Murder and the Married Virgin

Murder and the Married Virgin
Author: Brett Halliday
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 157
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504012828

Mike Shayne investigates an impossible murder in the Big Easy It’s not often that Mike Shayne runs with an honorable crowd, but there is a lieutenant in his office mourning the fiancée who killed herself the day before. Honest and heartbroken, he begs this hardened private investigator for help answering one simple, impossible question: Why? It’s a question Shayne has been asking ever since his wife was murdered in Miami and he moved to New Orleans to escape her memory. For the sake of a soldier, he will put his own mourning aside and try to explain a suicide that looks an awful lot like murder. Katrin Moe was working as a maid in the home of a wealthy New Orleans family when she was found locked in her room, the gas pumping full blast. Coincidentally, a priceless emerald necklace went missing from the house a few days before and the insurance company hired Shayne to find it. On the hunt for a killer, Shayne will find that the necklace and the crook are more closely related than meets the eye. Murder and the Married Virgin is the 10th book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Homicidal Virgin

The Homicidal Virgin
Author: Brett Halliday
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2015-09-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504014685

A desperate want ad draws Mike Shayne into a tangled murder plot It starts with a post in the classifieds. A woman calls for a red-blooded American, a soldier-of-fortune type willing to do anything if the price is right—even commit murder. This catches the eye of Tim Rourke, hotshot reporter, who passes it on to Mike Shayne, the legendary Miami detective. Rourke believes the ad was placed by a lonely housewife hoping to pay someone to knock off her husband, and he thinks the story could be front-page news. He just needs someone willing to answer the call—and Shayne has the reddest blood in Miami. Shayne responds to the ad, and finds the situation far stranger than anything he and Rourke could have dreamed up. His new employer is sweet, young, and scared for her life. Plus, there’s $50,000 at stake—and a life on the line. The Homicidal Virgin is the 37th book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery

The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery
Author: B. Murphy
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 553
Release: 1999-12-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0230107354

Bruce Murphy's Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is a comprehensive guide to the genre of the murder mystery that catalogues thousands of items in a broad range of categories: authors, titles, plots, characters, weapons, methods of killing, movie and theatrical adaptations. What distinguishes this encyclopedia from the others in the field is its critical stance.

The Great Detectives

The Great Detectives
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2012-08-28
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1453266402

The origins of literature’s finest crime fighters, told by their creators themselves Their names ring out like gunshots in the dark of a back alley, crime fighters of a lost era whose heroic deeds will never be forgotten. They are men like Lew Archer, Pierre Chambrun, Flash Casey, and the Shadow. They are women like Mrs. North and the immortal Nancy Drew. These are detectives, and they are some of the only true heroes the twentieth century ever knew. In this classic volume, Otto Penzler presents essays written by the authors who created these famous characters. We learn how Ed McBain killed—and resurrected—the hero of the 87th Precinct, how international agent Quiller wrote his will, and how Dick Tracy first announced that “crime does not pay.” Some of these heroes may be more famous than others, but there is not one whom you wouldn’t like on your side in a courtroom, a shootout, or an old-fashioned barroom brawl.

Married: The Virgin Widow

Married: The Virgin Widow
Author: Deborah Hale
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1426884931

Her hands bound by blackmail and duty, Laura Penrose was forced to marry her sweetheart's ruthless cousin. Now a widow, her sweetheart has returned. Ford Barrett, Lord Kingsfold, believes Laura betrayed him and has a debt to pay—she owes him a wedding… and a wedding night! Laura sacrificed herself once out of duty—she won't be taken again for revenge. But this new, dark, dangerous Ford discards her pleas…. Can she tell him she never wronged him, before he discovers her more innocent secret?

One Night with Nora

One Night with Nora
Author: Brett Halliday
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2015-08-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504014553

A naked intruder leads Mike Shayne to one of the strangest cases of his career Mike Shayne is never surprised to wake up with a woman in his bedroom—unless she’s a stranger. The private investigator is dozing when he hears someone creep through the door, undress, and slip into bed. When he turns on the light, the lady is just as shocked as he is. Her name is Nora, and she was told she’d find her husband here. Fortunately, she’s much better off having found Shayne. Nora’s spouse came to Miami to establish residency, which is the first step toward getting a divorce. By slipping into Shayne’s bedroom, she would’ve spoiled his scheme, but someone gave her the wrong information. Her husband is staying on the floor above. When Nora finally reaches the right room, she finds that the man she’s been looking for has been murdered, and her only alibi is a detective who’s starting to wish the naked dame had never found her way into his room. One Night with Nora is the 23rd book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Call for Michael Shayne

Call for Michael Shayne
Author: Brett Halliday
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2015-07-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504014375

Mike Shayne investigates a murder committed by an amnesiac Arthur Devlin wakes up so hungover that for a moment, he thinks the ship is sinking. As he gets his bearings, he realizes the only storm is inside his own head—and he isn’t on a ship at all. The last thing he remembers is being handed another drink at his going-away party. That was twelve days ago. Devlin has awoken in a sleazy hotel room, dressed in a stranger’s ratty clothes, with a bump on his forehead and a dead man at his feet. The phone rings: A woman who calls him Joey asks if he went through with the murder. Devlin has no choice but to say yes. To find out if he’s really a killer, Devlin hires Mike Shayne. Shayne has twenty-four hours to fill in the gaps of his client’s memory—and he will discover things that Devlin would rather stay forgotten. Call for Michael Shayne is the 17th book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Heads You Lose

Heads You Lose
Author: Brett Halliday
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504012801

After hearing a murder over the phone, Mike Shayne searches for the killer Woken by the telephone, Mike Shayne is disoriented. Though he has been alone since his wife was murdered, he has not gotten used to sleeping by himself. The voice on the other end of the telephone snaps him back into reality. It’s his friend Clem Wilson, calling from a filling station outside of Miami, and there is terror in his voice. He has time for just a few words before Shayne hears the crack of broken glass and the thud of a falling body. By the time he reaches the filling station, the police are already there and Wilson has two bullets in his chest—and either of them would have been enough to kill him. Clem Wilson was mixed up in something he couldn’t handle, and if Mike Shayne can’t set aside his grief and unravel the mystery, his friend will not be the last to die. Heads You Lose is the 8th book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.