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Brett Halliday books

Brett Halliday
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Books: 42 | Review: 0 | Avg rating: 4.21
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Read Books by Brett Halliday

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Dividend on Death (1959)

3.5 stars, rounded up.Mike Shayne had just sat down with a nice cocktail when his prospective client, Phyllis Brighton, tries to throw herself out the window of his apartment. She claims that she’s crazy, that she has an Electra complex, a fixation so intense that Phyllis believes she’ll kill her...

Dividend on Death (1959) by Brett Halliday
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Bodies Are Where You Find Them (1993)

Shayne isn't one to say no to a gorgeous, rich young doll who gets absolutely everything she wants - and what she wants is him. But he changes his tune when he finds her cold and lifeless body on his bed. The dead girl's stepfather is a slippery politician who'd be happy to watch Shayne fry - for...

Bodies Are Where You Find Them (1993) by Brett Halliday
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Murder is My Business (2010)

I like to think that I know a little something about American mystery/crime novels. I’ve read Chandler, Hammett, Thompson, Cain, Block, Westlake and dozens of others. And even what I haven’t read, I thought I had at least a passing familiarity with. (For example, I’ve never gotten around to Ros...

Murder is My Business (2010) by Brett Halliday
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Die Like a Dog (1993)

I actually read the 1959 paperback of this and was so going to add that edition, but GoodReads was all "please just use the edition listed), which is lame all around. That is lame, GoodReads. The cover on mine is so much better than anything the early-nineties produced. Ever.I really cannot im...

Die Like a Dog (1993) by Brett Halliday
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Murder & the Married Virgin

She took a step backward when she saw the hard-set lines of his jaws and the bleak look in his eyes. “What on earth has happened, Michael?” she cried.     “I hate a hypocrite,” he growled. “God in heaven how I hate a mealy-mouthed hypocrite.”     She ran to...

Murder & the Married Virgin by Brett Halliday
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The Kissed Corpse

He said: “You didn’t lose any time getting that stuff into print.” “It’s making headlines all over the country this minute,” she assured him, while Dwight glared at her. “Who is this woman?” Burke introduced her to Dwight and she said: “We met rather informally last night … south of the Rio Grand...

The Kissed Corpse by Brett Halliday
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Sheriff on the Spot

The fact that Sam and Ezra had not crossed the pass convinced him that they did not expect to be followed by him. They must have heard the posse go past the crossroads in the wrong direction, he reasoned, and felt they were reasonably safe from pursuit. Thus, they wouldn’t have ridden too fast, a...

Sheriff on the Spot by Brett Halliday
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The Careless Corpse

The macadam drive curved gently upward between a double row of feathery Australian pines to the large three-story house dominating several acres of carefully landscaped lawn and tropical shrubbery. There was a cream-colored Cadillac convertible and a long, dark blue limousine parked in front of t...

The Careless Corpse by Brett Halliday
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Counterfeit Wife

Shayne twisted his head, and his mouth slid off hers to the side of her throat. Her grip was like a wrestler’s, and he had to struggle against it, getting his hands on her shoulders and prying upward to lift himself from her grasp.     Laughter gurgled from her moist lips and ...

Counterfeit Wife by Brett Halliday
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The Violent World of Michael Shayne

  MAGGIE SMITH’S HOUSE WAS ONE OF A ROW NOT FAR FROM her theatre, on a narrow street. Shayne made a note to duck when he went through the front door. The Szep brothers, who had followed in a Chevy pick-up, parked several blocks away, where the truck would be less conspicuous, and came back t...

The Violent World of Michael Shayne by Brett Halliday
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Stranger in Town

The first bullet had struck her at the base of the throat and gone on to smash the spinal column. Blood gushed from the wound and stained the concrete sidewalk beneath Shayne as he crouched on hands and knees over her body.     An excited group gathered about them swiftly as S...

Stranger in Town by Brett Halliday
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The End of the Trail

Following a tortuous canyon route westward, they had emerged this morning onto the flat, level reaches of the famed South Park, a lush mountain valley thirty miles wide in some places, stretching for more than sixty miles north and south against the very base of the Continental Divide at a mean a...

The End of the Trail by Brett Halliday
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The Corpse Came Calling

She turned to Shayne, puckering her nose in distaste. “Heliotrope perfume. In the excitement, I forgot all about the female you were interviewing while Mr. Painter was proving me a liar. Was she pretty, Michael?”     “Ugly as a mud fence,” he assured her. “She had a dripping n...

The Corpse Came Calling by Brett Halliday
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Date with a Dead Man

The dingy front office was presided over by a gnomelike little man wearing a shiny alpaca coat. He was humped over a ponderous legal volume and looked up with near-sighted irritation when Michael Shayne entered. “Yes, yes? What is it?”     “I’m Shayne. Mr. Hastings asked me to...

