Once upon an evil time, there was a wicked old woman with a mammoth shoe company worth many millions of dollars, a henpecked husband, and six miserable children. Then one day death came visiting the vast Potts mansion—and began claiming its inhabitants one by one. It was then that Ellery Queen was invited to sup on this nightmare brew of diabolical murder and baffling mystery—in a case that made the most horrific crimes in his entire career seem like fairy tales. As he endeavors to solve t...

The Stolen Gold Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini’s detective series.In response to a string of gold thefts in a Mother Lode mine, Quincannon goes undercover as a newly hired miner to identify and capture the men responsible.Meanwhile, Sabina finds herself not only making plans for her and Quincannon’s wedding, but also investigating both an audacious real estate scam and an ab...

The Bags of Tricks Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in MWA Grand Master Bill Pronzini’s detective series.A con man always has a bag of tricks, ready to fool the unsuspecting, and almost everyone is unsuspecting until they get taken. When that happens, they turn to Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services, to recover their money and what’s left of their dignity, and perhaps even to save their lives.When one such case leaves Sabina Ca...

The Flimflam Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini’s detective series.Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services is a fixture in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century. While the future is unclear, Sabina and John know one thing for certain: they will protect their clients from flimflammers, thieves, and murderers, and do whatever it takes to run these dregs of society i...

The final novel by the legendary Ellery Queen, A Fine and Private Place ranks with Queen's incomparable best.The nine-word clue was one of nine cryptic notes that had been sent to taunt Inspector Queen and his son Ellery nine days after the murder. Nino Importuna had been obsessed with the number. He had lived by it. Now the killer who brought a trio of gory deaths to Nino's ninth-floor penthouse at Number 99 East was camouflaging his identity in a jungle of nines—and dari...

Can the true identity of the Sherlock Holmes imposter be revealed at last?Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon are no stranger to mysteries. In the five years since they opened Carpenter and Quinncannon, Professional Detective Services, they have solved dozens, but one has eluded even them: Sherlock Holmes or, rather, the madman claiming his identity, who keeps showing up with a frustrating—though admittedly useful—knack for solving difficult cases.Roland W. Fairchild, rece...

The nice mild man named Edward Tollman had a problem. His lovely wife was missing, and he wanted her back—fast. So he went to a fellow whose specialty was solving problems like that—a very private detective called Barney Burgess. Burgess’ methods were not pleasant—but they got results. Burgess was used to sordid scenes and secrets. But after four quick corpses, a wild ride to Mexico, and a blonde sex bomb who threatened to blow the case wide open at the first wrong move, Barney began to wo...

Who killed Cox, the robber? Was it Ruth Tully, who visited Crandall Cox on the night of his death, and who might have decided to quench a torrid past with a spray of bullets? What about Sandra Jean, the knock-’em-dead beauty, who knew more than she was telling about the sudden demise of blackmailer Cox? Or had some past scandal driven lawyer Ollie Hurst and his wife, Norma, to claim the blackmailer’s life? Dave Tully didn’t know who the killer was, but if he didn’t find out fast, the price...

It was a script that could only have come from Hollywood: the wedding of two superstars after a scandal-filled courtship … a wild trip by private plane to a hideaway … a deadly double overdose of drugs …These corpses weren’t play-acting. Once again Ellery was cast in the role of master detective, as he found nothing was quite what it seemed in the never-never land of moviedom—except sudden, violent death.Here is a grand mystery with an extremely ingenious, intricate, and wa...

An exciting mystery by the masterly Ellery QueenPolice captain Bartholdi sometimes indulged himself in a harmless fantasy. His thoughts, he would imagine, were irresponsible imps that wriggled out of his head and scampered around with an abandon that was often embarrassing. A woman had been kidnapped. The woman was dead. Bartholdi was convinced that a murderer was at that moment having a grim laugh at his expense. He knew who the murderer was. He would have bet his pension and his ...

Drug lords, missing millionaires, corrupt cops. It’s just another day for the Carpenter and Quincannon Detective Services.Two missing bodies and two separate investigations take the detectives from the heights above San Francisco Bay to the depths of Chinatown's opium dens.John Quincannon must search a Chinatown opium den for his client's husband, missing in the middle of a brewing tong war set to ignite over the stolen corpse of Bing Ah Kee. Meanwhile, his...

All police sergeant Burt March wanted was a chance to recover from a recent brush with the Grim Reaper. Sun, fun, and a willing broad—that was all he needed. But the broad had along a sugar daddy with his own private squad of goons with guns. And when the fun began, Burt found himself the gunmen’s number one target.