Murder By The Book

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

$14.95

SKU: 9780141198842

1862 –

If Collins was King, Braddon was Queen, and this was her most successful and popular book. The Lady Audley of the title is an anti-heroine, a bigamist who may have committed murder for position and wealth. - Dean

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Hardcover)

By David Stuart Davies (Afterword by), Arthur Conan Doyle

$10.39

ISBN: 9781909621732

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: MacMillan Collector's Library - August 23rd, 2016

1894

This volume collects the first twelve short stories featuring that most immortal of sleuths, Sherlock Holmes. There is no better introduction to the master’s work. - Dean

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Paperback)

By Agatha Christie

$11.19

ISBN: 9780062073563

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Harper Paperbacks - February 2011

1926 –

The plot was a sensation at the time, and Christie had actually used the “device” in an earlier book. Coupled with her famous disappearance, the publication of this book made her a huge bestseller, and she never looked back. - Dean

The Maltese Falcon (Paperback)

By Dashiell Hammett

$11.96

ISBN: 9780679722649

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Vintage Books USA - July 17th, 1989

1930 – 

For me, this is the epitome of the American hard-boiled detective novel, written by a man who was himself a private eye. Its hero, Sam Spade, was immortalized on the screen by Humphrey Bogart in a pitch-perfect performance. One of the best film adaptations ever made. - Dean

Murder Must Advertise: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery (Paperback)

By Dorothy L. Sayers

$11.99

ISBN: 9780062341655

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Bourbon Street Books - December 2nd, 2014

1933 – 

Lord Peter Wimsey is only one of the many aristocratic “men about town” in the Golden Age detective story, but he is by far the most popular and enduring. Sayers used her own experience as an advertising copywriter for the background in this clever plot. - Dean

Rebecca (Paperback)

By Daphne Du Maurier

$12.79

ISBN: 9780380730407

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: William Morrow & Company - September 5th, 2006

1938 – 

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” These words, uttered by the unnamed heroine, are the opening to the novel. Rarely out of print since publication, Rebecca was dismissed by critics at the time, but they failed to see the point – the story of a powerful man allied to a woman who has none. Du Maurier had the best revenge – this book became one of the most famous suspense novels of the twentieth century. - Dean

Too Many Cooks & Champagne for One (Paperback)

By Rex Stout, Lena Horne (Introduction by)

$12.80

ISBN: 9780553386295

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Bantam - April 28th, 2009

1938 – 

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are perhaps the greatest duo in American detective fiction. Wolfe, the reclusive genius who would rather eat gourmet food and tend to his orchids than work, and Archie, the laconic, cynical gumshoe who is Wolfe’s man of action. For this tale (Too Many Cooks) of cookery and chicanery, Wolfe leaves his brownstone for the wilds of West Virginia. - Brenda

Double Indemnity (Paperback)

By James M. Cain

$10.40

ISBN: 9780679723226

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard - May 14th, 1989

1943 – 

Brought to the screen with memorable performances by Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, Cain’s fourth novel is the epitome of the newish “noir” crime novel that gained steadily in popularity and is now a staple of the genre. Tip: if you’ve seen the movie, you should still read the book; the endings are different. - Dean

The Killer Inside Me (Paperback)

By Jim Thompson, Stephen King (Foreword by)

$12.00

ISBN: 9780316404068

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Mulholland Books - August 5th, 2014

1952 – 

Often considered Thompson’s finest novel, this book features a small-town deputy sheriff, Lou Ford, who constantly fights the urge to act violently. This, along with Double Indemnity, is noir at its finest. - Dean

Collected Millar: The Master at Her Zenith: Vanish in an Instant; Wives and Lovers; Beast in View; An Air That Kills; The Listening Wall (Paperback)

By Margaret Millar, Tom Nolan (Introduction by)

Email or call 713-524-8597 for price

ISBN: 9781681990279

Availability: Special Order

Published: Soho Syndicate - September 13th, 2016

1955 – 

Though sometimes better known as the wife of Ross Macdonald (aka Kenneth Millar) Margaret in her own right was one of the finest suspense novelists of the twentieth century. This book (Beast in View) earned her the Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. Today one aspect of the plot might seem old hat, but in reality, she has simply been imitated many times. To me she is, and always will be, the best (and frankly a better writer than her husband). - Dean

A Judgement in Stone (Paperback)

By Ruth Rendell

$11.96

ISBN: 9780375704963

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard - January 4th, 2000

1977 – 

"Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.” To me this is one of the most chilling opening lines in crime fiction, and the book is one of Rendell’s best (and she wrote many outstanding books). As much an examination of the gap between social classes in 1970s Britain as it is a crime novel, A Judgement in Stone is relentless in its suspense. - Dean

A Taste for Death (Paperback)

By P. D. James

$12.76

ISBN: 9781400096473

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Vintage Books USA - November 8th, 2005

1986 – 

James and Ruth Rendell were the pre-eminent British crime novelists of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Considered by many to be James’ finest work, A Taste for Death. Winner of the Silver Dagger Award from the British Crime Writers Association (Gold went to Rendell that year), this showcases James at her considerable best with her sleuth Adam Dalgliesh facing a challenging case. - Dean