The Lucky Stiff
The John J. Malone Series, Book 8
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Narrated by:
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Johnny Heller
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By:
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Craig Rice
About this listen
Wrongly convicted of murder, a death-row chorus girl lives for revenge, in this novel from “the grand dame of mystery mixed with screwball comedy” (Ed Gorman).
Anna Marie St. Clair was a normal Wisconsin-farm-girl-turned-mistress when she was framed for the murder of her racketeer boyfriend, one of Chicago’s sleaziest politicians. Sentenced to death, and only hours from getting fried, a lucky hitch sets Anna Marie free, but she blackmails the corrupt warden into informing the tabloids that she took her volts like a real trouper. What better payback than to haunt the lives of those who tried to steal hers? As the shapeliest ghost in the Windy City, she’s going to prove that dying well is the best revenge.
Even luckier for Anna Marie, she has enthusiastic backup: attorney John J. Malone, who’s got a soft spot for scrappy dames; her best friend, nightclub stripper Milly Dale; and crime reporter Jake Justus and his wife, Helene, who are always game for adventure. But when navigating the criminal underworld gets a little too spirited, there’s no telling who’s going to end up dead.
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Story
When a sniper begins gunning down cops from the 87th Precinct in cold blood, it’s up to Detective Steve Carella to solve the case. With three cops already dead, Carella delves into the city’s underworld to search for the killer.
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Dang, it's about time for the 87th Precinct
- By Eric J. Toll on 05-17-14
By: Ed McBain
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Psycho
- By: Robert Bloch
- Narrated by: Richard Powers
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates Motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty, but clean, and the manager seemed nice, if a little odd.
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We all go a little crazy sometimes
- By sophieinwonderland on 02-22-09
By: Robert Bloch
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Crimes by Moonlight
- Mysteries from the Dark Side
- By: Charlaine Harris - author/editor
- Narrated by: Natalie Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....
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Pleasantly surprised
- By Bonnie on 08-06-11
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March Violets
- By: Philip Kerr
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliantly innovative thriller-writer", Philip Kerr is the creator of taut, gripping, noir-tinged mysteries set in Nazi-era Berlin that are nothing short of spellbinding. The first book of the Berlin Noir trilogy, March Violets introduces listeners to Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin - until he turned freelance and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture.
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Brilliant Nazi Era Mystery
- By Constance on 05-04-12
By: Philip Kerr
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Dead Irish
- Dismas Hardy, Book 1
- By: John Lescroart
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss - but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and a round of darts.
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Soap-opera thrillers?
- By Snoodely on 01-27-10
By: John Lescroart
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The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
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Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
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The Case of the Velvet Claws
- Perry Mason Series, Book 1
- By: Erle Stanley Gardner
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Married Eva Griffin has been caught with a prominent congressman, and is ready to pay the editor of a sleazy tabloid hush money to protect the politician. But first Perry Mason tracks down the publisher of the blackmailing tabloid and discovers a shocking secret, which eventually leads to Mason being accused of murder. This is the first Perry Mason mystery and our introduction to secretary Della Street, detective Paul Drake, and the great lawyer himself.
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Enter Perry Mason
- By David S. Mathew on 04-10-17
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The Eighth Commandment
- By: Lawrence Sanders
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Damaretion, the prized Greek coin from Archibald Havistock's collection, disappears and appraiser Mary Lou "Dunk" Bateson comes under suspicion, Bateson, a cop, and an insurance investigator set out to solve the crime.
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It was a nice listen
- By John on 10-01-12
By: Lawrence Sanders
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The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Jonathan Hoag has a curious problem. Every evening, he finds a mysterious reddish substance under his fingernails, with no memory what he was doing during the day to get it there. Jonathan hires the husband and wife detective team of Ted and Cynthia Randall to follow him during the day and find out. But Ted and Cynthia find themselves instantly out of their depth. Jonathan leaves no fingerprints. His few memories about his profession turn out to be false.
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Brilliant Sci-Fi Detective Action!
- By Nils J. Rasmussen on 04-18-14
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The Hunter
- By: Richard Stark
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.
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A dark story
- By Dave Nelson on 04-06-13
By: Richard Stark