Tags:mystery
Trouble for Tallon
A CASE OF PIOUS MURDER?When a City Councilman is killed, the citizens of Whitewater, Washington demand an immediate solution to the town's first unsolved murder in decades.Police Chief Jack Tallon's only clue implicates Dharmaville, a controversial religious cult led by an inscrutable swami. Was it a case of holy homicide?Tallon's bizarre investigation unearths a slew of skeletons in Whitewater's closets and produces more problems than answers. From the motorcycle arsonist to the kidnapped Hollywood starlet to the mistress in Spokane. It all adds up to... TROUBLE FOR TALLON.
In the Heat of the Night
A 50th anniversary edition of the classic crime novel that inspired the Oscar-winning film starring Sidney Poitier.'They call me Mr Tibbs!'A small southern town in the 1960s. A musician found dead on the highway. It's no surprise when white detectives arrest a black man for the murder. What is a surprise is that the black man - Virgil Tibbs - is himself a skilled homicide detective from California, whom inexperienced Chief Gillespie reluctantly recruits to help with the case. Faced with mounting local hostility and a police force that seems determined to see him fail, it isn't long before Tibbs - trained in karate and aikido - will have to fight not just for justice, but also for his own safety.The inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film starring Sidney Poitier, this iconic crime novel is a psychologically astute examination of racial prejudice, an atmospheric depiction of the American South in the sixties, and a brilliant, suspense-filled read set in the sultry heat of the night.
In the Heat of the Night
A 50th-anniversary edition of the pioneering novel featuring African American police detective Virgil Tibbs—with a foreword by John Ridley, creator of the TV series American Crime and Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave “They call me Mr. Tibbs” was the line immortalized by Sidney Poitier in the 1967 Oscar-winning movie adaptation of In the Heat of the Night, which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award and was named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Now fans of classic crime can rediscover this suspense-filled novel whose hero paved the way for James Patterson’s Alex Cross, George Pelecanos’s Derek Strange, and other African American detectives.A small southern town in the 1960s. A musician found dead on the highway. It’s no surprise when white detectives arrest a black man for the murder. What is a surprise is that the black man—Virgil Tibbs—is not the killer but a skilled homicide detective, passing through racially tense Wells, South Carolina, on his way back to California. Even more surprising, Wells’s new police chief recruits Tibbs to help with the investigation. But Tibbs’s presence in town rubs some of the locals the wrong way, and it won’t be long before the martial arts–trained detective has to fight not just for justice, but also for his own safety.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Five Pieces of Jade
The body of an elderly Chinese importer of rare jade lies on the carpet of a quietly expensive house in Pasadena, California. In a rough semicircle around his head rest four pieces of jade; protruding from the heart is a fifth—the Ya-Chang ritual knife.Who murdered the importer? Was it Yumeko, the beautiful half-black, half-Japanese girl who lived with him? Johnny Wu, a rich Chinese-American? Another customer? Or a political enemy from overseas?Black homicide detective Virgil Tibbs finds himself in the middle of a deadly situation involving hard drugs, Communist Chinese agents, and the exotic settings of the jade trade as he coolly tracks down the murderer. Praise for John Ball"A nice tight murder puzzle."—Times Literary Supplement "A taut, dramatic yarn."—Charlotte Observer
The Eyes of Buddha
A partially decomposed body of a young woman is discovered in a park in Pasadena, California. The woman was strangled but not sexually assaulted. The police suspect she might be a missing heiress who disappeared over a year ago, but dental records prove them wrong. But who is she? And is there a link between the heiress and this corpse? The celebrated black detective Virgil Tibbs re-shapes the known facts regarding these two women and discovers astonishing connections. His quest leads him around the world to Katmandu where, beneath the searing "eyes of Buddha" at the famed Monkey Temple, he learns the truth in a striking denouement.
Then Came Violence
Virgil Tibbs, the cool, highly-competent black detective of the Pasedena Police Department, returns one day to his bachelor apartment to find that it has been expertly stripped to the bare walls—not a thing remains to show that he has ever lived there. At headquarters he is given a cryptic note from Police Chief McGowan, sending him to a certain address in the better section of Pasedena. When he arrives he finds his possessions carefully installed in a fine new home. But that's not all. The door is opened by a very attractive young woman who informs him that she is Mrs. Virgil Tibbs. He has never seen her before, and he certainly isn't responsible for the two children who greet him as their father.Meanwhile, a brutal holdup is followed by an execution-type hanging of one of the bandits. More violence follows, and Pasedena's ace homicide investigator is tested to the limits by a double assignment calling for every bit of his tact, skill, and discipline."Tibbs is as much a model of perfection as the late Wimsey... A good detective who actually ratiocinates."—Times Literary Supplement (London)
The Cool Cottontail
Sun Valley Lodge, run by Forrest Nunn and his wife Emily, with the assistance of their three children—Linda, a most attractive teenager, her twenty-four-year-old brother George, and small Carole—was in a nudist park which had an excellent reputation (except with a few people) and a most careful screening of members, so that sudden and murderous death had certainly never intruded upon it before. Though the body floating in the pool was nude, it was not the body of one of the members. The dead man was well-to-do, perhaps even prominent. But not only was he nude; his clothing was nowhere to be found; and someone had tried to prevent his being identified. And, oddly enough, no one came forward to identify him, or to report that a man like the dead man was missing. It was going to be a hard murder to solve. But Virgil Tibbs, moving expertly and patiently, was determined to solve it—and even to get used to carrying on his investigations in the midst of a nudist park, which added certain problems of its own. Tibbs is a detective who won friends and admirers immediately—and will go on to win more.
