Kek Huuygens does not come through customs the way other people do. He is known to the customs officials of every country in the world. He is searched. He is stripped. He is humiliated. But still he is successful. Kek Huuygens, born in Poland, with a Dutch name, carrying a valid American passport, is the cleverest and best-paid smuggler to ever exasperate a customs inspector. In these adventures, Huuygens smuggles everything from a Bach Cantata to a priceless collection of miniature paintings, outwitting a former Nazi officer, the entire banking community of Belgium, and the ex-president of a Caribbean island. The exploits of Kek Huuygens have been recounted in four novels: The Hochmann Miniatures, Whirligig, The Tricks of the Trade and The Wager. There have been seven short stories, originally published in Argosy, MD and Playboy. All are collected in this volume

A small-town sheriff investigates a bizarre disappearance. Nobody could blame Charley Crompton for wanting to kill his wife. For years she’s made his life hell, but poor old Charley has always been too meek to stand up for himself. One night they have a terrible fight, loud enough for Mrs. Williams next door to hear every word, and the argument is followed by eerie silence. The next thing Mrs. Williams knows, Charley is digging up the peach tree in his backyard and burying it again. When Mrs. Crompton doesn’t reappear, Mrs. Williams has only one thought on her mind: Mrs. Crompton has been murdered. When the local sheriff knocks on the Cromptons’ door, Charley answers holding a bloody ax. As the circumstantial evidence piles up, the police are forced to decide: Is Charley Crompton a cold-blooded killer? Or has he simply lost his mind? “Moonlight Gardener” was awarded the Edgar for Best Short Story in 1972

The arid wilderness of colonial South Africa is the setting for this saga of love and ambition; the duel between two formidable men for control of the legendary Kimberley diamond fields at the turn of the century. Young Barney Barnato had nothing to lose when he abandoned his squalid existence in London’s East End and set out for the Dark Continent to make his fortune. He built an empire and became a threat to the ruthless Cecil Rhodes, who scorned the pauper-turned-tycoon and tried at every turn to destroy him. But the ghetto Jew proved to be more than a match for the snobbish Rhodes, who had bought himself a title and craved total control of the diamond trade, where millions were made and lost overnight. Barnato’s struggle, which took him from unbearable poverty to unimagined riches, from loveless slums to the loving arms of a beautiful woman, always stalked by the malevolent Rhodes, makes for a riveting novel blending history with fiction in the frontier days of nineteenth-century empire building

Ruth was sitting rigidly, white-faced; Gregor tried the door handles; the doors were locked! Ahead, the edge of the cliff was coming closer and closer as the heavy car picked up momentum, the deep ruts of the worn dirt road keeping the wheels locked on their inevitable juggernaut course, the sea below frothing over rocks beneath a sheer drop. Suddenly Gregor leaned back in his seat, raising his two feet, jamming his shoes through the glass that divided the empty front seat from the enclosed rear; a moment later he had forced himself through the shards of broken glass still embedded in the frame, unaware either of the ripping of his clothes or the shredding of his skin as he slithered on his stomach across the seat and under the dashboard, pulling with all his force on the emergency brake. The car responded slowly, as if resenting this interference with its unexpected freedom, swaying from side to side as its great weight seemed determined to overcome the demands of the tightening brake bands. Gregor blanked his mind to the thought of the approaching cliff, or of Ruth sitting petrified and frightened in the rear of the car; he gritted his teeth and pulled on the emergency brake with all his power

When the Brazilian liner Porto Alegre docked in Barbados in 1956, the passengers reveled in the gay carnival-time hysteria ashore, while the few officers left aboard invited a four-man calypso band to liven up the dull shipboard routine. But the smiling musicians were even more adept at cracking the purser’s safe than playing their steel drums, and the Porto Alegre left the friendly Caribbean minus half a million dollars’ worth of gems. A young police officer named Da Silva nailed the thieves, sent them to jail, and waited fifteen years for the release of the last surviving member of the gang to lead him to the well-hidden loot. But prison had changed William Trelawney McNeil, mastermind of the shipboard heist. Once a charming lady killer, now a bitter, half-mad adversary, he leads Da Silva on a danger-laden chase through a green hell where the natives hate the Brazilian detective as much as McNeil himself

The creator of Captain Jose Da Silva and Lt. Clancy adds another irresistible character to his mystery roster. Robert L. Fish presents the world’s greatest smuggler in The Hochmann Miniatures. His name is Kek Huuygens. He is known to customs officials the world over. He has smuggled everything from an original Bach cantata to a two-ton Indian elephant. And he’s never been caught — even with the elephant. The Hochmann Miniatures, however, is more than a smuggler’s tale. It’s a novel of revenge, primeval passions, betrayed love. A long time ago Kek Huuygens swore to kill a man: Colonel Wilhelm Gruber, SS officer of Hitler’s Polish occupation army. It was Gruber who murdered Huuygens’ family and married Jadzia, beautiful, vicious Jadzia, first and only love of Huuygens’ life. A phone call from an old Resistance comrade to Huuygens in Paris informs him that Gruber is hiding out in Lisbon... that Gruber wants to escape to Brazil and take with him a collection of priceless miniatures... that Gruber in fact needs the services of a first-rate smuggler. After twenty-five years Kek Huuygens’ hands are around his enemy’s throat. Suspense mounts at jet pace when Huuygens flies to Lisbon and meets the Nazi fugitive. It all seems so simple. The smuggler will pretend to get Gruber and his contraband masterpieces out of the country. And then he will kill him. But what about Frau Gruber, what about Jadzia, the beguiling jezebel whom Huuygens still loves? For Jadzia there is a special plan. A plan that has nothing to do with revenge. Or so it seems. Here is a new kind of thriller — harrowing, humorous, and wickedly ironic — that tells the story of what happens to a man when he dares to play judge, jury... and executioner

