Ocean State Libraries

A quirky, black comedy about Paul Barnell, a nearly bankrupt Alaskan travel agent whose wife, Margaret, is on the brink of insanity. When he finds a frozen body in the dumpster behind his office, Paul thinks this is the answer to his financial problems. He tries to pass the body off as his long-lost brother to collect on the insurance money. Not only does he have to worry about an unrelenting investigator and two aspiring hit men who are also after...

"Daheim writes with wit, wisdom, and a big heart."
Carolyn Hart

Cormac McCarthy has nothing on Mary Daheim—whose fabulous Bed-and-Breakfast mysteries win hands down when it comes to outrageous zaniness. In All the Pretty Hearses, Daheim,"the reigning queen of the cozies" (Portland Oregonian), embroils Hillside Manor hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn in a lethal case of insurance fraud and mystery meat gone bad, in the twenty-sixth

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Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir. From the Trade Paperback edition.

As he investigates a socialite's insurance claim for a champion show horse's sudden death, elite Pasadena law firm newcomer Jack MacTaggart uncovers links to an old blackmail scheme before he is falsely accused of murder.

"Butch Hightower, long-lost older brother of stand-up comic Buster, has many talents. Video poker isn't one. So he borrows gambling money from some no-necks, who give him a chance to reduce his debt by helping them steal a valuable artwork from a mansion. It's that or broken fingers."--Jacket.

"Carver Hartnett, Miranda Pryor, and Leonard Stillmach all work for Reliable Allied Trust, in Omaha, where they investigate insurance fraud. Carver is frustrated. His company would rather raise premiums than prosecute insurance criminals."--Jacket.

Tom Levy's vacation in Jamaica turns deadly when he kills a man who tricked Tom's daughter into a vulgar act.

Jake and Tina are a couple with champagne tastes and a rapidly dwindling bankroll who are living a little too high on the hog in a London hotel. They decide to fake the theft of their only resource, a sculpture, to collect the insurance. Before they can set their plan in motion the statue is stolen, and the accusations fly!

Insurance agent Abe Holt is investigating the suspicious death of the driver of a burned-out car. He must find out whether or not the dead man - a conman with a record - could possibly have been the victim of an attempt to swindle the insurance company.