Clarence Budington Kelland

"It seems as if Catty and I have a lot of luck, and this summer we had more than usual, for Mr. Browning, who lived in New York, and was interested in all kinds of businesses, invited us to go for a cruise on his yacht. He was out to our town to see Mr. Atkins on some sort of business, and before we knew it Catty and I were friends with him, and took him fishing, and went around with him-and the day he left he said we were to come for the cruise. . . ."

Two Geeks Are Better Than One Especially When They're Twins Kelland's Last Novel And His Most Delightful - The Classic Saturday Evening Post Serial - First Time In Book Form Bonus: The first ever book publication of the last story in his Scattergood Baines series, also about swindles The Big Swindle is Kelland's last book-and one of his best. Filled with his trademark pixilated dialogue and zany romance, as well as his sometimes-awkward, sometimes-effervescent, always-memorable characters (The Saturday Evening Post, where the story was serialized, once told him to stop using "so many cockeyed characters" in his stories-but thankfully, Kelland ignored this advice). "Urbane entertainment " -Kirkus Reviews Pete and Pet, the Du Chillon twins, are heirs to one of the oldest names in Europe and one of the largest fortunes in America. Two crazy kids with lots to do and even more to say, they have a habit of being newsworthy wherever they go. In Paris-where they were fined for sneaking into the senate gallery and blowing a pound of snuff into the air to restore the Duke de Penthieve's honor after an insult by one of his political enemies-they're known as Les Gemeaux. In London society-where they were royally entertained by the Queen after saving a member of the royal family from embarrassment-they're called The Gemini. In West Germany-where they had borne away to freedom one of their former University professors captured by the USSR's infamous NKVD-they're Die Zwillinge. And in Rome-where they had inspired the Pope to pen an encyclical liberalizing certain church practices-they answer to Due Gemelli. But at home in Cow Bay, Long Island-where they were raised-they've always been known simply as "them pesky twins." Now they are about to come into their majority and control of their inheritance-namely, Du Chillon Industries-but before they can explore their newfound power, they must use their signature wit and cunning to secure it. As they find themselves in the midst of a deadly plot to grab control of Du Chillon Industries (as well as every penny they own ), it becomes clear that they've been waiting for this moment their whole lives, and are more than ready to dispatch any swindlers who stand in their way. Participants in the plot include: -"Fish Eye" Norton (the twins' name for him), current president of Du Chillon Industries, an obsequious individual who believes his efforts for the company have earned him the right to control and possess it.-Lumen Bassett, the arrogant, threatening head of security for the company: either Norton's pawn or, perhaps, his puppet master.-Elmo Tailer, who has dreamed of taking over Cow Bay-and who has assumed that Pete and Pet would be easy prey, since they're half his age. It never occurred to him that instead, as twins, they might be twice as dangerous.In the middle of this muddle, Pete and Pet find themselves falling in love with: -Electra Tubbs, a local reporter as bewitching as she is enigmatic, who set Pete's head swimming-and who he suspects just might be the family's worst enemy.-Leif Ericson, a brawny, golden-haired giant who sailed across the Atlantic in a perfect replica of a Viking ship to prove Du Chillon Industries, and the family who owned it, were outright crooks. Even while she eyes him with suspicion, Pet can't help but blush in his presence. And presiding over all, stands: Madame Du Chillon-known by the twins as Grand'mere-an iron-willed matriarch who had taught Pete and Pet everything they know...which was a great deal more than most people suspected. While heads fall all around her, she remains in possession of her own. Be prepared for swindles within swindles-and who will swindle whom? Even if you guess, you won't be able to guess how Here in this lost classic, never before printed in book form, is a fitting capstone to the career of one of America's most popular & beloved authors. "A writ

