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From the author of the Mike Shayne Mysteries: A man's obsessive affair with his wife's teenage sister takes him down a dark and dangerous path. A quiet construction engineer in Denver, Colorado, Charlie Dell doesn't need any complications in his life. But his wife, Irma, insists they take in her younger sister, Lois, as a matter of duty. Charlie bristles at the thought of having a seventeen-year-old girl around... until he gets one look at Lois. She's a far cry from the buck-toothed kid Dell remembers, and more than willing to indulge in a little sin with her sister's husband. Insane with passion, Dell starts cutting corners at work in order to find time alone with her. But actions have consequences—deadly, serious ones—and the further Dell goes to cover his tracks, the darker and more dangerous his path gets. “This is a taut, matter-of-fact novel—simply and powerfully written.” —The Nashville Tennessean Praise for Brett Halliday's Mike Shayne Mysteries “[Mike Shayne is] one of the best of the tough sleuths.” —The New York Times “Unlike anything else in the genre.” —L. J. Washburn, author of For Whom the Funeral Bell Tolls “Raw, ingenious storytelling... Pure pleasure.” —Shane Black, creator of Lethal Weapon and writer/director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, on Murder Is My Business

A teenage girl and her wicked stepmother battle to the death in this pulp fiction classic from the legendary author of the Mike Shayne Mysteries. Ever since her father wrote to say he had married a woman named Florence, April Haddon has nursed a bitter hatred for her stepmother. Now, years later, when they finally meet, she is not disappointed. With her father dead, April is back in Midhampton to claim her inheritance. Only Florence stands in her way. As April's legal guardian, Florence seems to relish the control she has over her stepdaughter. But April has her own ways of taking control. She'd kill Florence if she thought she could get away with it—she even says so in her diary. And now it seems she'll get the chance. Over the next eleven days, April and Florence engage in a vicious battle of wills that leads inexorably to tragedy. But is Florence truly an evil stepmother—or is April truly capable of carrying out her darkest fantasies? First published in 1949, Before I Wake was hailed by the Los Angeles Daily News as “an emotional experience” that “hasn't been matched in years” with “an incredibly terrifying finish that will... knock you for a loop.” Praise for Brett Halliday's Mike Shayne Mysteries “[Mike Shayne is] one of the best of the tough sleuths.” —The New York Times “Unlike anything else in the genre.” —L. J. Washburn, author of For Whom the Funeral Bell Tolls “Raw, ingenious storytelling... Pure pleasure.” —Shane Black, creator of Lethal Weapon and writer/director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, on Murder Is My Business

When an author finds his friend murdered, he calls on hardboiled cop Jerry Burke to track down the killer In a lonely canyon high above El Paso, a ruthless millionaire and a hardline socialist live side by side. Raymond Dwight makes money mercilessly and Leslie Young hates the rich with a passion, but the men have coexisted peacefully—so far. But when Western novelist Asa Baker escapes to Young's cabin for a weekend of writing, he can sense tension in the air. His friend has always muttered about tossing a few bombs at Dwight's estate, but his jokes have stopped being funny. Baker has seen enough bloodshed to know that there is murder on the horizon. When he finds Young dead on the floor, a strange mark on his cheek, Baker calls the only man who can help: Jerry Burke, the toughest cop in El Paso. In the shadowy corners of this Texas canyon lie secrets that someone will kill to protect—and Burke is the only man daring enough to uncover the truth.

MURDER AT THE RIO GRANDETen years ago, private eye Mike Shayne did a job for one of the richest men in El Paso, digging up dirt on a boy courting the tycoon's daughter. Now the daughter's back, all grown up and dangerous. And so's Shayne – but this time it's to investigate murder…