Isaac Asimov, einer , hat auch Acht

Die „Schwarzen Witwer" sind keine Bösewichte, sondern ehrbare Herren, die sich einmal im Monat zu einem gemütlichen Beisammensein zusammenfinden. Dieses Treffen zeichnet sich durch zwei Besonderheiten aus. Erstens darf - und das ist eigentlich der Sinn dieser Veranstaltung - keine Frau an diesem Essen teilnehmen. Zweitens wird bei dieser Zusammenkunft jedesmal eine geheimnisvolle Angelegenheit aufgeklärt, beispielsweise die Geschichfe des Mannes, der immer die Wahrheit sagte, oder warum ein Faulpelz seine Frau ermordete. Obwohl die Schwarzen Witwer mit der größten Begeisterung versuchen, jeden Fall zu losen, sind sie jedoch immer wieder auf die Hilfe ihres Kellners Henry angewiesen, der wie ein zweiter Sherfock Holmes oder Hercule Poirot jedes noch so tiefsinnige Geheimnis entschleiert.

Titel der amerikanischen Originalausgabe TALES OF THE BLACK WIDOWERS

Deutsche Übersetzung von Willi Thaler

Medical expert Raine Montgomery never dreamed the drug she created would be responsible for so many deaths. Suspicions on high alert, Raine was convinced someone was out to destroy her reputation-and her life. Turning to the best for help, Raine knew she and investigator Maximilian Vasek had to put aside their rocky history and focus on who wanted her eliminated…

Being around Raine reminded Max of a past he'd tried hard to forget. Still, he couldn't ignore the vulnerability in her brown eyes, or the sizzling tension between them. Keeping her safe he could do. Walking away in the end might not be so easy…

En un café de París, en plena primavera, una mujer se introduce un revólver en la boca y aprieta el gatillo ante los ojos atónitos de los presentes. Se trata de Mai-Brit Fossen, una editora de Oslo, casada y madre de dos niños. Su ex marido, Even Vik, excéntrico profesor de matemáticas, la sigue amando pese a que llevan cinco años divorciados. Desolado por la pérdida e incapaz de creer que Mai acabara con su vida por propia voluntad, viaja a París y descubre que Mai estaba escribiendo un libro sobre Isaac Newton, en particular sobre la parte más oscura del científico, su enigmática doble vida y su pertenencia a una sociedad secreta, y que ha dejado una estela de mensajes codificados que sólo una inteligencia matemática como la suya puede descifrar.

Pero ¿por qué Mai-Brit tuvo que pagar con su propia vida el hallazgo de unos secretos de más de trescientos años de antigüedad? ¿Y por qué hizo un solitario justo antes de dispararse un tiro? En este fascinante thriller literario, aclamado por los lectores nórdicos, Kurt Aust despliega su extraordinario conocimiento de una de sus pasiones, los códigos y las infinitas posibilidades de los números.

Pauline Walks the Plank..

A confirmed landlubber, insurance fraud p.i. Pauline Sokol's never heard the call of the sea – or if she has, she didn't pay attention. But now the former RN is donning her nurse's whites once more to go undercover as part of the medical team of the Golden Dolphin – a lavish luxury liner that's setting sail for Bermuda.

There's something fishy going on aboard the super-deluxe dinghy, and it's Pauline's job to be the ship's designated secret snoop – if she doesn't get too distracted by the motley crew of friends and relatives who've decided to sail along with her… and by her sexy supervising fellow investigator, Jagger. But when a dead body turns up – in Pauline's cabin, no less! – and another nurse goes missing, Pauline realizes she may be over her head in shark-infested waters. And getting safely onto dry land may be a long swim back!

Ex-nurse-turned-insurance fraud investigator Pauline Sokol's willing to risk anything to put a bad doc out of business-;even her best friend Goldie's near-perfect proboscis! Her cross-dressing compadre has agreed to get his shnozz bobbed so Pauline can pose as his private nurse and gain entry into Highcliff Manor-;a posh plastic surgery "spa" making an illegal killing with their repeat clientele.

But when a super-rich "frequent flier" is unexpectedly widowed-;and a receptionist who knows too much is given the boot… off a nearby cliff!-;Pauline realizes she's stuck her own nose into something really nasty. Despite the pleasant distraction of the hunky Dr. Neal-;and the unexpected appearance of her sexy cohort, Jagger-;Pauline can't shake the feeling she's being closely watched. And if she's not careful, she'll be the next one who goes under the knife!

Born into a long line of distinguished lepidopterists, scientists who study moths and butterflies, Ginny and Vivien grew up in a sprawling Victorian home. Forty-seven years later, Ginny lives there alone, tending to her moths and obsessions amid the ghosts of her past.

