An English Catholic fanatic is on his way to England with Spanish gold and a plan to murder Queen Elizabeth I.Simon Ames knows that if England is conquered by Spain, he and all his family will be taken by the Inquisition, tortured until they confess and then burned at the stake – for being Jews. That's why he works for the Puritan Sir Francis Walsingham, the Elizabethan M.When Ames is beaten up in an alleyway off Fleet Street, David Becket, an ex-soldier...

"This adventurous volume, with its companion devoted to the 1950s, presents a rich vein of modern American writing too often neglected in mainstream literary histories. Evolving out of the terse and violent hardboiled style of the pulp magazines, noir fiction expanded over the decades into a varied and innovative body of writing. Tapping deep roots in the American literary imagination, the novels in this volume explore themes of crime, guilt, deception,...

A detective attempts to clear his girlfriend's brother of a murder rap and find the real killer. In the process he uncovers the hidden workings of the city's seedy underworld.

A journalist fakes mental illness to have himself committed to an asylum where he believes a crooked judge is hiding.

Joe Adams, a factory worker trapped inside his third-floor apartment after gunning down a mysterious gentleman, reconstructs the events leading up to the shooting through an intricate series of flashbacks.

Nancy Ordway is an aspiring writer hoping to make it big in New York at the expense of everyone around her, including Broadway producer Peter Denver, who reluctantly lets her use his apartment to work during the day. And when Peter's wife, Iris, comes home from a trip to find Nancy dead in the bathroom, the assigned detective, Lt. Bruce, soon realizes this assumed suicide is more likely a murder. Everyone Ordway knew is suddenly suspect while a series...

A woman tries to clear the name of her husband, accused of murdering his lover.

A Chicago reporter finds himself stuck in a decade-old murder investigation when he follows a newspaper ad offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.

A detective is hired to find out who killed their daughter. Soon, he falls in love with her picture. Detective Mark McPherson investigates the murder of a Park Avenue society beauty. Trying to get into the head of the victim, he also questions the men in her life. Lulled by her stunning portrait, fine liquor, and classical music, McPherson doesn't know he's in for a heart-stopping shock with the sudden appearance of a woman who seems to be the victim...