Ike Schwartz Mystery

With a Foreword by Frederick Ramsay "Ramsay nicely mixes town and gown, sophisticates and rustics, thugs and masterminds. Ike Schwartz seems destined for a bright future." -Publishers Weekly Ike Schwartz is the new sheriff of Picketsville, Virginia. He's also trying to shake the demons of his past, the memories of a day that went horribly wrong in Switzerland. Aside from its Civil War history, Picketsville's one claim to fame is Callend College-a private women's school on the edge of town. The college is most notable for housing half of the billion dollar Dillon art collection, a treasure secured in an underground bunker originally built in the 1950s as a super bomb shelter. Its alarm system is state of the art. But is it? Could a determined and ruthless group get away with stealing the paintings and statuary and then ransom it back for millions? The fanatics have a plan that will spell bad news for the new college president, for Sheriff Schwartz, and for a pair of college students caught in the local Lover's Lane at just the wrong moment.

"The dark humor, a small community in a regional mystery, and a strong supporting cast of believable characters will appeal to Margaret Maron's readers." -Library Journal STARRED review Towns like Gainesboro, North Carolina, may be small but go big on local traditions. When funeral director and part-time deputy sheriff Barry Clayton and his childhood nemesis, Archie Donovan, Jr., unite to create a fundraising float in Gainesboro's annual Apple Festival Parade, what could go wrong? With Archie involved-anything! First, the Grand Marshal, NC Secretary of Agriculture Graham James, is attacked by a gunman and Barry's Uncle Wayne is critically wounded in the melee. The assailant is killed. Then, when the body of a convenience store owner is discovered less than an hour later with the gunman's food stamp card in his wallet, the case escalates. Two men dead. What is the connection? Barry and Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins swiftly learn their small town offers no protection against big-time crime. The body count rises as the scope of their homicide investigation crosses into the realm of the U.S. Marshals and their secretive Witness Protection Program. To penetrate its walls, Barry and Tommy Lee resort to a most unlikely ally: Archie. Is the insurance agent, generally a victim of his own hare-brained schemes, capable of breaking the case, or will Archie find a way to become another of its casualties? The trio's secret undertaking into a convoluted conspiracy becomes a fight for survival in a world filled with betrayals where it's impossible to know which people to trust.

"Ramsay demonstrates once again that he is a superb storyteller, adroitly mixing the spy and small-town mystery genres and shocking us with one walloping big surprise midway through the book." -Booklist It's midwinter and the Shenandoah Valley is poised on the brink of an unusually icy and snowy season. Alexei Kamarov's body is discovered in a forest within the Picketsville town limits. His driver's license identifies him as Randall Harris. The last Sheriff Ike Schwartz heard of Kamarov, he was reported missing-presumed dead in Russia-the victim of intelligence game-playing. Ike is not happy this piece of his past has resurfaced. Especially when Ike's former CIA colleague and friend Charlie Garland asks Ike to keep a lid on the investigation. Slowly, interagency rivalries emerge as local petty criminals vie with international assassins and plotters for attention. All the while, Buffalo Mountain looms in the background....

2018 Macavity Award winner for Best Nonfiction 2018 Anthony Award nominee for Best Critical/Nonfiction Book This book tells the story of crime fiction published during the first half of the twentieth century. The diversity of this much-loved genre is breathtaking, and so much greater than many critics have suggested. To illustrate this, the leading expert on classic crime discusses one hundred books ranging from The Hound of the Baskervilles to Strangers on a Train which highlight the entertaining plots, the literary achievements, and the social significance of vintage crime fiction. This book serves as a companion to the acclaimed British Library Crime Classics series but it tells a very diverse story. It presents the development of crime fiction-from Sherlock Holmes to the end of the golden age-in an accessible, informative and engaging style. Readers who enjoy classic crime will make fascinating discoveries and learn about forgotten gems as well as bestselling authors. Even the most widely read connoisseurs will find books (and trivia) with which they are unfamiliar-as well as unexpected choices to debate. Classic crime is a richly varied and deeply pleasurable genre that is enjoying a world-wide renaissance as dozens of neglected novels and stories are resurrected for modern readers to enjoy. The overriding aim of this book is to provide a launch point that enables readers to embark on their own voyages of discovery.

