Open Season for Murder


Book Description

"Robin? It's me, Ashton." Spring is in the air. In Deep Creek Lake, the burst of blossoms on the trees has the effect of a starting pistol in the race to get the resort area ready in time for the seasonal residents return to Spencer, Maryland. In this latest Mac Faraday Mystery, Lauren Carr once again brings murder to the Spencer Inn, Mac Faraday's five-star resort located at the top of Spencer Mountain. "I have to confess," the author says, "personally I would wonder how the Spencer Inn hangs on to their five-star rating with all the murders that happen there." Obviously, the high society guests in her book aren't worried about the Spencer Inn's mortality rate because they're dying to attend the Diablo Ball, which is hosted by Mac Faraday's new bride, Archie Monday. An annual charitable event to benefit the Humane Society, the Diablo Ball used to be hosted by Robin Spencer, Mac's late mother, and would kick-off Deep Creek Lake's summer season. As readers have come to expect from every Lauren Carr mystery, Open Season for Murder delivers a punch even before the party invitations are put in the mail when uninvited guests begin RSVP'ing. Intrigued by a mysterious phone call, retired homicide detective Mac Faraday can't resist diving into the cold case of Ashton Piedmont, a young woman who had disappeared into the moonlit waters of Deep Creek Lake five years earlier. Mac quickly discovers that not only is the Diablo Ball drawing in A-listers from across the country, but someone is going to a lot of trouble to gather together suspects and witnesses connected to Ashton Piedmont and each one seems to have their own agenda for coming to Spencer. When murder strikes, it is up to Mac Faraday and his friends to find the killer ... or is it killers? When it comes to murder in Deep Creek Lake, you never know. But readers do know this, if it's happening at the Spencer Inn, you know it's an event to die for!




Summer of Night


Book Description

This masterfully crafted horror classic, featuring a brand-new introduction by Dan Simmons, will bring you to the edge of your seat, hair standing on end and blood freezing in your veins It's the summer of 1960 and in the small town of Elm Haven, Illinois, five twelve-year-old boys are forging the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. From sunset bike rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys' days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic middle-childhood. But amid the sundrenched cornfields their loyalty will be pitilessly tested. When a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the townsfolk know it marks the end of their carefree days. From the depths of the Old Central School, a hulking fortress tinged with the mahogany scent of coffins, an invisible evil is rising. Strange and horrifying events begin to overtake everyday life, spreading terror through the once idyllic town. Determined to exorcize this ancient plague, Mike, Duane, Dale, Harlen, and Kevin must wage a war of blood—against an arcane abomination who owns the night...




Murder by Perfection


Book Description

Beware! Perfection has a dark side!Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica expected for her date night was a couple's gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford--the embodiment of feminine perfection.When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford's flawless life to discover that perfection has a very sinister dark side.




Fast Food Nation


Book Description

An exploration of the fast food industry in the United States, from its roots to its long-term consequences.




Shades of Murder


Book Description

Question: What do you get the man with everything? Answer: When that man is the heir of the late mystery writer Robin Spencer, retired homicide detective Mac Faraday, you get him cold case to solve. In Shades of Murder, Mac Faraday is once again the heir to an unbelievable fortune. This time the benefactor is a stolen art collector. But this isn't just any stolen work-of-art-it's a masterpiece with a murder attached to it. Ilysa Ramsay was in the midst of taking the art world by storm with her artistic genius. Hours after unveiling her latest masterpiece-she is found dead in her Deep Creek Lake studio-and her painting is nowhere to be found. Almost a decade later, the long lost Ilysa Ramsay masterpiece has found its way into Mac Faraday's hands and he can't resist the urge to delve into the case. A world away, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; former JAG lawyer Joshua Thornton agrees to do a favor for the last person he would ever expect to do a favor-a convicted serial killer. The Favor: Solve the one murder wrongly attributed to him. Joshua finds an unexpected ally in Cameron Gates, a spunky detective who has reason to believe the young woman known to the media only as Jane Doe, Victim Number Four, was the victim of a copycat. Together, Joshua and Cameron set out to light a flame under the cold case only to find that someone behind the scenes wants the case to remain cold, and is willing to kill to keep it that way. Little do these detectives know that the paths of their respective cases are on a collision course when they follow the clues to bring them together in a showdown with a killer who's got a talent for murder!




Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories


Book Description

'No one constructs a whodunnit with more fiendish skill than Colin Dexter' GuardianMorse had solved so many mysteries in his life. Was he now, he wondered beginning to glimpse the solution to the greatest mystery of them all . . . ? How can the discovery of a short story by a beautiful Oxford graduate lead Chief Inspector Morse to her murderer? What awaits Morse and Lewis in Room 231 of the Randolph Hotel? Why does a theft at Christmas lead the detective to look upon the festive season with uncharacteristic goodwill? And what happens when Morse himself falls victim to a brilliantly executed crime? This dazzling collection of short stories from Inspector Morse's creator, Colin Dexter, includes six ingenious cases for the world's most popular fictional detective - plus five other tantalizingly original tales to delight all lovers of classic crime fiction.




The Murders at Astaire Castle


Book Description

Never tell Mac Faraday not to do something. Spencer's police chief, David O'Callaghan, learns this lesson the hard way when he orders Mac Faraday to stay away from the south end of Spencer's mountaintop-even though he owns the property. It doesn't take long for Mac to find out what lies on the other side of the stone wall and locked gate, on which hangs a sign warning visitors to Keep Out! Topping the list of the ten most haunted places in America, Astaire Castle is associated with two suicides, three mysterious disappearances, and four murders since it was built almost a century ago-and Mac Faraday owns it! In spite of David's warning, Mac can't resist unlocking the gate to see the castle that supposedly hasn't seen a living soul since his late mother had ordered it closed up after the double homicide and disappearance of Damian Wagner, a world-famous master of horror novels. What starts out as a quick tour of a dusty old castle turns into another Mac Faraday adventure when Astaire Castle becomes the scene of even more murders. Mac is going to need to put all of his investigative talents to work to sort out this case that involves the strangest characters he has run into yet-including a wolf man. No, we're not talking about Gnarly.




Cancelled Vows


Book Description

Police Chief David O'Callaghan and Chelsea Adams's wedding day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, at the last minute, David discovers that there is one small problem to be taken care of before he can walk down the aisle-he has to divorce his first wife! Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail-biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too rush to New York City to dissolve David's marriage to an old girlfriend-and he's got five days to get it done. When murder throws up a roadblock, it is up to David's best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, his K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time!




Witch House


Book Description

Available for the first time in hardcover with the lost prologue, excerpts from letters, several short stories, and an interview.