THE CLOSER HE GOT TO HIS FELLOW AGENT'S KILLER - THE CLOSER HE GOT TO DEATH "Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn." -New York Times "Bright and breezy mystery and romance." -Kirkus Reviews FBI agent Hawser Butts had a funny name and a sense of humor. But he was dead serious on a case-and all the more so now that his best friend and fellow agent had been murdered. Hawser only had one clue, but it led him straight to the largest theft of bonds in U.S. history and something called the Black Stock exchange, where forged bonds were sold and traded. Along the way he encountered bullets, bodies, mayhem, offbeat romance, and as strange a set of suspects as any G-Man had ever met: Absalom Stubblecheek: now disabled and retired, he had once been the infamous "pirate of Wall Street"-but had he really laid down his cutlass for good? Pea-Eye Hoskins: a sophisticated conman and quick on the trigger...too quick for his own good. Lana Gibson: she looked like an innocent 16-year-old, but she was neither-and her strings of cusses could scorch the hide off a Marine. Tubby Alton, Hawser's college roommate: was he a dupe, a dastard, or just a hanger-on? Jackson Robards: this high-society millionaire had it all-but it was draining away with each dose of heroin he injected. Tessie Minchkin: a ditzy dowager who tittered at young men's attentions-but finally received more attention than she wanted. Mike Zoltowski: a Polish immigrant-Hawser called him a "true citizen" and told his boss, "sometimes these foreign-born boys like what they find here and get the idea better" than your average citizen by birth. Olga Zoltowski: a hotel maid who was better informed than the FBI-and, like her husband, more patriotic than most people Howser met. And finally...Nadine Stubblecheek: her angular features, metallic voice, lighting wits and seeming indifference attracted the FBI agent as no woman ever had...but was she on the side of the angels-or leading him like a lamb to the slaughter? Following a tangled trail of trouble and danger, Hawser Butts slowly sorted the innocent from the guilty, worked his way close to the killers...and, soon enough, found himself a marked man."A writer of distinction." -The Detroit News Perfect for fans of Rex Stout, Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner.

BURIED PIRATE TREASURE, WISECRACKING KELLAND HEROINE LEAD TO ROMANCE, ADVENTURE & MURDER IN THIS EXCITING KELLAND NOVEL SET ON PROHIBITION-ERA LONG ISLAND BESTSELLER TOP 1% OF ALL KINDLE TITLES"A refreshing, entertaining story written by a master storytellers, and one of Kelland's best novels," Allentown Call-Leader"Combines love and mystery in a fast and exciting adventure." Bakersfield CalifornianWisecracking Jane Teach had pirate blood, a take charge attitude and a penchant for sticking her nose in the wrong places. Sober-minded Bill Popple was from one of Long Island's first families, a conservative minded young man who walked the straight and narrow. When they met it was loathing at first sight. Definitely not a match made in heaven. But with six people trying to kill them over a dead bootlegger's lost fortune and a pirate's treasure secretly buried three hundred years ago, they both needed each other.Among the malefactors, threatening to remove them as impediments:: * Gillan and Quelch Cullover, twins named after famous pirates, who finish each other's sentences in a comical way, but whose ruthless eyes and deeds are anything but humorous.* Count Van Breslau, a caveman with culture, a body like a Greek god, a musical voice, and a face that would frighten hobgoblins. People are fascinated by him, says Jane Teach, until they wake up with their throats slit.* Henry Hartman, disagreeable bootlegger with an unsavory reputation, who has just bought a major piece of property on the Long Island sound, surrounded by armed guards who threaten to shoot anyone found on the grounds..* Ken, the Cullover twins' chef, who serves exquisite cuisine with a murder chaser, and whose skill with a knife is something to watch in and out of the kitchen.* Alissandro Mehagian, a small, plump stranger from Manhattan with no inhibitions against crime, he had the strongest motive for murder of them all - so why was he the one almost killed as soon as he arrived?First Bill Popple, the muscular serious-minded research student, unearths information which makes the odds high in favor of pirate gold being hidden long ago on what is now Hartman's property. Then Jane Teach, the streamlined girl of ready wit, who seems to know more than Bill does about almost everything, suggests that there may be not one treasure but two, the first one part of her Ancestor's lost loot, the second a bootlegger's ill-gotten gains. Next Jane and Bills discover a corpse lying on a beach near Oxbow Bay with gold pieces sunk into its eye sockets.Soon the pair find themselves up to their necks in mystery and dark doings involving the heterogeneous group of strangers who have appeared suddenly in town to wait and watch for ...what? From then on Jane and Bill never experience a dull moment.How they extricate themselves, and at the same time solve two deep mysteries, adds up to an absorbing novel of skullduggery and sudden death in which excitement and romance mount to an increasingly high pitch and culminate in a wholly satisfying climax,"Clarence Budington Kelland, master of surprises, has devised an intricate plot full of unusual twists for "Double Treasure," a tale in the best Kelland tradition of adventure and romance." Indianapolis Star"Thrilling " Wisconsin Daily Tribune

