No one gets inside the head of the murderer—or makes it a more thrilling read—than the late, great P. D. James. Fast on the heels of her latest best seller: a new, fiendishly entertaining gathering of previously uncollected stories, from the author of Death Comes to Pemberley and *The Private Patient.* It's not always a question of "whodunit?" Sometimes there's more mystery in the why or how. And although we usually know the unhealthy fates of both victim and perpetrator, what of those clever few who plan and carry out the perfect crime? The ones who aren't brought down even though they're found out? And what about those who do the finding out who witness a murder or who identify the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the mysteries that we follow through those six stories as we are drawn into the thinking, the memories, the emotional machinations, the rationalizations, the dreams and desires behind murderous cause and effect. **

Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time—swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment." The newly appointed Sgt. Dalgliesh is drawn into a case that is "pure Agatha Christie." . . . A "pedantic, respectable, censorious" clerk's secret taste for pornography is only the first reason he finds for not coming forward as a witness to a murder . . . A best-selling crime novelist describes the crime she herself was involved in fifty years earlier . . . Dalgliesh's godfather implores him to reinvestigate a notorious murder that might ease the godfather's mind about an inheritance, but which will reveal a truth that even the supremely upstanding Adam Dalgliesh will keep to himself. Each of these stories is as playful as it is ingeniously plotted, the author's sly humor as evident as her hallmark narrative...

Adopted as a child into a privileged family, Philippa Palfrey fantasizes that she is the daughter of an aristocrat and a parlor maid. The terrifying truth about her parents and a long-ago murder is only the first in a series of shocking betrayals. Philippa quickly learns that those who delve into the secrets of the past must be on guard when long-buried horrors begin to stir. "As a crime novel," wrote the London Times, Innocent Blood is "the peak of the art." "Flawlessly crafted...profoundly, masterfully moving," Cosmopolitan concurred.ReviewTime The reigning mistress of murder.People P. D. James is "the greatest living mystery writer." From the Inside FlapAn original novel of extraordinary power, Innocent Blood is the story of 18-year-old Philippa Palfrey, adopted as a child, who is plunged into a dangerous and terrifying world when she discovers the shocking truth about her natural parents - and learns that her birth mother is about to be released from prison. Innocent Blood is considered by many to be one of P.D. James' finest novels.

In a masterful new Adam Dalgliesh mystery, P.D. James enters the labyrinthine world of the law, forging a deeply compelling human drama from the complex passions that lie behind both murder and justice.From the Paperback edition.Amazon.com ReviewAlthough A Certain Justice begins with news of a murder, the victim isn't set to die for another four weeks. Publicly respected but privately loathed, Venetia Aldridge has far more enemies than a brilliant London criminal lawyer should--and at least one of them is determined to do her in. Venetia plies her superior trade in courts that harbor "the illusion that the passions of men were susceptible to order and control," but her past and private life are exceedingly unruly. Her married lover is intent on giving her up; her daughter loathes her; her fellow barristers are determined that she not become the next head of chambers. Even the cleaning women seems to have something on her. The outline alone of this complex novel would take pages (as would the eclectic inventory of players), but P. D. James makes us admire far more than her brilliantly developed plot. James in fact creates a crowded gallery of surprisingly decent suspects, along with one suitably vile creature--who happens to be Aldridge's last client. A superior murder mystery, A Certain Justice is also a gripping anatomy of wild justice. James's characters can be overcome by hate, but she is equally concerned with love's manifestations--human, divine, destructive, and healing. From School Library JournalYA?Venetia Aldridge, a brilliant barrister, has "four weeks, four hours and fifty minutes left of life." By the time her murder is discovered, readers have not only met most of the suspects, but have also begun to sympathize with whomever might have done her in. Everyone in the victim's life, from her 18-year-old daughter to the retiring head of chambers, from her former lover to the cleaning woman, has cause to have wished her ill. Adam Dalgleish, James's poetry penning sleuth, and his assistants, especially Kate Miskin, investigate the many possible suspects. After much examination of the past and present, the murderer is discovered and A Certain Justice is meted out. As with many of the author's mysteries, psychology and motivation are as important as whodunit and the conundrum presented here is thought-provoking. Much of the action centers around the rebellious daughter and there is a suspense-filled scene in which she and her psychopathic boyfriend try to evade Dalgleish, only to have young Octavia discover that she needs to evade the boyfriend instead. YAs who enjoy James and those ready for a bit of a fright with their English mysteries will surely take to this adventure.?Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

