James Hadley Chase books

Lady Here's Your Wreath (2003)

Fiquei agradavelmente surpreendida com este livro, apesar de achar que não é nada de extraordinário. No entanto, dos restantes livros desta coleção que já tinha lido, este foi, possivelmente, aquele que não só li mais rápido como me entusiasmou mais.É uma história simples, sem grandes confusões d...

Just a Matter of Time (2002)

An old lady's will seems to be causing quite a stir. Suddenly everyone wants to get in on the action, everyone that is, including a master forger, a hospital nurse, a young delinquent, a bank executive and, to make matters worse, a professional killer. With such ingredients, a showdown seems inev...

You Have Yourself a Deal (2002)

On a dark, sinister night, a woman is found wandering around Paris' 4th arrondissement suffering from amnesia. This appears at first to be a simple case of a missing person turned up - until the initials of the leading Chinese atomic scientist are found tattooed on her buttock. This is the beginn...

An Ace Up My Sleeve (2000)

'Ace' is the first Chase novel I've read (probably re-read) after many years. I read most of the author's works during my teens. I expected to find the book underwhelming and amateurish, reading it as an adult now. I'm happy to say that even after all these years Chase definitely gets the job don...

Have a Change of Scene (2000)

Larry Carr is a diamond expert who needs a break. He jumps at the chance to move to Luceville, a struggling industrial town, and become a social worker. This should be a fine change - but he runs into Rhea Morgan, a ruthless, thief who is also extremely attractive. He falls headlong into a rapid ...

An Ear to the Ground (2002)

When a necklace is as beautiful as the Esmaldi necklace with its hundred sparkling diamonds, it is not surprising that it causes powerful emotions. It is an object that people will do anything to obtain — even murder. For Al Barney, general idler and layabout, this comes as no surprise for he kno...

The Guilty Are Afraid (2000)

I Once left this book half-read and after long time read it again to finish it, It Didn't disappoint me. The remarkable feature of Chase is , He won't Disappoint you. This book is no different, it's an absolute Page Turner.The story about a private detective finding the killer of his fellow partn...

More Deadly Than the Male (2002)

George Fraser is a lonely man, and a bored man. But he has exciting dreams. In his dreams, he lives in a thrilling world of gangsters, guns, fast cars and beautiful women. And of course, in his dreams, he is the toughest gangster of them all. George Fraser prefers his dream world to his real, ord...

Hand Me a Fig Leaf (2002)

When Johnny Jackson unaccountably disappears, his grandfather contacts the police for help. As they prove to be uninterested, he turns instead to Colonel Parnell of the Parnell Detective Agency. It seems at first to be a simple case of a missing person but they soon find themselves in the middle ...

Goldfish Have No Hiding Place (2002)

Book by Hadley Chase, James

Knock, Knock! Who's There? (2002)

Johnny Bianda is a man with a dream. He wants to own a boat off the coast of Florida and he only needs $186,000 to buy it. He steals the money from his firm, knowing that one day they'll notice and one day they'll kill him for it - after all, it is the Mafia. But for Johnny Bianda, the risk is wo...

My Laugh Comes Last (2002)

This was a great thriller novel that I have read more than 3-4 times in my life .The author had given soo much life to this book....that i did enjoyed alot....The story is bout a guy - Larry Lucas who is a small time worker, he approached by a millionaire -Farell Brannigan & assist him and start ...

So What Happens to Me? (2002)

Hijacking aircrafts seems to have become the latest fashion. Everyone is at it. Colonel Bernie Olson, ex-bomber pilot, decides to cash in on this latest trend and enlists the support of his ex-flight mechanic, Jack Crane, to lend a hand. Planning a simple hijack shouldn't be that difficult, but ...

No Orchids For Miss Blandish (1998)

”Slim, still grinning, held the knife-point just below Riley’s navel and put his weight on the handle. The knife went in slowly as if it were going into butter. Riley drew his lips back. HIs mouth opened. There was a long hiss of expelled breath as he stood there. Tears sprang from his eyes. Slim...

The Whiff of Money (2002)

Secret Agent Mark Kirkland has been given the task of locating and retrieving three pornographic films. His mission must remain top secret as the films, rather embarrassingly, feature the daughter of the future president of the United States. His quest leads him to the depths of Bavaria where he ...

