Beyond the wrought-iron gates and behind the stuccoed facades of the Spanish-style houses in the affluent California community of Greenwood, a murderous maze of deceit, adultery, fraud, and betrayal awaits the private eye hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as “the thinking man’s detective” in this ingeniously contrived mystery novel by two-time Shamus award-winner Bill Pronzini. Not that larceny among the rich comes as a surprise to “Nameless.” Indeed, even before he visits the handsomely appointed offices of the blond, tanned insurance agent Rich Twining and the estate where the recently widowed Sheila Hunter lives uneasily with her wary ten-year-old daughter, the private investigator’s darker suspicions have been aroused. For why would anyone, no matter how moneyed and beautiful and bereaved, refuse to claim fifty thousand dollars due to her in life insurance? The question is simple enough. The answer, though, lies several murders, many miles, ten years, a deviously contrived name game, and one baffling word clue — crazybone — away.

Two novellas and two short stories featuring Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Bill Pronzini's iconic Nameless Detective!Zigzag is an original novella, in which a safe and simple accident investigation becomes the unraveling of a twisted murder scheme. Grapplin, which first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, deals with the kind of missing person case that can end in only one of two ways, closure or heartbreak.In the second short, Nightscape, readers discover how, indeed, one thing just leads to another (First published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazineas The Winning Ticket).The final work, Revenant, is another original novella and entangles Nameless in a weird crime with fearful occult overtones.

GUN IN CHEEK is a treasure trove of such gems, a delightful exploration of what the author refers to as "alternative crime fiction." Less kindly put, it is a unique crash course in the worst English and American crime fiction of the twentieth century.Every category of mystery fiction is represented: the private eye, the stately home, the arch-villain, the gentleman sleuth, the amateur spy, and many others who have blossomed from the genre. Within these categories, in what can only be called a labor of love, Bill Pronzini discusses, digests, and shares the best of the worst---adding a wonderfully comprehensive bibliography for advanced and dedicated devotees.GUN IN CHEEK is an amusing and pleasurable reading experience as well as an enlightening guide to hardboiled potboilers.

The Stolen Gold Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini's detective series.In response to a string of gold thefts in a Mother Lode mine, Quincannon goes undercover as a newly-hired miner to identify and capture the men responsible.Meanwhile, Sabina finds herself not only making plans for her and Quincannon's wedding, but also investigating both an audacious real estate scam and an abusive young man's villainous secret.The Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries:#1 The Bughouse Affair#2 The Spook Lights Affair#3 The Body Snatchers Affair#4 The Plague of Thieves Affair#5 The Dangerous Ladies Affair#6 The Bags of Tricks Affair#7 The Flimflam Affair#8 The Stolen Gold AffairAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

When Nameless is hired by Cory Beckett, a beautiful young woman who claims to be a model, to find her missing brother, Kenneth, it seems to be a routine matter. Kenneth has fled San Francisco in a drug-induced panic to avoid trial on a charge of stealing a valuable necklace from the alcoholic wife of the man for whom he works, wealthy yachtsman Andrew Vorhees. When agency operative Jake Runyon locates and questions the frightened young man, Cory Beckett's motives come into question and the case takes on darkly sinister complexities. Cory lied to Nameless about her livelihood, her relationship with Vorhees, her brother's alleged drug use, and the nature of his alleged crime. Not only is she Andrew Vorhees' mistress, Cory has a secret second lover, factory owner Frank Chaleen, with whom she conspired to frame Kenneth. This bizarre sibling betrayal is part of a diabolical plan that reveals her to be a deadly, designing woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her warped...