National Bestseller Murders present meet murders past in P.D. James's latest harrowing, thought-provoking thriller. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is already acquainted with the Dupayne--a museum dedicated to the interwar years, with a room celebrating the most notorious murders of that time--when he is called to investigate the killing of one of the family trustees. He soon discovers that the victim was seeking to close the museum against the wishes of the fellow trustees and the Dupayne's devoted staff. Everyone, it seems, has something to gain from the crime. When it becomes clear that the murderer has been inspired by the real-life crimes from the murder room--and is preparing to kill again--Dalgliesh knows that to solve this case he has to get into the mind of a ruthless killer.From the Trade Paperback edition.

As the acknowledged 'Queen of Crime' P.D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Four of the very best of these have been rescued from the archives and are published together for the first time. P.D. James's sparkling prose illuminates each of these perfectly formed stories, making them ideal reading for the darkest days of the year. While she delights in the secrets that lurk beneath the surface at enforced family gatherings, her Christmas stories also provide enjoyable puzzles to keep the reader guessing. From the title story about a strained country house gathering on Christmas Eve, another about an illicit affair that ends in murder, and two cases for James's poet-detective Adam Dalgliesh -- each treats the reader to James's masterfully atmospheric story-telling, always with the lure of a mystery to be solved.

Review“A fine novel . . . from its very first pages you feel you are in marvellously sure hands.” —The Times“Irresistible.” —Winnipeg Free Press“Original, suspenseful, ingenious. . . . A whacking great whodunit by the reigning Queen of Mystery.” —Calgary Sun“Her concern with the psychological reality of her characters is complemented by a scrupulous attention to physical detail, an easy ear for dialogue and a concise voice for description. Taken together, these are an unfailing combination.” —The Hamilton Spectator"The reason it takes me so long to write is because it takes a long time for the characters to reveal themselves to me. My ambition as a writer is to make even the minor characters come alive." —P. D. James"James pulls out all the stops ... an overlay of lust; midnight apparitions; hairbreadth escapes." *—New York Magazine"A masterly version of the clue-and-alibi game ... five star." —The GuardianFrom the Trade Paperback edition.Product DescriptionFading star Clarissa Lisle plans a spectacular comeback in a private performance of Webster’s bloodcurdling tragedy The Duchess of Malfi, to be staged in an island castle owned by the eccentric collector Ambrose Gorringe. When she begins to receive poison-pen letters — bearing death threats couched in Shakespearean quotations — her husband hires young private detective Cordelia Gray to ensure her safety.But before the curtain rises, one of the party will fall victim to a murderous blow, and as the suspense builds, it becomes clear to Cordelia that everyone confined within the walls of the castle seems to have an excellent motive for sending Clarissa Lisle “down, down to hell.”From the Paperback edition.

Told with P. D. James’s trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future. The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.

In a marvellous, thrilling re-creation of the world of Pride and Prejudice, P.D. James fuses her lifelong passion for the work of Jane Austen with her own great talent for writing crime fiction.The year is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are now two handsome, healthy sons in the Pemberley nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live within seventeen miles, the ordered and secure life of Pemberley seems unassailable, and Elizabeth's happiness in her marriage is complete. But their peace is threatened and old sins and misunderstandings are rekindled on the eve of the annual autumn ball. The Darcys and their guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland, and as it pulls up, Lydia Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered.Death Comes to Pemberley is a powerful work...