You're Dead Without Money (2002)

Joey Luck and his daughter Cindy were small-time criminals going nowhere fast...until they joined forces with Vin Pinna, a hardened criminal on the run from Miami. They began to set their sights higher and turn their hands to kidnapping. But their hostage, ex-movie star Don Elliot, seemed to have...

There's a Hippie on the Highway (1972)

JHC is almost like a genre in his own right. Although the covers invariably include a scantily clad woman holding a revolver, the books are actually amazingly well written. He has a style that is incredibly gripping. Had he been around today I think he would have been in the same league as James ...

Hit Them Where It Hurts (2000)

My grandfather's bookshelf has a whole bunch of James Hadley Chase titles, and I'd never picked one up before. When I visited this time, I randomly picked this one out of the lot and decided to give it a shot.I can see why James Hadley Chase is popular: his novels are the book-equivalent of one o...

Tell It to the Birds (2002)

When a small-time clerk insures his life for $50,000 and then suddenly dies ten days later, it doesn't take a genius to work out something suspicious is going on. So when Maddox, the top man in the insurance business, finds out, he is determined to get to the bottom of it. And this means trouble ...

You Must Be Kidding (1980)

The only clue that could lead to the arrest of a homicidal killer is a golf ball button, torn from the jacket the killer was wearing, and found next to the horrifyingly mutilated body of a young hooker. There are four owners of jackets with golf ball buttons living in the city. When Detective Tom...

The Flesh Of The Orchid (1982)

Carol Blandish was the voluptuous daughter of Miss Blandish, and only granddaughter of millionaire John Blandish. The trouble was that she had been conceived when her mother had been kidnapped and repeatedly raped by mentally degenerate Slim Grissom. Carol herself suffers from a split personality...

You're Lonely When You're Dead (1974)

James Hadley Chase is British. In this book - "You're Lonely When Your Dead" Mr. Chase is writing about a California PI, and he does a fairly good job. His ingredients contain the proper mixture of good lookin' dames, an abundance of bad guys, bumbling cops and lots of wealthy characters.When I r...

There's Always a Price Tag (1973)

Small time freelance worker Glyn Nash rescues a drunken billionaire film director Dester from being run over, and soon gets appointed by the latter at his Hollywood residence, much against the wishes of Dester's glamorous and shady wife, Helen Dester. Glyn sees the employment as an opportunity to...

The Joker in the Pack (1980)

The second book in the Helga Rolfe series, Helga travels from Zurich to meet her husband in Haiti. Herman Rolfe has grown suspicious of her and has hired a private detective to watch her. From here, the story takes thrilling twists and turns, and once again, Helga ends up triumphant.I actually li...

Come Easy Go Easy (1974)

an awsome 1st person narrative by JHC featuring Chet Carson who empoyed at Lawrence Safes Corporation attempts to crack a safe with his colleague cum friend - Roy Tracey but as luck was on the other side Chet lands up in prison but with all his expertise knowledge of locks is soon is able to bra...

Lay Her Among the Lilies (2015)

Publicada en http://lecturaylocura.com/clasicos-no...Con la ingente cantidad de novelas policíacas que se están sacando en la actualidad, tendemos a olvidar de dónde venimos; es decir, quiénes son los padres del género; este post busca que no se pierda la perspectiva en este aspecto, entre otras ...

The Sucker Punch (1973)

This has probably got to be the best James Hadley Chase book I've ever read. Particularly as the title was so apt to the content of the book.I first read this when I was in my ninth grade, during the year 2002. Those were the times for thrillers and fast paced books. Back then we used to have a c...

Hit And Run (2002)

Lucille Aitkin was the kind of woman who encouraged men to run around after her and most men were more than happy to do so - so why did she suddenly want to learn to drive rather than being chauffer-driven in style? And why was Chester Scott's Cadillac covered with bloodstains on the wrong side? ...

Mission To Venice (1973)

Sudden death lurks along the canals of Venice.That's what Don Micklem, millionaire American playboy on the trail of a disappearing one-time British agent, discovered the hard way. Had his quarry been murdered - or had he committed treason?Micklem's adventures, his fight against a ruthless politic...

Just The Way It Is (1975)

Harry Duke had a reputation both as a gambler and someone you didn't mess with, as he'd once killed a man. Then someone tries to make it look like he's killed again. A neat frame up. But Duke's still got some aces in his hand. Aces, and a gun.

