A man stood on a street­corner with a crimson hatbox in his hand. An archbishop approached him and asked what was in the box. "Wah Lee's skull. I cracked Vann's pete," is the enigmatic reply. From this simple encounter stems the trial of the century. The crimson box does indeed hold the skull of a long-dead Chinaman (or is it?), and the man did break into D.A. Vann's safe (or did he?) One thing is certain: a man died when the safe was cracked, and now somebody has to pay. And it just may be the man's lawyer, Elsa Moffit, attorney-at-law with no cases under her belt -- yet!

When powerful siblings discover a terrifying truth, will they embrace a new destiny or turn to darkness? Ashaya Blacksun has had a weight lifted from her shoulders. Freed by her father's abdication of his crown, the former princess's delight over choosing her own path is barely dimmed by her strange and haunting dreams. But when her beloved twin brother doesn't return home from a ranging expedition, the unconventional young woman fears something has gone terribly wrong. Born into royalty, Sirich Blacksun quietly seethes that he's no longer heir to the throne. Still determined to maintain a position of leadership, he sets out to investigate the disturbing news of carnage in the south. But when he crosses paths with a powerful figure straight out of lore, the temptation to ignore his beloved father's bold vision in favor of his own ambition becomes increasingly difficult to resist. Defying tradition by sneaking off to find her missing twin, Ashaya's travels over deadly terrain are plagued by intensifying visions that point to a dark fate. And as Sirich's strange new companion shows him a new way forward, the frustrated would-be king faces a frightening choice. As these scions of nobility grapple with a new reality, will their quest for truth end in tragedy? The Crimson Gods is the first book in the sweeping Crimson Gods medieval fantasy series. If you like fierce characters, ancient fables, and stunning twists, then you'll love Chris M. Christian's breathtaking epic. Buy The Crimson Gods to taste the blood of deities today!

This 1929 potboiler, subtitled Or How the Squid Got Besuckered, introduces a villain known as the Crimson Query because he leaves, Zorro-like, a sign of his machinations. In this case, a bright red question mark. All in all, this hard-to-find detective story stands alongside the more horrific novels Eadie is known for.

THE BORDERLINE by Walter S. Masterman is a classic impossible mystery, sixth in the Dancing Tuatara Press series of obscure and hard-to-find titles. An introduction by John Pelan provides a solid background of the mysterious author and his books.