A collection of thrilling murder mysteries featuring “an unusually interesting detective” from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus (The Washington Star). Japanese-American Beverly Hills homicide detective Masao Masuto is a karate expert, a devotee of roses, and a Zen Buddhist. He does his job with a cool, caustic wit—and with surprising force when necessary. He possesses a singular sense of justice, taking action on his own and occasionally pushing the boundaries of the law . . . The Case of the Angry Actress: When a Hollywood mogul drops dead at his own party, Detective Masuto must dig into the darkest secrets of the magnate’s past. Now he must uncover a secret worth killing for before someone else dies. “A good fast-paced thriller.” —Reader’s Syndicate The Case of the One-Penny Orange: Masuto has a break-in and a murder to solve, both of which are baffling. But when he suspects a connection between the two crimes, he uncovers a bizarre conspiracy that reaches back to the darkest days of World War II. “A finely perceived mystery puzzle . . . an unusually interesting detective.” —The Washington Star The Case of the Russian Diplomat: When a dead body is found in a pool at a high-class hotel notorious for its illicit activities, Matsuo finds himself hunting for a killer and tangled in a web of espionage and international intrigue. “An enjoyable, highly professional entertainment.” —The New Yorker The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs: A pleasant lull in murder cases is broken when a series of unusual poisoning deaths puts Masuto on the hunt for someone whose terrifying vendetta has only just begun. “A consummate storyteller.” —The Baltimore Sun

A collection of thrilling murder mysteries featuring “an unusually interesting detective” from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus (The Washington Star). Japanese-American Beverly Hills homicide detective Masao Masuto is a karate expert, a devotee of roses, and a Zen Buddhist. He does his job with a cool, caustic wit—and with surprising force when necessary. He possesses a singular sense of justice, taking action on his own and occasionally pushing the boundaries of the law . . . The Case of the Sliding Pool: After a decades-old hidden grave is uncovered by a rainstorm, Detective Masuto must look into the distant past to find a murderer who was very good at his job—and who is about to come out of retirement. “An interesting conception.” —The New York Times The Case of the Kidnapped Angel: The wife of one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars has been kidnapped for ransom—one that is willingly paid. But Masuto doesn’t believe the worried husband’s performance. He suspects the payoff was for something deadly . . . “A talent for all times.” —The Moscow News The Case of the Murdered McKenzie: When a faded movie beauty is accused of killing her rich husband, it seems like an open-and-shut case—until Masuto investigates. And it soon appears that murder is only the beginning of an even more shocking conspiracy. “One of the best in the series.” —The New York Times As witty as he is wise, Detective Masuto is the brilliant creation of “one of the 20th century’s busiest writers” known for “creating stories that even his critics admired as page-turners (The New York Times).

Two full-length mysteries featuring Nisei detective Masao Masuto are together in one volume. In "The Case of the Sliding Pool", Masuto investigates the identity of a skeleton found when a swimming pool collapses. And in "The Case of the Kidnapped Angel", the husband of a kidnapped Hollywood sex goddess does not return from paying her ransom.

Bruce Murphy's Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is a comprehensive guide to the genre of the murder mystery that catalogues thousands of items in a broad range of categories: authors, titles, plots, characters, weapons, methods of killing, movie and theatrical adaptations. What distinguishes this encyclopedia from the others in the field is its critical stance.

Mystery: A Japanese-American detective is faced with a ransacked house and the murder of a stamp dealer.

DIVDetective Masuto investigates a string of strange Southern California crimes that lead all the way back to Nazi Germany /divDIVReturning from a funeral, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Briggs find their Beverly Hills mansion ransacked. As they wait for the police, they discover something unusual: Despite the chaos, nothing appears to be missing—a fact that greatly interests Beverly Hills police detective Masao Masuto. But the Zen detective only has a few minutes to ponder the strange break-in before a murder intervenes./divDIV /divDIVThe victim is Ivan Gaycheck, a stamp dealer whom Masuto remembers for his stout frame and unplaceable accent. A .22-caliber bullet killed Gaycheck, but—just like the Briggs’s home invasion—nothing in the shop has been disturbed. Suspecting a connection between the two crimes, Masuto dives into the case, uncovering a strange conspiracy that stretches back to the darkest days of World War II./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author’s estate./div

A pair of imaginative science fiction story collections from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus, Freedom Road, and the Immigrants saga. Over his long and illustrious career, New York Times–bestselling author and prolific novelist Howard Fast proved himself a master of any literary genre, from historical fiction in Spartacus to family generational drama in his bestselling Immigrants saga. Although his output in fantasy and science fiction is relatively modest, these two short story collections, reminiscent of classic Twilight Zone episodes, demonstrate that Fast’s imagination knew no boundaries. The General Zapped an Angel: Nearly forty years after the publication of his first story, “Wrath of Purple,” in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, Fast returned to the genre with a set of nine supremely entertaining tales. In this collection, a Vietnam general shoots down what appears to be an angel, a man sells his soul to the devil for a copy of the next day’s Wall Street Journal, and a group of alien beings bestow a mouse with human thought and emotion. “These stories amply display Fast’s considerable gifts as a writer—his clear, concise, often elegant prose, his sense of humor, his gift of sympathetic imagination, and sheer talent as a storyteller.” —Tangent A Touch of Infinity: This follow-up to The General Zapped an Angel offers thirteen brisk and engrossing science fiction stories. In “The Hoop,” a scientist builds a portal to an unknown destination, which the mayor of New York City hijacks to use as a garbage dump until the location’s surprising—and hilarious—revelation. And in “The Egg,” set three thousand years in the future, a research team discovers an egg, something they have never seen before, cryogenically frozen in a nuclear bunker. “Fast, a master of economy . . . spins his stories quickly and most effectively.” —Associated Press