The Dead Stay Dumb (1979)

I guess I should feel ashamed of myself for liking The Dead Stay Dumb. I was in the mood for something light and hard-hitting, and James Hadley Chase was a good bet. Many years ago, I had read No Orchids for Miss Blandish, the novel that made Chase's reputation. At times, The Dead Stay Dumb resem...

The Vulture Is A Patient Bird (1971)

Kahlenberg, millionaire and a compulsive collector of art treasures steals a famous poison ring, once owned by Caesar Borgia, from a rival collector. Kahlenberg's museum is hidden in the Drakensberg range and can only be reached through the dangerous swamps and the steamy heat of the Basutoland j...

Have A Nice Night (1983)

When Detective Tom Lepski shot down the runaway killer on his beat in Paradise City, he unleashed a chain of events that would involve two sets of criminals and a honeymoon couple in one of the most exciting nights any of them had seen for a long time. Wilbur Warrenton and his beautiful, graspin...

The Way the Cookie Crumbles (1965)

This is a typical Chase theme with lots of planning , impersonation and double cross with greed and murder thrown in. The ending is a little predictable as Chase believed in good over evil type climaxes. The titles are the main attractions is Chase books..This and "the paw in the bottle", "try th...

The things men do (1975)

Want to Stay Alive? (1972)

Poke Tohola, a Seminole Indian, is on to a smart racket. His formula is that fear is the key that unlocks the wallets and handbags of the rich. But Chuck, a cop-killer at 18, and Meg, beddable but dumb, don't work to formula. The three of them turn Paradise City into Panic City. Then Detective To...

Strictly For Cash (1966)

This James Hadley Chase book is similar to every other James Hadley Chase book you must have read. A male protagonist who is huge, smokes, drinks and keeps falling in love with every other woman he sees. Nothing new there. The unwillingly done murder, blackmail and not being able to touch the mon...

Believed Violent (1968)

The Russians will pay $4,000,000 for the top secret formula of a revolutionary new metal... and the C.I.A. will do anything to stop them.American inventor Dr Paul Forrester is the man that both sides want. For he alone can decipher the vital code. But for two years Forrester has been in a mental ...

He Won't Need It Now (1975)

Newspaper photographer Duffy loses his job and things start going steadily south from there very quickly. An offer to take a few covert photos for more money than he can ignore sets him on a path him deep into the heart of an urban darkness, where crime lords and political bosses rub shoulders (a...

This is for real. (1965)

When a woman turns up in Paris with information to sell to the CIA, is it for real? It soon becomes clear that it is, and the CIA aren't the only ones to realize it. As the tale sweeps from Paris to Africa, combining espionage with violence, sex and intrigue, this book from James Hadley Chase giv...

I Would Rather Stay Poor (1962)

This one was yet again a trademark JHC stuff…once you start it, only thing you want to do is to arrive at the last page. And again as usual (in most of JHC’s) the protagonist is anti-hero. There are several other characters…but the most of the plot is dedicated for the lead.The story is of a ban...

Figure It Out for Yourself (2003)

From the moment Lee Dedrick, husband of the fourth richest woman in the world, disappears, believed kidnapped, Vic Malloy of Universal Services is snarled up in a vicious vortex of murder, glamorous women and violent non-stop action. The curtain goes up on the sprawled, lifeless body of Dedrick's...

Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief (2010)

Banned in the UK! Author and Publisher Fined! Not seen in 70 Years! This is the story of Miss Callaghan. Not of any particular Miss Callaghan, but of the hundreds of Miss Callaghans who disappear from their homes suddenly and mysteriously and are seen no more by those who knew and loved them. Thi...

I Hold The Four Aces (1978)

Helga Rolfe, the rich sex-obsessed woman from An Ace Up My Sleeve and The Joker in the Pack, returns to Europe from the Caribbean, and once more is the victim of some blackmail, this time at the hands of the blackmail from the first of the books, along with a professional gigolo who seduces rich ...

Why Pick on Me? (1976)

This magnificent masterpiece from the maestro, features another one of his colourful characters, Mr . Martin Corridon who's good and long time friend, Milly, a golden hearted prostitute, comes across an archer's thumb ring, and is suddenly murdered savagely. The London police and Mi5 know what th...

Have This One on Me (2002)

Mark Girland is an old CIA agent whose desire is women and cool cash. When he was offered a Job in Prague, little did he know that he was being used as a smoke screen. To get out of this mess, he has to play mean and dirty. My first from James Hadley Chase and I swear, you can deduce from this bo...

The Fast Buck (2000)

Although the plot is rather typical of those times, with jewels stolen from some Raja in India, I suppose it was ok for the time it was written - way back in 1952 !What James Hadley Chase is skilled in, is in the intricate story he weaves around this cliched plot, using his superlative skill in t...

I'll Bury My Dead (2009)

the longest among a set of six reprinted noir novels by Harlequin from the 1940s, I'll Bury My Dead is really some book i would gladly throw away to the nearest cliff at certain pages and/or thank for all the thrill it has provided as entertainment.i don't know. there were no likeable characters ...

Shock Treatment (2004)

নাম - বিষাক্ত পরকীয়া (শক ট্রিটমেন্ট)লেখক - জেমস হ্যাডলী চেজঅনুবাদক - সাঈম শামসপ্রকাশক - পরমাণ (অনুবাদ)পাতা - ২০৮ (বাংলা)ঘরানা - ক্রাইমপ্রকাশকাল - ২০১৪ (বাংলা)দাম - ১২০ টাকা (মুদ্রিত মুল্য), আমার নীলক্ষেত থেকে কিনতে ৭০ টাকা লাগছে।কাহিনী সংক্ষেপ - গিলডার প্রেমে মজে গিয়েছে টেরি রিগ্যান। কিন্তু তাদের...

You Never Know with Women (2009)

Initial chapters of this book are real page turners and very much interesting. I felt the story going to have an end in the 9th/10th chapter itself out of seventeen chapters with the flow of initial chapters. Yes, we could get most details of the crime scene in initial chapters and few intermedia...

But A Short Time To Live (1981)

A street photographer like Harry Ricks had to take chances sometimes, it was part of the job. But when he snapped a beautiful girl one evening in Leicester Square he didn't bargain on being beaten up in an alley and having the film torn from his camera... That was only the start of Harry's proble...

Not Safe to be Free (1980)

Murder isn't a very sociabe way of getting your kicks - but then, Jay Deaney was neve a very sociable sort of guy... He was young rich, attractive and bored. He needed excitement - and he meant to get it. For months he had waited - patiently cntroling the insane urge which nagged at his mind. And...

You've Got It Coming (1973)

"The world is made up of smart guys who get rich and suckers who stay poor Harry Griffin tells his girl friend, Glorie. "I've been a sucker too long, now I'm going to be smart. I know where I can put my hands on three million bucks so I'm going to take them." This is the story of how Harry Griff...

I'll Get You For This (1945)

Chester Cain, gunman and gambler, finds his vacation at Paradise Springs rudely interrupted by the City Administrator, who uses a luscious woman to trap Cain into a murder frame-up.From then on the action, punctuated by gunfire, moves like an express train, as Cain ploughs his way through violenc...

The world in my pocket (1975)

This is the job they have all been waiting for. The job that will set them up for life. A million dollars split five ways, who wouldn't be interested? The only catch is that it's the very definition of impossible...or is it? Armed with a brilliant plan, the four men and one woman think they can c...

Mallory (1986)

A small French resistance group came to London after the war to avenge the death of their leader, betrayed to the Gestapo by one of their own members. But the traitor, Mallory, proved more than a match for them, and two corpses later, the remaining three called in outside help. They chose Martin ...

Just Another Sucker (1974)

A man will do almost anything when a rich and beautiful woman offers him fifty thousand dollars just to make a telephone call. But when that telephone call is part of a fake kidnap plan to extract five hundred thousand dollars from one of the richest men in the world, only a sucker would gamble o...

1968 - An Ear to the Ground

Nothing had gone right. He knew that if he had been a more forceful salesman he would have got a rich client from Texas on the dotted line, but at the last moment, the tall, leathery-looking man had shaken his head and said he wanted more time to think before he committed himself. The deal that s...

1951 - In a Vain Shadow

The thin sunlight coming through the mist lit up the tints in her copper-coloured hair and deepened the shadows under her eyes. Just to look at her made concentration a feat of endurance and will power. ‘What are you thinking about?’ She adjusted the wrap to hide her legs. I came over from the wi...

1970 - There's a Hippie on the Highway

The air was still and hot, and on either side of the road dense mangrove thickets made a solid black wall.They walked silently: Harry just ahead: both of them preoccupied with their thoughts, but aware of each other and contented not to be alone.They had left Yellow Acres soon after 19.00 hours. ...

