by Georges Simenon (1984)
Madame Maigret telephones to alert her husband that a frightened young man has called at their home and will wait there to see Maigret at his midday meal. When Maigret returns home, he is annoyed to discover that his mysterious guest has left, and more disturbed that one of his prized revolvers has gone with him. Monsieur Maigret is dismayed - but hardly surprised - when a corpse turns up in a railway trunk, shot by his own gun. His search for the elusive and unidentified visitor sends Maigret across the channel to London to investigate one murder... and prevent another.
Georges Simenon
When a small time crook—a drunk, thug, pimp, and thief—is murdered on a small Mediterranean island just after he was heard boasting loudly about his policeman "friend" Maigret, Inspector Maigret is compelled to leave Paris to investigate the crime. But no one seems to have a motive for the killing. Not the old English lady and her male "secretary," nor the aging prostitute or the Dutch anarchist. But all of them have secrets they prefer to keep hidden.
Earl Derr Biggers
This book is a murder mystery set in San Francisco. Charlie Chan the Chinese detective, on his way home to Honolulu, is persuaded to help with the investigation of the murder of a retired Scotland Yard commissioner. Sir Frederic has been re-investigating some old unsolved cases that have haunted him: a murder in London and the disappearance of a young woman in India. Charlie Chan suspects that one of these cases holds the clue to his murder.
Ngaio Marsh
A Christmas pageant turns unholy. Holed up at Hilary Bill-Tasman's manor estate for Christmas, Troy Alleyn is to paint the man's portrait and, while she's there, view the Druid Christmas pageant. Along with a pack of eccentric guests, Troy enjoys the festivities-- until one of the pageant's players mysteriously disappears into the snowy night. Did the hired help-- each a paroled murderer from the nearby prison-- have a deadly hand in this Christmas conundrum? Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to join his wife in finding the lost man-- and unraveling the glaring truth from the glittering tinsel.
Martha Grimes
Superintendent Richard Tury of Scotland Yard spends his Christmas holiday at a colorful country inn near a vast estate inhabited by the titled, the rich, the famous, and--suddenly--the deceased.