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The Poisoned Pen is a collection of 12 detective short stories by Arthur B. Reeve, featuring Craig Kennedy and Walter Jameson - the American Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Excerpt from the book: "Kennedy's suit-case was lying open on the bed, and he was literally throwing things into it from his chiffonier, as I entered after a hurried trip up-town from the Star office in response to an urgent message from him. "Come, Walter," he cried, hastily stuffing in a package of clean laundry without taking off the wrapping-paper, "I've got your suit-case out.

A grumpy author. A fatal book signing. And a witchy amateur sleuth. Magical bookshop owner, Mercy Brew, agrees to host a book signing for a romance writer with more enemies than fans. But when the event takes a murderous turn, Mercy’s dreams of a successful grand reopening crumble like an ancient tome. Now Mercy and her intrepid friends must solve the mystery faster than the killer can write a sequel. And as the plot thickens, the suspects pile up higher than a stack of paperbacks, and a murky chapter in the author’s past is revealed. Amidst swirling rumors and a search for clues, Mercy...

Meet Olivia Paige, Millbrook Cove's newest amateur sleuth. After inheriting her aunt's beloved bookshop, The Dusty Tome, Olivia was looking forward to a fresh start surrounded by her passion for literature. But when a famous author is poisoned during a book signing at the shop, Olivia finds herself embroiled in a real-life mystery straight from the pages of a thriller novel. Partnering with the skeptical but charming Detective Jack Harper, Olivia uses her keen literary insights to unravel the deadly case. But as more bodies start piling up and strange "accidents" plague the town, it becomes...

Delve into the thrilling exploits of Professor Craig Kennedy, an American detective often likened to Sherlock Holmes, as masterfully penned by Arthur B. Reeve. This collection features twelve of Kennedys most intriguing cases, each one shedding light on the life and times of the early 20th century. Alongside his journalist ally, Walter Jameson, Kennedy employs cutting-edge scientific discoveries of his era, many of which are commonplace today, to solve his mysteries. The title story, Poisoned Pen, involves an ingeniously deceptive use of special inks, which appear and disappear under sunlight,...

Barbara Peters in conversation with Jeffrey Archer

In The Poisoned Pen, scientific sleuth Professor Craig Kennedy and his reporter companion Walter Jameson rush to Danbridge to solve the mysterious cyanide poisoning of actress Vera Lytton. Utilizing advanced forensic chemistry, they unravel a web of deceit framing Dr. Dixon. Through meticulous analysis of poisoned ink and chemical experiments, Kennedy exposes the true culprit and clears the innocent party. Summary by John McCormick

Interviews with authors

"The Poisoned Pen" is a collection of twelve of Professor Kennedy's adventures. In these, Reeve uses the newest technologies of the early 1900s, which were nothing short of revolutionary for the time. The title story for example features the use of special inks, some appearing and others disappearing in sunlight, making the pursuit of a murderer incredibly difficult for the professor. Each story offers a fascinating look at life in the early 20th century, as well as being loaded with adventure, action, and mystery.

Everyone in the charming Hudson Valley town of Oak Falls expected Flynn Keegan, their handsome blond "Golden Boy", to make it big in Hollywood. So when veterinarian Kate Turner identifies a bone dug up by one of her dog patients as human, no one thinks back 10 years to remember Flynn. Until DNA and a smashed skull prove he was murdered. Kate soon discovers that chains of love can be as strong as those made of steel-and some deadly secrets have put her next on the kill list.

Cal Claxton is determined to reinvent himself as a small-town lawyer in the aftermath of his wife's suicide. Once a hard-charging Los Angeles prosecutor, he now lives in solitude in an old farmhouse overlooking Oregon's wine country. When a scruffy, tattooed kid shows up asking for help in solving a cold case - that of his mother's murder - Cal wants to say no. Times are tough, and he's no private eye, anyway. But the kid, who calls himself Picasso, has ridden a bicycle in the rain all the way from Portland, and something about his determination touches Cal.