SUMMARY: In a perfect marriage of author and subject, P. D. James—one of the most widely admired writers of detective fiction at work today—gives us a personal, lively, illuminating exploration of the human appetite for mystery and mayhem, and of those writers who have satisfied it.P. D. James examines the genre from top to bottom, beginning with the mysteries at the hearts of such novels as Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White, and bringing us into the present with such writers as Colin Dexter and Henning Mankell. Along the way she writes about Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie (“arch-breaker of rules”), Josephine Tey, Dashiell Hammett, and Peter Lovesey, among many others. She traces their lives into and out of their fiction, clarifies their individual styles, and gives us indelible portraits of the characters they’ve created, from Sherlock Holmes to Sara Paretsky’s sexually liberated female investigator, V. I. Warshawski. She compares British and American Golden Age mystery writing. She discusses detective fiction as social history, the stylistic components of the genre, her own process of writing, how critics have reacted over the years, and what she sees as a renewal of detective fiction—and of the detective hero—in recent years.There is perhaps no one who could write about this enduring genre of storytelling with equal authority and flair: it is essential reading for every lover of detective fiction.

SUMMARY: Featuring the famous Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Devices and Desires is a thrilling and insightfully crafted novel of fallible people caught in a net of secrets, ambitions, and schemes on a lonely stretch of Norfolk coastline.Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote Larksoken headland on the Norfolk coast in a converted windmill left to him by his aunt. But he cannot so easily escape murder. A psychotic strangler of young women is at large in Norfolk, and getting nearer to Larksoken with every killing. And when Dalgliesh discovers the murdered body of the Acting Administrative Officer on the beach, he finds himself caught up in the passions and dangerous secrets of the headland community and in one of the most baffling murder cases of his career.

A secure and secluded retreat for the rich and powerful becomes the setting for an unsettling series of murders.Combe Island off the Cornish coast is a restful haven for the elite. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from the island's famous lighthouse in what appears to have been a murder, the peace is shattered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to handle the sensitive case, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. He is uncertain about his future with his girlfriend Emma Lavenham; his principle detective Kate Miskin is going through an emotional crisis; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a female boss. After a second brutal killing, the whole investigation is jeopardized, and Dalgliesh is faced with a danger even more insidious than murder.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The much-anticipated fifth thriller in Lars Kepler's bestselling series featuring Joona Linna. Perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo. A video-clip is sent to the National Criminal Investigation Department. Someone has secretly filmed a woman through her window from the garden. The next day she is found dead after a frenzied knife-attack. The police receive a second film of another unknown woman. There is no way of identifying her before time runs out.When her husband finds her he is so traumatised that he cleans the whole house and puts her to bed. He may have seen a vital clue, but is in such an extreme state of shock that the police are unable to question him. Psychiatrist Erik Maria Bark is called in to hypnotise him - but what the man tells him under hypnosis leads Erik to start lying to the police. If the lights are on, a stalker can see you from outside. But if the lights are off, you can't see a stalker who is already inside the house.

Lars Kepler returns with an internationally bestselling follow up to the wildly successful debut thriller The Hypnotist.He knows your darkest dreams. Then he makes them come true.After spellbinding audiences in The Hypnotist, Detective Inspector Joona Linna is back in The Nightmare, which has already sold 190,000 copies in Sweden just one week after publication.On a summer night, police recover the body of a young woman from an abandoned pleasure boat drifting around the Stockholm archipelago. Her lungs are filled with brackish water, and the forensics team is sure that she drowned. Why, then, is the pleasure boat still afloat, and why are there no traces of water on her clothes or body? The next day, a man turns up dead in his state apartment in Stockholm, hanging from a lamphook in the ceiling. All signs point to suicide, but the room has a high ceiling, and there's not a single piece of furniture around -- nothing to climb on.b...

