In the summer of 1994, a workman at the historic mansion of railroad baron James J. Hill in St. Paul, Minnesota, stumbles on a long-hidden wall safe. When experts arrive to open the safe and examine its contents, they make an astonishing discovery. There, inside, is a handwritten manuscript bearing the signature of John H. Watson, MD. The manuscript contains the story of how Sherlock Holmes and Watson traveled to Minnesota to track a murderous arsonist—known only as the Red Demon—who is th...

“For tonight, you can call me Jack.”When a copycat serial killer begins recreating Jack the Ripper’s 1888 murder spree, two competing experts are forced to work together to stop him.Despite their well-documented antagonism, famous mystery novelist Barbara Thomas is paired with legendary Ripperologist Henry McHugh as they race against time to try to get one step ahead of the crazed killer.What they don’t understand—until it’s almost too late—is that his murderous spr...

“Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories.”—Jerome K. JeromeWith the unforgettable opening words “Marley was dead, to begin with…” Charles Dickens kindled not just the modern celebration of the Yuletide but also rekindled the tradition of gathering ‘round the fire on Christmas Eve to tell ghost stories. Here are a few of my favorites—some light, some somber, some extra-scary, beginning with a...

Against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and the rise of the Third Reich, powerful and dangerous interests compete for possession of The Reaper, a painting by Spanish artist Joan Miro. The painting disappears in 1937 at the end of the Paris Exposition, leaving the art world and law enforcement authorities to speculate about the unsolved mystery.Seventy-five years later, Magnolia Kanaranzi, estranged mother of struggling artist Hamilton Blethen, learns of the vanished painting ...

Based on the source material for the Alec Guinness classic Kind Hearts and Coronets, Murder in the Title follows the exploits of Anton Gascoyne, a poor and distant heir to one of Britain’s great noble families, who decides to murder his way to the Gascoyne earldom. But the closer he gets to the coronet, the greater the suspicion he falls under. Will Anton get away with it? Murder in the Title will keep you guessing until the end!

Based on the provocative tale of suspense, horror and repressed sexuality, this adaptation gives the famous story yet another turn of its own. A young governess journeys to a lonely English manor house to care for two recently orphaned children. But she is not their first governess. Her predecessor, Miss Jessel, drowned herself when she became pregnant by the sadistic valet, Peter Quint, who was himself found dead soon after under mysterious circumstances. Now the new governess has begun t...

St. Paul, Minnesota. October 1, 1917. High above the city, a renowned local financier named Artemis Dodge lies facedown on the floor of his armored penthouse sanctuary, a single bullet hole in his head. Thirty stories up, in the city’s tallest building, and not a shred of evidence or sign pointing to anyone having broken into the wealthy man’s fortress. It is—to all appearances—an impossible crime.Enter Shadwell Rafferty: Irishman, St. Paul saloonkeeper, sometime detective, and old...

There’s a story behind every farewell. In Three Viewings, award-winning playwright Jeffrey Hatcher explores love, money, and loss in a trio of mordantly witty narratives.In a small-town funeral parlor, three stories portray the extent to which we all hold on to memories, money, life, and love.“Tell-Tale” is Emil, a mild-mannered undertaker burning with unspoken passion for a local realtor who frequents his funerals. Emil plots to confess his true feelings before time (and b...

The South had lost the Civil War and was losing its soul. Uniformed Rebels who had fought honorably in the light of day now wore tattered sheets in the dark and burned crosses. In armed packs, they dragged the helpless Negro or Indian from his bed and stopped his hurried prayers with noose or buckshot. In North Carolina’s Robeson county, the Ku Klux did not see the vengeance it was stirring up: Henry Berry Lowery’s gang of Swamp Outlaws, who ruthlessly protected themselves and the county’s...

Murderers is a trio of three monologues written by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher. Each monologue is a confession of murder. The murders all take place on the same night on the premises of Riddle Key, a fictitious senior retirement center in Sarasota, Florida.The Stories: 1. “The Man Who Married His Mother-in-Law” is Gerald Halverson’s confession of an elicit love and a plan to shelter five million dollars from the IRS. When Gerald’s mother-in-law, S...

Steve Hendrickson has performed in multiple stage productions of A Christmas Carol for over 40 years. Now he brings his own particular take to Charles Dickens' classic ghost story of Yuletide redemption.

Larry David, the man behind two of the most successful and critically acclaimed sitcoms in television history, is the focus of this biography.This unofficial guide follows the career that has accorded him status as a comic genius and garnered a fanatical following from his early exploits as a stand-up comic to his role as producer and co-creator of Seinfeld and HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. It explores the backstory of the conception and development...