"Baines is an American institution ... and when Baines turns detective, our delight knows no bounds." -Leslie Charteris in The Saint Mystery Magazine Mystery fans will fall in love with Scattergood Baines "That typically American character, that magazine and movie favorite-Scattergood Baines-had his own manhunting method. 'I dunno's I hold much with clues, not the kind ye kin see with your eyes and tetch with your fingers.' He could 'git the true inwardness' of an assault-and-robbery-and that's true detecting. Scattergood Baines acts the part of an authentic detective, in the purest American style." -Ellery Queen in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine The Scattergood Baines Method: "He leaned back on the specially reinforced chair on the piazza of his hardware store, removed his shoes and socks and began to twiddle his toes-much to the chagrin of his wife Mandy. His mind worked more freely when his toes were unconfined, so that he might wriggle them as he reasoned." Here are 12 classic stories about the three-hundred-pound Sage of Coldriver. Written during the Golden Age of the Detective Story, and printed in the same magazines as Rex Stout, Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner, most of the Scattergood Baines tales have never been reprinted before. For readers of Wolfe, Marple, and Father Brown, this one-of-a-kind collection, selected from the pages of The Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine, is an incomparable treat. Leslie Charteris hailed Clarence Budington Kelland as "one of the Old Masters." Few other authors could fit romance, mystery and detection into 5,000 words with such adroit effortlessness."A writer of distinction." -The Detroit News Perfect for fans of Rex Stout, Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner.

TWO GEEKS AGAINST THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN KGB SPY NETWORK - ONE SIDE IS SLIGHTLY OUT NUMBERED. "An exciting adventure in homicide and an inside picture of a fabulous scientific operation...The rocket-testing grounds of White Sands, New Mexico, are the setting for this Kelland thriller. The author was especially authorized by the Defense Department to explore the closely-guarded confines of White Sands. Thus, with all his accustomed skill and humor, he presents an inside story of fantastic happenings at this vital research center. The result is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of scientists and security and espionage. And, last but not least, a rocket-paced and colorful novel in the finest Kelland tradition." -Yesterday's Muse "The greatest mystery story of the year and a tantalizing spy story. ... Which of the two lovely women is the spy?" -Indianapolis News More pixilated dialogue, delightfully eccentric characters, and midcentury zeitgeist in bestselling romantic suspense author Clarence Budington Kelland's enthralling peek into the period's most top-secret program. The goings-on at the U.S. rocket testing grounds at White Sands, New Mexico, and the development of guided missiles, were some the nation's most closely guarded secrets-secrets the "Reds" would kill for. Dr. Thomas Alva Edison Gimp-one of Kelland's quintessential geek heroes-had been brought there as a leader in the development of the electronic brains needed to guide these missiles. His problems began on the train out, where he first encountered a very alluring and flirtatious woman, then a much-too-friendly professor of art history, and then-murder. His trip didn't get any easier when he arrived at White Sands and met Miss Brown, a woman from his own past, whose job seemed to be anything she wanted it to be and her taste in acquaintances was...questionable. And it all seemed to come to a climax when he met William George Thomas, a man of enormous girth and intellect, whose first encounter with Dr. Gimp may not have been as accidental as it seemed."Gives the reader a peep through the barbed wire at White Sands Proving Ground. The government allowed the author to visit White Sands to pick up background for his book, and he incorporated a good deal of perfectly sound elementary information about missiles in it. "There are also four murders, romance and plenty of the kind of excitement that would turn a security officer's hair white if it were ever actually to occur." -Sayre, PA Evening Times " Kelland is] a writer of distinction." -The Detroit News

"Your town," said he, "is growin'. Its population jest increased by me." "Sizable growth," said Old Man Penny, dryly, letting his eye rove over Scattergood's bulk. "My line," said Scattergood, "is anythin' needful. Outside of a railroad, what you figger you need most?" Nobody answered. "Is it a grocery store?" asked Scattergood. Locker stiffened in his chair. "Me and Sam Kittleman calc'lates to sell all the groceries this town needs," he said.

Eccentric Characters, Screwball Romance, and Mid-Century Zeitgeist in This Classic Postal Procedural "Postal inspector Will Scarlet must uncover the plot for looting the mails. Beginning with the disappearance of dresses sent from a little New York City shop, where he meets the awkward, brilliant Mabel Brown, it is on to the mysterious singer Jahala and the men whom she dominates. Scarlet works out the system by which packages vanish, turns up some murders and rounds up the whole gang. Maintains its pace and humor in the expected Kelland style." -Kirkus Reviews The hidden movement of mail...Post Office procedure is the backbone, and the story behind the story, of U.S. Postal Inspector Will Scarlet's hunt for the fiend plotting to loot the mail. When a few very expensive packages mailed within the Manhattan area go missing, Scarlet suspects a rehearsal is underway for a much more ambitious theft-possibly worth millions. Scarlet begins with a little New York dress shop whose order of gowns has has gone missing. There Scarlet meets the store's intriguing manager, Mabel Brown, who remembers seeing a woman wearing one of the stolen dresses. This hot tip takes Scarlet to a nightclub, where he is introduced to Jahala Vidmar, a sensational dancer whose shows have taken the town by storm and who has drawn the attention of many a shady character. "...fine documentary stuff" -Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Perfect for fans of Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout and Agatha Christie.

