American Detective Mysteries

The sole survivor of his family’s gruesome murder years earlier, poor little Ned Lawton has struggled to put the dark events behind him. So, when a brash New York detective darkens his doorway demanding an interview, the wealthy young gentleman immediately shuts him out. But a rash of murders in America are mirroring of the London killings, and Patrick Kelly knows Ned might be the key to stopping the bloodshed.

First published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the now classic Otto Preminger film of the same name, starring Jimmy Stewart and Duke Ellington. It's not only the most popular...

“A biography that reads like a novel.” —The Wall Street Journal “Laybourne was a badass.” —Los Angeles Times “Sweeney’s biography must be read to be believed.” —The Millions “Engrossing...Riveting...This entrances.” —Publishers Weekly NPR Books We Love...

“A stunner, exquisitely plotted and characterized, with Todd’s trademark meticulous backdrop of World War I-era England.”—Strand Magazine The Great War is still raging when Francesca Hatton’s adored grandfather dies on his estate in England’s isolated Exe Valley. She is his sole heir...

In 1887 on his way to prison, the convicted murderer, Vincent Louder Lovelace, was killed in a horrific collision in London between a police wagon and an omnibus. Though Lovelace never kept his date with the hangman, his accidental death resulted in justice being served. Or so the authorities continued to believe until the arrival at 221B Baker Street of the American author, Julian Hawthorne, son of the famous writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Julian informs Sherlock Holmes that the dead man is not only alive and well, but also innocent of murder.

Dr. John H. Watson could not anticipate that a favour for the noted American mystery writer and forensic dentist, Rodrigues Ottolengui, would result in the discovery of a heinous murder. But that is what happens when in helping the American, Watson finds himself at a shooting match in a London villa that ultimately leads him to a charred corpse lying face down in a fireplace. With the members of a shooters club as suspects, Watson and Scotland Yard are quick to welcome Sherlock Holmes to the investigation.

High school seniors Ben Prescott, Porter Rockwell, and Latch McRae search for treasure that American history leaves behind. Ben masterminds the plan. Porter brings the guts and humor. Latch McRae supplies the gumption and tools. Now a many times great-grandson of American patriot Samuel Adams asks them to look into a new claim that the Boston Tea Party wasn’t about British tyranny and no taxation without representation, but was Sam Adams’ scheme to steal the tea and make himself rich. If Adams was a thief, America’s origin story cracks wide open.

The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. In The Lady in the Lake, hardboiled crime fiction master Raymond...

Trouble is brewing for cousins Yale and Celine Yee after a hot pot dinner gets overheated and ends in murder in this second novel of the L.A. Night Market series by Jennifer J. Chow. Yale and Celine Yee’s food stall business is going so well that they’ve been invited to join an exclusive...

Like the first book, The Covid Murders is a fictional and captivating medical detective story, this time exploring a mysterious death in a hospital in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. But like the first, it also connects this entertaining tale simply and understandably to the very real problems of American health care policy. It explains what has gone wrong with our system historically and now, including the great impact of our recent national experience with the Covid pandemic.

"Narrator Laura Jennings believably delivers the intonations of a number of Native American characters in this mystery...Overall, Jennings's reserved tone and low pitch give a note of solemnity and respect to a culture that has been historically marginalized." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones...

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S BEST MYSTERY BOOKS OF THE YEAR Introducing Claudia Lin: a sharp-witted amateur sleuth for the 21st century. This debut novel follows Claudia as she verifies people's online lives, and lies, for a dating detective agency in New York City. Until a client with an...

A young inventor - the man whose name appears in the title of Dr. Watson’s narrative, “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans”—lies dead on the floor of an old house, two bullet holes in his back. To solve the gruesome murder, Sherlock Holmes enlists the aid of William Gillette, the celebrated American actor renown for his portrayal of the famous detective, and Arthur Conan Doyle, conveniently familiar with the world of spiritualism that serves as backdrop to the brutal crime.

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, this short story by Conan Doyle preceded the famous detective by almost a decade. After an altercation, a disgruntled American storms off into the night, only to disappear mysteriously. Could a giant flytrap really be capable of engulfing an adult victim?

Two corpses, a stolen diamond necklace, a Russian connection, and a dandified American writer who pals around with denizens of the theater - all add up to a murder investigation with international implications. Leave it to Sherlock Holmes who, in a classic assemblage of suspects in a high-tone British men’s club, employs his celebrated powers of deduction to reveal the guilty party.

One moment, the lovely young woman was walking through the Battle of Hastings exhibition at the British Museum. The next, she lay dead on the checkered museum floor, a Norman arrow protruding from her breast. Inspector Lestrade believed he had solved the mystery, but almost immediately recognized that Scotland Yard needed the help of Sherlock Holmes.