Pat and Jean Abbott Mystery

A grande dame is buried-but the truth must be unearthed. Thanks to an illness in the family, Jean Holly is staying in her hometown of Elm Hill, Illinois, for a bit. Her cousin just happens to live next door to Fabian House, home of Mrs. Lake, the richest and most powerful woman in town. When Mrs. Lake dies suddenly, it's ascribed to a known heart condition. But Patrick Abbott, passing through Elm Hill on his way to Washington, becomes suspicious when one death is followed by another-this time, the hanging of the Fabian House maid...

In this mystery filled with "lively and exciting doings," a PI in 1940s San Francisco tries to determine whether a beautiful woman is being framed (The New York Times). Corpses have been turning up with yellow violets accompanying them, and the clue seems to point to a Spanish performer who is in town with her dachshund, Pancho. But private detective Pat Abbott suspects the plants were a plant-and now he's juggling the murders with a missing person case that may involve a fascist conspiracy, even if means postponing his wedding, in this compelling crime novel in the acclaimed long-running series.

A witty whodunit set in WWII England starring "one of the more interesting married teams of detectives...A sort of globetrotting Nick and Nora" (Thrilling Detective). While in England, Pat and Jean Abbott are focused on contributing to the war effort in whatever way they can, but they don't mind taking a weekend to join some other American expats at the country home of advertising man Steve Hayward and his wife. But before much fun can be had, a body is found on the premises. Pat isn't so sure that everyone's impulse to blame the death on a passing drifter or a Nazi spy is the answer-and when the spotlight of suspicion falls on a member of a house party he's sure is innocent, he starts getting reluctantly involved in the case...

As World War II rages, a newlywed PI must engage in some detection before his deployment . . . Pat Abbott has put aside his work as a private detective to serve his country as a marine in World War II-though more presently, he's sneaking in a quick New York honeymoon with his beloved brand-new wife, Jean. But because of the war, many of his old acquaintances are reluctantly returning from Paris-and one of them is now suspected of murder. Neither Pat nor Jean is overly fond of the expatriate crowd in general-and Jean has a particular dislike for a divorcée whom Pat seems to admire-but Pat believes the accused is a decent sort, and intends to do his part in finding the real culprit . . . Praise for thePat and Jean Abbott Mysteries "Amusing and sophisticated." -The Star (London) "[A] well-plotted and mystifying case." -Saturday Review "One of the more interesting married teams of detectives . . . A sort of globetrotting Nick and Nora." -Thrilling Detective

A marine home on leave from WWII "does a first-class job of detecting" in this tale of puzzling murders and misleading clues (The New York Times). An injured Pat Abbott is back in New Mexico with his wife, Jean, while he recovers from his war wounds, but he's still fighting-to find a killer, or possibly more than one. After one of the couple's friends, Ray, was found dead at the bottom of a canyon, rumors started swirling. He'd recently shocked the town by bringing a wife home from Hollywood-when he was meant to marry local girl Karen. To complicate matters, Karen's distinctive amethyst-colored glasses were found in Ray's abandoned Cadillac convertible. It could have been suicide, but there's reason to suspect both the not-so-grieving widow and poor, spurned Karen. But soon the widow asks Pat's help and he and Jean are drawn into a whirlwind of intrigues, jealousies, and motives in this clever whodunit from the Golden Age of Mystery...

In wartime New Orleans, a crime-solving couple looks into an heiress's death in a tale of "family skeletons, bittersweet romance, and [deft] sleuthing" (Saturday Review). Marine Lt. Pat Abbott is currently stateside, posted in New Orleans, where the French Quarter is packed with wartime crowds seeking a bit of entertainment. But when Jean finds a body at the home of the prominent old Creole family with whom the couple is staying, Pat must return to his civilian role of private investigator as the pair become entangled with an assortment of aristocrats and quirky characters...

After a body is found on a Florida fishing boat, a vacationing PI and his wife must cast a wide net . . . After Capt. Cy Martingale's boat is docked in Key West, a passenger is left behind-not just dead drunk, but dead. Pat and Jean Abbott are in town for some rest and relaxation, but the captain is a friend and he wants their help. Unfortunately, what he wants help with is getting rid of the body, since he doesn't really trust the local police. Pat Abbott is not about to be an accessory to murder, so he turns to another kind of captain: his friend on the force in New Orleans. They'll have to debate their theories of the case before they can reel in the killer . . . Praise for the Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries "One of the more interesting married teams of detectives . . . A sort of globetrotting Nick and Nora." -Thrilling Detective "Lively and exciting." -The New York Times "[A] well-plotted and mystifying case." -Saturday Review

A family gathering and a body on the beach keep the sleuthing couple busy in this tale. Pat and Jean Abbott are in lovely Laguna Beach, invited to visit some distant relatives at the Black Cypress estate. But the invitation is more professional than personal, since Pat is a PI and family member Enid Ponsonby appears to be targeted by a killer. Whether her disagreeable personality has anything to do with it remains to be seen-but in the meanwhile, the Abbotts will have to untangle multiple mysteries involving a knife thrower, a dead New Orleans gangster, and a tidal wave of potential suspects...

