"P" is for Peril

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Annie Haynes

Lady Judith Carew acted furtively on the night of the Denboroughs party. Her secret assignation at 9:30 pm was a meeting to which she took a loaded revolver. The Abbey Court apartment building would play host to violent death that night, under cover of darkness. The killer identity remained a mystery, though Lady Carew had a most compelling motive and her revolver was left in the dead man flat. Enter the tenacious Inspector Furnival in the first of his golden age mysteries.

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Agatha Christie

Some of Agatha Christie’s earliest stories – including her very first – which show the Queen of Crime in the making… A macabre recurring dream … revenge against a blackmailer … jealousy, infidelity and a tortured conscience … a stolen gemstone … the haunting attraction of an ancient relic … a race against time … a tragic love triangle … a body in a box … an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave… Nine quintessential examples of Agatha Christie's brilliance are contained in this new collection of early short stories - including the very first one she ever wrote - and provide a unique glimpse of the Queen of Crime in the making.

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Robin Cook

In his new shocker, the master of the medical gothic creates a monstrous cabal - with a chokehold on mankind's dearest hope and darkest fear. From Coma to Blindsight, Robin Cook's unique blend of cutting-edge technology and timeless horror has always enthralled. But rarely have his dramatic gifts been more effectively deployed than in Terminal. Despite a blue-collar background and Irish roots mistrustful of fancy degrees, highly motivated, enormously intelligent Sean Murphy has made it as far as his third year in Harvard's combined Ph.D./M.D. program when he makes a fateful decision to take a two-month research elective at the renowned Forbes Cancer Center in Miami. Sean is eager to study firsthand the Forbes Center's remarkable results treating medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer. But his decision is also due, in no small part, to a budding romance with Janet Reardon, a nurse from a privileged and prominent Boston family. Unnerved by Janet's disturbing allure - and even more, by thoughts of commitment - Sean opts for the safety and distance of the prestigious clinic. But his plans at Forbes go awry from day one. First he is denied the opportunity to work on the medulloblastoma protocol. Then, to his surprise, Janet shows up at the medical center, having accepted a job - ostensibly to further her career but actually to pursue Sean. When a disgruntled Sean appears on the verge of heading home, Janet persuades him to stay by coming up with a plan: The two of them will investigate the medulloblastoma cases surreptitiously, she taking the clinical and he the research. By the time they uncover the truth about the clinic's seemingly ground-breaking cures, the pair run afoul of the law, their medical colleagues, and - perhaps worst of all - the powerful, enigmatic director of the Forbes Center, Dr. Randolph Mason. Drawing closer together at every hazardous turn, Sean and Janet discover a horror beyond their worst suspicions, one that makes a mockery of the Hippocratic oath. It is a truth so nefarious it could very well wind them up dead. Steeped in the latest discoveries of molecular medicine, reflective of the harsh realities of medical economies, Terminal is Robin Cook at his thrilling, thought-provoking best.

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Thatcher Robinson

"Bai Jiang--San Francisco's best-known souxun ("people finder")--is hired to track down the mysterious Daniel Chen. Police inspector Kelly suspects Chen of being involved in a botched drug heist that resulted in the death of an officer. Bai has her own suspicions. She thinks the police just want to see Chen dead. Her investigation leads Bai into deadly intrigue as she finds herself caught between international intelligence agencies and merchants of war, who deal in death, drugs, and high-jacked information. To make matters worse, she's thirty-something and dating again. It's not easy juggling a suitor with family connections, a brazen young man who finds her irresistible, and her ex--the father of her child. World conflict and family strife explode as adversaries face off in San Francisco's Chinatown, a world away from the one we know"-- "Dark humor, adventure, and romance characterize this action-packed series featuring a young female Buddhist with formidable martial arts skills in the underworld of San Francisco's Chinatown"--