Alafair Tucker

A mother of nine on the Oklahoma frontier looks into a drunk neighbor’s death in “a tale full of wit, humor, sorrow and, more important, the truth” (Tony Hillerman, New York Times–bestselling author of the Leaphorn and Chee series). Alafair Tucker is a strong woman, the core of family life on a farm where the back-breaking work and daily logistics of caring for her husband, Shaw, and their nine children—and being neighborly as well—require hard muscle and a clear head. She’s also a woman of strong opinions, and it is her opinion that Harley Day is a drunkard and a reprobate. So, when Harley’s body is found frozen in a snowdrift one January day in 1912, she isn’t surprised that his long-suffering family, while not actually celebrating, isn’t much grieving. When Alafair helps Harley’s wife prepare the body for burial, she discovers that his demise was anything but natural—there’s a bullet lodged behind his ear. Alafair is concerned when she hears that Harley’s son, John Lee, is the prime suspect in his father’s murder—especially since her own seventeen-year-old daughter, Phoebe, is in love with the boy. At first, Alafair’s only fear is that Phoebe is in for a broken heart. But as she begins to unravel the events that led to Harley’s death, she discovers that Phoebe might be more than just John Lee’s sweetheart—she may be his accomplice. . . .   “A sharp and suspenseful first novel.” ―Chicago Tribune   “A very sympathetic protagonist . . . the author’s depiction of time and place is so vivid that readers will swear they are smelling the brisk Oklahoma air and feeling the dirt under their feet.” —Booklist   “A book to savor, lyrical, authentic, and heartwarming.” ―Carolyn Hart, award-winning author of Resort to Murder   “Should please even the most demanding fans of historicals with its authentic situations, fully drawn characters, and clever plotting.” ―Library Journal   Includes an introduction by the author

Alan Saxon flies to Honololu to act as best man at the wedding of a close friend, Donald Dukelow, an American golfer who has always beaten Saxon in play-offs. In the party are the groom's mother, who hates the idea of her son marrying a Hawaiian beauty so much younger than him, and Dukelow's first wife, Heidi, a keen golfer and admirer of Saxon. Troubles start when Saxon and Heidi play a round on the Ko Olina course. Things get rapidly worse that evening when Saxon and Dukelow have a meal together. They go into a nightclub with disastrous results. Though Saxon manages to carry his friend back to the hotel, he finds him brutally murdered in his bed the next morning. Since Dukelow has joked that he wanted Saxon there as a bodyguard, the latter feels guilty-especially when he realizes how easily he was duped. To solve the crime and avenge his friend, Saxon has to investigate the Kaheiki family into which Dukelow was about to marry. When he lifts the stones, he does not like what he finds underneath them and he is soon in jeopardy himself. In addition to calming Heidi, consoling Dukelow's mother, keeping the police off his back, following his own lines of inquiry and dealing with the violent Nick Kaheiki-he has to keep one step ahead of two people who seem intent on killing him. Indeed, it's almost as if they're involved in a play-off to see who can murder him first. Unaware of who either of his assassins might be, Saxon weaves, dodges and tries every trick he knows to stay alive. Hawaii is no dream holiday for him. Honolulu Play-Off is a racy golf mystery with an intriguing Hawaiian cocktail of murder, suspense, deception and family conflict. It's the sixth novel in the Alan Saxon series.

"The perfect piece of noir fiction." -New York Times Book Review "Terse, brutal, poetic, perfectly wrought." -Publishers Weekly STARRED review At the end of Drive, Driver has killed Bernie Rose, "the only one he ever mourned," ending his campaign against those who double-crossed him. Driven tells how that young man, done with killing, becomes the one who goes down "at 3 a.m. on a clear, cool morning in a Tijuana bar." Seven years have passed. Driver has left the old life, become Paul West, and founded a successful business back in Phoenix. Walking down the street one day, he and his fiancée are attacked by two men and, while Driver dispatches both, his fiancée is killed. Sinking back into anonymity, aided by his friend Felix, an ex-gangbanger and Desert Storm vet, Driver retreats but finds that his past stalks him and will not stop. He has to turn and face it. Because he drives. That's what he does.

It's a sad duty that brings Alafair Tucker and her two daughters to Enid, Oklahoma, in the fall of 1915. Her sister Ruth Anne's husband, Lester, is not long for this world, and the family is gathering to send him to his reward. But her niece's irresponsible husband, Kenneth, has disappeared at a most inconvenient time. When it comes to light that Kenneth has been involved in some shady dealings with Buck Collins, the most ruthless businessman in town, everyone is convinced that Collins has done him in. But Alafair suspects that things are not so simple. Over the next few days, Alafair and her eldest daughter, Martha, come face-to-face with blackmail, intimidation, murder, and family secrets that stretch back over twenty years. And in the process, they discover things about each other that will change their relationship forever.

"Casey depicts family ties that uplift and support and family ties broken by anger in a poignant, lyrical, authentic novel of early day Oklahoma." -CAROLYN HART, New York Times bestselling author In the autumn of 1915, Shaw Tucker, his brother James, and their sons go hunting. Instead of a quail, Shaw's dog, Buttercup, flushes an old boot...containing the bones of a foot. Buttercup then leads the men to a shallow grave and a skeleton with a bullet hole in the skull. That night, Shaw awakens to see a pair of moccasin-clad legs brushing by his tent flap. He chases the intruder, but he has disappeared. His concern is justified when he realizes that someone-or something-has followed him home. Dread turns to relief when he captures a young Creek Indian boy called Crying Blood. Shaw ties the boy up in the barn, but during the few minutes he is left alone, someone thrusts a spear through Crying Blood's heart. The local law is on the killer's trail, but Shaw Tucker has a hunch... Only Shaw's wife Alafair might be able to forestall his dangerous plan. So Shaw sends her on a wild goose chase so he can confront the killer...

