Short excerpt: The expression of the secretary's eye stopped me. Without seeming to wander from my face its pupil had suddenly dilated till it appeared to embrace my whole person with its scope.

百万富翁莱文沃斯先生在自己的图书室中离奇身亡：图书室的门由内反锁，室内没有搏斗的迹象，甚至整座宅子的门窗都是锁好的。唯有女仆汉娜不知所踪。各种线索却将嫌疑指向了莱文沃斯先生二位侄女之一。雷蒙德和侦探葛莱斯展开了调查，竟发现两位小姐皆有所隐瞒，案件似乎另有隐情。汉娜为何要离开宅子，又去往了哪里？她是否知道宅中发生的一切？找到她是否就能真相大白？ 阿加莎·克里斯蒂的前辈！柯南·道尔、范达因、埃勒里·奎因等推理大家，无不深受其影响！充盈着浪漫主义色彩的文笔，富有舞台剧张力的对话与画面！本作中的许多桥段和元素启发了后来众多侦探小说，逐渐成为该类型小说的标志。

罗斯•麦唐诺（Ross Macdonald，1915—1983） 罗斯•麦唐纳（Ross Macdonald,1915-1983），本名肯尼斯•米勒，美国推理作家协会终身大师奖、英国推理作家协会金匕首奖，曾任美国推理作家协会主席，公认的冷硬派推理小说名家。 众多研究犯罪、推理小说名家持续不断地探讨其作品的魅力，《纽约时报》书评称他突破了推理小说的类型限制，成功跻身为“一位主流的美国小说家”。知名作家村上春树、劳伦斯•布洛克（著有《八百万种死法》）、斯蒂格•拉森（著有《龙纹身的女孩》）、约翰•康纳利（著有《失物之书》等作家皆在不同的场合向这位前辈致敬，称自己从他的作品中受益良多。

Anthony Galton disappeared almost 20 years ago. Now his aging--and very rich--mother has hired Lew Archer to bring him back. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a suspicious heir, and a con man whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them.

Twenty years ago, Anthony Galton vanished, along with his streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of the Galton fortune. Now his dying mother wants him found, and Lew Archer is on the case: is Anthony hiding somewhere, happy and eager not to be discovered? But what Archer finds - a headless skeleton, a clever con and a terrified blonde - reveals a game whose stakes are so...(展开全部)

Twenty years ago, Anthony Galton vanished, along with his streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of the Galton fortune. Now his dying mother wants him found, and Lew Archer is on the case: is Anthony hiding somewhere, happy and eager not to be discovered? But what Archer finds - a headless skeleton, a clever con and a terrified blonde - reveals a game whose stakes are so...(展开全部)

罗斯•麦唐诺（Ross Macdonald，1915—1983） 罗斯•麦唐纳（Ross Macdonald,1915-1983），本名肯尼斯•米勒，美国推理作家协会终身大师奖、英国推理作家协会金匕首奖，曾任美国推理作家协会主席，公认的冷硬派推理小说名家。 众多研究犯罪、推理小说名家持续不断地探讨其作品的魅力，《纽约时报》书评称他突破了推理小说的类型限制，成功跻身为“一位主流的美国小说家”。知名作家村上春树、劳伦斯•布洛克（著有《八百万种死法》）、斯蒂格•拉森（著有《龙纹身的女孩》）、约翰•康纳利（著有《失物之书》等作家皆在不同的场合向这位前辈致敬，称自己从他的作品中受益良多。

Miss Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs left behind. Gone is that part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered by her late father. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor, must assist his detective brother who is in charge of the case, because he was Kinue's secret lover and the first person on the murd...(展开全部)

A female's limbs and head are found in a locked bathroom, and all the doors and windows of the house are locked. The dismembered body is discovered by two admirers, Professor Heishiro Hayakawa, a collector of tattoo skins, and Kenzo Matsushita, the naive, lovestruck younger brother of Detective Chief Inspector Daiyu Matsushita. The police's problems are compounded by two additi...(展开全部)

毒巧克力命案The Poisoned Chocolates Case(1929) Anthony Berkeley(1893-1971)从数学到心理也真是无巧不成书，我曾写过的《礼诺谋杀案》（The Rynox Murder Mystery，1930）的介绍文字里头，文墨有感于推理小说的历史更迭，注重机关装置的本格派如何逐步向注重心理互动的社会派犯罪小说“倾斜”。我顺着文势引出一位推理小说“先知式”的人物，也就是恰巧引述到今天要介绍的小说作者安东尼?柏克莱（Anthony Berkaley，1983-1971）；他在一九三〇年，也就是《礼诺谋杀案》出版的同一年，就曾经在一篇文章中说：“我个人相信，简单纯粹的犯罪解谜，完全仰赖情节设计而不擅角色塑造、行文风格、甚至是幽默感的小说时日，已经落在审判者的手中。侦探小说已经来到一个阶段，未来侦探或犯罪的小说，...(展开全部)