestselling spy master Robert Littell. Lemuel Falk, a theoretical "chaoticist," has been denied permission to leave Russia for the last twenty-three years, likely because he knows a few state secrets. Even he is surprised-and wary-when his twenty-fourth request is approved, and he is offered a position as visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Chaos-Related Studies in upstate New York. But as soon as Professor Falk arrives in America, he is plunged into a new kind of chaos-including a high-stakes academic catfight, an affair with a much-younger hairdresser, and cascading offers from domestic spies looking to capitalize on his knowledge-and soon finds himself playing amateur detective at the behest of local police. While he helps hunt for a dangerous serial killer, he grapples with ghosts from his own past in Russia. In this wholly original novel, Littell explores chaos theory, questions of faith, ad the ironies of contemporary America"-- Provided by publisher.

When Bichette, the eponymous Tigress and uncrowned queen of Paris prostitutes, meets the grifter Fec, the unbelievable seems to happen: she is "tamed" and falls head over heels for him -- and he for her. This sets off a dangerous game that spirals toward wild escalation in the luxury hotels and casinos of the French Riviera before reaching its grotesque culmination in Montmartre. The nihilism and invented personas recall Serner's engagement with Dada as nothing anyone says or does can be taken at face value. Everything becomes a con, and love the greatest con of all. Responding to initial attempts to ban The Tigress for its erotic content and demimonde patois by having it placed on a list of "trash and smut writings," many well-known authors, such as Alfred Döblin, wrote testimonials in support of it.

Step into the halcyon world of pre-war England through the eyes of George Sherston, the fictionalized alter ego of poet and war hero Siegfried Sassoon. In "Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man", Sassoon masterfully captures the innocence of youth, the thrill of the hunt, and the deep, abiding connection to a countryside untouched by the horrors of the Great War. Through Sherston’s adventures—on horseback and off—readers are immersed in the gentle rhythms of country life, the camaraderie of the hunting field, and the quiet introspections of a young man coming of age. Yet beneath the light-hearted tales and sporting escapades lies an undercurrent of change, as the encroaching reality of war looms over this idyllic existence. Sassoon’s prose is at once nostalgic and sharply observant, offering a portrait of an era and a generation on the cusp of irrevocable transformation. Whether you are a lover of classic literature, historical fiction, or poignant coming-of-age stories, this evocative narrative offers both a window into a vanished world and a powerful commentary on the innocence lost to war.

The Blooded Coin-two Sherlock Holmes mysteries in one! Foreword by David Marcum, one of the leading voices in modern Sherlock Holmes literature and pastiche fiction. Christopher D. Abbott -- The Leopold Ledgers 1884: A prince's death sparks whispers of scandal as Holmes uncovers deceptions lurking at the heart of Britain's ruling class. But the deeper he digs, the more elusive justice becomes. Aaron Rosenberg -- The Unbalanced Scales 1904: A convicted man dies, leaving behind a cryptic clue-a single gold sovereign. The coin leads Holmes into a buried conspiracy, where fortune and betrayal are intertwined. Some mysteries refuse to be forgotten.

Chief of homicide Sam Birge pursues the killer of a young would-be writer found dead in the hallway of an old apartment building which houses a cafe-restaurant and artists' studios

Recently discovered and never before published, these two short novels were written in the early 1970s, at the beginning of Kathy Acker's writing career. Rip-off Red reads as a kind of Raymond Chandler for bad girls, as Acker's typical literary playfulness transforms the genre conventions of detective fiction into a book that is simultaneously a mystery and a personal, raunchy, and politically astute account of life in New York City. The Burning Bombing of America is a dystopian vision of the destruction of America, combining crypto-Socialist class critique with the visceral surreality of the Book of Revelation.

When a girl is murdered in a Mayfair Mews, Superintendent Manners is convinced that the secret of the crime lies in the affluent suburban housing estate called The Dell. Dell-dwellers, like architect Dick and wine and food expert Jack Jellifer, think of themselves as living a civilised life, but there is one explosive element: red-headed roughneck Solomon Grundy. Could Grundy have killed the girl?

"After narrowly escaping with his life at the hands of a murderous Hollywood pimp, detective Happy Doll, bullet-ridden but healing, has landed on a remote Mexican beach. In a humble shack and with his dog for company, Doll settles into a peaceful idyll of Buddhist study. But then trouble, as it always does, comes to paradise. Doll is the witness to a murder for which he is framed, and now, with an expired passport and the Mexican authorities on his tail, he must sneak across the border back to L.A. by any means necessary, with the goal of bringing the true murderer to justice. But it's not just trouble that expels Doll from paradise! His dark past reaches for him, like a hand from the grave, old enemies want him dead, including the Jalisco Cartel, and Doll, a reluctant instrument of mayhem, yearns to end this cycle of violence and tip the karmic scales in his favor. But how can he do this without getting blood on his hands? Karma Doll marks the third installment in a madcap, bloody, and impossibly fun series, bringing us back in the good company of Happy Doll: a beloved, introverted anti-hero who has taken more hits to the head than a linebacker, yet still always manages to come out on top." -- Amazon.

Shadows in the Moonlight is the first book in the sensational new series from Number One bestselling author Santa Montefiore.[Bokinfo]

DANGER IN PARADISE Jeff Cape has been kicking around Indonesia as an oil geologist, but he s on his way home. But before his boat sails from Bali, he stops in for a drink where he meets Nicole Balashov, a bewitching White Russian trying to smuggle information out to the U.S. Cape agrees to take it with him but after she leaves, Cape sees a large, bald man rush out after her. Alarmed for her safely, he takes off after the man and misses his boat. Now every shady character on the island seems to be after him, including Mr. Chu and his mysterious serindit bird. Regina Williams, a seductive American woman. And the fat man himself, Apollo Fry, who will certainly kill anyone who gets in his way. All Cape wants to find again is Nicole before it s too late! MALAY WOMAN Jock Hamilton is on the run from Singapore. His unfaithful wife Eden has been found murdered and Jock is the only suspect. Stowing away in a ship bound for Kuala Tang, he overhears a plot to kill a young woman named Kay Allison, the widowed owner of a rubber plantation. Jock tries to warn her. But the task is anything but a simple one, because Jock finds himself immediately attracted to her yet he can't tell her who he is. When the ship lands, matters only become more complicated when he decides to hide out at the home of his best friend, Gabriel Wing. Jock soon finds out that Gabb's restless wife Monique has plans of her own for him!

book is in great condition covers show little wear spine is un-creased comes from smoke and pet free home.

Excerpt from The Rat Race: A Play in Three Acts To the right we look up at a roof with skylight and a series of windows which look onto it. Framed by her window, Mrs. Luigi Gallo, called soda because she is forever drinking it, sits and surveys the world. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.