Helen McCloy

Primavera de los años 40. En un avión rumbo a Nueva York, Basil Willing, psiquiatra asesor del fiscal de la Gran Manzana, lee una curiosa noticia en el Times: un ladrón irrumpió el día anterior en una tienducha de afilar cuchillos de la 44 Oeste, en pleno Manhattan, y libero al canario del propietario, un tal Marcus Lazarus, de su jaula. Nada mas. Comentandolo despues con su colega, el subinspector Foyle, resulta que la tienducha en cuestion esta junto a la entrada de artistas del Royalty Theatre, un imponente edificio un tanto demode donde esa misma noche se estrena por todo lo alto una adaptacion de Fedora, el nuevo espectaculo de la aclamada actriz Wanda Morley. ¿Podria tratarse de un truco publicitario de la compañia para promocionar la obra? Con cierta expectacion, el doctor Willing acude al gran estreno. ¡Y vaya estreno! Un actor que hace el papel de moribundo es apuñalado en plena representacion, sin que nadie se de cuenta Las claves del caso: Dickie, el famoso canario liberado; una mosca muy insistente y un bisturi.Directores estresados, actrices venidas a mas, dramaturgos a la caza del productor y figuras huidizas por escaleras de incendios desfilan por este elegante misterio teatral, cuyo telon de fondo es el majestuoso cielo de azoteas y rascacielos de Nueva York. Quinto caso de Basil Willing.

Bajo el pretexto de «no acabar de encajar con el espíritu de la escuela», la joven profesora de arte Faustina Crayle es despedida a mitad de curso en el idílico internado de Brereton, en plena campiñ

Un misterio bajo la nieve en el Nueva York de los años 30. El primer caso del doctor Basil Willing. Nueva York, años treinta. Tras su fiesta de presentación en sociedad, el cuerpo de la joven Kitty J

A prominent American diplomat falls over a cliff to his death. The death is accepted as an accident, but could it have been suicide - or even murder? His widow finds a locked drawer in his desk and in it a file with a womans name on it - but the file is empty. Circumstances lead her to an elderly man bearing the same name, but he has a stroke and can neither speak nor write. And then she sees the car headlights coming at her, fast, at night, through an impenetrable mist ...

A castle, a deserted village, and murder in the Scottish HighlandsWhen child psychologist and US Naval Intelligence officer Lieutenant Peter Dunbar takes on a secret mission in the Scottish Highlands at the end of World War II, he finds himself drawn into the lives of a troubled boy and his beautiful young cousin.But why does Johnny Stockton refuse to explain why he keeps running away from his comfortable home? And how might the answer be entangled with the mystery of an escaped German prisoner and a dying mans message?

The engagement of Archie, a young doctor, to night club artiste Frieda evokes ghostly phenomena when Archie takes Frieda to visit his mother near Washington. Untraceable phone calls, vandalism - and a murder - all happen before Dr Basil Willing, psychologist-sleuth, takes over and solves the mystery.

Boston landlady Harriet Sutton discovers a note about a conspiracy to murder someone - a note that must have come from one of her tenants.When a tenant is murdered, she asks psychiatrist-sleuth Dr Basil Willing to investigate. Her son, a Vietnam veteran whom the police consider a victim of combat fatigue who may be capable of anything, is under suspicion. And as the mystery unfolds, Harriet Sutton tries desperately to prove them wrong.

A murder has taken place on stage and it seems that one of three people must be guilty. The crime was committed in full view of the audience and players, but no one can say whom the murderer is. There appear to be no clues, the suspects are all well trained in the art of dissimulation, and all three deny any knowledge of the crime.It looks like the perfect murder, until Dr Basil Willing, psychiatrist-sleuth, begins to investigate the peculiar behaviour of a pet canary and a housefly.

In the second case featuring psychiatrist-sleuth Basil Willing, he is called to a university campus to help investigate the death of a scientist. It looks like suicide, but with local scandal aplenty, more murders in the mix and a dose of Nazi espionage, all may not be as it appears.

Gisela von Hohenems joins the teaching staff of an exclusive girls school in upstate New York, where she befriends fellow newcomer Faustina Coyle. But a climate of fear surrounds Faustina, and after several strange incidents that defy rational explanation, she is forced to resign.Gisela asks her fiance, detective-psychologist Dr Basil Willing, to investigate in this highly acclaimed horror-mystery with shades of M. R. James.

When a prominent New York socialite is murdered by means of an overdose of medication, it takes Dr Basil Willing, a psychiatrist attached to the police department, to solve the case.But mysterious accidents start occurring during his investigation, and Willing must look deeper to uncover the motive and prevent the murderer from striking again ...