1972 - You're Dead Without Money

He recognized them immediately from the photocopy that Kendrick had shown him.‘Yes.’ His voice was husky. He straightened and looked at Cindy. ‘Why did you take them, you crazy kid? As soon as Larrimore finds they are missing, he’ll call the police. They’ll come here! We wrote to him and he knows...

1971 - Want to Stay Alive

McCuen demanded in a grating voice.Toko, standing behind McCuen’s chair, grimaced. From the tone of the voice he realised the morning was to begin badly.“I don’t know,” Martha said. “I thought you should see it.”“Why?” McCuen glared at her. “Can’t you see it’s from some lunatic? Don’t you know be...

1955 - You've Got It Coming

She was realizing that she was powerless to stop Harry from double crossing Ben. She was sure now that if she continued to beg and argue with him, he would lose patience and leave her. She felt sick with fear as she thought of the consequences of Harry's planned treachery. She knew Ben. Double cr...

1950 - Mallory

Jan leaned against the wall by the window, his hands deep in his trenchcoat pockets, a limp cigarette hanging from his thin lips. Near him, Jeanne dozed in an armchair. Every so often when she drifted into a deeper sleep, her body jerked violently, awakening her. Ranleigh sat opposite them, his h...

1963 - One Bright Summer Morning

Light came from the brilliant desert moon, seeping through the slits in the shutters and for some moments Zelda watched Carrie. Then with infinite care, she pushed aside the sheet and sat up. She waited, scarcely breathing, then she swung her feet to the floor.Silence brooded over the ranch house...

1980 - You Can Say That Again

I had then been at peace with the world, but when I saw Loretta, my feeling of peace and security vanished.‘Hello, Jerry,’ she said, and smiled at me. ‘I have been watching you. You look happy.’My mouth had turned so dry, I couldn’t speak. I stared at her like a rabbit confronted by a ferret.In t...

1944 - Just the Way It Is

‘Isn’t she with you?’Duke pushed passed him and went into his room. ‘Why should she be?’ he said, curtly, as Peter followed him in and closed the door.‘You were out at Fairview all the afternoon, weren’t you?’ Peter demanded hotly. ‘What have you been doing? She’s been with you, hasn’t she?’‘Now,...

1958 - Not Safe to be Free

He felt edgy and irritable and the wretched little Citroen hogging the road ahead of him, preventing him from passing, infuriated him. He drove the Bentley to within a foot of the Citroen’s rear bumper, then putting the palm of his hand down hard on the button that operated the triple airhorns, h...

What's Better Than Money

I went into my bedroom and lay on the bed. I was completely bushed.I hadn’t felt so depressed in years. From the Californian Recording Studios, I had driven to R.C.A. There they had admired Rima’s voice, but when I began to talk about a five thousand dollar advance they eased me out so fast I had...

1974 - So What Happens to Me

I told him the kite would be delivered in the early hours on Sunday morning and there were no problems. I then sent a cable to Aulestria giving him the same information.Then I returned to the airfield and put a call through to the National Bank of Mexico. I asked the executive with whom I had dea...

1953 - I'll Bury My Dead

I’ll want you about half-past ten.’‘Want me to come in, boss?’ Chuck asked, his beady eyes searching the sidewalk.English shook his head.‘No. There won’t be any trouble in there. It’s when we come out I want you to keep your eyes open.’‘They’re always open,’ Chuck said aggressively. ‘Ten-thirty t...

1956 - There's Always a Price Tag

'We're going to have visitors. There's no news of an accident. It beats me what's happened to them.'Looking worried and a little scared, Marian left the lounge. I turned up Edwin Burnett's number in the telephone book and called his house. I got him out of bed after a long delay and told him the ...

1979 - You Must Be Kidding

He considered Kendriek’s insistence to keep the gallery open on Saturday afternoon a drag. He also considered that Kendriek’s insistence that he, as head salesman, should remain, while the rest of the boys enjoyed themselves in their various ways, utterly unfair. Admittedly, some eight weeks ago,...

Miss Shumway Waves a Wand

Myra said scornfully. “What kind of an imagination is that?” She was lying full length in a basket chair with her feet up. She still looked pale, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that l was glad to see.     The evening sun had sunk below the mountains and in the fading ligh...

Whiff Of Money

She looked as if she had stepped out of a Beaton photograph: immaculately dressed by Balmain, she was extremely conscious that before long she would be the First Lady of the United States. She was a shrewd, cold and calculating woman with a burning ambition for her husband and herself. She had a ...