The Abbotts travel to Texas and their dachshund finds a dead body in a mystery starring "one of the more interesting married teams of detectives" (Thrilling Detective). When Jean Abbott arrives in Dallas to join her private investigator husband, Pat, she's disappointed to discover that their dog, Pancho, is not welcome at the hotel. She finds a temporary place for him with the daughter of Pat's wealthy client, oilman Iles Dollahan. Then little Pancho comes across a corpse on the secretive family's property-and the Dollahans put the pressure on to presume the death an accident so that it will be swiftly forgotten. With no obvious suspects to suggest murder, that could be a possibility-until Pat finds a will that changes everything . . . Praise for the Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries "Lively and exciting." -The New York Times "Well-plotted and mystifying." -Saturday Review "Quite good." -The Miami News

During a stay in Kentucky horse country, a husband-and-wife detective team race to find a killer... PI Pat Abbott and his wife, Jean, are vacationing in Kentucky horse country and visiting Pat's old friend Rob Murray, who lives there with his sister and daughter. But when Rob's trainer is found dead, Pat is willing to bet it's murder despite the local doctor's verdict of suicide. The quest to find the truth will involve a fainting blonde at the Abbotts' hotel and some of the more colorful citizens of Lexington in this suspenseful Golden Age classic featuring "one of the more interesting married teams of detectives" (Thrilling Detective).

A young couple and their dachshund star in a stylish San Francisco—set Golden Age mystery of "high ingenuity" (The New York Times). Jack Ivers, a man-about-town with a taste for rich women, has been found dead in his bed. What's particularly odd is that the chief suspect, a surgeon's fashionable wife, claims that she spotted thirteen red tulips upon entering the victim's home-that were somehow replaced with thirteen white tulips by the time she departed. It's up to sleuthing spouses Jean and Pat Abbott to dig through the dead man's questionable past and determine in whose heart a murderous passion blossomed...

A PI and his wife just want some fun at the Kentucky Derby-but murder is a horse of a different color . . . Private investigator Pat Abbott and his wife, Jean, are looking forwarding to seeing Pat's old World War II buddy and taking in the splendor of the Kentucky Derby-but they didn't bet on murder. When Pat's friend, Dr. Seth Godwin, tells them about the death of one of his patients, a self-destructive alcoholic whose estranged wife is accused of slipping him some cyanide, duty calls once again. The victim's family despises Jane Mallory-but what looks like a cut-and-dried case grows more complicated when the dead man's will is read . . . Praise for the Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries "Lively and exciting." -The New York Times "[A] well-plotted and mystifying case." -Saturday Review "Quite good." -The Miami News

During a blizzard, a New Mexico ranch hosts "a poisonous lady of the manor . . . a puritanical spinster, an alluring secretary, and a succession of violent deaths" (Kirkus Reviews). While investigating a deadly automobile accident in New Mexico, Pat and Jean Abbott are trapped at the Ruby X Ranch by an unexpected snowstorm, along with the ranch owner and his family, the local sheriff, a pretty secretary, and a Navajo chauffeur. But not all of them will survive the night, and when the private investigator and his wife try to identify the killer in their midst, they find themselves frozen out . . . Praise for the Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries "One of the more interesting married teams of detectives . . . A sort of globetrotting Nick and Nora." -Thrilling Detective "Pleasant reading." -The New York Times "[A] lively, well-plotted and mystifying case." -Saturday Review

Did she jump-or was she jumped? A sleuthing couple looks into the disappearance of a young woman on the Golden Gate Bridge... An abandoned car on the Golden Gate Bridge usually carries the sad suggestion of suicide. But after Pat and Jean Abbott spot the car in the fog and learn that it belongs to a friend's niece, Katie Spinner, they begin to suspect that she is not in a watery grave but in the clutches of a kidnapper. When one of Katie's friends-who was supposed to go with her to the North Beach arts festival-turns up dead, the mystery of the missing young woman becomes only more challenging in this compelling 1950s mystery in the long-running PI series.

A San Francisco couple sorts through scandals to find a killer in this classic mystery starring "one of the more interesting married teams of detectives" (Thrilling Detective). Pat and Jean Abbott's new San Francisco neighbors give new meaning to the term dysfunctional family. And now, amid the mess of exes, stepchildren, rivalries, and resentments, there's been a tragic death-little Lisa, a vulnerable ten-year-old, has fatally overdosed on cough medicine. When one of the grown daughters of the patriarch, Dr. Alby-who prescribed the narcotic himself-asks private investigator Pat to look into the suspicious circumstances, he and Jean will find that everyone from a heartless beauty to a handsome womanizer may be behind this crime, and that they themselves are in danger of being caught up in a deadly family drama...