The Plague Court Murders ($3.99), by John Dickson Carr, is this first of his Sir Henry Merrivale series, originally published under the pen name Carter Dickson.Book Description
When Dean Halliday becomes convinced that the malevolent ghost of Louis Playge is haunting his family estate in London, he invites Ken Bates and Detective-Inspector Masters along to Plague Court to investigate. Arriving at night, they find his aunt and fiancée preparing to exorcise the spirit in a séance run by psychic Roger Darworth. While Darworth locks himself in a stone house behind Plague Court, the séance proceeds, and at the end he is found gruesomely murdered. But who, or what, could have killed him? All the windows and doors were bolted and locked, and no one could have gotten inside. The only one who can solve the crime in this bizarre and chilling tale is locked-room expert Sir Henry Merrivale.
Dead Man Calling ($0.99), by Gavin Black (a pseudonym used by Oswald Wynd), is the second title in his Paul Harris series. The author was born in Japan to Scottish missionaries and spent time in a Japanese internment camp after being captured during WWII, which probably explains the settings for many of his novels. The thrillers are mainly under the Gavin Black byline.Book Description
A TALE OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE SET IN TOKYO. Paul Harris is an outsider – an unconventional businessman attempting to assimilate into Asian culture. His operations in the Far East bring him wealth and adventure, but not without risk. For while opportunities are plentiful, so too are a number of ruthless opponents, and more often than not Paul Harris finds himself a man on the run, pursued by a violent and dangerous enemy. It is rare to find, in a novel of suspense, pictures of a distant country that are as vivid, authentic, colourful and moving as Gavin Black gives us here: or characters so distinctive and mysterious.
The Eyes Around M ($0.99), by Gavin Black, is the fourth in the same series. These two are both relatively short novels, at around 160-190 pages in print, Book Description
A TALE OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE SET IN HONG KONG. Paul Harris is an outsider – an unconventional businessman attempting to assimilate into Asian culture. His operations in the Far East bring him wealth and adventure, but not without risk. For while opportunities are plentiful, so too are a number of ruthless opponents, and more often than not Paul Harris finds himself a man on the run, pursued by a violent and dangerous enemy. It is rare to find, in a novel of suspense, pictures of a distant country that are as vivid, authentic, colourful and moving as Gavin Black gives us here: or characters so distinctive and mysterious.
Night of the Jabberwock ($1.59), is by Fredric Brown, an American science fiction and mystery writer.Book Description
In the small town of Carmel City, it’s just another Thursday night for longstanding editor and Lewis Carroll aficionado Doc Stoeger as he puts his weekly newspaper to bed. Of course there isn’t any real news in the Carmel City Clarion, but then there never is, and Doc wishes that for once something would happen on a Thursday evening to give him a hot story to break. Before the night is through, Doc’s wishes come true and he gets tangled up in a bizarre series of events that would make for sensational reading the next morning. But will he survive to put it into print?
The Lenient Beast ($1.59), by Fredric BrownBook Description
A man is found dead in a backyard in Tucson, Arizona, but the police find it difficult to find any motive for murder. The victim had recently lost his wife and three children in a car crash. One might think from his circumstance that it was suicide, but if so, what had happened to the gun? Frank Ramos thinks he knows the answer, but can he persuade anyone of the truth?
A Lotus for Miss Quon ($1.59), by James Hadley Chase, is a stand-alone thriller by an author who has a number of titles at bargain prices with other publishers (Munsey's, Black Mask, etc), such as Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief ($0.99), which says it was banned in the UK and out of print for over 70 years.Book Description
When Steve Jaffe discovered two million dollars worth of diamonds hidden in the wall of his villa in Saigon, he had no intention of giving up the loot. All he had to do was organize an exit visa and leave, until his houseboy threatened to go to the police. Jaffe had only meant to stop him, but instead he finds himself a felon with murder on his hands. With little chance to keep his secret, Jaffe becomes a man on the run, and the only person he can trust is a beautiful woman who is prepared to do anything to save him.
The Way the Cookie Crumbles ($3.99), by James Hadley Chase Book Description
In the millionaire’s playground of Paradise City, the sinister Ticky Edris is planning the perfect heist. It’s taken him years to set up a bank robbery in broad daylight, and with only two accomplices needed: a smooth con man and a smart beautiful blonde. As Ticky’s plan gets put into action, luck is on his side, but as people start dying and disappearing, detective Tom Lepski picks up the trail. Suddenly, Ticky’s plan is in danger, and if there is one thing he didn’t count on, it was the personalities of the very people who are most vital to his plan.
Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery ($1.59), by Anthony Berkeley, is the third in his Roger Sheringham series.Book Description
A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. When the Daily Courier sends Roger Sheringham to Hampshire, it’s a job after his own heart. The body of a woman has been found at the bottom of the cliffs at Ludmouth Bay, and despite a verdict of accidental death, the local sighting of Inspector Moresby from Scotland Yard suggests otherwise. Unable to resist a little amateur sleuth work, Sheringham starts digging around. Events lead him down one blind alley after another as he attempts to rival Inspector Moresby and devise the correct theory about the tragic death of Mrs Vane.
The Second Shot ($3.99), by Anthony Berkeley, is the sixth in his Roger Sheringham series.Book Description
Detective writer John Hillyard is entertaining a small house party at Minton Deeps Farm when a shocking accident takes place. Shortly after enacting a murder drama for their own amusement, the guests are returning to the house when Eric Scott Davies, the man who played victim, is found dead after two gunshots go off. The police suspect murder, but when Roger Sheringham is summoned from London it is not by Superintendent Hancock but by one of the guests. In a web of scandal, opportunity and multiple motives, the case turns out to be more complex than even Sheringham could have expected.
Inspector French and the Starvel Tragedy ($2.39), by Freeman Wills Crofts, is the third in his Inspector French series (also released under the title The Starvel Hollow Tragedy).Book Description
The burning down of Simon Averill’s house, Starvel Hollow, appears at first to be an accident. The house has been reduced to ash, killing three people (including its owner) and incinerating the contents of the safe in which he kept his entire fortune in cash (over thirty thousand pounds). But when one of these notes appears in circulation, surely it cannot be an accident? Once again, Inspector French doggedly pursues the trail across Europe before finally unlocking the mystery when all appears to be lost.
The Cask ($3.99), by Freeman Wills Crofts, is an early (1920) stand-alone novel from this prolific author. This one is a bit longer than many of the others in todays post, at over 300 pages in print.Book Description
When a cask breaks open in a busy London shipping yard, the discovery of its contents leads to a puzzling case for Inspector Burnley of Scotland Yard. As the Inspector begins to trace the mysterious movements of the cask, his investigative procedures bring him to Paris and onto the path of a meticulously plotted murder, one step at a time.
Enough to Kill a Horse ($3.99), by Elizabeth Ferrars, is a stand-alone title from an extremely prolific author (it looks like there are nearly 70 titles in her bibliography).Book Description
Fanny Lynam’s cocktail party is awkward to arrange. Her old friend Clare is not eager to come, the ill-tempered Tom is sure to quarrel with whomever he can, and Fanny is nervous about meeting the young widow, Laura Greenslade, who has just become engaged to her half-brother, Kit. Anxious to impress, Fanny prepares her specialty of lobster patties for the guests, but when one of them dies in the night, accusations of murder abound, and her quaint little village is peaceful no more.
