Poisoned Pen Press: 69 books

It’s World War I. Britain’s shadow government, headed by its Agent and Consul General under the nominal authority of Egypt’s hereditary ruler the Khedive, has ruled Egypt since 1881. The head of the Secret Police is the Mamur Zapt, an office currently held by a Welshman, Captain Gareth Cadwallader...

Irreverent Jack Doyle has worn many hats, one or two blown off by his irrepressible temper. A former boxer, advertising rep, and publicity man, Jack’s midlife career has been shaped by the world of thoroughbred horse racing and dark deeds therein. So it’s no surprise when two FBI agents he’s...

For some it is an "honor cottage." For United States Senator Desmond Gardner it's a minimum security federal prison that he and Sweet Tony Martinelli now call home. Unlike Gardner, Martinelli's rap sheet smacks more of crime in the streets than crime in the suites...which is why it makes...

The body of the Masters rules committee chairman is found in the middle of the 10th fairway on the morning that Sam Skarda arrives at Augusta National Golf Club to play in his first Masters. Skarda, a 33-year-old police detective on medical leave from the Minneapolis police department, is an accomplished...

Edwardian Egypt and archaeology go hand in hand, not just for the antiquarian but for the men, whether poor fellahin or rich merchant, who profit from the illegal export of antiquities. Captain Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt or head of Cairo's Secret Police, turns his attention to the trade when Miss...

Psychologist and Pittsburgh Police Department consultant Daniel Rinaldi has a new patient. Lisa Harland, a local girl, once made a splash in Playboy and the dubious side of Hollywood before bottoming out. Back home, down and out again, she married one of the city’s richest and most ruthless tycoons....

She stared into the speckled mirror, wondering how she had come to this. How could she, Holly Love, apple of her parents’ eye, competent manipulator of invoices in Gorgon Office Supplies, have ended up alone and starving in a dead man’s flat? How indeed? Most reluctant heroines would throw in...

Fred Taylor, a veteran of unspecified clandestine services that have caused him to spend hard times in Southeast Asia, finds himself at loose ends in Boston. A late-night chance encounter in the city’s Beacon Hill area throws his lot in with eccentric art collector Clayton Reed. Reed has been tricked...

Vance Hayes died while joyriding on a snowmobile late one night and breaking through thin ice near the Wisconsin Dells. The cold-hearted, hard-headed lawyer goes unmourned by clients, colleagues, or anyone else—including his reluctant eulogist, fellow attorney Rep Pennyworth. In fact, interest in Hayes’...

Foreign Service veteran Richard Michaelson knows that it is often better to talk to secretaries than big wigs in the political jungles of Washington, DC. But when one such ambitious young secretary turns up dead in a locked hotel room, Michaelson suddenly realizes just how much she knew...and that...

It’s 1861 in New Mexico Territory, and the Civil War is about to have a startling impact on Matty Summerhayes. Matty is struggling to develop a horse ranch to make enough money to return to the East. A stranger dies in her barn...with a map of her land in his pocket. Then war is declared, and Texans...

High on a mountain above Albuquerque lives a man who's a throwback to the outlaw heroes of the Old West. Rainbow Porter lives on the edge, watches his back, and occasionally drops into the valley below to lend a hand to those in trouble. To his door comes lovely Eurasian April Bow, adopted daughter of...

David Randall, a private detective short of work, invites his psychic friend Camden into a case. Miss Viola Mitchell, an aging local actress, has recently been reported missing. The Parkland PD’s Jordan Finley objects to Randall and Cam inspecting Viola’s home, claiming the police don’t need their...

Casey Maldonado is haunted by the deaths of her husband and young son. She hopes traveling through the vast reaches of Idaho will offer peace. Instead, she fights off three drunken locals before escaping to a quiet town where she wants to heal from her injuries and constant sorrow. Her traveling...