Smoke Mirrors And Murder

An ideal family is targeted for death by the least likely enemy, who plotted their demise from behind bars.... A sexual predator hides behind multiple fake identities, eluding police for years while his past victims live in fear that he will hunt them down.... A modest preacher's wife confesses to shooting her husband after an argument -- but there's more to her shattering story than meets the eye. These and other true cases are analyzed with stunning clarity in a page-turning collection you won't be able to put down. Included in this volume are stories of a victim burned beyond recognition - spontaneous human combustion? - impossible - and yet no one else seemed to enter or exit; a man who was a woman who was a man, whose con games in a small community led to murder; a "counterfeit priest" who wasn't a priest at all; a lifetime rapist; and the strangest case ever to hit Montana.

Interior designer to the rich, the fabulously talented and flamboyant Stuart Rattle, and his loyal partner Michael O'Neill were to their friends the perfect couple. Lifelong members of Australia's exclusive A-Gays set, bon vivants and lovers. Together they created the stunning Musk Farm.Then, one morning, Michael violently killed Stuart as he lay in bed. Tucked him neatly back into bed and for five days brought him cups of tea, takeaway curries and glasses of wine, trying to convince himself he had not committed this terrible deed. How did it all go wrong? # The tragic life and death story behind the sensational news headlines. Robin Bowles goes behind the glittering surface to lay bare the incredible facts behind this most surprising murder. The true crime queen is finally back with an unputdownable narrative that only Robin could write. Robin Bowles is the best-selling author of a dozen books and is a lifelong member of Sisters in Crime.

Phineas T. Barnum’s sister must solve a murder in 19th-century New York City in this historical mystery from the author of the Pepper Martin mysteries. Evie Barnum oversees her brother’s American Museum, a place teeming with scientific specimens and “human prodigies” including a bearded woman and the lizard man. In this weird and whacky workplace, Evie hopes she can easily bury her secrets. But when an old friend shows up and begs for her help, she does all she can to stay away. The next time she sees him, he is dead in front of the exhibit of the Feejee Mermaid. Suspicion for the murder falls on Jeffrey, known as the Lizard Man, but Evie knows it isn’t possible. After Jeffrey disappears, Evie becomes determined to solve the mystery of her friend’s murder, even if it brings her face to face with a past she is desperate to hide… “[An] appealing heroine…. Amusing and eye-opening historical details complement a mystery that’s appropriately melodramatic.”—Publishers Weekly

A con artist and seductress, Meredith Spooner lived fast—and died young. But her final scam—embezzling more than a million dollars from a college endowment fund—is coming back to haunt Leonora Hutton. The tainted money is stashed away in an offshore account for Leonora. And while she wants nothing to do with the cash, she discovers two other items in the safe-deposit box: a book about Mirror House—the place where Meredith engineered her final deception and a set of newspaper stories about an unsolved murder that occurred there thirty years ago. Now Leonora has an offer for Thomas Walker, another victim of Meredith’s scams and seductions. She’ll hand over the money—if he helps her figure out what’s going on. Meredith had described Thomas as “a man you can trust.” But in a funhouse-mirror world of illusion and distortion, Leonora may be out of her league…

“Another great series.” — San Jose Mercury News “A dazzlingly tricky mystery.” — Kirkus Reviews “A tremendous skein of red herrings, sharp and thorough police work, [and] mysterious connections.” — Bookgasm It’s Christmastime in Brighton, and the city is abuzz about magician Max Mephisto’s star turn in Aladdin. But the holiday cheer is lost on DI Edgar Stephens. He’s investigating the murder of two children, Annie and Mark, who were found in the woods alongside a trail of candy—a horrifying scene eerily reminiscent of “Hansel and Gretel.” Edgar has plenty of leads. Annie, a dark child, wrote gruesome plays based on the Grimms’ fairy tales. Does the key to the case lie in her final script? Or does the macabre staging of the bodies point to the theater and the capricious cast of Aladdin? Edgar enlists Max’s help in penetrating the shadowy world of the theater. But is this all just classic misdirection? “Excellent . . . Evoking both the St. Mary Mead of Agatha Christie and the theater world of Ngaio Marsh.” — Booklist

This rivetting mystery comedy will keep audiences guessing as they go on location to an isolated island off the Gulf coast to watch power hungry producer director Hamilton Orr lure his timid screenwriter Clark into a scheme to get rid of the insufferable star of their multi million dollar film. The plot hinges on the rehearsal of a suicide scene and the only witness to the murder is Hamilton's wife Barbara, the film's quirky publicist and Clark's former lover. The wily, eccentric sheriff unearths one surprise after another until the final stunning revelation.

Can a man who is used to the comfort and prestige of a professional life, effectively disappear after the strange death of his wife? How can he start a new life? Where is William Evans and what is he doing now? Why is Edith Markman hiding herself away in small rural community? What does he have to hide? Patsy Young, a friend of both Edith and William is surprised and outrages when ex-CIB Inspector Jim Wright invites her to meet with Edith, Patsy is adamant that Edith is dead. Why are the people who have known William Evans so sure that other people have died? What other people? Or have they died at all? Yes. This is a mystery, but is it a murder mystery?

One shot One warning and no end in sight The murder was shocking in its brutality: A thousand-yard high-velocity shot that left an innocent nineteen-year-old babysitter dead on a Mississippi plantation. At first, police called it a hunting accident. But the killer left a calling card—for ex–U.S. marshall Winter Massey. And when Massey investigates, he knows exactly who the shooter is. He just doesn’t know why.… Once Massey dueled an elite assassin. Now, in a land of fading plantations and a booming casino industry, this sworn enemy has resurfaced to play a cat-and-mouse game of revenge. While Massey ignites a hunt for the killer, another murder is committed and violent secrets are exposed inside a powerful gambling conglomerate, in the star-crossed family of a beautiful landowner, and even within the FBI itself.… For Massey, the hunt for the sniper is personal. But the more he learns, the more he suspects that he’s being blinded by a whole lot of smoke and mirrors—behind which lies the most explosive secret of all.…