In this Hugo nominated science fiction thriller by Mur Lafferty, a crew of clones awakens aboard a space ship to find they're being hunted-and any one of them could be the killer. Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died. Maria's vat is one of seven, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it can awaken. And Maria isn't the only one to die recently. . . Unlock the bold new science fiction thriller that Corey Doctorow calls Mur's "breakout book".
The New York Times–bestselling cozy mystery series continues at a Virginia book-themed getaway where there are multiple murders to solve. With her twins, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, back in school, Jane Steward can finally focus on her work again—managing Storyton Hall, and breaking ground on the resort’s latest attraction: a luxurious, relaxing spa named in honor of Walt Whitman. But when the earth is dug up to start laying the spa’s foundation, something else comes to the surface—a collection of unusual bones and the ragged remnants of a very old book. The attendees of the Rare Book Conference are eager to assist Jane with this unexpected historical mystery—until a visitor meets an untimely end in the Henry James Library. As the questions—and suspects—start stacking up, Jane will have to uncover a killer before more unhappy endings ensue . . . “This group of intriguing characters and suspects will keep readers riveted until the last page. Ellery Adams has proven, yet again, that this series will go on for a long time to come.”—Suspense Magazine “This enchanting blend of mystery and fantasy succeeds in feeling timely and grounded…Book and mystery lovers alike will rejoice in this extraordinarily unique, exuberantly fun series.”—Kings River Life
The Most Complete Collection of Impossible Crime Stories Ever Assembled, with puzzling mysteries by Stephen King, Dashiell Hammett, Lawrence Block, Agatha Christie, Georges Simenon, Dorothy L. Sayers, P. G. Wodehouse, Erle Stanley Gardner, and many, many more THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES: An empty desert, a lonely ski slope, a gentleman’s study, an elevator car—nowhere is a crime completely impossible. Edgar Award–winning editor Otto Penzler has collected sixty-eight of the all-time best impossible-crime stories from almost two hundred years of the genre. In addition to the many classic examples of the form—a case of murder in a locked room or otherwise inaccessible place, solved by a brilliant sleuth—this collection expands the definition of the locked room to include tales of unbelievable thefts and incredible disappearances. Among these pages you’ll find stories with evocative titles like “The Flying Death”, “The Man From Nowhere”, “A Terribly Strange Bed”, and “The Theft of the Bermuda Penny”, not to mention appearances by some of the cleverest characters in all of crime, including Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Georges Simenon’s Jules Maigret, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op, and many more. Featuring • Unconventional means of murder • Pilfered jewels • Shocking solutions Includes • Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, the first detective story and the first locked-room mystery • Masters of the short story form: Edward D. Hoch, Ellery Queen, Carter Dickson, and Stanley Ellin A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL
THE PATRICIDE After a fire, the wealthy landowner Patrice Lafarge is found alone and dead in his bedroom locked from the inside. Inspector Rimbaud reviews the case and counts on the help of his sharp-witted Aunt Emilie. What at first appears to be an accidental death is after the autopsy declared to be a homicide. One of the children at home on Clos Saint-Jacques to celebrate Patrice Lafarge’s 75th birthday over a May weekend has to be the killer, but – who did it, how was it done and for what reason? “This clever ‘whodunit’ set in 1935 France introduces a winning pair of sleuths who probe the death – behind a locked door – of Patrice Lafarge, whose heirs had gathered at his country estate to learn of a change to his will. As in many Golden Age puzzle mysteries, the plot is the key … Readers who enjoy pitting their wits against that of the author will find themselves satisfied by the surprising solution.” – The BookLife Prize in Fiction “It’s a very well written and edited book, which I recommend for readers who enjoy classic mysteries and want to immerse themselves in the pleasures of a locked-room murder challenge. This is a competent example in the locked-room mystery genre, and a very entertaining one to boot.” – Onlinebookclub Reviews THE MURDERS ON THREE BRIDGES In need of a change of scenery, Detective Inspector Arriaga boards Stella Australis for a trip around Tierra del Fuego. Before the ship reaches Cape Horn, the lone officer on the bridge is shot dead. When others come rushing, they find all doors leading to it locked from the inside. With most passengers and crew ashore on an excursion to a glacier and the runaway ship headed for shipwreck on the rocky coast, the captain is overwhelmed by the challenges. The inspector narrows down the suspects to nine – but how did the murderer escape with the doors locked from the inside? Then he faces the explanations for murders that have taken place on not one but three different bridges, including one that concerns his two fathers – the one he has never met and the one he is litigating. “This thriller is well-written and held my interest throughout, and there are a plethora of clues to figure out the perpetrator of the crime – fun for amateur detectives! The author has created a surprise ending … I’ll be looking out for more stories by this author.” – Reedsy Reviews “The writing itself is excellent; Ekemar’s prose is a pleasure to read. It’s a great locked-room murder mystery, rich in interesting characters, presenting a genuine puzzle for readers to solve. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to all fans of crime and mystery.” – OnlineBookclub Reviews THE CRIMSON BLUEPRINTS Paul Crimson fought in the war that USA waged against Viet Nam. He kept diaries of everything he experienced, which he later concentrated into a manuscript that became a bestseller. Convinced by his editor to start writing a follow-up, he moved to a wintery town in Maine. Crimson started writing it with no idea how it would end. By fusing keen observations of people in the tranquil town with notes from his editor and his soldiering past, he launched The Ship – a terrifying scenario of snowstorms, survival and soul searching. Then his unstableness provoked events to spin out of control, with his work in progress mirroring his perceptions of them. “Richly textured, this novel evokes a smothering, claustrophobic atmosphere of evil and events spinning out of control in all its settings. Crimson’s three lives—his past in Viet Nam, his present in Maine, and his fictional world in the Arctic—create a revealing portrait of a tortured soul. This novel delivers a spooky and readable yarn.” – Kirkus Reviews “The characters are brilliantly crafted. Many readers will enjoy this book, especially those who are interested in the psychological effects of war, those who’d like to see how a writer finds inspiration and those who enjoy a crime thriller.” - OnlineBookclub Reviews
Locked Room Murders is a bibliography containing a description of the problem and, separately, the solution to locked room and impossible crime novels and short stories.It has been a classic in the locked room pantheon for over 40 years, beginning with a 1972 article by Bob Adey in The Armchair Detective. The first edition of Locked Room Murders, published by Ferret Fantasy in 1979, covered 1280 titles. The 1991 second edition, published by Crossover Press, covered 2019 titles. Due to limited print runs, both editions have become prohibitively expensive. Locked Room International (LRI) is now making a revised version of the Second Edition available at an affordable price. Edited by Brian Skupin, LRI consultant and co-publisher of Mystery Scene magazine, this revised version contains the same 2019 titles, but with corrections and additional references which have appeared since 1991.Plans are in place to publish a Supplemental Edition in 2019, to include novels and short stories (including translations from sources outside the Anglosphere) published since 1991, films, TV series, graphic novels, and other media. It will not contain any of the titles in the Second Edition, Revised.
The witty new story from the bestselling author of The Secret Book & Scone Society series is perfect for bibliophiles who love a A Bookish Cook-Off with a little murder on the side… “Love Chopped and mysteries? This delightful character-driven cozy is just the treat for you.” —Kirkus Reviews Six chefs are preparing to compete in an outdoor tent at Storyton Hall in Virginia for prizes that will boost their careers—but is there someone who can’t stand the heat? It looks that way when one of the contestants is found dead in a pantry packed with two centuries’ worth of cookbooks, among other treasures and rarities. Could there be a connection to other recent events in town, like tampering with the costume of a local mascot? Jane isn’t sure, but after someone serves a second course of murder, the kitchen must be closed and the killer must be found . . . “Readers will find themselves wanting to live in Storyton, no matter how many people end up dead there.” —Suspense Magazine on Murder in the Locked Library
Death Valley lives up to its name when a murder draws Ellery Queen into the strange practices of a religious cult. It’s 1943, the war is raging, and sleuthing scribe Ellery Queen wants to do his bit. After a tortuous cross-country drive, he takes a job writing scripts for a Hollywood propaganda house—twelve hours a day of hack work that quickly turns his mind to jelly. After a few weeks, he is so worn down that he can type nothing but gibberish, and he decides to drive home. The trouble starts as soon as he reaches the desert. His ancient roadster breaks down on the edge of Death Valley. Wandering in search of help, he is saved by a man known as the Teacher, who takes him to an oasis called Quenan. Here, Queen finds a bizarre, reclusive cult that seems to have come straight out of the ancient past. A murder has been committed in the desert, and the Quenanites plan on delivering some Old Testament justice. Queen is just the detective they’ve been waiting for.
A woman robs a bank. A corpse is found shot through the heart in a room locked from within--no firearm in sight. To the eerily intuitive Inspector Martin Beck, these seemingly disparate cases are facets of the same puzzle, and solving it is of vital importance. Only by finding our what happened in the locked room can Beck--haunted by a near-fatal bullet wound and the demise of a soulless marriage--escape from an airtight prison of his own. From its classic premise, The Locked Room accelerates into an engrossing novel of the mind. Exploring the ramifications of egotism and intellect, luck and accident, and set against the backdrop of the inspired deductions and monstrous errors of Martin Beck and the Stockholm Homicide Squad, this tour de force of detection bears the unmistakable substance and gravity of real life. From the Trade Paperback edition.