Johnny Get Your Gun
Alone in his bedroom, Johnny McGuire turned on his small transistor radio. In the few weeks that he and his parents had been in Pasadena Johnny had made few acquaintances and no friends; in his lonesome little life the radio had opened the door to a magnificent new world. People played music for him to listen to and they told him, play-by-play, what was happening in the big league games. Seated on the edge of the bed, he clutched the little set in both hands. This radio had been the only gift that could be afforded for his ninth birthday and already Johnny McGuire seemed old enough to understand why. He knew that life wasn't always fair, that there was little money to spend, that sometimes his father was angry, often afraid. This is the story, as only John Ball could tell it, of what happens when an older, bigger boy steals Johnny's proudest possession and Johnny sets out to even the score using his father's .38 Colt revolver. Told against the scene of black-white conflict in Pasadena, between poor whites and black militants, between rich whites and poor whites, and the highly topical and urgent problem of gun control, Johnny Get Your Gun is first-rate suspense. It is the chilling story of Johnny's adventures with his gun and of a murder and how the murder is solved by John Ball's cool, brilliant black homicide detective Virgil Tibbs. hero of In the Heat of the Night and The Cool Cottontail. There are riots, brutalities, an action-packed chase through Disneyland, and a heartwarming and heartbreaking scene at the end of the book in the baseball park of the California Angels. Perhaps the most important issue, described with sincerity and sensitivity by John Bad, is the terror and confusion in the mind of a nine-year-old boy—frightened, alone, hurt by the hatred around him, a fugitive from justice. Johnny Get Your Gun touches on some of the most urgent problems facing America today, and is told by one of America's most accomplished storytellers. John Ball is the author of Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "a very funny and tender story of what happens when East meets West," as well as author of In the Heat of the Night, made into a screenplay which won the Academy Award for best picture of 1967.
Trapped (Mina Dabiri and Vincent Walder, Book 1)
An incredible new thriller you won’t want to put down! A shocking murder...It’s a case unlike anything detective Mina Dabiri has seen before. A woman trapped inside a magician’s box, with swords pierced through. But this time, it’s not a magic trick. It’s murder. A case which twists and turns...Knowing she has a terrifying killer on her hands, Mina enlists the help of celebrity mentalist, Vincent Walder. Only he can give her an insight into the secret world of magic and illusions. A ticking clock to stop a serial killer...Mina and Vincent soon discover that the murder victim has the roman numeral III engraved on her leg. The killer is counting down. There are going to be three more murders. And time is running out to stop them.
Cult (Mina Dabiri and Vincent Walder, Book 2)
A thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last! A kidnapped child...A young boy is snatched in broad daylight outside his Stockholm nursery. He has vanished without a trace. A race against time...Detective Mina Dabiri calls on her close friend Vincent to help with the investigation. As they uncover links to other missing children, it becomes clear they are up against the clock. A world full of secrets...Then Mina and Vincent find themselves caught up in a mysterious cult with terrifying motives. Can they stop them before it’s too late?
Mirage (Mina Dabiri and Vincent Walder, Book 3)
The epic conclusion to Camilla Läckberg and Henrik Fexeus' pulse-raising Swedish crime thriller trilogy 'Hello Niklas Sockenberg. We hope you have been satisfied with our services during this time, which has now reached its end. You have 14 days, 1 hour and 12 minutes left to live' It is December in Stockholm and Sweden's Minister of Justice is under threat. An anonymous note has told him he has four days left to live. At the same time, a human skeleton is found in the Stockholm subway, belonging to a high-ranking financier. Police inspector Mina Dabiri's team, still recovering from the traumatic incident last summer that ended in the death of a colleague, calls in mentalist Vincent Walder to help with the case. For Vincent, it feels as if the world is increasingly closing in on him. When another pile of bones is found underground, the group is once again put to the test – what is going on in the tunnels deep under Stockholm? And who taunting the minister?
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Darkness Will Bind Them... watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 on Prime Video This revised and expanded edition of Tolkien’s own Hobbit-inspired poetry includes previously unpublished poems and notes, and is beautifully illustrated by Narnia artist Pauline Baynes. ‘Here is something that no devotee of the Hobbit epic can afford to miss, while awaiting a further instalment of the history of these fascinating people – a selection [of verses] offered as an ‘interim report’ to those interested in Hobbit-lore, and to any others who may find amusement in this mixed bag of old confections.’ One of the most intriguing characters in The Lord of the Rings, the amusing and enigmatic Tom Bombadil, also appears in verses said to have been written by Hobbits and preserved in the ‘Red Book’ with stories of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and their friends. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil collects these and other poems, mainly concerned with legends and jests of the Shire at the end of the Third Age. This special edition has been expanded to include earlier versions of some of Tolkien’s poems, a fragment of a prose story with Tom Bombadil, and comprehensive notes by acclaimed Tolkien scholars Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond.