The Fallen Curtain ... And Other Stories

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V.L. McDermid

'There are stories here which will make you shudder, and which will linger long in the mind' Ian Rankin Passion. Obsession. Revenge. A stunning collection of chilling short stories from the queen of the psychological thriller. White nights of passion and revenge in St. Petersburg. A bingo-hall tyrant trapped by masked intruders. The sleazy flipside of the international publishing scene. Nineteen nail-biting, intense and intricately plotted crime stories from one of the UK's greatest psychological thriller writers, this diverse collection demonstrates the scope of Val McDermid's imagination and her immense powers as a storyteller.

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John Gardner

British spymaster Herbie Kruger investigates his own spy network in East Berlin, the Telegraph Boys, for a double agent when one KGB officer commits suicide in East Germany and another defects

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Douglas Terman

At an underground factory in Siberia, the Russians have made a replica of a U.S. Navy warhead. Soviet military planners review their ability to survive all-out nuclear war. The KGB selects as its target for high-level political subversion a vulnerable U.S. senator with presidential ambitions.

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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.