Lord Burford had some serious misgivings about hosting yet another house party at Alderley. After all, the previous two could, at best, be described as disastrous. But with family members travelling down for the funeral of an elderly relative, the Earl really had no choice but to offer accommodation. It did not take long for things to go wrong even before a body was found. For readers who want the twist in the tale to be as elegant as a well-tied cravat, it would be criminal to miss The Affair of the Thirty-Nine Cufflinks.

The Earl of Burford hosts a collection of relatives who have arrived for the funeral of an elderly relative, but the murder of a guest (and potential blackmailer) embroils them all in Chief Inspector Wilkins's investigation.

Lord Burford had some misgivings about hosting another house party. At the last two parties, a couple of guests had been bumpedoff. But his guests need somewhere to stay, so he doesn't have much choice. Things soon start to go wrong.

A collection of mystery criticism and essays from the reviewer of books for Ellery Queen Magazine. Jon Breen is the worthy successor of Anthony Boucher and his hundreds of reviews of books and authors is a must-have for all serious mystery fans. A Ramble House book

The theft of the diamond necklace and the antique pistols might all be explained, but the body in the lake is particularly puzzling. 'Don't expect me to solve anything,' Inspector Wilkins announces modestly when he arrives to sort out the unpleasantness. And at a gathering that includes English aristocracy, foreign agents in disguise, a ravishing baroness, a daring jewel thief, a Texan millionaire and, of course, the redoubtable butler, it would take some intricate sleuthing to uncover who killed whom and why. For whodunnit fans who prefer their villains to be nice and refined people, the sort who quote Shakespeare and knock off their nearest and dearest between rubbers of bridge, The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy is a delectable treat.

An annual collection of more than thirty mystery stories from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany includes pieces by such names as Ruth Rendell, Ed McBain, Barbara Hambly, Ian Rankin, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Includes the stories “The Body” and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine A “hypnotic” (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas—including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters. This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption. Next is “Apt Pupil,” the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town. In “The Body,” four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me. Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.” “The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,” hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.