The Murder Manuscript

Jessica Fletcher investigates a mysterious manuscript with deadly consequences in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling series... Jessica Fletcher has had plenty to worry about over her storied career, both as a bestselling novelist and amateur sleuth. But she never had any reason to worry about her longtime publisher, Lane Barfield, who also happens to be a trusted friend. When mounting evidence of financial malfeasance leads to an FBI investigation of Lane, Jessica can't believe what she's reading. So when Barfield turns up dead, Jessica takes on the task of proving Barfield's innocence--she can't fathom someone she's known and trusted for so long cheating her. Sure enough, Jessica's lone wolf investigation turns up several oddities and inconsistencies in Barfield's murder. Jessica knows something is being covered up, but what exactly? The trail she takes to answer that question reveals something far more nefarious afoot, involving shadowy characters from the heights of power in Washington. At the heart of Jessica's investigation lies a manuscript Barfield had intended to bring out after all other publishers had turned it down. The problem is that manuscript has disappeared, all traces of its submission and very existence having been wiped off the books. With her own life now in jeopardy, Jessica refuses to back off and sets her sights on learning the contents of that manuscript and what about it may have led to several murders. Every step she takes brings her closer to the truth of what lies in the pages, as well as the person who penned them.

Albert Whitmoore is the family failure, the youngest child in a wealthy publishing family. Albert is handsome, well educated, wealthy due to a trust, and without self-confidence. He has many skills and resources available to him from his days as a reporter, among those available to the wealthy. He lacks motivation. Inspector Harry Fitzgerald is a skilled homicide detective without political connections within the department. He is married to the daughter of a wealthy New England industrialist, and is not highly regarded by his father-in-law, who continually interferes in the relations within Harryas family. Harryas wife is pregnant, expecting their third child, and is having a difficult pregnancy. This interference and the pregnancy have brought their marriage to the brink of disaster. The vulnerable Inspector Fitzgerald has suddenly become the object of interest of his sister-in-law, Brigitte. When Albertas sister announces her publishing company is expanding to include the more popular fiction market, Albert senses his chance to finally be published. He submits his latest novel under a pen name. Weeks later he receives a vile rejection letter. Albert suddenly has the motivation his life lacked. He will show herahe will show them all. He will prove the premise of his manuscript by enacting it. It will become his plan for bringing terror to the city, and the editor will be the first victim dictated by his manuscriptahis murder manuscript.

Harry Kramer and Maggie Parker are quintessential New York City used and rare book dealers who love nothing more than tending to their bookstore and indulging their passion for the written word. An elderly woman approaches them with an unsigned, yellowed manuscript that she claims was written by her husband who mysteriously vanished some fifty years prior. The problem is a book by another author, very much alive, has just been published—and it’s identical to her husband’s manuscript. The old woman is convinced that this living author stole the manuscript and that he holds the answer to her husband’s disappearance. When she asks Harry and Maggie to prove her husband was the true author, they unexpectedly find themselves thrust into the role of literary sleuths. After their client is found murdered, Harry and Maggie are determined to find out who is so threatened by the manuscript and, more to the point, why? Unearthing the dark past of the author leads to the unraveling of a vicious scheme of blackmail and money laundering that could expose a family secret that one person will go to any length to ensure is never revealed.

In this second installment of the adventures of Stella Pentangeli, "Lady Showbiz Detective," and Inspector Ng, a taciturn Chinese cop, the two detectives are entangled in a centuries-old mystery involving William Shakespeare and a resurrection cult. As they seek to discover the dramatist's involvement in the group, they encounter a variety of obstacles, including a present- day murderer who is following Shakespeare's recipe for "resurrection soup" but is using his fellow citizens for ingredients.

A Victorian mystery set in the mystical Salisbury Plain.

All men were born pure but it is the laws and concepts that they are made to live by that make them vile. The book Blind Vision discusses the relationship that exists between religion, society and the state. It analyses the common beliefs, concepts and the laws that govern and shape societal and individual ideas; it looks into why people have varying widespread beliefs and how these beliefs affect them in the short and long run. With so much uncertainty about the origin of the Bible and its authenticity in our present day, it is difficult for some people to give Biblical perspectives any recognition. Blind Vision intends to restore the Bible's credit. It discusses the points to be taken into consideration when studying the Bible. The origin of the confusion and the glitches in various translations are also pointed out. Scientists teach evolution in schools and sometimes, both the scientists and their students go to school and church. The controversy resulting from the contradictory ideas between science and the Bible gives inquisitive members of society a latent chaotic mind. Without adequate answers provided, inquiring individuals exist in a state of order in disorder. In the confusion, they come up with, or accept concepts predominantly based on their logical thought and what they can prove. With respect to the fact that the world is made up of numerous communities, each having either similar or different beliefs about life and the supernatural forces of nature, an analysis is made on some of the common claims. There are an uncountable number of theories about the beginning of life on earth, the origin of the world, man, the law of God and those of man. Blind Vision scrutinizes these speculations explaining why they should or should not be given any credit. The similarities between the account of the creation as written in the Bible and those postulated by the discoveries of scientists are evaluated, and a conclusion is drawn indicating the most realistic perspective. This is strictly the Biblical and scientific perspective.

The second in Con Lehane's 42nd Street Library mystery series, Murder in the Manuscript Room is a smart, compelling mystery in which the characters themselves are at least as interesting as the striking sleuthing. "Not to be missed.” —Megan Abbott "A story utterly relevant to the real-life horror story unfolding in America’s immigration politics.”—Sara Paretsky When a murder desecrates the somber, book-lined halls of New York City’s iconic 42nd Street Library, Raymond Ambler, the library’s curator of crime fiction, has a personal interest in solving the crime. His quest to solve the murder is complicated by personal entanglements involving his friend—or perhaps more-than-friend—Adele Morgan. Not only does Adele’s relationship with the young woman staffer who was murdered get in the way of Ambler’s investigation, more disturbing for him is Adele’s growing interest in a darkly handsome Islamic scholar. Soon the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department takes over the case from NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove, Ambler’s friend and sometimes partner-in-crime solving. Ambler suspects that the murder of the young woman, who’d been working at the library under an assumed name and the curious intervention of NYPD’s intelligence division are connected. The trail of intrigue leads to a seemingly unrelated murder in an upstate prison and a long ago murder of a trade union reformer. No one else sees the connections Ambler is sure are there—not an unusual state of affairs for Ambler. But with the city’s law enforcement establishment determined to stop his investigation, the inquisitive and intrepid librarian faces challenges that may put his very life at risk.