Bob Patterson considers himself an everyman - albeit an everyman with a rich, beautiful wife, two good kids, and a mail-it-in job that ignores his law degree. Despite his good fortune, Bob is idling through life, bored at work and at home. In short, he is the proverbial coaster. Bob's wife, Sarah, is the anointed heir to the empire built by her father, Sam, a kind of Kansas City, Missouri, Warren Buffet. Fine by Bob, the family soccer mom, but early one morning he and Sarah awake to terrible news.

Faye has traveled to Memphis, a city steeped in music, poverty, history, and the smoky tang of barbecue. She's there working alone to do an assessment of a site, welcome work for her small archaeological consulting firm. When Faye spies a child too young to be wandering along a creek alone, she follows the girl. A day later she uncovers a dying woman, buried alive near a spot where Kali might well be hiding. Nobody would blame Faye for running hard, but she can't make herself leave Kali, the woman's now-orphaned daughter, who might be in danger.

After years of prosecuting hard-core criminals, rising legal star Alan Bell took a private sector job in South Florida's newest skyscraper. Suddenly, he suffered such bizarre medical symptoms, doctors suspected he'd been poisoned by the Mafia. Bell's rapidly declining health forced him to flee his glamorous Miami life to a sterile "bubble" in the remote Arizona desert.

When the townspeople of Lochdubh begin receiving poison-pen letters, no one takes them very seriously, even if they are full of wild accusations. But Hamish fears that they might lead to something deadly. His instincts prove correct when the town's postmistress is found hanging from a rope with a poison-pen letter at her feet. Though it appears to be a suicide, Hamish suspects something more sinister. Attempting to trace the letters, the last thing Hamish needs is any distractions, but soon Jenny Ogilvie arrives in Lochdubh determined to seduce him.

Steel...smart, aggressive, ironic, spare and cynical...has been content working homicide at the LAPD until his father, the legendary Sheriff Burton Steel, falls ill with Lou Gehrig's disease. Sheriff Steel is headquartered in Freedom, a privileged coastal community located 100 miles north of Los Angeles. His health failing, he asks his son Buddy to come home to cover his back and to groom him to be his successor. Buddy reluctantly agrees. He returns to Freedom despite having outgrown its small town limits, wary of his father's authoritarianism.

The FBI are at a loss. How can they hunt a man who can escape through time? They’re in over their heads, and only one man can help them—one they thought was dead, but there is an agent who knows the truth: Brian Partridge is alive.

It's autumn of 1881, and Inez Stannert, still the co-owner of Leadville, Colorado's Silver Queen saloon, is settled in San Francisco with her young ward, Antonia Gizzi. Inez has turned her business talents to managing a music store, hoping to eventually become an equal partner in the enterprise with the store's owner, a celebrated local violinist. Inez's carefully constructed life for herself and Antonia threatens to tumble about her ears when the badly beaten body of a young musician washes up on the filthy banks of San Francisco's Mission Creek canal.

Edinburgh is mourning the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II when bookseller Delaney Nichols's boss comes to her with a most unusual assignment. An old friend of his, living in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have an item of breathtaking Scottish historical significance in her possession? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie's estate, she is greeted by a legal team with a vested interest in the property.

At the end of the first practice session for the iconic Indianapolis 500 race, Kate Reilly is stunned to discover she was the fastest driver on the track. She's even more surprised to learn she wasn't the first woman to top the speed charts in the race's 106-year history. That feat was accomplished in 1987 by PJ Rodriguez, who shocked the racing world and the wider one by committing suicide 10 days later. When the press, bloggers, and social media go crazy over the connection between PJ and Kate, Kate begins to lose her identity.

Psychologist Dr. Daniel Rinaldi consults with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. His specialty is treating victims of violent crime - those who've survived an armed robbery, kidnapping, or sexual assault, but whose traumatic experience still haunts them. Head Wounds picks up where Rinaldi's investigation in Phantom Limb left off, turning the tables on him as he himself becomes the target of a vicious killer.