The #1 internationally best-selling thriller from the author of The Hypnotist tells the chilling story of a manipulative serial killer and the two brilliant police agents who must try to beat him at his own game.Late one night, outside Stockholm, Mikael Kohler-Frost is found wandering. Thirteen years earlier, he went missing along with his younger sister. They were long thought to have been victims of Sweden's most notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter, now serving a life sentence in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Now Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he knows only as the Sandman. Years ago, Detective Inspector Joona Linna made an excruciating personal sacrifice to ensure Jurek's capture. He is keenly aware of what this killer is capable of, and now he is certain that Jurek had an accomplice. He knows that any chance of rescuing Mikael's sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and that the only agent...

The first two thrillers in the international bestselling Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler including an exclusive preview of the third thriller The Fire Witness. The HypnotistDetective Inspector Joona Linna is faced with a boy who witnessed the gruesome murder of his family. He’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and is comatose with shock. With a killer on the run and Linna running out of time, a hypnotist who vowed never to practice again is brought in to the investigation unfurling a terrifying chain of events. The NightmareThe lifeless body of a young woman is discovered on an abandoned boat.A man is found hanging alone in his apartment.The question for Detective Inspector Joona Linna: suicide or murder?Only four people know the answer. And one man wants them dead.Can Linna keep them alive long enough to find out the truth?

The Joona Linna Thrillers 3-Book BundleThe Hypnotist; The Nightmare; The Fire WitnessChilling, psychologically dark, and complexly plotted, Lars Kepler's brilliant and addictive thrillers feature the troubled and intriguing Detective Inspector Joona Linna, someone who goes against the grain of conventional police procedure and thinks outside the box. This series has literally taken the world by storm, each book becoming a runaway bestseller internationally.In The Hypnotist, a triple homicide, all of the victims from the same family, captivates Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the grisly case -- against the wishes of the national police. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize a young witness to the crime, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes. When Bark breaks his promise never to do this kind of work again and hypnotizes the victim, a terrifying chain of events unfurls. In The Nightmare, we follow Joona Linna's investigation of two seemingly unrelated crimes -- a young woman murdered on a pleasure boat in the archipelago and a man found hanging in his state apartment in Stockholm the next day -- but as Linna begins to piece together the mysteries, the logistics become a mere prelude to a dizzying and dangerous course of events. And, in The Fire Witness, we find Joona Linna under internal review by the National Police for an alleged infraction and on leave to solve some troubling personal business. Nevertheless, he's called in to "observe" the investigation of a gruesome and strange murder at a youth home for wayward teenage girls, and it's not long before Linna is drawn deeply into the intricate, disturbing case.

The authors of The Hypnotist and The Nightmare deliver their most thrilling novel yetFlora Hansen calls herself a medium and makes a living by pretending to commune with the dead. But after a gruesome murder at a rural home for wayward girls, Hansen begins to suffer visions that are all too real. She calls the police, claiming to have seen a ghost, but only one detective puts aside his skepticism long enough to listen: Joona Linna.     Linna has spent more time at the scene of the crime than any other detective would. The case seems obvious on the face of it: One of the girls at the home escaped in the middle of the night, leaving behind a bloody bed with a hammer under the pillow. But why does Hansen insist that the murder instrument was a stone, not a hammer? And what’s the story behind the dark red grain of sand, almost like a splinter from a ruby, stuck beneath the dead girl’s fingernail? As Linna refuses to accept easy answers, his search leads him into darker, more violent territory, and finally to a shocking confrontation with a figure from his past.     Just as Lars Kepler’s The Hypnotist and The Nightmare did, The Fire Witness has spent months at number one on the Swedish bestseller lists. As the newspaper Dagens Nyheter put it, you start the thriller “on the subway home, keep reading at the dinner table, and then don’t stop until well into the wee hours.” Kepler writes with the force of Stieg Larsson and the plotting of Jo Nesbø. The Fire Witness is an unflinching page-turner, sure to join the ranks of its predecessors as an international sensation.ReviewPraise for Lars Kepler“Action-oriented, inventive, with over-the-top plots and larger-than-life heroes and criminals.” —*Los Angeles Times Magazine“[Kepler’s] ability to inhabit the workings of psychotic psyches is authentically shocking. Larsson is destined to have many heirs . . . Kepler is by far the best.” —Lev Grossman, Time*“Outrageously entertaining . . . Methadone for readers suffering from Stieg Larsson withdrawal.” —Laura Miller, Salon“Kepler’s characters are admirably flawed . . . It’s a smooth collaboration . . . with frequent surprises and grace notes amid the carnage. With any luck, we’ll hear more of Lars Kepler.” —Patrick Anderson, The Washington PostAbout the AuthorLars Kepler is the pseudonym for a literary couple who live in Sweden. Their novels, including The Nightmare and The Hypnotist, have been number-one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Spain. They live in Stockholm.