The world’s most successful smuggler, Kek Huuygens, returns in this tale of blackmail, white flesh (slightly compromised), and money, money, money, by the author of the popular Captain José Da Silva novels. What kind of suitcase is worth $10,000 plus expenses to the messenger who carries it from Buenos Aires to Barcelona — sans customs inspection? Kek Huuygens was a professional, and he wasn’t about to pick up the bait until he knew a little more about the oily Señor Sanchez, who offered him the job. But while he was checking on Sanchez, the little man was working on his own form of travel insurance — underwritten by blackmail and deftly designed to play Huuygens right into his hands. When challenged, the amused Huuygens decided to play the game with Sanchez’s pack of second-rate con men. But he underestimated the opposition — and the persuasiveness of a lady in distress

There was only one man Kek Huuygens didn’t recognize at the bar of New York’s exclusive Quinleven Gambling Club. But when the man invited him for a drink. Huuygens suddenly realized he was facing Victor Girard, a criminal with an international reputation. Girard desperately covets a very rare and valuable carving kept under tight security on a Caribbean island, and he bets Huuygens $50,000 that he can’t get it past the U.S. Customs. Huuygens takes the bet: but the professional thief Girard has retained bungles the job. and to win. Huuygens not only must carry out an “impossible” robbery, but devise a devilishly ingenious plan that will get the treasure past the inspectors who have been alerted to its disappearance. A tale of mounting tension climaxed by an astonishing surprise that confirms the author’s talent at creating “touch and go adventure that works out brilliantly.” — Bestsellers

В сборник вошли три романа мастеров детективного жанра: «Смерть — штука тонкая» Э. Бокса — о расследовании убийств сыщиком-любителем, «Афера Хавьера» P. Л. Фиша — о судьбе бразильского студента, и «Экстренный выпуск» У. Макгиверна — о журналистах, решивших найти правду во что бы то ни стало. Переводчики в книге указаны без привязки к отдельным произведениям

Единственный роман криминального жанра в творческом наследии Джека Лондона. Роман, идею которого подсказал писателю его друг Синклер Льюис, а закончил его по наброскам Лондона, уже много лет спустя после его смерти, лауреат премии Эдгара По знаменитый американский мастер иронического детектива Роберт Фиш. Иван Драгомилов – порядочный предприниматель с жестким кодексом чести. Его бюро принимает заказы на убийства любых лиц: от частных граждан до видных политиков, президентов, диктаторов и монархов – и гарантирует качественное исполнение работы. Одно условие: от заказчика требуется железное обоснование, что намеченная жертва в самом деле достойна смерти. А поскольку профессиональный убийца, несомненно, гибели заслуживает, Драгомилов невозмутимо принимает заказ… на самого себя. Впрочем, принципы принципами, а своя рубашка ближе к телу, так что честный убийца вовсе не собирается покорно ждать исполнения приговора…

Коллекция детективных рассказов, опубликованных в газете «Совершенно СЕКРЕТНО» с декабря 1997 года по декабрь 2012 года включительно

"Король футбола"! Наверное, трудно найти на планете другого монарха, которого бы с такой любовью и уважением называли "великим". И при этом ни грана лести. Королевство его — футбол, а точнее весь земной шар. Эта книга — своего рода исповедь. Ведь наступает в жизни момент, когда человек, по словам Владимира Набокова, "насыщается воспоминаниями". В ней была потребность. Видимо, что-то Пеле, как ему кажется, не успел сказать на футбольном поле, хотя играл на высоком уровне до 40 лет. Книга Пеле получила во Франции золотую памятную медаль Министерства культуры и просвещения. Многие бразильцы стали учиться грамоте, чтобы прочитать эту автобиографическую книгу. Легендарный футболист Эдсон Арантис ду Насименту, или Пеле, трехкратный чемпион мира, единственный в мире форвард, забивший более 1250 мячей в официальных матчах, рассказывает на страницах книги о своем детстве, футбольной карьере, делится впечатлениями о наиболее запомнившихся ему матчах, мыслями о дальнейшем развитии футбола. Литературная запись Роберта Л. Фиша

Герой романа Р.Фиша «Пуля для незнакомца» — наемный убийца, получивший задание убрать латиноамериканского политического деятеля

В сборник вошли произведения известных американских писателей детективного жанра, авторов многих бестселлеров. Герой романа Р. Фиша  "Пуля для незнакомца" — наемный убийца, получивший задание убрать латиноамериканского политического деятеля. Роман С. Марлоу  "Риск — мое призвание" рассказывает об агенте американской спецслужбы, "работающем"  в Европе. Роман "Тайна нагой незнакомки"  Д. Крейга повествует о двух нью-йоркских детективах, распутывающих таинственное убийство в гараже

Действие романа Р. Фиша «Убить незнакомца» разворачивается в Рио-де-Жанейро. Высокопоставленные чиновники, решительные полицейские, красивые женщины, наемные убийцы — все есть в Рио…

Данный том серии «Мастера детектива» представляет читателям романы английского писателя Г. Лайла «Успеть к полуночи», американского писателя Р. Пайка «Безмолвный свидетель» и французского писателя Ш. Эксбрайя «Позор семьи»