London in the early months of WW2. When a pawnbroker’s assistant is wounded by a gunman wearing a gasmask it looks like a simple case of a bungled armed robbery, but the more Detective Inspector Hawker looks into it, the more confusing it becomes. A red-headed soldier, a missing gun, a dead cat, an empty violin case and a damaged violin are only a few of the threads that have to be unwound.London in the autumn of 1939: the early months of World War 2. Hitler has just conquered Poland, but life in London continues much as it did in peacetime, albeit a little more restricted since the introduction of petrol rationing. No bombs have been dropped on the city as yet, but the population go about their daily business under the constant threat of German air raids, and a blackout remains in force at night. For Scotland Yard and the criminal fraternity, however, it is business as usual. When a pawnbroker’s assistant is wounded by a gunman wearing a gasmask, it appears to be a straightforward case of a bungled armed robbery, but as Detective Inspector Hawker of the Flying Squad proceeds with his investigation, the more facts he uncovers the more confusing the affair becomes. A red-headed soldier, a missing gun, a dead cat, an empty violin case and a damaged violin are only a few of the threads that have to be unravelled before he can wrap up the case.

An anthology of short stories from author Steve Howrie. Each of story has an unpredictable twist in the tale - see if you can spot them! The topics range from Murder and Mystery, to Horror, Humour, Love and Relationships, Despite the huge popularity of novels today, short stories remain a wonderful way to put across interesting and thought-provoking ideas in just a few pages. Enjoy!An anthology of short stories from author Steve Howrie. Each of story has an unpredictable twist in the tale - see if you can spot them! Despite the huge popularity of novels today, short stories remain a wonderful way to put across interesting and thought-provoking ideas in just a few pages. Here’s a line or two about each one:44 ACORN GROVE. Inspired by Ian Rankin’s detective novels, this story includes Rankin himself in a cameo role. In fact, this short story won first prize in the Unpublished Writers category one year at the Scottish Association of Writers Annual Conference. Ian has actually read the story, and commented that he would have preferred me to have killed off one of his rival authors!YESTERDAY. This is the only completely true –life story in the collection, based on my own young experiences. I am still very much in contact with my life-long buddy Gordon Cockroft (mentioned in the story), who is a fellow writer - and an excellent one at that.KATTJA. One of the fortnightly projects of Bute Writers was to create stories based on one of the seven deadly sins. I came across the Swedish word for lust, and that seemed a perfect title for my story. I hope you enjoy the humour of it.THE TUNNEL. I remember encountering some very long and dark old railway tunnels when I was young. As a family, we used to go blackberry picking along the railway cuttings in Leicestershire near where we lived – which was great fun. I recall my big sister venturing into one of these tunnels, and it took a great deal of courage to join her.THE INCOMERS. This is based on one of my visits to East Midlands airport. Some social comment here.THE ROAD TO RUIN. This is based on our Writers’ group on the Isle of Bute in the West of Scotland, with the feel of island life. It was great fun to write this - and to read it to the members!BRENDA. I used to holiday quite regularly in the Algarve, Southern Portugal, and this was written there during one of my visit. I remember that I was reading an article about a multi-millionaire at the time, and that influenced the storyline.THE UNIVERSITY OF ROGER. Memories of my university days in Edinburgh inspired this one. A bit silly, and hardly a short story, but I just had to put it in.ORGANISED INTIMIDATION. Another Bute Writers project. Each meeting, one of the members would choose the title for the next project, and one week the Secretary chose this. Some really good stories came out of that particular project.JAMIE. I’ve always enjoyed reading plays, and I remember studying Shakespeare and Arthur Miller at school. Reading later led to writing plays. When I wrote Jamie, I was imagining a stage play, with strong emotions in a family situation – with the inevitable twist at the end.THE WESTERN. This is probably my favourite in the collection. Again, a twist in the tale – and I particularly like the zany humour in this one. It makes fun of all those unbelievable Westerns I watched when I was a kid (whilst wearing the obligatory cowboy suit).CARVOLUTION. I have had a life-long interest in Astronomy and studied Astrophysics at University. This story is a light-hearted look at contemporary scientific theories through the eyes of a journalist. Whilst in many ways we are living in an enlightened age, I strongly feel that we are in still in the Dark Ages as regards our scientific theories. Make your own minds up about this one.BELINDA. This is the only story in the collection that was written in China, where I currently reside. It is set in the town of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and refers to a writers’ group to which I belonged. I hope it gives you a feel for at least one aspect of traditional Chinese culture.