"The author combines a Tom Clancy-like knowledge of ground-to-air missiles with a Robert Ludlum-like spy adventure to leave the reader awaiting the next Ike Schwartz." -Library Journal STARRED review Nick Reynolds, his pilot's rating barely a month old, drops off the radar one night over the Chesapeake Bay. Investigating agencies call it another tragic pilot-error accident. No trace of the plane is found. But Charlie Garland, Sheriff Ike Schwartz' old friend from their CIA days, isn't so sure. The missing pilot was engaged to Charlie's niece, and the family is not dealing well with the lack of closure. More important, just before his disappearance, Nick had placed a puzzling call to Charlie. So Charlie calls in his old friend, Ike, who's vacationing nearby. Ike's wide-eyed entry into a simple missing persons case soon catapults him into an international investigation with intimations of terrorism that could threaten the nation and its leaders.

Murder by witchcraft? Private investigator and former beauty queen Madeline Maclin thought she'd seen it all in her small North Carolina town of Celosia. Yet Evil Turns, fifth in the lively series by Jane Tesh, opens with a young man's body covered in strange occult symbols found in a local vineyard, putting Maddy on notice that there is more than one witch in the neighborhood. Years ago, a group of women in town formed Darkrose Coven, a practice now taken up by younger residents who insist that their dark rose tattoos only honor their favorite character from the popular Pagan Desires books and movies. Has the old coven reappeared? Is the new coven responsible for the ritualistic murder? Intrigue unfolds as Celosia prepares for its centennial. The Women's Improvement Society, led by wealthy, obnoxious Amanda Price, plans to create an outdoor musical drama, Flower of the South, extolling Emmaline Ross, one of the state's first vintners. Amanda steamrolls past City Councilmember Harold Stover, who fears Celosia cannot afford this costly venture, and Nathan Fenton, who refuses to let her use his Camp Lakenwood land for the production. When Harold is murdered, Amanda is the prime suspect. She hires Maddy to prove her innocence. Are the two murders connected? What about Megan Underwood, a local wiccan from the defunct commune, Peaceful Meadow, which had ties to the Darkrose Coven? Megan complicates Maddy's inquiries, drifting in and out of town claiming she is Emmaline reborn. What is the secret the Darkrose Coven is so desperate to hide? Maddy is stretched to the limit. Not only is she juggling her time investigating murder suspects, feuding locals, and a long-ago missing infant, she also has to fend off threats by a disreputable goon from her husband's past-her talented and charming spouse, Jerry Fairweather, had once been a con artist. Their current life together, committed to the straight and narrow, could be totally wrecked. Madeline needs magic of her own to unravel the twists and turns of tangled relationships and to find one singular lost soul.

"An unpretentious gem written to the hilt and harrowing in its unpredictability."-Kirkus Reviews STARRED review The first book in the Texas Red River Mystery series, The Rock Hole is the gripping story of a rural community shaken to its core by a killer, and the man who will stop at nothing to protect his own… When your family's safety is threatened, what wouldn't you do to defend them? Lamar County, Texas: Summer, 1964. Life is idyllic for ten-year-old Top Parker, who has come to live with his grandparents in the small, rural town of Center Springs. Yet while Top runs the woods and countryside with his near twin cousin, Pepper, his Grandpa Ned-a small town constable-witnesses the spreading menace of a deranged killer. Out of his element, Ned reaches out to neighboring law enforcement and then the FBI. Local news sources tag the budding serial killer "The Skinner," and the label is chillingly accurate. Beginning with the torture and killing of small animals, the monster quickly moves to humans, displaying their mutilated corpses as gruesome trophies, with no apparent pattern to grab hold of. Lamar County cowers. Meanwhile, Constable Ned is convinced that a vendetta is involved, and though the why of it is murky, he can no longer deny that something horrific and dangerous is heading for the Parkers. Now the law can't help him, and he must use whatever means necessary to protect himself and his family. Is Ned up to the fight of his life? Set in the Texas panhandle and perfect for fans of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson, The Rock Hole is a riveting mystery that explores the worst-and best-parts of humanity. Top 12 Mysteries of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Awards, Mystery

