Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Modern Detectives

Steel-nerved master thief Parker has his eyes on a fat prize. The prize, a slow stuffed with money—a gambling casino on the Hudson River. It is not in Parker's nature to gamble, so he leaves nothing to chance. From the phony politician to the getaway boat, from bringing guns on board to getting the money off, Parker has it all planned. There are only a few problems.

The Sternwood family, immortalized in Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, is in trouble again. Lovely Vivian's psychotic sister, Carmen, has disappeared from the sanitarium, and Vivian herself has once again fallen into the clutches of the shady underworld character Eddie Mars. Enter Philip Marlowe, the original tough-but-tender private eye. He saved the Sternwoods once before. The question is: Can he do it again?

Her name is Lisa St. Clair, and she just married Spenser's long-time pal, a Boston Homicide cop. Now her whereabouts are unknown, and Spenser's friend needs his help to find her. The Boston P.I. thought this case would be easy until he learns the nasty truth about his buddy's new bride.

Hired by an aggrieved Boston aristocrat who believes his wife's brutal slaying to be something other than random violence, Spenser immediately senses that his client's picture-perfect portrayal of his family life is false. For starters, the victim's reputation is too saintly, her house is as lived-in as stage set, and her troubled children don't appear to be products of a happy home.

A young man resurfaces from Spenser's past to seek out the likeable P.I.'s guidance and help to solve the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the boy's mother. The most personal and revealing Spenser thriller of all, the hardboiled yet caring detective faces danger and a reckoning with his own past. Pastime is Robert B. Parker's electrifying masterpiece of crime fiction, both personal and revealing.

Hardboiled, cynical detective Philip Marlowe is back. Though married to a wealthy heiress, he is not content to lounge around the pool. It isn't long before Marlowe is mired in a gambling case involving bigamy, pornography, and murder in the posh desert community of Poodle Springs.

A young man resurfaces from Spenser's past to seek out the likeable P.I.'s guidance and help to solve the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the boy's mother. The most personal and revealing Spenser thriller of all, the hardboiled yet caring detective faces danger and a reckoning with his own past. Pastime is Robert B. Parker's electrifying masterpiece of crime fiction, both personal and revealing.

At the Port City Theater Company, the director claims he is being stalked and an actor is shot dead during a performance. But there's more behind the scenes than an overzealous critic—all clues lead to the local Chinese mafia, whose roots run deep in this drab waterfront city. With Hawk and ex-mobster Vinnie assisting, Spenser combs the underworld to find out who is really responsible.

Spenser will do anything for his long-time love, Susan, but finds himself with more than he bargained for when he agrees to help Susan's ex-husband fight sexual harassment charges. Spenser soon discovers he has more questions than answers as a body is found, a shadowy mob connection surfaces, and the P.I. is fighting a two-front war against some very bad men and an increasingly unpredictable Susan.

Boston hoodlum Julius Ventura wants to find his daughter's missing husband. At least that's how he puts it to Spenser and Hawk, even though it's clear that Julius isn't telling the whole truth—or maybe not any part of the truth. Something about the case appeals to Spenser's passion for justice, though, and he launches an odyssey that leads him and Hawk into the netherworld of organized crime.

Spenser is forced by loyalty into an alien world where violence is a way of lie and outsiders enter at a lethal risk. When Spenser's cohort Hawk is hired by the tenants of a gang-plagued Boston housing project known as "Double Deuce," he enlists his friend's aid. A friend's girl and her infant daughter have been gunned down. Though the act at first appears to be an accidental drive-by shooting, it soon becomes clear that it was premeditated murder.

Sunny Randall is a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an aspiring painter, a divorcée, and the owner of a miniature bull terrier named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents' preconceived notion of what a detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts, she tracks down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution. Rescuing her from a vicious pimp, Sunny finds herself the unlikely custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to her family.

Matthew Scudder is finally leading a comfortable life, one of stability and respectability — even the New York streets don't look so mean anymore. He's married to a woman he loves, and wonder of wonders, he's actually gotten around to becoming an officially licensed private investigator. Then all hell breaks loose. Matthew' s best friend from Hell's Kitchen asks for his help, and Scudder' s world is suddenly turned upside down once again.

When Robin Nevins is denied acceptance into an exclusive university, Spenser is eager to investigate. It seems the denial is tied to the suicide of a young gay activist, and as Spenser digs deeper, he is immersed in a multicultural swamp of politics: black, gay, academic, and feminist. Meanwhile, Spenser's girlfriend Susan asks him to come to the aid of an old college friend who is being stalked.

Jonas Piedmont Beaumont has had a hard life and learned at a young age how hard life can be. Two marriages, a treacherous battle with the bottle, assorted midlife and moral dilemmas, and a few decades as a homicide detective haven't convinced him otherwise. When Beau and his new partner Sue Danielson are assigned the murder of an elderly woman torched to death in her bed, Beau finds himself distracted by Sue's difficulties at home.

When Robin Nevins, the son of Hawk's boyhood mentor, is denied at an exclusive university, Hawk asks Spenser to investigate. It seems the denial is tied to the suicide of a young gay activist, and as Spenser digs deeper he is nearly drowned in a multicultural swamp of politics: black, gay, academic, and feminist. At the same time, Spenser's inamorata, Susan, asks him to come to the aid of an old college friend, K.C. Roth, the victim of a stalker. Spenser solves the problem a bit too effectively when K.C. turns the tables and begins to stalk him.

After the double murder of his wife and child, Jake Sands gave up his lucrative career recovering stolen objects and missing people. Hoping to escape his past ties to Los Angeles, he moves to Santa Barbara, spending his days avoiding past friends and future decisions. Jake is not the sort of man who can stay retired for long, though.

Jake Sands has had a truly action-packed life as a recoverer of stolen objects and people. His work has made him a very rich man, but he paid a steep price: the murder of his wife and child. Jake now spends his days working out and his nights haunted by memories.