The private story of the world's most famous jockey. Lester Piggott, by the world's most famous writer of racing thrillers. The inside story of the figure that racegoers have cheered for thirty-seven years, yet hardly know. The unpublished facts behind the punishments for rough riding in his youth, and the truth about the accusations of stealing other jockey's mounts. Lester has never defended himself against untrue press reports, and because of his reticence, been much misunderstood. This book sets the record straight. 

A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers.Ex-steeplechaser Randall Drew is reluctantly off to pre-Olympic games Moscow, as a favour to royalty. One of the blue bloods is destined to compete in the games and there are concerns - both of safety and of scandal - that only Drew, with his racing connections, can clear up. On arriving - speaking no Russian and wishing he were back home - Drew is supposed to identify and contact one Alyosha to clear up the scandal. Instead, he finds himself tailed by the KGB and embroiled in foiling a terrorist plot - or die trying.Home seems an awful long way away - and if he's not careful, he'll be going back in a box . . .Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing'Daily Mirror'Dick...

A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers. One-handed ex-jockey Sid Halley works as a private detective, using his racing knowledge to solve crimes that baffle the police. In Whip Hand, Sid is asked to investigate possible doping of the horses of thoroughbred trainer George Casper - whose once-successful mounts have been failing spectacularly on the race track. At the same time he learns that a conman has left his ex-wife Jenny facing a jail sentence over a fake charity, while the Jockey Club want him to look into certain powerful syndicates who may be acting in a ruthless and illegal manner.Quickly, Sid discovers that each of his investigations is entirely unwelcome. But he isn't put off easily - not even when a threat is made to take off his remaining good hand. Three dangerous cases, three ways to die - Sid is back on home turf . . . Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey,...

Movies, murders and horses A smash hit novel now in trade—from “a rare and magical talent... who never writes the same story twice.”(San Diego Union-Tribune)When Thomas Lyon decides to make a movie based on an unsolved crime that shocked the horseracing world in Wild Horses, he discovers that someone will do anything—including commit murder—to make sure this story isn’t told...

A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers.Edward Lincoln has scaled the Himalayas, survived deadly car chases and defeated scores of assassins. As a movie action man he's even suffered stoically at the hands of sadistic directors. After finishing his latest film, he's asked to visit South Africa to discover why a dying friend's horses are suddenly failing on the race track. Unfortunately, Lincoln's attempt to help a friend soon puts him in harm's way. From a nearly fatal interview to a dangerous accident in a gold mine, it seems only luck is keeping him alive. And in life, unlike the big-screen, there's no coming back from dead . . . Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror 'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of...

Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott. During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in...

Bonecrack is a classic novel from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.At midnight Neil Griffon's home is broken into and he is abducted by masked men. When he wakes up, hours later, Neil discovers that 'unless he cooperates' his kidnappers will destroy his father's racing stable, his precious horses and even Neil himself.Returning to the stables, Neil can tell no one about his ordeal, or his kidnappers' threats of violence if he does not comply with their demands.Trapped, Neil refuses to surrender - and devises an ingenious scheme to beat his kidnappers at their own game.Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Bonecrack is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis. Other novels include the huge bestsellers Dead Heat, Under Orders and Silks. The Dick Francis legacy continues through his son Felix...