**protect the diamonds survive the clubs dig deep through the spades feel the hearts** Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

Human Remains is a deeply disturbing and powerful psychological thriller that will have you checking the locks on your doors and windows. When Annabel, a police analyst, discovers her neighbour’s decomposing body in the house next door, she’s appalled to think that no one, including herself, noticed that anything was wrong. Back at work, she feels compelled to investigate, despite her colleagues' lack of interest, and finds data showing that such cases are common – too common – in her home town. As she’s drawn deeper into the mystery and becomes convinced she’s on the trail of a killer, she also must face her own demons and her own mortality. Would anyone notice if she just disappeared?

The new novel by the modern mistress of romantic suspense is set on the coast of Kent, at a great estate overlooking the infamous "shivering sands" - quicksands that have swallowed entire ships unfortunate enough to sail into them. Caroline Verlaine, a young widow, comes to work at the estate hoping to discover the cause of the mysterious disappearance of her sister, who had been studying the nearby Roman ruins. Caroline found her employers a strange family, haunted by tragedies of the past, scarred by distrust. Yet she found herself irresistibly attracted to them - especially to the family's dark, moody young scion. But not until she had retraced her sister's fatal last steps could she answer the crucial questions about the family's past - and her own future.

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted student Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork, chasing witnesses from Whitehall to the London streets. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

A new mystery set in Middle Georgia! An abandoned hotel, a trap set by another person, an unconscious body -- and an international jewel thief! Chris Calhoun and Mark Hall pursue an internationally reknown jewel thief -- but are put againast great odds in finding him in the latest version of the Chris Calhoun stories.A new mystery set in Middle Georgia! An abandoned hotel, a trap set by another perosn, an unconscious bodyy -- and an international jewel thief! Chris Calhoun and Mark Hall pursue an internationally reknown jewel thief -- but are put againast great odds in finding him in the latest version of the Chris Calhoun stories.

Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee.

"There are threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected." When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled tip to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened — something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever. Twenty-five years later, Sean Devine is a homicide detective. Jimmy Marcus is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave Boyle is trying to hold his marriage together and keep his demons at bay — demons that urge him to do terrible things. When Jimmy Marcus's daughter is found murdered, Sean Devine is assigned to the case. His personal life unraveling, he must go back into a world he thought he'd left behind to confront not only the violence, of the present but the nightmares of his past. His investigation brings him into conflict with Jimmy Marcus, who finds that his old criminal impulses tempt him to solve the crime with brutal justice. And then there is Dave Boyle, who came home the night Jimmy's daughter died covered with someone else's blood. While Sean Devine attempts to use the law to return peace and order to the neighborhood, Jimmy Marcus finds his need for vengeance pushing him ever closer to a moral abyss from which lie wont be able to return, and Dave's wife, Celeste, sleeps at night with a man she fears may very well be a monster. a monster who fathered her child and hides his true nature from everyone, possibly even himself.

Predicting her rule was just the beginning. Malachi Obsidian has been his guild’s prophet ever since he was a child. Years ago, he envisioned a future in which his sister, Misha, ruled and the vampires’ empire was destroyed. His people have made many questionable decisions to keep their dream alive, and now Misha is finally on the verge of becoming queen of the serpiente, just as Malachi predicted. Only one obstacle stands in Misha’s way, and she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to remove it—even if it means selling a family member into slavery. When a mercenary from the vampires’ inner circle proposes a daring plan to bring down the empire of Midnight once and for all, Malachi must feign support for his unstable sister so his prophecy can be fulfilled. He must do it for his family, for his people—and for their freedom.

