Miles Standish Rice Mysteries

When a notorious gambler pays the ultimate price, a PI is called in to investigate, in this Golden Age mystery by the author of The Iron Spiders. At Miami's Sunset Bridge Club, Edward Fowler has quite the reputation for playing fast and loose with money-and women-until he's found seated at the poker table with an unusual knife in his back. Even more peculiar is the playing card discovered on the table: an eleven of diamonds. Miles Standish Rice has a reputation too, but it's for his knack for solving bizarre cases. That's why Miami's chief of police wants the private detective's help on this one-as does wealthy entrepreneur Bruce Farraday. Scraps of a torn check signed by Farraday's son were found in Fowler's hotel room, and the businessman is willing to pay top dollar to clear his offspring of any ties to foul play. So with an inquisitive mind-and an expensive appetite-Rice pledges to solve this strange puzzle of death and intrigue. But entering Fowler's dangerous, high-stakes world means risking everything-including Rice's life. Baynard Kendrick was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, the holder of the organization's first membership card, and a winner of its Grand Master Award.

A bizarre death on an isolated Florida island requires a unique detective in this Golden Age mystery by the author of the Duncan Maclain series. Young electrical engineer Donald Buchanan is excited to be working again-and to spend his winter in Florida instead of New York. Instead of waiting tables, he'll be running a small power plant on Broken Heart Key, a private island owned by eccentric billionaire Aaron Tuckerton. Never mind his boss's strange warning about people wanting him dead... But trouble quickly follows Don to paradise when a servant mysteriously jumps to her death in what she should've known were barracuda-infested waters. Then a mysterious necklace known as "the Iron Spider" is discovered in her room. Don believes there needs to be an inquest, but Aaron phones for a special investigator instead. The next morning, Don is greeted by Miles Standish Rice. With his schoolboy attitude and voracious appetite, "Stan" may not seem like the type to bring a killer to justice. But as things take a turn for the deadlier on Broken Heart Key, it becomes clear to Don the PI is his only chance of getting off the island alive... Baynard Kendrick was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, the holder of the organization's first membership card, and a winner of its Grand Master Award.

A PI and his sidekick tackle a case of murder and mayhem at a Florida lumber mill in this Golden Age mystery by the author of The Iron Spiders. Arnold Drenner had been warned not to take his boat through Florida's coastal waterways at night-especially alone. However, the businessman was never any good at heeding advice, and the trait appears to have brought about his demise. When an employee of Drenner's lumber mill discovers his boss's boat run aground, Drenner's onboard-dead. When Connie Drenner arrives on the scene, she's advised to sell her father's struggling mill. But she soon receives a frightening warning: it seems someone doesn't want her around either. Desperate for help, Connie calls on a family friend. Now, private detective Miles Standish Rice and his majordomo, George, must root out the source of the trouble. And they better be quick-before Connie is made to follow in her father's footsteps ... Baynard Kendrick was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, the holder of the organization's first membership card, and a winner of its Grand Master Award.