American Mystery Classics from I Cannot Live Without Books

Vultures in the Sky (American Mystery Classics) by Todd Downing The journey of the Mexico City-bound Pullman seems ill-fated from the outset -- what with the engine troubles and the threat of an impending railway strike -- but no one aboard expects the terror that will descend upon the luxury train before it reaches its destination. First, a man dies as… Read more about this item

The Haunted Lady (American Mystery Classics) by Mary Roberts Rinehart The arsenic in her sugar bowl was wealthy widow Eliza Fairbanks' first clue that somebody wanted her dead. The nightly plagues of bats, birds, and rats unleashed in her bedroom were the second indication, an apparent attempt to scare the life out of the delicate dowager. So instead of calling the… Read more about this item

Rocket to the Morgue (American Mystery Classics) by Anthony Boucher As the overly-protective heir to a beloved literary estate, Hilary Foulkes has made numerous enemies among the fans and authors stifled by his inflexibility -- so many enemies, in fact, that when he is stabbed nearly to death in a room with only one door, which nobody was seen entering or… Read more about this item

The Penguin Pool Murder (American Mystery Classics) by Stuart Palmer A field trip is always a treat for the third graders at Jefferson School. But one day at the New York Aquarium, they get much more excitement than they bargained for. A pickpocket sprints past, stolen purse in hand, and is making his way to the exit when their teacher, the… Read more about this item

The Alarm of the Black Cat (American Mystery Classics) by Dolores Hitchens A strange encounter with a little girl named Claudia and a dead toad sparks elderly detective fiction fan Rachel Murdock's obsessive curiosity, and she winds up renting the house next door just to see how things play out. But soon after she and her cat Samantha move in, Rachel… Read more about this item

The Case of the Careless Kitten (American Mystery Classics) by Erle Stanley Gardner Helen Kendal's woes begin when she receives a mysterious phone call from her vanished uncle Franklin, long presumed dead, urging her to contact criminal defense attorney Perry Mason; they continue as she finds herself the main suspect in the murder of an unfamiliar man. Her kitten has just… Read more about this item

The Bigger They Come (American Mystery Classics) by Erle Stanley Gardner (Writing as A.A. Fair) Bertha Cool is the gruff, tough-talking corpulent head of her private detective agency, which opened after the death of her husband; Donald Lam is her meek, slight, and nervy new hire, who makes up for a lack of boldness with brilliant detective work. The duo couldn't… Read more about this item

Dread Journey (American Mystery Classics) by Dorothy B. Hughes Hollywood big-shot Vivien Spender has waited ages to produce the work that will be his masterpiece: a film adaptation of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain. He's spent years grooming young starlets for the lead role, only to discard each one when a newer, fresher face enters his view. Afterward, these rejected women… Read more about this item

Death From a Top Hat (American Mystery Classics) by Clayton Rawson Now retired from the tour circuit on which he made his name, master magician The Great Merlini spends his days running a magic shop in New York's Times Square and his nights moonlighting as a consultant for the NYPD. The cops call him when faced with crimes so impossible that… Read more about this item

The So Blue Marble (American Mystery Classics) by Dorothy B. Hughes The society pages announce it before she even arrives: Criselda Satterlee, daughter of the princess of Rome has left her career as an actress behind and is traveling to Manhattan to reinvent herself as a fashion designer. They also announce the return of the dashing Montefierrow twins to New York… Read more about this item

A Puzzle for Fools (American Mystery Classics) by Patrick Quentin Broadway producer Peter Duluth sought solace in a bottle after his wife's death; now, two years later, he enters a sanitarium in an effort to dry out -- but the institution doesn't quite offer the rest and relaxation he expected. Strange, malevolent occurrences plague the hospital, and among other inexplicable events,… Read more about this item

The Red Right Hand (American Mystery Classics) Joel Townsley Rogers After the death of Inis St. Erme, Dr. Henry Riddle retraces the man's final movements, searching for the moment of his fatal misstep. Was it when he and his bride-to-be first set out to elope in Vermont? Or did his deadly error occur later -- perhaps when they picked up the… Read more about this item

Waltz into Darkness (American Mystery Classics) by Cornell Woolrich When New Orleans coffee merchant Louis Durand first meets his fiancee after an extensive courtship by mail, he's shocked that she doesn't match the photographs sent with her correspondence -- instead of the homely, dark-haired woman he expected, he's greeted by a radiant blonde beauty who claims that her deceit was necessary… Read more about this item

Dead Man Inside (American Mystery Classics) by Vincent Starrett 1930s Chicago is a rough town, but the most recent rash of crime is unusual even by the Windy City's standards. First, a haberdasher whose corpse is discovered on display one morning, dressed as a mannequin in his store's window. Next, the unveiling of a Civil War statue reveals the dead body… Read more about this item

Miss Pinkerton (American Mystery Classics) by Mary Roberts Rinehart Miss Adams is a nurse, not a detective -- at least, not technically speaking. But while working as a nurse, one can see things police can't see. An observant set of eyes can be quite an asset when crimes happen behind closed doors, so sometimes Detective Inspector Patton rings Miss Adams when… Read more about this item

The Benson Murder Case (American Mystery Classics) by S.S. Van Dine All of Manhattan high society is abuzz after playboy stockbroker Alvin Benson is discovered dead in a locked room in his brownstone mansion, slumped over in an easy chair with a bullet in his head. Ballistics experts, detectives, and the NYPD's top brass can't solve the crime, but luckily they… Read more about this item

It Walks by Night: A Paris Mystery (American Mystery Classics) by John Dickson Carr Inspector Bencolin has summoned his allies to discuss a peculiar case in the smoke-wreathed gloom of a Parisian salon. A would-be murderer, imprisoned for his attempt to kill his wife, has escaped and is known to have visited a plastic surgeon. His whereabouts remain a mystery, though… Read more about this item

The Lost Gallows: A London Mystery (American Mystery Classics) by John Dickson Carr As the thick, autumnal fog chokes the capital, within the fire-lit lounge of London's notorious Brimstone Club, a bizarre tale is being spun for Inspector Bencolin and his friend Jeff Marle. A club member has been sent a model of a tiny gallows, and the word is that… Read more about this item