Sandra Cassells, a rich widow, has set up a home for ex-convicts, but her good intentions create a boiling cauldron of trouble, as passion, jealousy, and manipulation lead to murder. Amos Lee Mappin has no difficulty finding suspects and motives-and it quickly becomes obvious that no one is outside the scope of his investigation. But can he find the killer before more bodies show up? The House with the Blue Door was first published in 1942.

Amos Lee Mappin is visited by the surly and self-centered Major Dunphy, dependent on his beautiful actress granddaughter, Mary Stannard. Mary has disappeared, and the detective soon discovers that she has stood up her wedding party. More than one man was infatuated with Mary, and Mappin finds several threads and multiple clues that must be resolved before he discovers what really happened to Mary Stannard. Orchids to Murder was published in 1945.

Sheik Ahmed bin Said arrives in the United States with his British bride-to-be and her overbearing mother, amid political machinations between France and Britain as they jostle for control of his country, Shihkar, and plotting by his devious stepbrother. Ahmed asks his old Oxford chum, Luke Imbrie, to travel to Washington DC with him as he performs his political obligations, but chaos ensues when Ahmed (and a million dollars in jewels) disappears from the train. Author and investigator Amos Lee Mappin is called in investigate, following twists and turns as he examines suspects while directing...