The Chelsea Murders

The Chelsea Murders (1978) was Lionel Davidson's seventh novel, earning him the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger Award and prompting the Daily Telegraph to declare, 'Lionel Davidson is one of the best and most versatile thriller writers we have.' A terrifying, grotesque figure bursts into a young art student's room. Head covered with a clown's wig, face concealed by a smiling mask, it wears the rubber gloves of a surgeon. The girl is seized, chloroformed, suffocated and - horrifyingly - beheaded. This is only the beginning of a series of murders terrorising London's fashionable bohemia. The police target three avant-garde filmmakers. One of them is mocking the other two, and openly taunting the police as well. But which of them is behind these appalling crimes? Fast paced, terrifying and gripping, this is a page-turning thriller from a master.

Reporter-turned–television executive Robin Hudson is living it up at New York’s legendary Chelsea Hotel—until murder gets her down in award-winning author Sparkle Hayter’s dazzling comic mystery After a neighbor’s electric wall-hanging short-circuits and sets Robin Hudson’s East Village apartment building on fire, the TV newswoman and her cat are forced to temporarily relocate. Their new digs are in the Chelsea Hotel, home to bohemian artists both famous and infamous. But people have a habit of dying on Robin—this time literally. Who shot controversial bad-boy art dealer Gerald Woznik? His wife tells the world he was a great connoisseur and a real bastard. The heiress he was living with calls him a misunderstood genius. With suspects coming out of the woodwork, Robin is drawn into a homicide investigation that forces her to brave the downtown scene: guerrilla performance artists, fiery revolutionaries, handcuffed nuns, and the ex-lover of her current beau. She must scramble to find a missing woman and track the last stops of a modern-day underground railroad before she loses her life—and her last chance for romance. The Robin Hudson Mystery series is a winner of the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective. The Chelsea Girl Murders is the 5th book in the Robin Hudson Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Victorian Chelsea was a thriving commercial and residential development, known for its grand houses and pleasant garden squares. Violent crime was unheard of in this leafy suburb. The double murder of an elderly man of God and his faithful housekeeper in two ferocious, bloody attacks in May of 1870 therefore shook the residents of Chelsea to the core. This volume examines the extraordinary case, one which could have leapt straight from the pen of Agatha Christie herself: the solving of the crime relied on the discovery of a packing box dripping with blood, and the capture of a mysterious French nephew. Compiled by a former detective, it looks at the facts: no direct evidence to place the suspect at either of the crime scenes; no weapon recovered; no motive substantiated. It lets you, the reader, decide: would you, on the evidence presented, have sent the same man to the gallows?

Steve Wilton is a detective with the 10th precinct. He lives with his wife Jenny and his Aunt Clara plus her Siamese cat Tiger on 20th Street in Chelsea in New York City. Aunt Clara is determined to solve the Chelsea murders and comes to a shocking conclusion.

Sarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at the Daughters of Hope Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, and is now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them. Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy to investigate. But when he goes to interview the woman at her tenement in Chelsea, he finds she has been murdered. Though her death leaves Sarah’s claim to Catherine unchallenged, her sense of justice compels her to work with Malloy to find the killer. Their search takes them from the marble mansions of the Upper West Side to the dilapidated dwellings of lower Manhattan and into the deepest and darkest secrets of Catherine’s past. And while Malloy helps Sarah determine the fate of the child she loves, he faces a challenge of his own—and his decision could change both their lives forever…

In the dark days of World War I, an aristocrat’s suspicious suicide propels the female detectives of Mayfair 100 into a sordid world of blackmail, betrayal, and tragic secrets When the phone rings at the Mayfair 100 exchange, the news is rarely good, and this time is no exception. The Duchess of Penhere’s daughter, notorious society gossip queen Lady Adeline Treborne, has been found dead in her room in what appears to be a suicide—but her family suspects foul play. The secret Mayfair team of amateur female detectives has been restlessly awaiting their next case, and this will prove one of their thorniest. When Dr. Caroline Allardyce performs an autopsy, she is able to conclusively prove that the woman was murdered. Lady Treborne had made many enemies through her vicious gossip column, so there's no shortage of suspects. Supported by a cadre of professional police officers, the Mayfair women launch their investigation, but there’s much more to this case than meets the eye. As they venture into a world that lays bare London high life at its lowest, the team soon begins to comprehend the danger at hand—and how this tangled web of treachery could ensnare anyone who gets too close.

“Rother is the next Ann Rule.” —Gregg Olsen Chelsea King was a popular high school senior, an outstanding achiever determined to make a difference. Fourteen-year-old Amber Dubois loved books and poured her heart into the animals she cared for. Treasured by all who knew them, both girls disappeared in San Diego County, just eight miles and one year apart. The families’ anguish galvanized the community and captivated the media. A desperate search led authorities to John Albert Gardner, a brutal predator, convicted sex offender hiding in plain sight—and a complex man whose own mother, a psychiatric nursing professional, failed to see the signs of trouble. Ultimately, Gardner shared a prison unit with Charles Manson. In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Chelsea's Law: anyone convicted of certain sex offenses against a child in California would get life in prison without parole. Based on Pulitzer-nominated author Caitlin Rother’s exclusive access, Lost Girls is an incisive, heartbreaking true-life thriller that strikes at our deepest fears. “A a cautionary tale and a horror story, done superbly.” —Los Angeles Times “A terrifying portrait of a man who was sweet and cuddly one day and a crazed killer the next.” —San Diego Reader “Gripping . . . chilling . . . a must-read.” —Sue Russell “Boldly dissects how a boy with psychological problems formed into a man indifferent to his monstrous acts.” —Katherine Ramsland “Caitlin Rother stirs up the lethal stew of family dysfunction, mental illness, substance abuse and deadly psychopathology. . . . Frank and riveting.” —Diane Fanning Includes dramatic photos