"The Cardiff Giant Affair is set in Syracuse in 1869 and deals with a happy m lange of medicine shows, con games, 'brawling canawlers, ' high society and murder, with two highly spirited women and incidental glimpses of P. T. Barnum. All this is interwoven with the splendid true story of the Cardiff Giant. This light and charming romance is easily the most successful of Mr. Kelland's ventures." -Anthony Boucher, The New York Times The opulent, empire-building, post-Civil War era comes alive in this masterful novel of unsuspected love, terrifying violence, and a woman's fanatically guarded secret. The Cardiff Giant Affair is one of Clarence Budington Kelland's most brilliant works. Orrin Applegate had just earned his law degree and returned home to Syracuse in the crisp autumn of 1869. His first order of business was a visit to his next-door neighbor and childhood playmate, Lossie Fox, a singularly headstrong and independent woman for her era. Orrin thought he had grown up while he was away at college-but so had Lossie, he found. It remained to be seen whether they had grown apart in the process, or whether they might grow back together in an entirely new way. Was he attracted to her or was she just a good friend? He didn't know-but sometimes Orrin caught Lossie looking at him as if she knew the answer and was laughing. Before he could decide, however, three things turned his and Lossie's lives upside down, and suddenly Orrin had no more time to ponder their relationship. First came the discovery of a petrified, life-like giant, complete with skin pores and reproductive anatomy, buried on a farm in nearby Cardiff, New York. Lossie, always fascinated by the new and out-of-the-ordinary, persuaded Orrin to drive her there in his family carriage the very day the giant was uncovered. The giant ignited worldwide controversy, with ministers claiming it vindicated the gospels, proof "there were giants in the earth in those days"-while scientists termed it a "fake." Soon, citizens were standing in line paying fabulous sums just for a glimpse, while wealthy entrepreneurs fought over the right to show and exploit this new wonder of the age.The second event was the arrival of Orrin and Lossie's new neighbor, the mysterious and glamorous Madam Cissy Janeway, who moved in directly across the street. Almost at once they began to notice strange comings and goings around Madam Janeway's house at night. As for Madam Janeway, she quickly became the subject of gossip around town. She seemed to have admission to the highest levels of society-yet it was whispered she was a "prot g e" of multimillionaire Wall St. financer Daniel Drew. She lived the life of a woman of utmost refinement and unlimited means, yet to Orrin and Lossie's consternation her butler looked and talked like a stevedore and treated her like his servant.Third was the murdered man whose body Orrin discovered in the family stable by their carriage. The man had been strangled by someone very strong, and no one in Syracuse would admit to ever having seen him before. As the discoverer of the body, Orrin became the chief suspect and he and Lossie knew they would have to get to the bottom of it all to clear his name.Orrin knew there was a meaningful connection between all the three events-but what was it? The more he and Lossie learned, the greater grew the danger around them.Engaging dialogue, intriguing characters, hard-won romance, and the unfolding of a baffling plot combine to create page-turning romantic suspense in this 1950s Golden Age mystery classic.First reprint in 50 years

"An absorbing novel of espionage and romance - an unforgettable story of the amazing ship that saved the Union." New York Herald Tribune"One of America's most famous authors tells of the fateful battle of the ironclads-and the beautiful woman who turned the tide of history." Detroit News"Espionage and romance; and also the story of the amazing ship that saved the Union." -Hanover Evening SunYvonne Constant of Val-Fleury was a pampered, privileged daughter of the south and an ardent champion of the Confederate cause. Eric Nelson was a Swedish immigrant and a committed Union patriot, working with the famed John Ericsson on a new weapon that could win the war for the North. When Yvonne and Eric met, they experienced an attraction neither could admit-not even to themselves. But Eric had been entrusted with the North's greatest secret; men had already died to keep it safe, and Yvonne's aunt was one of Robert E. Lee's wiliest agents in New York-how could he ever trust her or let down his guard in her presence?When their true passions for each other became manifest to those around them, Yvonne and Eric were targeted by conspirators, spies, and assassins. Would they ever live long enough to realize-or even declare-the growing love they felt? In what kind of nation would they realize it?"As John Ericsson and his assistant were trying to convince Northern officials of the need for his ship Monitor. Confederate spies were working to destroy it. Those who like Kelland's work will not want to miss this." -Buffalo News"Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn ... Demonstrates the emotions of his lovers with psychological penetration." New York Times

