Dorothy Salisbury Davis

FIFTEEN STORIES ABOUT THE MOST HEINOUS CRIME OF ALL... Of all the crimes humankind can commit, the act of murder-of cold-bloodedly taking another human life-is often the most shocking, and can tear couples, families, and even entire towns apart. Mystery Writers of America is proud to present this volume in the Classics series, featuring fourteen stories by acclaimed writers, all exploring the terrible crime of murder. From chill-master Robert Bloch comes a story of outwardly domestic bliss, but with rotten secrets at its core. Mystery master Dorothy Salisbury Davis takes us to a small town where the killing of a mean-spirited landscaper makes the local sheriff question everything he knows in his pursuit of justice. Joe Gores visits the harsh, unforgiving land of South Africa, where a farmer is forever chased by the sins of his past. Patricia McGerr invites us to the White House, where a foreign dignitary's gift to the First Lady may have deadly consequences. And Ellery Queen solves a curious conundrum of a murdered boxer...and also how his own jacket got stolen while at the match. Fifteen stories of plots, plans, and perfidy-all in pursuit of the perfect murder... Featuring stories by: Robert BlochDorothy Salisbury DavisStanley EllinRobert L. FishJoe GoresAllen Kim LangPatricia McGerrRoss MacdonaldWilliam P. McGivernWilliam F. NolanCharles NormanEllery QueenLawrence TreatHillary WaughDonald A. Wollheim

Hailed by critic Anthony Boucher as "one of the best detective stories of modern times," this classic tale by Grand Master Dorothy Salisbury Davis combines suspense and psychological insight as a priest and a police detective both race to find a self-confessed murderer before he is compelled to kill again." Bless me, Father, for I have sinned ..." Father Duffy has heard many confessions through the years, but none quite so disturbing as the one he's heard tonight. A young man enters the confessional just as the priest is readying to leave for the evening; he's distraught that he has killed a woman in a paroxysm of uncontrollable rage-¬and he's still wielding the hammer he used to do the deed. Father Duffy tries to convince the young man to turn himself in to the police, but he flees just as suddenly as he had appeared. When the priest learns the next day that an escort was found bludgeoned to death on the East Side, he sets out to search for the troubled confessor. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ben Goldsmith of the NYPD is drawn deep into the official investigation. Neither is aware that the other is searching for the murderer, and both hope against hope that they're able to find the killer before he strikes again.

WHEN IT COMES TO MURDER, THERE'S ALWAYS A CHOICE... The only thing more varied than how people are killed is the many, many ways people try to get away with this terrible crime. Now masterful mystery writer Dorothy Salisbury Davis brings together 23 classic stories of crime and suspense, whodunits and detective stories from some of the finest authors of the 1950s. Ross Macdonald's classic P. I. Lew Archer takes a chilling case in California, where the mob isn't the only deadly thing under the West Coast sun. Margaret Millar brings us the tale of the couple next door who ensnares their neighbor in a tangled web of love and deception. Margaret Manners invites us to a bar for a drink and a quick little story of a con man who got what he deserved-and how the man accused of his murder walked free. And Michael Gilbert brilliant detective Gladwyn Hughes must get to the bottom of an ambassador assassinated in front of forty-five witnesses before a war breaks out in Europe over the murder. Twenty-three stories of criminals, victims, and always, always multiple choices of murder... Featuring stories by: ROBERT ARTHURLAWRENCE G. BLOCHMANANTHONY BOUCHERWENZELL BROWNANDREW CARVEMIGNON G. EBERHARTSTANLEY ELLINANTHONY GILBERTMICHAEL GILBERTRYERSON JOHNSONHELEN KASSONJAMES A. KIRCHROSS MACDONALDMARGARET MANNERSSTEPHEN MARLOWEMARGARET MILLARSTUART PALMERJOHN BASYE PRICEELLERY QUEENMARC SEYMOURRUTHVEN TODDLAWRENCE TREATROBERT TURNER

In Grand Master of crime fiction Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s second Mrs. Norris novel, which the New York Times hailed as “tensely perplexing,” the crime-solving Scottish housekeeper helps crack the case of a serial lady-killerAs housekeeper to James Jarvis’s recently deceased father, a retired major general of the US Army, Mrs. Norris has raised Jimmie since boyhood. Now the Wall Street lawyer faces a challenging case. The son of one of the firm’s old blue-blood clients has been slapped with a paternity suit. But Teddy Adkins swears he never slept with the woman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Norris is miffed when her gentleman friend Jasper Tully, the widowed chief investigator for the Manhattan DA’s office, cancels one dinner date after another because a real estate magnate has been found strangled in the bedroom of her Upper East Side apartment. Jewelry was stolen, but there are no signs of a break-in. Tully’s investigation turns up a trail of strangulations that extends all the way to the Midwest. As Mrs. Norris pursues her own unorthodox investigation, she uncovers a shocking link between the cases that threatens her very life. A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the second novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include Death of an Old Sinner, Old Sinners Never Die, and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. A Gentleman Called is the 2nd book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A Grand Master of crime fiction, Dorothy Salisbury Davis introduces the redoubtable crime-solving Scottish housekeeper Mrs. Norris in this thrilling tale of family secrets and murder General Ransom Jarvis is writing his memoirs about a distinguished career that spanned five continents and three wars. Along the way, he stumbles upon a scandal about a philandering ancestor—America’s ambassador to England who went on to become president of the United States. But a very clear and present danger embroils the irascible retired general in a deepening quagmire of deceit, fraud, and murder. Enter Mrs. Norris, the housekeeper who has been almost a mother to Ransom’s son since he was a boy. Jimmie is currently running for governor of New York and enjoying his budding relationship with sculptor Helene Joyce. A sudden death changes everything, plunging Jimmie and Mrs. Norris into a bizarre case headed up by Jasper Tully, chief investigator for the Manhattan district attorney’s office. With more lives at stake, the trio follows lead after lead into a web of crime that only the canny housekeeper can clean up in the nick of time. Death of an Old Sinner is the first novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award; Old Sinners Never Die; and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. Death of an Old Sinner is the 1st book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Grand Master of crime fiction Dorothy Salisbury Davis brings back the beguiling character Major General Ransom Jarvis in this third Mrs. Norris Mystery, a prequel, which immerses the redoubtable crime-solving Scottish housekeeper in a murder investigation in the nation’s capitalWith a new president in the White House, Major General Ransom Jarvis suspects that his retirement from the US Army is imminent. But at Washington’s annual invitation-only Beaux Arts Ball, the decorated soldier becomes an unwitting pawn in a far-reaching conspiracy. It begins when Ransom meets Virginia Allan, a beautiful blonde with secrets. And there is something decidedly shady about Frenchman Leo Montaigne. As Ransom starts to uncover damning intel about DC’s most powerful movers and shakers, the town is suddenly rocked by murder. Now Ransom’s son, Jimmie, a freshman congressman, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Norris, are risking their necks as they conduct their own fact-finding mission in a city rife with patriots, spies, and deadly political wannabes. Old Sinners Never Die is the third novel in Dorothy Salisbury Davis’s Mrs. Norris Mysteries, which also include Death of an Old Sinner; A Gentleman Called, a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award; and “Mrs. Norris Observes,” a short story in the collection Tales for a Stormy Night. Old Sinners Never Die is the 3rd book in the Mrs. Norris Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.