To catch a spy

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Ruth Rendell

A stranger lures a child into his car with the promise of sweets. A young man spots his fianc??s double in a public park of ill repute. An executive visits the secluded home of a former employee whose intentions are frightfully unclear. A modest soul weds the woman he rescues from suicide--only to fall victim to an unfathomable form of possessiveness?. In the eleven tales gathered in The Fallen Curtain, Ruth Rendell lays bare the twisted inner workings of the unbalanced mind.From the Trade Paperback edition.

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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.

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Ruth Rendell

Murder, perversion, corruption, blackmail, secret terrors that lead to unspeakable acts, hidden fears that erupt in irrational violence…All these, of course, are part of someone else’s world. They happen out there, far from the ordinary streets and ordinary people who live in your neighbourhood, your town. They have nothing to do with the everyday lives of people like you. Or do they? The New Girlfriend and Other Stories – an extraordinary collection of sleek and sinister stories from the writer described by Scott Turow as ‘one of the greatest novelists currently at work in our language’.

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Ken Weber

It will take all of the detective skills you've got to solve each one of these 40 new twisted tales of intrigue. Read carefully to collect the subtle clues that expose the enigma of each case. If you're still stumped after five minutes, check the back of the book for the secret of whodunit and why. Ken Weber is an expert craftsman of mystery and intrigue. He lives in Toronto, Canada, where he is a professor of special education at the University of Toronto.