«The Amazons are Bartitsu-trained bodyguards and insurgents, saboteurs –  the most radical of the radicals. The real Amazons were literally a secret society and even now we only know the names of a few of the actual women who were involved. I took that as artistic licence to bring in several “ringers” from both fiction and history. Judith Lee, for example, was the protagonist of Richard Marsh’s popular series of  “lady detective” short stories during the early 20th century.»

Nero Wolfe can’t stand Leo Heller, a mathematician who uses operations research to solve mysteries and seems to be superseding Wolfe’s own reputation. But then Heller is murdered by one of his clients. He managed to leave a cryptic message that Wolfe eventually decodes, partly with the help of Lancelot Hogben Mathematics for the million.

Before the last echo of the shot had trailed down Riverside Drive, Ellery Queen realized that he had just witnessed a murder. Robert Potts lay shot through the heart. Not only had Ellery Queen been a witness but also Inspector Queen and Sergeant Velie. Yet not one of them knew who committed the murder.This is the story of the Old Woman (Cornelia Potts), who lived with all her children (six) in the incredible Potts “palace” on Riverside Drive — on its front lawn a great, bronze Oxford complete with trailing bronze shoelaces. Over the household hovers a ruthless killer who fits his cold-blooded crimes into the pattern of a Mother Goose rhyme.There are amusing and queer characters galore Thurlow, who spent his life bringing fruitless lawsuits; Louella, the would-be inventor; Horatio, the Philosopher of Escapism. And in addition there is the lovely, red-haired Sheila, revolted by the actions of her family.Here is murder as weird and baffling as Ellery Queen has yet encountered — a stiff dose of murder in the best Queen fashion.

One evening: Sam Moraine, shrewd and genial advertising executive, sat playing poker with District Attorney Phil Duncan and his chief Criminal Investigator, Barney Morden.

The next night: Sam found himself out on a pitching yacht paying ransom for a seasick girl named Ann Hartwell, only to be arrested the moment he set foot on land, because federal agents thought he knew too much about the kidnapping.

The following night: He found himself stumbling over a corpse in a strangely dark house, with his very frightened secretary, Natalie Rice, subbing desperately at his side.

The rest of the week: Night and day, Sam Moraine was involved in everything his advertising. He was in turn detective, politician and suspected murderer. The role of murderer seemed about to stick, when the unexpected happened.

A smashing Grand Jury scene climaxes this exciting murder mystery. It’s built around the experience of a mean-in-the-street caught unwittingly in the greasy cogs of a crooked political machine, and of how he extricates himself.

The character of Beaky Durkin is not presented as being related in any way to Fred Durkin, a free-lance detective often hired by Wolfe to assist with cases.

Had the murder victim not been such a notorious anti-semite, Rabbi Small might never have become involved. But when several members of his congregation become suspects, Rabbi Small is forced to match wits with the killer.

Christmas time in an isolated country house and, following a flaming row in the kitchen, there's murder inside. When a much disliked visiting servant disappears without trace after playing Santa Claus, foul play is at once suspected — and foul play it proves to be. Only suspicion falls not on the staff but on the guests, all so unimpeachably respectable that the very thought of murder in connection with any of them seems almost heresy. When Superintendent Roderick Alleyn returns unexpectedly from a trip to Australia, it is to find his beloved wife in the thick of an intriguing mystery…

Edgars VollessTiesneša noziegums. Lietpratējs«TAPALS» RĪGA 1998Edgars Volless TIESNEŠA NOZIEGUMS RomānsTulkojis Pēteris Miezītis LIETPRATĒJSStāsts no krājuma "Džentlmenis afērists" Tulkojis E. Feldmanis© Mākslinieks EDGARS FOLKS © "Tapais", 1998Noskannējis grāmatu un failu izveidojis Imants Ločmelis

Amateur burglar extraordinary — that’s what George Brokay wanted to be — and he got his wish! But he never knew there could be so many angles to a simple job of house-breaking until he stepped into that darkened room — just in.

It was rumoured that Hollywood stars would go down on their knees for the privilege of being photographed by the good-looking, brilliantly talented and ultra-fashionable portrait photographer Leslie Searle. But what was such a gifted creature doing in such an English village backwater of Salcott St Mary? And why — and how — did he disappear? If a crime had been committed, was it murder… fraud… or simply some macabre practical joke?

If one of Nero Wolfe’s adventures had not already been called Too Many Woman, that might have been the title of this one. For sex, to which Archie Goodwin is less a stranger than Nero, rears its quite pretty head throughout this new full-length novel.When the big businessman, who lived in New York’s fashionable East 60s but maintained an expensive love-nest in one of New York’s worst neighborhoods, is murdered, Nero is called in. In fact he is called in three times, the first two times by very — wrong people. Hence before he can start to unravel the murder, he has to solve the unique problem of ditching the wrong clients. Rut ditching can be fun, especially the way Archie does it, and this book will supply new fun and challenge to mystery connoisseurs.

The famous sleuth, involved in a wire-tapping investigation, finds himself prime suspect in the murder of a deceptive client.