A warehouse robbery pulls Mike Shayne into a daring international conspiracy It’s been years since Mike Shayne last subjected himself to a stakeout. Miami’s most infamous private detective simply doesn’t have time to waste sitting in a car, drinking cold coffee and waiting for excitement that will never come. But the Acme Bonding Company is one of his oldest clients, and when his stand-in falls through, he’s obliged to keep watch himself. A string of warehouse robberies, timed to coincide with hurricanes, has put Miami’s business community on the alert. So when a tropical storm closes in, Acme asks Shayne to keep a lookout for burglars. He waits with his pistol in hand. The burglars enter the warehouse quietly, like professionals, but Shayne still sees them coming—and his trigger finger is itchy. A shootout leaves 1 burglar dead and the others on the lam. But when he searches the city for the rest of the gang, Shayne finds that Miami is about to get hit by something far deadlier than a tropical storm. A Redhead for Mike Shayne is the 47th book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A mentally ill woman is accused of killing her mother in this classic Mike Shayne novel from the legendary detective author. Mike Shayne has just poured himself a drink when Phyllis Brighton tries to throw herself out the window of his downtown apartment. Luckily, he blocks her just before she can launch herself over the sill. She tried to warn him she was crazy, but he didn’t listen. Her doctor and her new stepfather, on the other hand, both believe Phyllis is suffering from a kind of Electra complex— a fixation with her mother that is so intense that Phyllis would rather kill her than share her with anyone else. Shayne agrees to do whatever he can to keep Phyllis from killing her mother, but that doesn’t ensure that the woman will live. When Mrs. Brighton is found with a knife buried in her back, all signs point to the Phyllis’s guilt. But this hard-boiled private investigator didn’t stop someone from jumping out a window just to send her to the electric chair. And it doesn’t take a degree in psychology to find a killer—it takes brains, eyes, and two strong fists. Mike Shayne is just the man for the job. Dividend on Death is the 1st book in the Mike Shayne Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When Ben Gates took the job guarding the presents at a ritzy upper-class wedding, he thought it would be a simple assignment: stand around, look tough, and make sure none of the bridesmaids walk off with the jewelry. But that was before someone slipped sleeping pills into Ben’s coffee and a bizarre robbery attempt left two people dead. Now Ben’s reputation is on the line – and if he doesn’t figure out which of three beautiful women is hiding a murderous secret, his life may be as well…

“Are you just going to stand there,” Sharon asked the vice cop, “or do you want to join in the game?” It was in the line of duty, Matt kept telling himself as he played at love with the wild teenager. Just enough to gain her confidence—and an invitation to the orgies at the big house. But in the end, Matt was far more deeply involved with Sharon than a cop had any right to be. When the wild party began, it was too late to prevent a murder. And the vice cop was marked for victim number two.

The origins of literature’s finest crime fighters, told by their creators themselves Their names ring out like gunshots in the dark of a back alley, crime fighters of a lost era whose heroic deeds will never be forgotten. They are men like Lew Archer, Pierre Chambrun, Flash Casey, and the Shadow. They are women like Mrs. North and the immortal Nancy Drew. These are detectives, and they are some of the only true heroes the twentieth century ever knew. In this classic volume, Otto Penzler presents essays written by the authors who created these famous characters. We learn how Ed McBain killed—and resurrected—the hero of the 87th Precinct, how international agent Quiller wrote his will, and how Dick Tracy first announced that “crime does not pay.” Some of these heroes may be more famous than others, but there is not one whom you wouldn’t like on your side in a courtroom, a shootout, or an old-fashioned barroom brawl.