Michael Kurland

Two-Headed Mary, the philanthropic panhandler who dresses like a society matron when she approaches theatergoers for donations to nonexistent charities, is missing. So is sidelined hoofer Billie Trask, who disappeared from the cashier’s office of K. Jeffrey Welton’s hit show Lucky Lady with the weekend take. Could either of them have followed a third Broadway babe, Fine and Dandy chorine Lydia Laurent—whose strangled, nude body, accompanied by two complete suits of clothing, has been found in Central Park? If this seems like an awful lot of women in jeopardy, Two-Headed Mary turns out to have enough separate identities to populate a small European monarchy: She’s claimed under various guises by a Broadway hanger-on, a daughter, a husband, and a big-time con man, the Professor, who’s got even more cover stories than she does. Since the police are as helpless as they always are in 1935, it falls to New York World columnist Alexander Brass and his cheerfully wide-eyed sidekick Morgan DeWitt to dig up the truth.

An Alexander Brass Mystery 2

The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes

Richard A. Lupoff

A guide to maximizing memory explores the mechanics of memory, visualization and mnemomic techniques, beneficial nutritional supplements, and lifestyle changes that will boost the brain's supply of oxygen

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Memory

Death by Gaslight

The Infernal Device

Among the world’s great fictional villains Professor James Moriarty stands alone. Doctor Fu Manchu, Hannibal Lecter, Count Dracula, Iago, Voldemort, Darth Vader, Bill Sikes, Inspector Javert, and the Wicked Witch of the West all have their fans, all have their place in popular fiction. But for every one who can tell you whose life Iago made miserable, fifty honor that Professor James Moriarty was the particular nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. But just how evil was he? These stories by Michael Kurland explore an alternate possibility: that Moriarty wasn’t evil at all, that his villainy was less along the lines of Fu Manchu and more like Robin Hood or Simon Templar. And the reason for Sherlock Holmes’ characterization of him as “the Napoleon of crime” was that the professor was one of the few men he’d ever met who was smarter than he—and he couldn’t stand it!

A Collection of Moriarty Stories

Victorian Villainy

In the late Victorian days, a large amount of gold is arriving unannounced on the cargo ship The Empress of India. Yet the impossible happens--the shipment of gold disappears en route. Sherlock Holmes, brought in by Her Majesty's Government, knows that only one man is both diabolical and clever enough to pull off such an outlandish, daring, and, yes, theoretically impossible crime: Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty, however, had nothing to do with the crime and yet finds himself under siege from all sides. To regain his peace, Professor Moriarty undertakes to locate the missing gold. But the gold is only the exposed tip of the iceberg and he soon finds himself matching wits with a mind as nimble--perhaps even more so--than his own.

A Professor Moriarty Novel

The Empress of India

A compelling volume of original tales concerning Sherlock Holmes' legendary time in America With an introduction by Leslie S. Klinger, editor and compiler of all three volumes of the Annotated Sherlock Holmes, this collection of ten original stories brings light to one of the least examined periods in the life of the great detective—his time in the former colonies, the United States. This Holmes is a youthful one—a young man not yet set upon his course in life and in his famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street. In Richard Lupoff 's "Inga Sigerson Weds," he's come to America to represent the family at his sister's wedding. In "My Silk Umbrella," Mark Twain narrates his fateful encounter with Holmes at a baseball game in Hartford, Connecticut; Steve Hockensmith narrates the meeting of the young William Gillette and the object of his later, most famous turn upon the stage; and Peter Tremayne reveals the intersection of Holmes and the Irish in the 19th century American midwestern landscape. With further stories by Marta Randall, Rhys Bowen, Peter Beagle, and others, the legend, the mythology and even the history of the world's greatest detective is further enhanced by these charming, clever and mystifying tales.

Sherlock Holmes: The American Years

A collection of original Sherlock Holmes stories, each told from the perspective of a classic side character, offers tales by Barbara Hambly, Peter Tremayne, Mel Gilden, and other notable writers.

Untold Stories of the Great Detective

My Sherlock Holmes

Uncorrected galleys and front and back cover proofs of the 1979 Signet Books (New American Library) publication.

The rise of scientific thinking in finding, catching, and convicting criminals—and, just as important, freeing the innocent—has transformed society's assault on crime. Before scientific detective work, early attempts to maintain public safety relied on the severity of punishment rather than any probability of apprehension. But with the rapid development of the sciences in the nineteenth century, some techniques began to spill over into more effective police work. Michael Kurland's engrossing history of forensic science recounts this remarkable progress, which continues to the present. He traces the history of the major techniques of criminal detection and many of the minor ones. Here are Bertillon's physical measurements used to recognize habitual criminals; the study of fingerprints identifying criminals long after they have left the scene of the crime; Gravelle's comparison microscope comparing bullets to determine if they have been fired from the same gun; the development of bloodstain identification and, ultimately, the blood type involved. Mr. Kurland explains how once–accepted techniques have fallen by the wayside—handwriting analysis, for example—and how methods such as lie detectors, voice spectrum analysis, bite mark evidence, and other methods have proven unworthy. Finally Irrefutable Evidence explores the rise of modern DNA typing techniques, which have proven the innocence of many persons convicted of major crimes and resulted in the exoneration of more than two hundred on death row. With 12 black–and–white illustrations.