Date with a Dead Man by Brett Halliday
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The Body Came Back

  Timothy Rourke was slouched back comfortably on a sagging sofa in the disordered sitting room of his bachelor apartment when Shayne entered ten minutes later. He had a highball glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and he grinned cheerfully at the detective and waved toward a bot...

The Body Came Back by Brett Halliday
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Heads You Lose

Miss Taylor’s bungalow was a small house of weathered rock tucked in between forbidding walled-in estates on either side, charmingly rustic and appealing in its setting of green lawns and cocopalms.     The cottage was situated on the edge of the bay at the end of a hundred-fo...

Heads You Lose by Brett Halliday
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Pay-Off in Blood

Two white-coated ambulance attendants moved toward the rear of the ambulance carrying the sheet-draped body on a stretcher, while some of the men went back to their parked cars and drove away. Others fanned out on foot in both directions from the doctor’s house, and Shayne, who knew the routine w...

Pay-Off in Blood by Brett Halliday
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Murder by Proxy

  The Gray Gull was several miles northward on the beach, well beyond the concentration of luxury hotels. It did not open for business until the dinner hour, but there were six or eight cars in the parking lot when Shayne turned in, and the front doors stood open.     He ...

Murder by Proxy by Brett Halliday
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Tickets for Death

Her white fur chubby hung open, revealing the scarlet scarf which vied with her cheeks for color. He wondered, fleetingly, whether she had been questioned at the betting windows regarding her age, in keeping with the state law against selling tickets to minors. She was clinging to Gil Matrix’s ar...

Tickets for Death by Brett Halliday
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Marked for Murder

The managing editor of the Courier was driving, and he didn’t appear to notice Shayne’s car.     Shayne sat on, undecided as to his next move, trying to straighten out some of the angles but not getting very far. Right now there were too damned many angles.    &...

Marked for Murder by Brett Halliday
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Shoot to Kill

Griggs had an intelligent, weathered face, shrewdly cold eyes, and a completely bald head. He pivoted slowly, just inside the room, scrutinizing each man carefully, and not a flicker of surprise showed on his impassive features as his gaze slid over the detective and the reporter.   &nb...

Shoot to Kill by Brett Halliday
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Death Rides the Night

Pat drew the covers up around her and hovered over her anxiously for a moment to be sure she had completely recovered from the awful fright brought on by Ezra’s sudden appearance at her window. “Just take it easy, Kitty,” he kept reassuring her. “Lie back an’ take it easy. Don’t worry about nothi...

Death Rides the Night by Brett Halliday
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Mermaid on the Rocks

“It’s early. You can’t be sleepy yet. Let’s change games. How would you feel about a little craps?”     “I haven’t shot craps in years.”     “That’s fine. I’ll be glad to explain the rules.”     She used her backgammon winnings as bettin...

Mermaid on the Rocks by Brett Halliday
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Murder Spins the Wheel

  THE HOTEL GLORIA, TWO BLOCKS from the bay near the Miami Beach city limits, had been built in a hurry, during one of the brief booms, using semiprofessional labor and second-rate materials. It was in bad need of maintenance. The upholstery on the lobby furniture was worn and dirty, marked ...

Murder Spins the Wheel by Brett Halliday
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Dolls Are Deadly

Was this a new fad, like chain letters?     He discarded the idea distastefully as he recalled the graying face of Henny Henlein. The taking of human life, even a depraved life like Henlein’s, wasn’t to be regarded lightly.     It was a little after six whe...

Dolls Are Deadly by Brett Halliday
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She Woke to Darkness

  My doorbell buzzed just as I reached that point in Elsie’s manuscript. The sound rasped angrily in the utter silence of the hotel room, and I must have jumped a foot.     The cops, I thought. Here it is, Mr. Halliday. Gird up your loins and prepare for one of those inte...

She Woke to Darkness by Brett Halliday
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Murder Takes No Holiday

she said.     Her voice was small but determined. The gun was a little .25 automatic. She held it firmly. Michael Shayne came into the room and she kicked the door shut behind him. She was wearing a tightly-belted blue dressing gown. Her blonde hair was brushed out loosely and...

Murder Takes No Holiday by Brett Halliday
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The Uncomplaining Corpses

A thick-necked sergeant recognized Shayne as he crossed the lobby, and he stepped forward to intercept him. He took Shayne by the arm and said gruffly: “What you wanta pop up here for, Mike? We got a pickup on you for the Beach in case you don’t know.”     Shayne said, “I know...

The Uncomplaining Corpses by Brett Halliday
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Framed in Blood

He yawned widely, then twisted his wide mouth in a grim grin. There had been a time, he reminded himself disgustedly, when an hour or so of sleep was enough. Especially when he was working on a case. But he was getting older. Besides, this wasn’t his case. Not officially. Thus far there wasn’t a ...

Framed in Blood by Brett Halliday
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A Redhead for Mike Shayne

His legs were shaky and there was a lump the size of a duck’s egg on the right side of his neck and his entire head throbbed painfully, but the three diagonal scratches on his cheek had stopped bleeding while he drove back, and he decided he was in pretty fair shape considering everything.  ...

A Redhead for Mike Shayne by Brett Halliday
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Nice Fillies Finish Last

Seeing the tall redhead as he came in, she said something to the man she was with and left her drink on the bar. “Michael,” she said with satisfaction, taking his arm. “I stayed alert and got to you before anybody else did. That shows I still have my youthful reflexes.”     “A...

Nice Fillies Finish Last by Brett Halliday
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The Private Practice of Michael Shayne

She answered breathlessly, “If you hadn’t called, I was going to call you. I couldn’t stand waiting any longer.”     “How’d you make out last night?”     “It was awful,” she groaned. “I’ve been in and out of the tub ever since I got home—trying to get to fe...

The Private Practice of Michael Shayne by Brett Halliday
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Dead Man's Diary & A Taste for Cognac

Timothy Rourke wasn’t at the bar and he wasn’t in any of the booths. Shayne frowned and turned impatiently toward the swinging doors.     A voice called, “Mr. Shayne?” when he reached the third booth from the end.     He stopped and looked down at the girl ...

Dead Man's Diary & A Taste for Cognac by Brett Halliday
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Fight for Powder Valley!

4 Deep twilight lay upon powder Valley when John Boyd reached the Lazy Mare ranch leading Pat’s horse. Pat’s eyes were swollen to tiny blood-crusted slits, rendering him practically blind, and helpless to do anything except sit in the saddle and be guided home. Sally Stevens came to the front doo...

Fight for Powder Valley! by Brett Halliday
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Blood on Biscayne Bay

She said sullenly, “Mrs. Morrison isn’t in.”     Shayne grinned. “It’s Mr. Morrison I want.”     “He’s not in either.” She started to close the door.     Shayne put his foot in the crack. “Are you sure? He promised to take me out in his ...

Blood on Biscayne Bay by Brett Halliday
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Killers from the Keys

When he arrived minutes later, there were not more than ten cars parked in front of cabins, indicating occupancy. Only three cabins showed lights inside. In the exact center of the half-moon of cabins was a red neon light that said OFFICE, and the word VACANCY beneath it.     ...

Killers from the Keys by Brett Halliday
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In a Deadly Vein

Cal Strenk faltered. His hunched figure looked shrunken.     Shayne demanded, “Is there another trail away from the cabin?”     “Nope. You can mebby slide down an’ ford the crik to the road on the other side if it ain’t flooded too high from that rain in th...

In a Deadly Vein by Brett Halliday
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The Homicidal Virgin

Jane Smith gulped in her breath unevenly after she spoke, and closed her eyes tightly. Her body went lax and she lay huddled at one corner of the sofa like a limp rag doll. Two tears squeezed out from under her eyelids and coursed slowly down her cheeks.     Slowly her head be...

The Homicidal Virgin by Brett Halliday
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Blood on the Stars

A couple of years had elapsed since he had operated professionally in the Miami area, and a great many changes had taken place. Changes, particularly, in the organization and identity of the mobs ruling the resort city’s underworld. Two years ago, he reflected morosely, it would have been a cinch...

Blood on the Stars by Brett Halliday
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The Smoking Iron

His tall frame with shrunken and cadaverous and his wispy hair showed silvery-white when he lifted a shapeless felt hat to greet Dusty politely. He showed some yellow snags of teeth in a wide smile, and his black eyes gleamed with curiosity as they lingered on Dusty’s costume and on the gunbelt s...

The Smoking Iron by Brett Halliday
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Michael Shayne's Long Chance

he went into the living-room. She was in the bathroom rouging her lips before the lavatory mirror after changing to a green sports dress with suède shoes to match. “That is,” she admitted, “all except putting on my mask and buttoning up.”     Shayne scowled at her. “So you wan...

Michael Shayne's Long Chance by Brett Halliday
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A Taste for Violence

One was a balding, wiry, middle-aged man in his shirtsleeves with bright red and yellow suspenders. The other was younger and heavier, wearing a seersucker suit. He was holding Lucy’s left hand, leaning close and talking rapidly. Two gold teeth showed beneath his short upper lip as he talked. &nb...

A Taste for Violence by Brett Halliday

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