Profile Books Murder in a Heatwave. Classic Crime Mysteries for the Holidays Doyle Arthur Conan, Stout Rex, Sayers Dorothy Leigh

Murder never takes a holiday • A rock pool with a deadly secret. A bank holiday heatwave dominated by the murder of an unknown man • A sun-drenched picnic that ends in a sinister locked-room mystery. And an Adriatic holiday interrupted by a beautiful couple ... who aren't quite who they seem to be • All these, and many more, can be found in these classic stories of summertime murder and mayhem, featuring masters of the genre from Dorothy L. Sayers to Arthur Conan Doyle. From St Mark's Square in Venice to the English seaside, their tales will puzzle, entertain and prove that - no matter how far you travel - there's no rest for the wicked

Murder is best served ... ice cold • It's only the afternoon, but dusk is already falling and a log fire burning in the grate. Outside, frost coats the tree branches and snow sparkles on the ground. And somewhere in the darkness, a murderer is making plans • Here are ten classic crime stories for the winter months, from the greatest minds of the mystery genre. So bundle up, grab a glass of mulled wine, and get ready to be puzzled, astonished and entertained by these festive stories of murder and mayhem

We wish you a very murderous Christmas • The Christmas season is one of comfort and joy, sparkling lights and steam rising from cups of mulled wine at frosty carol services. A season of goodwill, as families and friends come together to forget their differences and celebrate • Unless, of course, you happen to be harbouring a grudge. Or hiding a guilty secret. Or you want something so much you just have to have it - whatever the cost. In A Very Murderous Christmas, ten of the best classic crime writers come together to unleash festive havoc, with murder, mayhem and twists aplenty • From a murder aboard a snow-bound train to a pantomime costume that takes on a life of its own, these are mysteries as rich and satisfying as a Christmas dinner

A rich collection of classic Christmas mysteries • Christmas is a season of overindulgence. For most of us, that means an extra mince pie, a second helping of turkey, or perhaps a third glass of mulled wine. But for some, the festive season is a time to settle old scores, dispatch new enemies and indulge ... in murder • Here, ten masters of the genre serve up mystery and mayhem aplenty. From a dowager's missing jewels to a festive dinner gone horribly wrong, these classic crime stories will delight, puzzle and satisfy long after the last strands of tinsel have been cleared away

Murder served ice-cold • Midwinter. As snow falls softly outside and frost sparkles on tree branches, it's time to curl up before a roaring fire, wrap your hands around a steaming mug of mulled wine, and forget your worries for now. Everything is as it should be • Or is it? • As the temperature drops outside, old grudges and new motives rise to the surface - and a murder's tracks can easily be covered by freshly fallen snow. From a poisoned box of glittering chocolates to an inexplicably invisible murder weapon, let ten of the greatest crime writers in history surprise and delight you with twists and turns as shocking as an icicle in the heart

‘It came with the wind through the silence of the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad moan in which it died away. Again and again it sounded, the whole air throbbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing.’ • When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found on the misty and desolate Devon moors, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson decide to investigate. The locals blame his death on the family curse, a legendary phantom hound which has supposedly haunted the Baskervilles for generations. Holmes’ detective skills are put to the test as he battles to discover the truth behind the fearsome legend and to solve one of the most macabre mysteries of his career • Originally serialised in the Strand Magazine between 1901 and 1902, Conan Doyle’s tale is the third novel to feature the famous duo, and remains one of the most popular

'Never in the delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face' • The coroner may have ruled death by natural causes, but Sherlock Holmes knows there's something more sinister behind Sir Charles Baskerville's demise. The question is, could he really have fallen victim to the legendary phantom hound, the curse said to have haunted his ancestors for generations? Or is this the work of a very real and calculating murderer?

However far you travel, trouble has a way of finding you out • The summer holidays are a chance to escape from it all, to shrug off the troubles and cares of everyday life, and lounge on warm sands or sip a cool drink in the shade of a city square. But, as the characters in this murderously good collection of classic crime stories discover to their cost ... sometimes it's not that easy to escape your fate • An impossible murder on a Cornish beach. A honeymoon in the Italian lakes that becomes a desperate search for the truth. An African safari that ends with the tables being turned. Even in a heatwave, these tales of murder and malice will chill you like a shadow sliding across the sun

Take the holiday of a lifetime with history's greatest mystery writers • It's the height of summer. As the heat shimmers on the streets and ice cream melts onto sticky fingers, tempers begin to rise and old grudges surface. From Cornish beaches to the French Riviera, it's not just a holiday that's on people's minds ... it's murder • In these ten classic stories from writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Cyril Hare and Gladys Mitchell, you'll find mayhem and mysteries aplenty. So grab the suncream and head down to the beach - if you dare

In the bleak midwinter ... murder awaits • The halls might be decked, and the mistletoe hung, but in these ten classic crime stories you're more likely to come across a corpse under the Christmas tree than a present. From a Santa Claus with a secret to a violent theft that snowballs into something quite unexpected, pull up a chair, throw another log on the fire ... and let history's greatest crime writers surprise, delight and chill you to the bone

Trasladado a los inhospitos y desolados paramos de la region de Dartmoor, Holmes se enfrenta al reto de resolver un enigmatico crimen relacionado con el espectro de un perro diabolico y sobrenatural, instrumento de la maldicion que pesa sobre una familia. A caballo entre el relato de misterio y el cuento de terror," El sabueso de los Baskerville" (1902) supuso de hecho — si bien encubierto como recuerdo tardio de su inseparable doctor Watson — el regreso a la actividad de Sherlock Holmes, despues de que Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), cansado de la preponderancia que la figura del detective habia alcanzado en su obra, le hubiera hecho desaparecer algunos anos antes junto con su antagonista, el doctor Moriarty, en las cataratas de Reichenbach

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, first published in 1892, is a collection of twelve short stories, featuring a fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, related in first-person narrative from the point of view of Holiness friend and admirer Dr. Watson