Innocent Bystander
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A midway murder sends a terrified eyewitness running for her lifeβfrom a cop, a con, and her own secretsβin this mystery by the author of the John J. Malone series.
The best carnival barker in the business couldnβt have drawn a crowd like the one now gathered around the Ferris wheel on the pier. In one of the cabs, still rocking with the ocean breeze, is a dead manβa bloody knife protruding from his back. Why the notorious gambling boss Jerry McGurn was killed is no mystery. Who did it is. And thereβs only one probable witness to the crime.
As bystanders go, Ellen Haven comes across as innocent: pretty enough, plus her blue eyes well up with tears at the mere mention of something as awful as murder. Homicide detective Art Smith wants to believe she didnβt see a thing. Why would she lie? Then again, why else would she suddenly vanish? And Smith isnβt the only one looking for her; so is a brutal ex-con, fresh out of San Quentin, with a score to settle. Smith knows heβd better find her first, but Ellen is leading both men into a hall of mirrors where illusions of guilt and innocence can shatter with a single gunshot.
A former crime reporter, Craig Rice was βthe first writer of detective fiction to make the cover of Time magazine. Her hardcover sales figures matched those of her bestselling contemporaries Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Raymond Chandler. Sheβs worth rememberingβ (Jon L. Breen, Edgar Awardβwinning author).
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Craig Rice (1908β1957), born Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig, was an American author of mystery novels and short stories, sometimes described as the βDorothy Parker of detective fiction.β She was the first mystery writer to appear on the cover of Time magazine, on January 28, 1946.
Malcolm Hillgartner has narrated over 175 audiobooks. He was named an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013. His work ranges from children's titles such as On the Blue Comet (AudioFile Best of 2011, Earphones), and Neal Stevenson's sci-fi epic REAMDE (Audible.com Best of 2011) to the biographies Kissinger (AudioFile Best of 2013, Earphones) and Cheever (AudioFile Best of 2009, Earphones). He is also an accomplished actor, writer, and musician. With his wife and partner, Jahnna Beecham, he has written over 130 books for teens and young readers, as well as the musicals Chaps! and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Musical, which have been produced in the U.S. and Canada.
