A circus-performer-turned-PI and his ex-cop brother rescue a girl from a doomsday cult in this novel of “terrific suspense” and “unlimited imagination” (Publishers Weekly). With a genius IQ, a past career as a circus acrobat, and a black belt in karate, criminology professor Dr. Robert Frederickson—better known as “Mongo the Magnificent”—has a decidedly unusual background for a private investigator. He also just so happens to be a dwarf. Mongo and his brother, Garth, have left their day jobs as a professor and a cop, respectively, and formed their own PI firm, Frederickson & Frederickson. It’s a great reason to celebrate this holiday season, but when their annual tradition of picking up a few letters to Santa from the post office to fulfill the Christmas wishes of needy children reveals a sinister secret, their cheer is replaced with a yearning for justice. As the brothers race to save a little girl from a religious doomsday cult, they’ll get up close and personal with a murderous zealot bent on the eradication of all mankind—preferably before the New Year . . . Second Horseman Out of Eden is the 7th book in the Mongo Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

A bibliography of various mystery novels published between November 1976 and Fall 1992.

A circus-performer-turned-PI who’s also “the most engaging criminologist to appear in decades” must save his brother from a cult and a terrorist plot (Booklist). With a genius IQ, a past career as a circus acrobat, and a black belt in karate, criminology professor Dr. Robert Frederickson—better known as “Mongo the Magnificent”—has a decidedly unusual background for a private investigator. He also just so happens to be a dwarf. After a series of traumas and an accidental poisoning, Mongo’s brother, Garth Fredrickson, is lying unresponsive in an off-limits government psychiatric facility. But that won’t stop New York City’s most resourceful private eye—because if there’s one person in the world Mongo would do anything for, it’s Garth. With a little unorthodox therapy, Mongo manages to bring his brother back to the real world. But it quickly becomes clear that Garth isn’t himself. Soon the siblings are estranged, and Garth ends up in the center of a cult—an unsuspecting pawn in an international terrorist plot. Up against thousands of believers willing to do anything to protect their “new Messiah,” Mongo will risk his life to save him . . . The Cold Smell of Sacred Stone is the 6th book in the Mongo Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Mystery Reader's Walking Guide: New York takes you on a tour of the Manhattan that mystery writers have made famous. See New York through the eyes of more than 50 mystery writers and their characters, from S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance to Emma Lathen's John Putnam Thatcher, and many others.

Provides information on the most influential English-language writers of the crime and mystery genre. Each entry includes author biographies; complete bibliographies; lists of critical studies; locations of manuscripts; the writer's own comments on his or her work, when available; and an essay written by an expert of the genre.

**** Cited in Sheehy and BCL3. The foremost reference in the field, completely revised and updated, and now covering about 600 authors, mainly English-language writers whose work appeared during or since the time of Conan Doyle. The entry for each writer consists of a biography, a bibliography, and a signed critical essay. Living authors were invited to add a comment on their work; many of them accepted, and their remarks are both entertaining and enlightening. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR