ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S HOW-TO-DO-IT BOOK Including: • How to solve your marital problems       —(poison) • How to dress properly when admitting to first degree murder       —(black tie) • How to take off a few pounds fast       —(a knife) • How to ruin a perfect friendship       —(a homemade bomb) And many, many other helpful hints from such specialists as: EVAN HUNTER, JOHN CORTEZ, RAY BRADBURY, RICHARD STARK, RICHARD MATHESON, HELEN NIELSON, DONALD WESTLAKE, RICHARD DEMING, JACK RITCHIE, JONATHAN CRAIG, C. B. GILFORD, JAY STREET, ROBERT ARTHUR, FLETCHER FLORA, CHARLES EINSTEIN

Recipe for a backyard cookout: one guest skewered by another

This volume is the nineteenth annual collection of the best stories from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Every year since the anthology’s inception, it has been acknowledged No. 1 in its field, and this current one is no exception. The stories here range from pure detection to suspense, horror and psychological grue. Regardless of the reader’s taste, he will find a fulfilling and diverting repast offered by these writers: John D. MacDonald, James M. Ullman, L. E. Behney, Michael Gilbert, George Sumner Albee, Helen Nielsen, Roy Vickers, Borden Deal, Fletcher Flora, Avram Davidson, William O’Farrell, Norman Daniels, Hugh Pentecost, Victor Canning, Helen McCloy, John Reese, Holly Roth, Edward D. Hoch, Gerald Kersh, Fred A. Rodewald & J. F. Peirce, Lawrence Treat, Stanley Ellin

Willie and Howard — man and wife Willie and Quincy — cousins (in-law) Willie, wanton Quincy, without honor Howard, quite dead Result — a light-hearted treatment of the grim details, in the new Cock Robin Mystery Award winner. Howard, alive, has been a dull lubber, with the single virtue of being able to make money without benefit of discernible brains; dead, he is a challenge and an excitement. He is even a challenge to Quincy, who is a difficult fellow to challenge to any kind of sustained effort. Fortunately, Quincy is clever and full of plans. His only fault, as far as Willie can see, is a tendency to he fanciful where simplicity would suffice. There is Howard’s body to dispose of. Quincy’s plot is a trifle thick, though not without wit. It’s not Quincy’s fault when his plot takes an unexpected turn. It is the fault, in fact, of dear, dead Howard, whose capacity for deception and tricky commitments turns out to have been as unsavory as that of the cousins. Fletcher Flora has written a winning thriller of cousins who kiss and kill

A dirty rotten trail to murder! It was a case that spelled trouble from the first come-on to the last bullet. I’m Percy Hand, not-so-private eye. You meet a lot of gals on the make in my business, but this case had too many dames. It all started on the secluded patio of a blonde who liked nude sun-bathing. Before the case was over, one dame was dead, another missing, and The Mob was getting ready to write my epitaph in hot lead!

This anthology features some of the most famous authors writing at the peak of their careers!

He looked at her, at her fine grave face and too elegant gestures. He thought tiredly that this one was nearly gone, that she would go on drinking too much gin and sleeping in too many beds, that she would remember nothing between the beds and the bottles. The worst of it was that he liked her. She had a face he would remember. And for a long time he would think of her and wonder just what had become of her, whether she was alive or dead

TEN MILLION DOLLARS to be divided equitably among the departed Grandfather Hunter’s remaining family, with a PROVISO being, in proper legal terms, that the entire ten million dollars was to be held in trust for the exclusive use of SENORITA FOGARTY her lifetime, and for the lifetime of her pups (Senorita Fogarty being a Chihuahua of questionable breeding) and for the lifetime of her pup’s pups, etc., etc. Only upon the death of Senorita Fogarty and her pups (if any) would the inheritance go to the family. ’Tis plain to see that the life of Senorita Fogarty wasn’t worth two cents, much less ten million dollars. But to the rescue! Our senorita is to be protected by the Crumps, Grandfather Hunter’s trusted servants. And did we forget to mention that the erstwhile heirs are a rather bungling, ineffectual lot??? Will Senorita Fogarty outwit the scheming Hunter family? Will the Hunters regain the birthright that is undeniably theirs (all ten million dollars’ worth)??? Will the Crumps!!!!!

A hand reaching out of the dark past had killed Margaret Hadley, and the only way I would ever find her killer — was to be the next to die!

The slender bookshelf of outstanding works about sexual deviations must now make room for Fletcher Flora’s honest and perceptive novel, Strange Sisters. Here is the story of a lesbian, and of the devastating crime to which she was driven when she tried to disavow her body’s urgings. Here is a shattering theme, treated with rare sensitivity and power

An unconventional story of beautiful Ivy Galvin and her strange emotional involvement with two men — and a woman

She was everything, and most of all she was the earth’s most tempting woman in a way that was peculiarly her own... but I could hear her rich, provocative voice saying softly that everything would be so very simple if only the man named Kirby would die... and as that summer grew, in desire and in terror, my world no longer had the familiar features of a fine and comforting thing, but the strange remnants of an ugly, threatened place...　 ...and the root of it all lay hidden in the secret of THE BRASS BED

Police Captain Bartholdi sometimes indulged himself in a harmless fantasy. His thoughts, he would imagine, were irresponsible imps that wriggled out of his head and scampered around with an abandon that was often embarrassing. A woman had been kidnapped. That woman was dead. Bartholdi was convinced that a murderer was at that moment having a grim laugh at his expense. He knew who the murderer was. He would have bet his pension and his sacred soul that he knew. But he could not, knowing, prove what he knew. He needed confirmation on one critical point. From among his antic imps he culled the three that had directed his mind to its present state: One newspaper too many. A girl who slept too soundly. And, most important of all, a ragout with too many onions

Skimmer was the hotshot — handsome, smart, arrogant... He had everything: personality, looks, women. He was ready for success — regardless of the cost... And then he met a girl and a gangster — and something went wrong... Hotshot is Skimmer’s story — a unique candid portrait, not of the knife-wielding delinquents who capture headlines, but of today’s troubled youth as they really are. The unforgettable story of a generation battling to find its way in a world it never made

Colleen was the mistress of the house, beautiful, rich and romantic, with the lush, pliant body of an overly passionate woman, and a husband who didn’t appreciate her obvious charms. Onofre was the newly hired handyman, sullen, opportunistic and blatantly virile — like a stud bull that accepts all comers. Pansy, the maid, got the message at once and offered herself without reservations. Vesta, the housekeeper, fought her attraction for him and continued making passes at Colleen. Colleen, torn between pressure from Vesta, loyalty to her husband and her desperate need for Onofre, resisted, wavered, then fell like a ripe plum into Onofre’s bed

How can you all sit there, Deming’s nerves screamed, playing poker as if you cared? Any minute, any hour, a man will walk into a trap — a man that we must kill!

There are three men in Donna Buchanan’s life... ENOS SIMON — a moody and emotional young teacher AARON BURNS — the considerate and shy husband of a cold and calculating wife WILLIAM WALTER TYLER — a middle-aged millionaire who always gets what he wants ...Three lovers woo the ambitious young dress designer who’s determined to sell her talent and her love to the highest bidder in order to crash the world of fashion

Сборник представляет творчество видных мастеров детективно-приключенческого жанра — таких, как Уильям Сэмброт, Уильян Нолан, Джек Ричи, Генри Слезар и др. Оригинальное сочетание детективной интриги и атрибутов литературы «ужасов», другие достоинства предлагаемых произведений, надеемся, будут оценены читателями

Читайте в этом выпуске: Жерар де Вилье. РЕКВИЕМ ДЛЯ ТОНТОН-МАКУТОВ Жакмель сидел на корточках у открытого гроба. Мари-Дениз видела, как поднимается и опускается его мачете. Когда Жакмель достал из гроба большой черноватый зловонный шар и осторожно засунул его в пластиковый пакет, ее сотряс приступ тошноты. Теперь Жакмель мощными ударами вскрывал грудную клетку трупа — ему хотелось заполучить и сердце. — Когда мы уйдем, ты всем расскажешь, что видела, как я унес голову Франсуа Дювалье. Питер Устинов. ИГРА В ОСВЕДОМИТЕЛЯ Как его звали? Его имя? Так ли уж важно, если за всю жизнь он сменил столько имен. И все же, как свойственно многим, ему хотелось выделить из них одно, главное, — ведь человеку нужны корни, а то без корней в жизни, как без якоря. Он написал мемуары. Но даже не представил рукопись на заключение компетентным властям, утверждая, что нет властей достаточно компетентных, чтобы выносить суждение о его книге или хотя бы подвергнуть ее цензуре. Флетчер Флора. ЗА ТЕ ЖЕ ДЕНЬГИ Я направился в библиотеку и стал ждать. Примерно минут через пять туда вошла Дульчи Кун. — Мистер Хэнд, — сказала она, — по-моему, я вполне ясно дала вам понять, что наши с вами дела закончены. Зачем вы снова пожаловали? — Я пришел к вам сообщить, что нашел Мирну. На мгновение в комнате воцарилась тишина, никто не двигался и не дышал…

Книга продолжает серию, открывшуюся сборником «Истории, рассказанные шепотом». Включенные в нее новеллы, принадлежащие к разным жанрам, объединяет одно: в основе фабулы каждой из них лежит загадка, которую необходимо разгадать. Попробуйте сделать это, не дожидаясь разъяснений автора

Книга продолжает серию, открывшуюся сборником «Истории, рассказанные шепотом». Включенные в нее новеллы, принадлежащие к разным жанрам, объединяет одно: в основе фабулы каждой из них лежит загадка, которую необходимо разгадать. Попробуйте сделать это, не дожидаясь разъяснений автора

Убийство ила самоубийство? Каким образом совершено это па первый взгляд простое и понятное преступление? Кто убийца? Подобные вопросы мучают инспектора Мастерса на протяжении всей повести «Рука сатира», и только определенная цепь событий помогает ему найти необходимый ключ к тайне гибели Лилы и Ларри Конноров

В третьем выпуске сборника «Таящийся ужас» представлены повести писателя Владимира Гринькова, а также рассказы английских и американских писателей. Все произведения написаны в жанре, соединяющем в себе элементы «страшного» рассказа и психологического триллера. Публикуется впервые. Для широкого круга читателей