1974 - Goldfish Have No Hiding Place

That the months and even years they have lived together have turned suddenly into grey ash, and love - which is a precious thing - no longer exists between them.This was my moment of truth as I watched Linda's hand hover over the telephone as she looked at the bottle of Chanel No. 5. I watched he...

1966 - You Have Yourself a Deal

“It’s all right,” Ginny said softly. “I’m going back to my room.” “What’s the time?” “Just after six.” Girland sighed, stretched and turned on his back. Ginny, sitting on the edge of the bed, her blonde hair a little tousled, her naked back to him, was groping with her feet for her slippers. He r...

1954 - Mission to Venice

He wasn’t often angry, but now his temper was at boiling-point. He had very nearly been made a fool of, and that hurt his pride. If the man at the end of the line hadn’t slightly overplayed his part, Don would have rushed off to Paris. Now that he knew it was a trick, he saw clearly that whoever ...

1953 - The Sucker Punch

I needed them. I felt tense and my nerves were so jumpy I was scared Vestal would notice something was wrong.The meal seemed to me to be interminable, and I had to force myself to eat.When we finally moved into the lounge for coffee, Vestal went to the window, pushed aside the curtains and peered...

1957 - The Guilty Are Afraid

I got Joe, the bellhop, to arrange for Sheppey’s things to be sent to Sheppey’s wife. I then wrote her a brief note and included a cheque for a couple of hundred bucks, stressing that this amount would come off the amount I would finally pay her.By then, it was time for me to attend the inquest. ...

1954 - Safer Dead

The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were falling into place. They didn’t make sense yet, but I had a feeling they soon would.For some reason or other Hamilton Royce and Fay Benson had left Tampa City and had gone to Welden. There someone had paid Hank Flemming to kidnap and murder Fay, and Royce had ...

Get a Load of This

He stood just inside the little room with the door open behind him.          Alfy sat on the one chair in the room, close to the empty hearth. He sat very limply, with his hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets. He didn't look up when George came i...

Like A Hole In The Head

The blunt prow hit the bank and slid up it. I dropped the pole into the boat and jumped on to the bank.          Lucy, looking terrified, backed away, leaving Timoteo to face me. I charged up the steep bank like an enraged bull, intent only on getting ...

12 Chinks and A Woman

He checked in at a nearby hotel, got himself a cold bath and went to bed. He was lulled to sleep by the drone of an electric fan that buzzed just above his head.          He had two hours' catnap, then the telephone woke him. The telephone said “Good m...

1965 - The Way the Cookie Crumbles

As he was reaching for a Stock Market report a gentle tap sounded on the door that led directly to his private elevator: a door he seldom used as he preferred to walk through the main entrance to the bank, taking the opportunity for a word here and there with the staff. No one ever knocked on thi...

1953 - The Things Men Do

He had brought with him a couple of pounds of sausages, some chips from the local fish shop and two quart bottles of beer. He announced he intended to celebrate his promotion with us in the appropriate style.He was in a festive spirit, but we were not. I knew Ann was feeling hurt, and I had an un...

Dead Stay Dumb

The bigness of the room hid them from the sun, burning up the road outside. They sat round a table, close to the bar, drinking corn whisky.          George, behind the bar, held a swab in his thick fingers, and listened to them talk. Every now and then...

1977 - My Laugh Comes Last

His thick, snow-white hair was immaculate.Everything about him was immaculate: his charcoal-grey suit, his white silk shirt, the Pierre Cardin tie and the glistening black shoes. His face could have been chiselled out of teak: nut brown, a thin beaky nose, a slit for a mouth, big slate-grey eyes ...

1945 - Blonde's Requiem

When I broke into her apartment I discovered her toilet things, some clothes and a fair-sized bag I’d noticed previously had disappeared. It looked as she had decided to duck out of sight. While I was searching around for her, Wolf had taken over the Granville Gazette. I had to leave him to it, a...

Fast Buck

Before he could ring the bell, the door jerked open and Purvis waved him in.     ‘I was hoping you’d come,’ Purvis said, as he led the way into his study. ‘Did you find the girl?’ Dallas flopped down in an easy chair.     ‘If you haven’t got a drink in this...

1949 - You're Lonely When You Dead

In the hot, airless room there was a smell of whisky strong enough to get tight on, and it seemed to come from me: an overpowering smell as if I had fallen into a vat of the stuff and had taken a swim in it. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like myself. My head felt like hell. The bed on which I was ly...