A man's body is found in the unforgiving New Mexico desert, his face so smashed that identification is impossible. It's the beginning of a brutal murder spree that will soon take Posadas County's new undersheriff, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, into a case that has roots on both sides of the border. With retired Sheriff Bill Gastner-now a livestock inspector for the state-still close at hand to offer unerring logic and horse sense, Reyes-Guzman attempts to identify the "Juan" Doe. Another body turns up in a shallow grave, revealing little about the killer, but more about the victims. And when a suspicious fire takes a third life, the terrible twist finally offers the break Estelle has been looking for, one that will lead her back into a harsh, merciless desert where death welcomes all.

"Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum will cotton to Cyd."-Publishers Weekly 2020 ANTHONY AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL 2019 LEFTY AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST HUMOROUS MYSTERY Second book in the Cyd Redondo Mystery Series! Hop on this cozy cruise ship mystery from acclaimed author Wendall Thomas. When a couple disappears on an Australian cruise ship, Cyd Redondo jumps onboard the case. But she doesn't expect to deal with liars and tigers and millionaires-oh my! Eggnog notwithstanding, travel agent Cyd Redondo is not looking excited for the holidays. She's looking for any excuse to get out of Brooklyn and avoid her family, so when her ex-husband's parents disappear, she's happy to help. The couple was last seen on an Australian cruise ship, and Cyd jumps at the opportunity to take a trip Down Under. With the help of her travel liaison and friend Harriet she nabs a free cabin on the Tasmanian Dream. But after a bumpy arrival, Cyd finds Harriet dead in her cabin. And the missing couple is nowhere to be found. The ship's coroner declares the death an accident and tries to cover up the crime scene-it's bad PR, after all. But Cyd knows the death was no accident-and when she realizes there are exotic animals aboard, she suspects an illegal smuggling operation is at play. Now Cyd must scramble to crack this quirky mystery by catching a murderer, finding the missing couple, and preventing the heist of the world's last Tasmanian tiger. A cozy mystery full of twists, turns, and exotic pets, this clever caper is: • Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich and Lisa Lutz • For readers who enjoy mysteries involving animals

"Set in the tiny princely state of Rajpore, Indian comic book writer Gaind's first novel is both a satisfying locked-room mystery and a keenly observed comedy of manners." -Publishers Weekly From the borders of icy Kashmir to the shark-infested shores of the Malabar Coast, Major William Russell, the English Resident of the small, princely state of Rajpore, is renowned as a straitlaced man of rigorous habit. When his valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year's Ball and receives no response, he and the Resident's elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed. His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia Mansur-i-Zaman Maharaja Sikander Singh, Light of Heaven, Sword of Justice, Shield of the Faithful, sole ruler of Rajpore, is slow to rise after the night of revelry. But news of the murder galvanizes him. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, who perforce has surrendered much of his authority to the British, is a man of indolent habit although he keeps himself thoroughly fit. A lover of luxury cars and beautiful women, his deepest passion is for mysteries. He cannot resist an enigma, relishing a riddle and the rush of resolving it. Like August Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander wields careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded. Here is such an opportunity, and well timed-for the Maharaja, resigned to another year of indolence, is almost fatally bored. Abandoning the lavish comforts of his ornate palace, Sikander orders his massive manservant Charan Singh into his Silver Ghost and speeds to the insular English settlement. Despite the objections of the local Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, he works the crime scene and deduces that Resident was poisoned by a massive dose of strychnine. As a clock starts ticking-the British authorities dispatch their own investigator from Simla-Sikander overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment, while learning that Major Russell was not as pukka, as proper, as he liked to pretend. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major's death? Arjun Gaind's clever, fascinating debut introduces an elegant new detective in the tradition of Lord Peter Wimsey, while painting a scathing portrait of the British Raj.