RICHES NOT ROMANCE, WAS HER AIM - SO SHE FOUGHT AGAINST LOVE ALL THE WAY "The time is the Eighteen Seventies; the place is gaudy, lavish San Francisco. Anneke Villard, of haunting grace, comes to the city on the Golden Gate with Hepsibah, her duenna, from Kentucky. There is no love in Anneke's eyes, no desire to turn her beauty to account save for money. Once accepted into society (that being bankers, real estate and mining speculators) Anneke listens to conversation with naive charm. From tidbits dropped here and there she finds ways to fatten her bankroll through stock coups of various kinds. Anneke's aim is loot, not love. In San Francisco, too, she finds Juan Vallejo Parnell, a debonair young mining engineer. With piercing insight, Juan is able to discern that beneath Anneke's acquisitive exterior beats a heart capable of love.... Juan mocks Anneke, and she mocks him right back. True love and appropriate tender sentiments take a back seat as Anneke unwittingly gets mixed up in someone else's diamond field hoax and implicated in their plot to hoodwink gullible bankers and investors but] the hoaxers actually want Anneke out of the way. ...Slick, swift, entertaining." -The New York Times Anneke Villard came to San Francisco at the height of its silver rush-and one of the most lavish spending sprees any metropolis had ever seen. She was determined to win a fortune for herself. Unlike most of the other women who were flooding to the city, she was determined to do it with her brains instead of her body. "Romance-suspense-action set against a historical background that is dramatic in itself. Mr. Kelland is to be congratulated. Exceptional." -Los Angeles Times For fans of Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner and Rex Stout.

TO CELEBRATE THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, WE REPRINTED THIS CLASSIC MYSTERY SET IN YOSEMITE AND WRITTEN TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARK SYSTEM "Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn." -The New York Times "First Kelland book I ever read. Got me hooked." -Goodreads The Sinister Strangers starts in midcentury Yosemite National Park when probationary ranger Linc Sawtell becomes suspicious of Joan Vanderlee, maid/secretary to Letitia Potwin, an outrageous Boston Blueblood on a hunt for a real-life treasure lost in the region centuries before. Joan seems unusually independent and outspoken for a servant in her position. Linc's suspicions deepen with the arrival of a highly cultured businessman from China who seems to know Letitia Potwin very well. And they continue to deepen with the arrival of several other larger-than-life visitors.There is Zaharados, a wily visitor from the Levantine, whose retainer makes a point of demonstrating his expertise with a blade by embedding it in a wall uncomfortably close to Linc. There is Johannes van der Poot, a Dutch millionaire with an international reputation (not all good); his gorgeous daughter Katrina, with a taste for the dangerous life and a passion for Park Rangers- particularly Linc. Then the equally gorgeous television wrestler "Nature Boy" Nussler, with his long golden locks and breathtaking physique, seemingly intent on sweeping Joan Vanderlee off her feet. Adding to the mix is Haroun, Sheik el Samari, a young Arab prince fresh out of Oxford, who acts and talks just like the clich Britisher, assisted by his rather large entourage. Capping everything off is Whitey, a Chicago gunman, and his cohorts-who rent a cabin just outside the park, where they seem to do nothing but play cards and wait. Every time Linc sees Joan with Nature Boy Nussler his blood boils. And every time Joan sees Linc with Katrina she becomes more tense and snippy. Clearly everyone is there for a reason-the same reason-but is it the treasure hunt, or something more sinister? Then Linc learns of an assassination plot, and the billions of dollars in oil motivating it, which if successful would create an international incident devastating to the United States-and perhaps the world Another slightly off-kilter Kelland mystery, filled with unforgettable characters and pungently clever dialogue-an adroit mixture of the deadly dangerous and the dangerously funny. "Action steady, suspense above average." -Saturday Review The Sinister Strangers is one of the Federal Agent Mysteries. Kelland was asked to write a series giving people a behind-the-scenes look at what different types of federal law enforcement agents -the FBI, Postal Service, Park rangers, Secret Service, etc. - did to earn their keep. During the writing, he was allowed unprecedented access to offices, procedures, agents and files-and so the stories in this series are not only fascinating and compelling, but richly detailed, filled with "fine documentary stuff" (The Criminal Record). Perfect for fans of Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie and Rex Stout