But when her sister Vivien returns to the crumbling family mansion, dark, unspoken secrets rise, disrupting Ginny's ordered life and threatening the family's fragile peace. Told in Ginny's unforgettable voice, this debut novel tells a disquieting story of two sisters and the ties that bind-sometimes a little too tightly.

Wenn eine sonst unfehlbare Sekretärin in einem Brief gleich drei Tippfehler macht, ist das mehr als eine Fehlleistung. Wenn ihr Chef aus diesem menschlichen Versagen richtige Rückschlüsse zieht, ist das mehr als eine Meisterleistung. Und wenn er dabei keinen einzigen Denkfehler macht, ist das phänomenal. Kein Wunder, schließlich handelt es sich um keinen Geringeren als Hercule Poirot!

In his bestselling legal thrillers, William Bernhardt has explored the dark side of contemporary politics, power, and the law. Now Bernhardt turns back the clock to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the fall of 1935. Based on true events and new discoveries about Eliot Ness, Nemesis is a brilliantly told story featuring this legendary lawman's fateful duel with a terrifyingly new kind of criminal: America 's first serial killer.

In Chicago, Eliot Ness had created 'the Untouchables,' the fabled team of federal agents who were beyond corruption and who finally put Al Capone behind bars. Now the headline-grabbing Ness has been moved to Cleveland, where a new mayor desperately needs some positive publicity. The heroic, squeaky-clean Fed is the perfect man to become the city's director of public safety, but by the time Ness starts his new job, a killer has started a career of his own. And this man is as obsessed with blood and mayhem as Eliot Ness is obsessed with justice.

One by one, bodies are found, each one decapitated and uniquely dissected with a doctor's skill and a madman's bent. The police are baffled, the population is terrorized, and newspaper headlines blare about the so-called 'Torso Killer.' Though it's not his turf, Ness is forced to cross bureaucratic boundaries and take over the case, working with a dogged, street-smart detective and making enemies every step of the way. The more energy Ness pours into the investigation, the more it takes over his life, his marriage, even his untouchable reputation. Because in Cleveland, there is only one true untouchable: a killer who has the perfect hiding place and the perfect plan for destroying Eliot Ness.

From the first primitive use of forensic psychology to a portrait of America battling the Great Depression and a man battling his own demons, Nemesis is a masterwork of mystery, murder, and vivid, dynamic historical suspense.

The Grande Dame of the ballroom, Corrinne Blakely, has had a career in dancing for close to fifty years. She's seen, heard and experienced it all. Now she wants to tell all…but, someone out there will do what it takes to keep that from happening. Unfortunately, when she keeled over at lunch, her dining companion was Maurice Goldberg, one of the instructors at Graysin Motion Dance Studio.

The studio owner, Stacy Graysin, is sad to hear of Corrine's passing but when she hears it was murder and that Maurice is the prime suspect, she knows she needs to start asking questions. Detective Lissy reminds Stacy what happened the last time. How could Stacy forget? She got shot and her studio was set on fire. Eh, minor details!

Things have been getting back to normal but she just can't let Maurice take the rap for something he didn't do. Besides, she needs Maurice at the studio. Corrine had quite the notorious life during her career including finding time for seven ex-husbands and one of them was Maurice. One of them must have had an axe to grind… or not. Corrine didn't win so many competitions during her career without stepping on some toes.

Can Stacy dance her way around the numerous suspects and motives to find the right one before Maurice takes his last step on the dance floor?

What a fun series this one is becoming! I read the first book and really enjoyed it hoping the sequel would be just as good. It is! For cozy fans and for those who like to read a little behind the scenes in the dance world, this will be the perfect fit.

What if your dance partner, business partner, and fiance was stepping out with another woman? That's exactly what happens to Stacy Graysin, who shares ownership of a ballroom dance studio with the man who broke her heart, Rafe Acosta.

But when Stacy discovers Rafe's dead body in the studio one dark night, the police suspect her of killing him. To clear her name and save her studio, Stacey teams up with Rafe's estranged cousin from Argentina, Tav, to find the real killer. And if Stacy doesn't watch her step, the killer may make this dance her last.

ESTABA TENDIDO en mi cama esa noche con una costilla rota y un trombón roto. La costilla sanaría, pero no el trombón, según decidí.

A ambos los había roto la noche anterior, bajando las escaleras, en camino a una reunión de aficionados: unos cuantos tipos a quienes había conocido y a los que les gustaba juntarse una noche cada dos semanas para producir ruido. La punta del pie tropezó en una rotura de la alfombra de la escalera, agujero que no estaba allí antes, a unos cuantos peldaños de la parte inferior, y me eché en clavado hacia un aterrizaje de tres puntos, el primero de los cuales había sido el extremo de la caja del trombón. Me había cortado la respiración por un momento y me había dolido, pero no mucho peor que cuando uno se lastima un dedo o se golpea el tobillo contra algo. La señora Bardy, la patrona, oyó la caída y llegó corriendo desde su apartamento al fondo del primer piso; llegó y comenzó a ocuparse de mí, como una gallina de sus polluelos, aun antes de que me levantara. Mi primer pensamiento no fue para mí ni para el trombón (yo no me lastimo con facilidad y la caja debía haber protegido al instrumento), sino para el tapete. Alguien pudo haberse roto el cuello a causa de él.

