Whenever Wilma Haven decided to be wayward, she insisted that she was seen to be wayward. So perhaps she was merely being consistent when she hired a hearse before committing suicide, then proceeded to take her time over the act in a very public place. However, Wilma died not from her own act, but by the murderous intent of a unsuspected killer, and Superintendent Frank Drury of Scotland Yard becomes embroiled in his most challenging case ever. Hire Me a Hearse was first published in 1968.

A pop star’s death puts Los Angeles PI Shell Scott on the hit list in the mystery series with more than 40 million copies in print. With a national election going on, Shell Scott’s timing might have been less than perfect. Perhaps he did prevent the victory for the shoo-in candidate, but a lot of strange things were happening. There was Polly Plank, whom he encountered in her psychiatrist’s office in her birthday suit. What about the American singing idol Johnny Tray, who turned up dead? And of course Joe Rice, leader of the West’s underworld, who wanted Shell under the world too—six feet under. The Trojan Hearse is the 28th book in the Shell Scott Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Embalmer is about one man's journey to overcome his Claustrophobic disease so that he can support his wife and kids. After obtaining a job at a funeral home Tome Sindler experiences what no claustrophobic person would ever envision happening to them - love, sacrifice and betrayal.

Just days from meeting the reaper, a convicted murderer hires Chicago’s most hard-boiled PI to save his neck—before the executioner can claim it Robert Westland’s death is just around the corner when he finally decides to fight the murder rap that’s sending him to the electric chair. Fingered for his wife’s grisly demise, Westland is in a bind, and his last hope is Bill Crane, a booze-soaked detective who’s as ruthless with a quip as he is when trawling the streets for Chicago’s most brutal criminal element. Crane’s got just a few days to suss out the real killer—someone clever enough to off Westland’s wife and lock her in a room whose only key belongs to Westland himself. Fueled by an abundance of liquor and a habit of bad manners, Crane sets his sights on a cast of oddball characters among whom hides a murderer. But in 1930s Chicago, everyone’s got a secret, and the pressure is on for Crane to separate the dangerous from the truly homicidal before it’s too late.

Revenge has many shapes. In the game of espionage the shape is usually death. But there is another kind of death - that of the mind. When a man wakes to find he cannot tell nightmare from reality, he is on the road to Limbo, at the frontier of Hell.

Mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles has been spending more time solving whodunits than reading them. Now a nearby gas explosion has injured Tricia's sister's boyfriend, Bob Kelly, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and killed the owner of the town's history bookstore. Tricia's never been a fan of Bob, but when she reads that he's being tight-lipped about the "accident", it's time to take action.

A brilliant evocation of the period and a truly unnerving, menacing and original plot... Sure and Certain Death is the fourth chilling World War Two crime mystery in the Francis Hancock series by award-winning Barbara Nadel. Perfect for fans of Lindsey Davis and Nicola Upson. East London, 1940: Francis Hancock finds the brutally eviscerated body of a woman in a derelict house. Francis' sister, Nancy, knew the victim. Then, shockingly, two more murders follow. Rumours start to spread through the East End about another Jack the Ripper. When a fourth woman is murdered, Nancy admits that she knew all of the victims, and Francis sets out to find the killer, discovering a trail of murderous resentment that goes back decades... What readers are saying about Sure and Certain Death: 'For Nadel fans, Sure and Certain Death is a must-read, as it is for historians of East London' 'Atmospheric, touching, different and unputdownable!' 'More brutal murders in a storyline that is gripping to the last page'

In the mid-1960s, Michael Tritico is growing tired of ultra-conservative Louisiana; he hears whispers of a new way of life out West. He ventures out of his comfort zone and heads to the mountains, trying to escape a swamp of depression. He soon finds himself rejuvenated in many ways, fighting lifes boredom and the things that keep him down along his journey. Making it to California, hes joined by thousands of others who are seeking a different way of life and participating in what they call The Revolution. During a span lasting just a handful of precious years, this is a time of love. For those that allow it to happen, almost anything negative can be overcome. But its not completely peaceful: Hippies, Hells Angels, Vietnam veterans, law enforcement personnel, politicians, and numerous silent minorities interact in complex ways. Join Michael as he remembers a youth full of miracles and shares the harmony and struggles of the 1960s in Stars above My Hearse.

Low Rent is a semi-autobiographical novel wherein TommyJ reveals his nefarious past in numerous short stories he has written in a series of letters to his new friend, a Las Vegas hooker he nicknames Caribou. From shining new light upon the tumultuous times most youth face while growing up in the modern urban-American setting, to reshaping the notion of the classic rags-to-riches story, Low Rent is a stumble through the life story of a man who, despite a very extensive, very lucrative criminal career, manages to avoid ever serving time in prison. From stabbings and drug overdoses, to finding himself camping on an island with a homeless man that he has taken LSD with, Thomas Jordan takes us on a vivid stroll through his Low Rent world.