From critically acclaimed author Donis Casey comes the first in a vintage Hollywood mystery series! When a string of baffling clues leads to 1920s film star Bianca LaBelle, it looks like her dark secrets have finally come back to haunt her. Because the only thing worth more than wealth and fame is revenge… Blanche Tucker longs to escape her drop-dead dull life in tiny Boynton, Oklahoma. Then a suave film producer roars into town. Graham Peyton is Blanche's ticket out of town-he can offer her a life of stardom in Beverly Hills. But the sleezy producer's offer is too good to be true, and once they get to California Blanche finds herself sold to a dangerous man. But she's determined to make a new life for herself, whatever the cost… Six years later, Blanche has transformed into Bianca LaBelle, the reclusive and beloved film star. But when a private detective visits Bianca's mansion to ask her about remains found on a Santa Monica beach, it seems her shiny new life is going up in smoke. Peyton was murdered, and as this movie star mystery heats up, suspicion falls on the enigmatic Bianca. Did she make him pay for her private wrongs? With all of the twists and turns of a 1920s film, The Wrong Girl follows the daring exploits of a girl who chases her dream from the farm to old Hollywood, while showing just how risky-and rewarding-it can be to go off script.

The ultimate collection for mystery fans Following in the footsteps of those devoted to science fiction and works about Sherlock Holmes, general mystery fandom emerged in 1967 and has since thrived and become an international phenomenon. With its irresistible combination of puzzle-solving and the examination of the dark underbelly of humanity, crime fiction continues to fascinate and delight millions of readers. Ranging the gamut from cozy mysteries to fast-paced thrillers, crime fiction contains a nearly endless range of books… and, of course, a similarly diverse group of readers who devour them. Out of this rabid readership, countless websites, nearly one hundred fan magazines, and dozens of conferences celebrating mysteries have arisen to bring authors, readers, and fans together. This revised and updated edition of The Heirs of Anthony Boucher is an illuminating look at the history of mystery fandom and its effect on readers across the globe. Complete with anecdotes, personal reminiscences, facts, and pictures, it tells the story of the mystery community's publications and conventions, the fans who produce them, and the future of mystery fandom in years to come.

"Casey's skill at making you care about the injustices of a time and place not often covered in history books is second to none. The admirable mystery is the cherry on top." -Kirkus Reviews The U.S. has finally entered the First World War and scheduled the first draft lottery. No one in Boynton, Oklahoma, is unaffected by the clash between rabid pro-war, anti-immigrant "patriots" and anti-conscription socialists who are threatening an uprising rather than submit to the draft. Alafair Tucker is caught in the middle when her brother, a union organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, pays her a visit. Rob Gunn is fresh out of an internment camp for participants in an Arizona miners' strike. He assures Alafair that he's only come to visit family, but she's not convinced. More unsettling, Alafair's eldest son enlists, and a group calling itself the "Knights of Liberty" vandalizes the farm of Alafair's German-born son-in-law. Alafair's younger son, 16-year-old Charlie, is wildly patriotic and horrified by his socialist uncle. With his father's permission, Charlie takes a part-time war job at the Francis Vitric Brick Company. Soon several suspicious machine breakdowns delay production, and a couple of shift supervisors are murdered. Everyone in town suspects sabotage, some blaming German spies, others blaming the unionists and socialists. But Charlie Tucker is sure he knows who the culprit is and comes up with a plan to catch him red-handed. And then there is old Nick-a mysterious guy in a bowler hat who's been hanging around town.

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "This volume in Poisoned Pen's British Library Crime Classics series is ideal summer vacation reading." -Publishers Weekly Holidays offer us the luxury of getting away from it all. So, in a different way, do detective stories. This collection of vintage mysteries combines both those pleasures. From a golf course at the English seaside to a pension in Paris, and from a Swiss mountain resort to the cliffs of Normandy, this new selection shows the enjoyable and unexpected ways in which crime writers have used summer holidays as a theme. These fourteen stories range widely across the golden age of British crime fiction. Stellar names from the past are well represented-Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, for instance-with classic stories that have won acclaim over the decades. The collection also uncovers a wide range of hidden gems: Anthony Berkeley-whose brilliance with plot had even Agatha Christie in raptures-is represented by a story so (undeservedly) obscure that even the British Library does not own a copy. The stories by Phyllis Bentley and Helen Simpson are almost equally rare, despite the success which both writers achieved, while those by H. C. Bailey, Leo Bruce and the little-known Gerald Findler have seldom been reprinted. Each story is introduced by the editor, Martin Edwards, who sheds light on the authors' lives and the background to their writing.

The summer of 1273 is peaceful for most of England, but not for Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal Priory. Her friend, Crowner Ralf, is newly widowed with a baby. And her new anchoress is welcoming visitors to her window at night: one of them a man the prioress secretly loves. Now his loyalty to her as head of Tyndal Priory is suspect. Then Martin the Cooper is poisoned at the local inn. Martin had a wealth of enemies. The killer could be any of them. No one likes the direction the evidence points, but God's justice must be rendered even for the most forsaken soul. "Against an authentic backdrop of medieval life and lore, Royal once again brings alive characters who are true to their period yet exhibit emotions and feelings that 21st-century readers will recognize as their own." -Publishers Weekly starred review Priscilla Royal lives in Northern California. Forsaken Soul is her fifth Medieval Mystery. www.priscillaroyal.com