Charlie D is the host of a successful late-night radio call-in show. His listeners have a particularly intimate relationship with him and often reveal much about themselves, confident that he will honor their trust and that he can save them. In their minds, he is perfect: one of life's winners. But Charlie feels he's something of a fake. His easy confidence on-air belies the reality for a man born with a wine-colored birthmark that covers half his face.

Love You to Death covers one hour on "The World According to Charlie D" – an hour during which he must both discover the long-time listener who is killing the people who trust him and attempt to come to terms with the man behind the birthmark.

The bestselling Gail Bowen returns with a gripping story of marriage, politics, sex, and murder.

With a general election just weeks away, Joanne Kilbourn is following the campaign of Ginny Monaghan, a woman who has her eyes set on the leadership of the federal Conservative Party and whose success depends, not so much on the election-day poll, but on the outcome of a custody battle she's fighting with her ex. Joanne thinks this is perfect material for a TV program she's putting together on women and party politics. Happy to be back in the political fray that used to be her life during her first marriage, Joanne is soon also glad of the distraction it provides. A local call girl has been murdered – a woman whose regular clientele included several of Regina's most prominent lawyers, including – until he met Joanne – her own husband, Zach Shreve.

Her new marriage creaking under the strain of this revelation, Joanne throws herself into her project – and into finding out why the dead woman had started to threaten her clients with blackmail, an investigation that leads to the truth – and to death.

In The Brutal Heart, Bowen expertly mixes the ingredients of marriage, family, politics, and murder into a constantly surprising and compulsively readable story.

In the twelfth mystery in Gail Bowen's bestselling Joanne Kilbourn series a new mother is assaulted and murdered, instigating both a search for her killer and a distressing custody battle over her six-month-old child. It is a riveting, heart-rending story of the ageless struggle between selfishness and selflessness.

Just hours before her body is found in a rented car in a parking lot, a young woman hands her six-month-old baby to a perfect stranger and disappears. The stranger is the daughter of Delia Wainberg, a lawyer in the same firm as Joanne Kilbourn's husband. One close look at the child suggests that there might be a family relationship, and soon the truth about the child Delia gave up for adoption years ago comes out. The boy must be Delia's grandson. Then his mother is found dead, sexually assaulted and murdered. Not only is there a killer on the loose, but the dead woman's spouse is demanding custody of the child.

David Ogden, Deputy Director of Operations at the CIA and a man of legendary achievements, has died. His private papers, including a copy of a shocking set of assignments, are found in a lockbox. It appears that in the last month of his life, with tumors spreading throughout his brain, David Ogden had ordered his best-trained and most loyal agents, identified only by code name, to carry out a series of bizarre deeds. The assignments include the firebombing of a seedy rooming house in Florida, the fixing of a college basketball game in New York, the killing of a cruise director in the Caribbean and a rape. The agents were instructed to complete these orders within a five-day period-but for what purpose? Nobody knows. The director was clearly deranged from his illness, and the plans must be reversed before news of his dementia leaks out. But in his instructions to his agents, Ogden wrote “Gibralter Rules apply”: there can be no recall of these orders, no CIA contact with the agents.

Only the Sensitives can stop them.

Brain Damage is the third exciting thriller featuring the Sensitives, the tough-talking, irrepressible group whose receptiveness to the thoughts of others is so acute as to be virtually telepathic. It is a gift that is both a miracle and a curse for these extraordinary people, who are treated as either delinquents or demigods by the very intelligence agency that expects them to solve its most unsolvable problems.

The Business, a nearly omnipotent enterprise, is so infinitely discreet that even its top executives are vague about its actual business. It predates the Christian church and counts among its vast riches dozens of Michelangelo's pornographic paintings and several sets of Crown jewels. The only thing it lacks is political clout, a problem the Business plans to solve by buying a nation and joining the United Nations. Kate Telman, the Business's foremost expert on emerging technologies, is chosen to lead the effort. As this beautiful, ambitious American woman pursues the ultimate prize for her highly secretive transglobal employer, Iain Banks -- whom of London calls "the most imaginative British novelist of his generation" -- offers a portrait of today's ubiquitous multinational corporations. Already a bestseller in England, paints a picture that is at once wickedly satirical and frighteningly familiar.

Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight-the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter.

With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston 's best detectives.