Barbara Paul

A headstrong young soprano must solve a murder to save her friend The Metropolitan Opera has no time for illness. So when its principal baritone succumbs to a head cold on the eve of Carmen, house diva Geraldine Farrar doesn't hesitate to recommend a replacement: the hungry young American Jimmy Freeman. He's raw, talented, and desperately in love with her-something she doesn't mind at all. But when Freeman is passed over in favor of Philippe Duchon,...

A human lie detector sets off in search of a revolution There are 1,500 hand grenades in Alabama's Styx River, and none of them work. Rebels are attacking UN peacekeeping forces in Burma and Honduras, but just when the battle gets started, they find their guns don't fire. Someone is selling defective weaponry to violent men around the globe, and the United Nations needs to find him. In a world where even the good men are liars, it will take Shelby...

To find a blackmailer's killer, Marian Larch investigates the extortionist's victims A. J. Strode would kill for command of House of Glass, the corporation that controls everything from plate-glass windows to fiberglass insulation, and he nearly has it within his grasp. Only three stockholders-a violinist, a helicopter pilot, and a mercenary-stand between the businessman and his goal. But no matter how much Strode offers, they refuse to sell. And...

When their unforgiving lender is murdered, a group of young jewelry associates jumps to a variety of deadly conclusions When the partners of Ellandy Jewels accepted a loan to keep their store afloat, they had no idea that Vincent Farwell would make their lives a living hell. The rich old miser is as unforgiving as a loan shark, and he never misses a chance to remind them that they're in his debt. Finally, Vincent demands full repayment of the loan-$1.5...

A pair of impossible murders leads Marian Larch to a ring of hired assassins Virgil is a businessman, and his product is murder. With operatives scattered across New York, he needs only a few thousand dollars and a photo to erase an unsuspecting citizen from the earth. Virgil's business is boutique, exclusive, and highly confidential. None of his killers know his face. None of them even know his last name. The system is perfect, unbreakable-until...

In her last week on the force, a strange robbery draws Marian Larch into a backstage murder case A madman points a gun at the NYPD's Marian Larch, and prepares to pull the trigger. She charges, disarming him before he can fire the shot. The gun skids to the feet of Agent Curt Holland, who presses it against the madman's head and blows him away. It was the right move, but that doesn't make it legal. To save Holland's career, Larch testifies that she...

When a television writer is murdered, three women join forces to find his killer After years churning out schlock for television, Rudy Benedict is afraid his job will kill him if he doesn't leave Hollywood soon. He's wrong. He'll make it all the way to New York before he dies. After a few weeks of fruitless work on his new play-an exposé of Hollywood's seamy underbelly-Rudy is found dead on the floor of his apartment, poisoned. The cops are baffled....

Suffering from amnesia, a young pharmaceutical executive discovers she's the victim of a hypnotist Megan Phillips wakes up on the fourteenth hole. Her clothes are grass-stained, her back is aching, and the last two days are a total blank. She's not hungover-she doesn't drink-her mind has simply been erased. Desperate for answers, she turns to her puzzle-addicted neighbor, Gus Bilinski, a frustrated genius who spends his time learning Persian for fun....

Detective Marian Larch of the New York police probes an attempted kidnaping during a child custody fight. The work of a parent, or outsiders? The mystery deepens when Marian's boyfriend is abducted and she is warned to drop the case.