1979 - A Can of Worms

Founded and run by Colonel Victor Parnell, the Agency was head and shoulders above the other agencies on the Atlantic coast. After leaving the army, Parnell had been smart to start the Agency in Paradise City, the playground of billionaires. The Agency was strictly for the rich, and there were mo...

1967 - Have This One on Me

He was driving fast down a narrow lane, bordered either side by fir trees. Following Jan’s directions, he had turned off the main road soon after passing the roadblock. Now, a helicopter was circling overhead.‘We are within twenty kilometres of the frontier,’ Jan said and glanced at his watch. ‘W...

1977 - I Hold the Four Aces

Her long legs stirred the water and her hands cupped her firm breasts.Even though she had always travelled V.I.P., and was cosseted by the airhostesses, Helga detested long-distance flights, more particularly when she had to fly in the company of Stanley Winborn whom she disliked and Frederick Lo...

Vulture is a Patient Bird

It was as if he had an alarm clock inside his head. During the seven hours in which he slept, he might have died. He had no dreams nor did he stir until he opened his eyes to watch the sun rise over the magnificent range of mountains that lay beyond the huge picture window opposite his bed.  ...

1975 - The Joker in the Pack

The time was 23.58.Through the open window she could hear the murmur of voices. The arc lights for the television cameras made a pattern on the ceiling. The news had leaked: the jackal press had arrived, but the hotel manager had sealed off the top floor and all telephone calls were being screene...

1958 - The World in My Pocket

Kitson was driving and because Gypo loathed walking, he stopped at the bottleneck to let Gypo out, and then drove on for a quarter of a mile to a wooded thicket where he could hide the car. Leaving the car out of sight from the road, he walked back to the bottleneck.The sun was hot and blazed dow...

A Coffin From Hong Kong

I had had a little trouble getting to him, but by bearing down on old man Jefferson's name, I was finally and reluctantly admitted to his office.     He was a fat, smooth-looking bird, surrounded by an atmosphere of diplomatic immunity. He read my card which lay on his desk by...

A Lotus For Miss Quon

She could hear the front door-bell ringing loudly and persistently.     She groped for the switch of the bedside lamp and turned on the light, looking at the travelling clock under the lamp as she did so. The time was twenty minutes to five.     Her almond-...

1972 - Just a Matter of Time

She had left the hotel at 10.45 and he reckoned she would be back with news by at least 12.30. At 13.00 he went down to the bar and bought a beef sandwich and a glass of beer. From his stool in the bar he could see the entrance of the hotel. He was growing impatient and worried. At 13.30, he retu...

Eve

He had seemed to me to be such a cheap, insignificant creature that I had dismissed him from my mind after I had driven him from Three Point. It did not occur to me that he would again associate with Eve. She had treated him so ruthlessly and I had so humiliated him before her that it was inconce...

Trusted Like The Fox

A few minutes after ten o’clock it began to rain.Lying in the trench, Ellis cursed the rain. It fell lightly at first, but as more clouds climbed the horizon it began to pour: sheet after sheet of grey, cold water, chased by the wind, soaking into the open ground.He wished he hadn’t let Grace go....

1984 - Hit Them Where it Hurts

There was a delay as Bill regarded me through the spyhole, then he opened up. ‘No problems, Bill?’ I asked, as he relocked the front door. ‘I’ve settled in.’ He moved into the living room. On the table was the Thorsen file. ‘I’ve been going over this, Dirk, over and over, because pretty soon we’v...

1981 - Hand Me a Fig Leaf

I was lucky to catch Chick Barley as he was clearing his desk."Oh, God!" he exclaimed as I walked into the office we shared. "Look, Dirk, I have a heavy date and she won't wait.""You have the wrong approach. The more you keep them waiting, the hotter they become. What have you got for me?""What d...

1951 - But a Short Time to Live

He was soaked through and angry. Three times he had rung the flat, but there had been no answer. To add to his troubles, the garage at which Simpson had left him wouldn't send out for his car, and he had to go to two more before he found someone to oblige him. When he arrived with the mechanic he...

1973 - Have a Change of Scene

You could call it delayed shock although Dr. Melish didn’t call it that, but he is stuck with his technical jargon which is so much blah to you and me: a delayed shock is what he meant.A month before the crash I was floating in the rarefied air of success. Take my job for instance. I had slaved f...