A History of Forensic Science

Irrefutable Evidence

Someone has taken the original document of the U.S. Constitution and substituted another. The substitute is identical, just as old, and equally authentic -- except it has been signed by Aaron Burr! It contradicts history, but it is real and there for everyone to see! Such a crime calls for out-of-this-world detective work. There must be alternate Americas -- and one of them must be an American union that Burr helped shape. With a few impossible coins, the path is indicated...and the search for THE WHENABOUTS OF BURR begins! It's a hunt through all the alternate-universe Americas that might have been -- with Alexander Hamilton to point the way and Aaron Burr to block it! A classic science fiction novel combining future, past, and present in a super-science history mystery! Features a new introduction by Michael Kurland.

The Whenabouts of Burr: A Science Fiction Novel

Bells of Hell

Labeled the "Napoleon of Crime" by an obsessed Sherlock Holmes, Professor James Moriarty is a prominent scientist, a keen analytical mind, and a dabbler in less than savory doings. Two friends and former associates of Moriarty - Benjamin Barnett and his wife, the former Cecily Perrine - are travelling in Europe in early 1891 when they realize that they have become objects of scrutiny from persons unknown. Things turn deadly when they find themselves in the midst of an attempted assassination of a German prince. Meanwhile in Vienna, the younger son of a British nobleman - indulging in what was then known as "The Great Game" of amateur spying - finds himself framed for the murder of his paramour and the assassination of an Austrian Duke. In London, an unknown caller arrives at Moriarty's door on a matter of great urgency. But before Moriarty can be summoned to speak with him, the stranger is shot by a crossbow bolt loosed by unseen hands. While a lesser man might be daunted, Moriarty is merely intrigued and begins to investigate. What Moriarty uncovers is a cabal that seems to be using assassination to destabilize the rule of the crowned heads of Europe. But he also senses that there is something even bigger than this operating - a conspiracy behind the conspiracy - and detects the workings of a mind quite possibly as clever as his own. Using his contacts, friends, and the not-so-desired help of his often nemesis Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty must save his friends and outwit his most cunning opponent while the fate of history hangs in the balance.

The Great Game

In London, 1892, a well-guarded young nobleman goes missing under distressing circumstances. The nobleman, one Baron Renfrew, is actually Prince Albert Victor, eldest grandson of Queen Victoria. He disappeared while he was visiting a house of ill repute, with bodyguards both inside and outside the building—with his inside bodyguard rendered unconscious and the trussed-up corpse of a brutally murdered young woman left behind. Hoping to find the missing Prince and to clear him of the murder, the royal family is looking for a brilliant—and, more importantly, discreet—investigator. Sherlock Holmes, alas, is out of the country so, at the suggestion of his brother Mycroft, they turn to the only man who just might be more brilliant—Dr. James Moriarty. Moriarty, at the time, is up on charges of murder, awaiting retrial after his first jury was hung. In exchange for his release and the murder charges (of which he's innocent), the so-called "Napoleon of Crime" will use all his resources to track down the missing prince and find out who is behind his disappearance and the brutal murders left in his wake. He soon finds that someone out there is laying a trail, setting up Moriarty himself to take the fall for the crimes. If the real Moriarty doesn't manage to unravel and foil this plot soon, he may never again draw another free breath. Who Thinks Evil is the fifth Professor Moriarty novel from Michael Kurland.

Who Thinks Evil

A dangerous adversary seeking to topple the British monarchy places Moriarty in mortal jeopardy, forcing him to collaborate with his nemesis Sherlock Holmes.

"Settle in for a trip to a wonderful half-real, half-imaginary era." — Richard A. Lupoff Mike and Chester, the alien-fighting hippies of The Butterfly Kid, have found their way from New York City to San Francisco — but that's just the first step of their odyssey. When Mike meets the girl of his dreams, he and Chester join her and her circus friends on a quest in search of a lost unicorn. Psychedelic hilarity ensues as they travel through time to encounter Victorian nudists, fire-breathing dragonettes, and live dinosaurs. Touted as a "brain-blowing science-fiction freak out" upon its 1969 publication, The Unicorn Girl is the second book in the Greenwich Village Trilogy, a shared-world scenario written by three different authors, all of whom appear in the books as characters. Dover Publications returns this cosmic adventure to print for the first time in nearly 40 years, along with its predecessor, The Butterfly Kid, and its sequel, The Probability Pad. This edition features an appreciative new Foreword by science-fiction author Richard A. Lupoff.

The Unicorn Girl

Cynthia Ward

Michael Bracken

John M. Floyd

Stacy Woodson

Ann Aptaker

James A. Hearn

Barry Fulton

Elliott Capon

Graham Powell

The ninth issue of Black Cat Mystery features a stellar lineup of new stories (and one classic reprint). Here are— LAST RITES, by Stacy Woodson THE JERICHO TRAIN, by John M. Floyd CORAL COVE, by B.A. Paul THE ALLEY, by Ann Aptaker SONNY'S ENCORE, by Michael Bracken SWITCH AND BAIT, by Cynthia Ward BECOMING ZERO, by James A. Hearn THE MURDER OF JONATHAN GREYSTONE, by Barry Fulton YOU GOTTA BE IN IT!, by Elliott Capon THE YOU-DON'T-KNOW-THE-HALF-OF-IT-DEARIE BLUES, by Michael Kurland A FIGHTER BY HIS TRADE, by Graham Powell Classic reprint: SMELLING LIKE A ROSE, by Gil Brewer

Black Cat Mystery Magazine #9

Criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty matches wits with an even more diabolical adversary when he is drawn into a deadly conspiracy in which a mysterious cabal threatens to use a series of high-level assassinations to destabilize Europe. By the author of A Plague of Spies. Reprint.

Discusses the successes and failures of forensic science from fingerprints and DNA to handwriting analysis and anthropometry.

Michael Kurland

About

Books

Join the club