A police detective seeks the rationale between seemingly-unrelated murders, connected only by the appearance of a beautiful woman each time.

"A wealthy dilettante is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for theatrics in this cozy mystery by the author of Murder on "B" Deck. A strange sight greets Chicago haberdashery clerk Rufus Ker as he prepares to begin his workday by unlocking the door to Bluefield, Inc. A sign is attached to the glass. It reads: Dead man inside! I am dead. This store will not open to-day. Once inside, Rufus is relieved to discover the shop is still in one piece...

"A great ocean liner two days out from New York--a beautiful countess found strangled in her cabin--a second murder committed to conceal the first--a shipful of passengers terrorized by the murderer in their midst--the clue of the two dolls and the movie film--here's a leviathan of mysteries!"--Original edition title page.

Manhattan playboy stockbroker Alvin Benson is found dead in a locked room in his brownstone mansion, and the police are at a loss. Fortunately, brainy sleuth Philo Vance is on the case and ready to determine whodunit.

"Sleuthing attorney Perry Mason can't resist a good mystery, so when he sees an older woman being accused of shoplifting during a department store outing with his assistant, Della Street, he doesn't hesitate to intervene. Armed with an assumption of innocence and the legal acumen to silence her accuser, Mason leaps to the woman's defense--until her niece appears, acknowledging her aunt's guilt, and pays for the stolen items. Soon thereafter, Aunt...

"Fourteen impossible crimes from the American masters of the form. For devotees of the Golden Age mystery, the impossible crime story represents the period's purest form: it presents the reader with a baffling scenario (a corpse discovered in a windowless room locked from the inside, perhaps), lays out a set of increasingly confounding clues, and swiftly delivers an ingenious and satisfying solution. During the years between the two world wars, the...

"The smoking room on a transatlantic cruise ship is bound to be a hotbed of activity -- but it's less common for it to be the site of a murder. Yet, when the lights flicker aboard the luxury Meganaut, making its way from New York to Paris, this is precisely what happens; in the darkness, a gunshot rings out, and when the light is restored, a man is found dead. The situation becomes all the more curious when it's discovered that the deceased had apparently...