Constance and Charlie Series by Kate Wilhelm

Over the years, Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn have investigated a wide variety of murder and arson cases. This collection assembles for the first time the shorter cases of the detecting duo, including: "With Thimbles, with Forks, and Hope, " their first case ever; the harrowing account of an arsonist out for revenge, "Torch Song, " which has never been published before; and "All for One, " also published first in this volume - a bittersweet tale of murderous family relations... moreOver the years, Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn have investigated a wide variety of murder and arson cases. This collection assembles for the first time the shorter cases of the detecting duo, including: "With Thimbles, with Forks, and Hope, " their first case ever; the harrowing account of an arsonist out for revenge, "Torch Song, " which has never been published before; and "All for One, " also published first in this volume - a bittersweet tale of murderous family relations. Together with "Sister Alice" and "The Gorgon Field, " these stories comprise a full house of fantastic fiction. less

Someone is setting fire to abandoned hotels, restaurants and schools around the country, at erratic intervals, in apparently arbitrary locations. Worse, each arson is accompanied by murder and mutilation. Unlikely detective team Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl must call upon all their skills to uncover the terror behind this insanity.

Smart House can do it all: run your bath at exactly the right temperature, order precisely the right food for your meals, maintain a sustainable garden, regulate every function of a well-run establishment. Set on a remote Oregon coast, it is ready for a final demonstration, with all the directors of the funding company present when the CEO is found dead in a covered swimming pool, and another director is found dead in a closed elevator car... moreSmart House can do it all: run your bath at exactly the right temperature, order precisely the right food for your meals, maintain a sustainable garden, regulate every function of a well-run establishment. Set on a remote Oregon coast, it is ready for a final demonstration, with all the directors of the funding company present when the CEO is found dead in a covered swimming pool, and another director is found dead in a closed elevator car. Charlie and Constance are called on to prove or disprove the accusation that the house itself killed both men. Have they become the next targets of a house gone insane? less

First victim in this fresh, entertaining mystery is a watchdog named Sadie, owned by Al and Sylvie Zukal, two likable, spectacularly vulgar kvetches from the Bronx who invested some recent lottery winnings on a rural estate in Spender's Ferry, N.Y... moreFirst victim in this fresh, entertaining mystery is a watchdog named Sadie, owned by Al and Sylvie Zukal, two likable, spectacularly vulgar kvetches from the Bronx who invested some recent lottery winnings on a rural estate in Spender's Ferry, N.Y. After the Zukals' young friend David dies, the well-oiled, older detective team of Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl begins to question the conclusions of the local sheriff, who labels these and additional inventive killings - by poison, drugs, bees and gas -accident or suicide. Charlie and Constance turn up a barrelfull of suspects: kingmaker Warren Wollander; his childish daughter and her latest guru, a smarmy evangelist; and a gaggle of agrarian scientists, including Warren's wife. less

Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn are an unlikely pair of detectives. He is a former arson detective; she is a psychologist. Together they have a knack for unraveling a mystery. Seven Kinds of Death is a famous sculpture, but the name takes on new meaning when bodies start turning up at the creator's art colony.