Schemers
A Nameless Detective Novel
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A locked-room mystery, a phantom stalker, and a case that could make or break Nameless and his partner Jake.
Nameless wasn't supposed to come into the office on Mondays, and he certainly wasn't supposed to answer the phone. But on this particular Monday, he did both. The call was from Barney Rivera—once a friend, now despised—at Great Western Insurance. Against his better judgment, Nameless agreed to meet with him. The case seemed simple enough: a multimillionaire rare book collector had reported the theft of eight volumes, worth half a million dollars, from a locked library to which he has the only key. The stolen books were all crime fiction and suspense—a locked-room mystery about mysteries.
As if that wasn't odd enough, a second case landed on Jake Runyon's desk that same Monday. The Henderson brothers were being stalked. Someone had dug up the ashes of their late father, poured acid over them, then destroyed the headstone the same way, leaving a sign warning that this was just the beginning. Searching for peace of mind and the distraction of work, Jake is more than happy to bring an end to the brothers' terror.
Two peculiar cases, two baffling mysteries, and too many suspects with schemers' minds. To earn their fees, Nameless and Jake will need to watch their backs and not turn away at the wrong moment, or the wrong Schemer might make them the next target.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In MWA Grand Master Pronzini's 34th Nameless Detective novel (after 2008's Fever), his series sleuth takes on a challenging locked-room puzzle. When Gregory Pollexfen, a wealthy bibliophile, reports the theft of eight rare first edition mysteries from his collection, which he keeps in a secured room in his San Francisco home, Nameless investigates on behalf of the insurance company involved. The subsequent shooting death of the victim's ne'er-do-well brother-in-law in the locked library complicates the original case, though Pollexfen's wife, who was also in the sealed room and whose prints are on the weapon, is the obvious suspect. Meanwhile, a subplot in which Nameless's colleague, Jake Runyon, attempts to track down a stalker targeting a Los Angeles couple is notable only for Runyon's slow emergence from the emotional shell he developed after his wife's death. Since the two story lines aren't obviously compatible, readers may wonder why Pronzini decided to combine them.
