by Randy Wayne White (2004)
It's taken ten years for former assassin Doc Ford to reinvent himself on Florida's Gulf coast. Now the abduction of his only son--the legace of a long-ago love affair--has pulled him back into the shadow of his vilent past, and more is at stake than ransom. The kidnapper is a legend known as Incendiario. Torture by fire is his speciality--and his pleasure. In the pay of a vengeful politco with twisted ties to Doc, Incendiario is arranging a private hell reserved for the innocent. The trap has been set. And Doc has no choice but to brave it.--From publisher's description.
David A. Crossman
When they find a map that leads them to explore the site of some long-ago violent events on their Maine island, Bean and Ab find themselves embroiled in a dangerous adventure that includes a terrifying supernatural creature known as the Black Moriah.
John Sandford
The first body is of a young woman, found on a Minneapolis riverbank, her throat cut, her body scourged and put on display. Whoever did this, Lucas Davenport knows, is pushed by brain chemistry. There is something wrong with him. This isn't a bad love affair. The second body is found three weeks later, in a farmhouse six miles south. Same condition, same display--except this time it is a man. Nothing to link the two victims, nothing to indicate that the killings end here. "This guy "Lucas said. He took a deep breath, let it out as a sigh. "This guy is going to bust our chops." And soon he is going to do far, far worse than that
editedby Thomas Godfrey
The murder for Christmas guide to gift giving / A.A. Milne -- Back for Christmas / John Collier -- Mr. Big / Woody Allen -- Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle / Arthur Conan Doyle -- The adventure of the Christmas pudding / Agatha Christie -- Dancing Dan's Christmas / Damon Runyon -- Cambric Tea / Marjorie Bowen -- Death on Christmas Eve / Stanley Ellin -- A Christmas tragedy / Baroness Orczy -- Silent Night / Baynard Kendrick -- The stolen Christmas box / Lillian de la Torre -- A chaparral Christmas gift / O. Henry -- Death on the air / Ngaio Marsh -- Inspector Ghote and the miracle baby / H.R.F. Keating -- Maigret's Christmas / Georges Simenon -- To be taken with a grain of salt / Charles Dickens -- The adventure of the Dauphin's daughter / Ellery Queen -- Markheim / Robert Louis Stevenson -- The necklace of pearls / Dorothy L. Sayers -- Blind man's hood / Carter Dickson -- Christmas is for the cops / Edward D. Hoch -- The thieves who couldn't help sneezing / Thomas Hardy -- The case is altered / Margery Allingham -- Christmas party / Rex Stout -- The flying stars / G.K. Chesterton -- Boxing Day bonus : Ring out, wild bells / D.B. Wyndham Lewis.
Peter Høeg
Miss Smilla Jasperson isn't prepared to accept the Copenhagen police's verdict of accidental death when a neighbour's six-year-old boy falls from the roof of a block of flats. She's a Greenlander, and her feeling for snow tells her that the footprints in the snow are a clue to what happened.