In the suburbs of Connecticut, a carpenter embarks on a gruesome killing spreeWhile preparing dinner for her husband, Mrs. Porter runs out of lemons. Driving to the supermarket, she yearns for life in New York City. The Porters moved to Connecticut because it was supposed to be safer, but that afternoon, when she returns home and finds a madman waiting with a knife in his hand. He doesn't just kill Mrs. Porter – he leaves behind a gory scene that would horrify even the hardest New York cop.The killer is Paul White, a local carpenter whose wife knows nothing about his thirst for blood; Mrs. White is an innocent who lives to make her husband happy. As she begins to see shadows of Paul's vicious side, she will learn just how twisted love can be.

Vintage James Lee Burke: The first novel introducing the memorable Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland, coming of age against the backdrop of the civil rights era in a sultry border town. In hot and sultry Texas, Hack, an attorney and Korean War POW, is being pushed by his wife, his brother, and his so-called friends in the oil business to run for political office. But Hack would prefer to drink, look after his beloved horses, and represent the occasional long-shot pro bono case at his law firm. When Hack attempts to overturn a conviction for an old army buddy, he finds himself embroiled in the seamy underbelly of the Texas patronage system—and in the earliest beginnings of the United Farm Workers movement, led by a beautiful woman who speaks to his heart in a way no one else has. As Hack begins to bring justice to the underserved, he finds both a new love and a new purpose. With his skillful blend of engaging plotlines, compelling characters, and graceful prose, James Lee Burke demonstrates the shimmering clarity of vision that has made him beloved by suspense fans all over the globe.

When the body of a teenage Ojibwe girl washes up on the shore of an island in Lake Superior, the residents of the nearby Bad Bluff reservation whisper that it was the work of a deadly mythical beast, the Windigo, or a vengeful spirit called Michi Peshu. Such stories have been told by the Ojibwe people for generations, but they don’t explain how the girl and her friend, Mariah Arceneaux, disappeared a year ago. At the request of the Arceneaux family, private investigator Cork O’Connor takes on the case. But on the Bad Bluff reservation, nobody’s talking. Still, Cork puts enough information together to find a possible trail. He learns that the old port city of Duluth is a modern-day center for sex trafficking of vulnerable women, many of whom are young Native Americans. As the investigation deepens, so does the danger. Yet Cork holds tight to his higher purpose—his vow to find Mariah, an innocent fifteen-year-old girl whose family is desperate to get her back. With only the barest hope of saving her from men whose darkness rivals that of the legendary Windigo, Cork prepares for an epic battle that will determine whether it will be fear, or love, that truly conquers all.

A spellbinding tale of contemporary suspense that begins with a mysterious homecoming and ends in a shattering explosion of passion, greed, and murder. And all because a stranger says her name is... Amanda. Others have claimed to be Amanda Daulton, but now a beautiful, self-assured woman has stepped out of the shadows of the past, insisting she's the missing heiress to a multimillion-dollar fortune. One look is all it takes to assure the family patriarch that she's his beloved granddaughter. But others at the magnificent Southern mansion called Glory are not as easily convinced, others with much to lose from her sudden reappearance. Soon suspicion erupts in a chilling attempt on her life, and after the traumatic ordeal, she begins to have flashes of a nightmarish vision. What, if anything, happened twenty years ago to drive a mother and her nine-year-old daughter away from their privileged life? The struggle to find the elusive answer exposes a frightening trail of secrets—a trail that leads shockingly to the present and to the enigmatic woman who calls herself... Amanda. From the Paperback edition.

Dead On The Dance Floor by Heather Graham released on Jan 18, 2005 is available now for purchase.