When Dr Basil Willing rents a small shack for a vacation on Long Island he becomes embroiled with his landlady, Claudia Bethune. Claudia wants to learn the secrets of her relatives and friends, so she steals a truth serum and holds a dinner party for her nearest and dearest. In the early morning hours, as Dr Willing returns to his cottage, he sees what he thinks is a fire and investigates. He finds Claudia near death at the table and hears footsteps fading up the stairs. Someone didnt want Claudia to learn the truth about them, and soon Dr Willing finds himself a suspect in murder.

To wake the devil, Lucinda summoned the arch fiend with the ancient invocation, and from the secret room where her friend Vanya had agreed to hide came the eerie response. The rapping called up all the terror of the old tales, and the joke was going marvellously.Until Lucinda realised that Vanya had never arrived at the old house ...

Psychiatrist-sleuth Dr Basil Willing is in a tobacconists in Manhattan when another customer follows him into the shop, buys cigarettes, and leaves in a hurry. The man hails a taxi to take him to 51st street with the instruction: Come back and call for me; I am Dr Basil Willing.Intrigued, the real Basil Willing hails a second taxi and finds himself at a formal dinner party given by a psychiatrist for his patients, who do not really seem at ease there - and later he discovers the horrifying reason why ...

Its 1943, and down-on-his-luck American expat Philip Stark is on the Caribbean island of Santa Teresa. The prewar destination playground is deserted now except for diplomats and oil refinery workers. When a local correspondent dies, Stark sees a chance to make some money. Having worked for the same company in the past, he is hired to replace the dead man. But Stark doesnt think his predecessor died by accident. As he looks into the mystery, he encounters a rival correspondent, an enigmatic police officer and the mistress of the dead man - all of whom had a stake in seeing him dead.

From one of the best-loved authors of the Golden Age of detective fiction, this collection of short stories by Helen McCloy features psychiatrist-sleuth Dr Basil Willing.Beginning with her classic, Through a Glass, Darkly, which she later expanded into a full-length novel, McCloy experimented with daringly imaginative concepts within the framework of the formal, fairplay detective story. From doppelgangers to flying saucers each story demonstrates the authors masterful combination of style, content and technique to produce some of crime fictions finest work.

Publisher Tony Kane and his wife host a party in honor of best-selling author Amos Cottle at their Connecticut home. But all eyes are on the guests when an unseen hand slips cyanide into Cottles drink.Also present at the party is Basil Willing, a psychiatrist-sleuth who soon figures out that Cottle was not the man that his jacket-flap blurb said he was. Willing embarks on a course of literary detection, scouting for clues in book reviews, publisher correspondence, and other documents related to this rather ghostly writer ...

Rediscover the brilliance of Through A Glass, Darkly in the Mermaid Collection timeless classics by pioneering female authors, beautifully reissued to enchant todays readers.The jewel in the crown of the beloved Dr Basil Willing mysteries - when unassuming art teacher Faustina Crayle loses her second job in quick succession, only Basil can help, and it goes from bad to worse for Faustina when a body is found . . .With a foreword by Gillian McAllisterThey watch me all the time. In and out of the classroom, their eyes are always following me . . .Quiet, gentle, young Faustina Crayle is dismissed from her teaching position at Brereton School for Girls after just a few weeks. She is given no explanation, but its clear certain staff and pupils fear her.Her friend and fellow teacher Gisela contacts psychologist and sleuth Dr Basil Willing who offers to investigate these outlandish claims. But this only confirms two damning facts first, that this happened at a previous school and, second, people believe there are two sides to enigmatic Faustina.When a body is found at the school and Faustina is implicated in the death, it is clear that darkness swirls around this young woman. But is she the perpetrator or victim?Praise for Helen McCloy: McCloy has always resembled the best writers of the Sayers-Blake-Allingham schoolNew York Times In the very top rank Sunday Times

Nueva York, años treinta. Tras su fiesta de presentación en sociedad, el cuerpo de la joven Kitty Jocelyn aparece enterrado bajo la nieve, a unas cuantas manzanas de la mansión de los Jocelyn. La autopsia revela que la muerte se debio a una sobredosis de Sveltis, unas pildoras adelgazantes que Kitty publicitaba, pero que supuestamente nunca tomo. Tras las primeras pesquisas, el inspector Foyle y el doctor Basil Willing, sagaz asesor psiquiatrico del fiscal de Nueva York, creen que la victima fue envenenada con un coctel Bronx la tarde antes de la fiesta, y cualquiera de los alli presentes pudo ser el culpable: Rhoda Jocelyn, su elegante y arruinada madrastra; la señora Jowett, popular secretaria social encargada de la fiesta; Philip Leach, el apuesto periodista de cotilleos del momento o incluso Ann Jocelyn, prima de Kitty de asombroso parecido con ella, que enseguida confiesa haber sido forzada a suplantar a su prima la noche del baile.

Primavera de los años cuarenta. En un avión de Washington a Nueva York, el doctor Basil Willing lee una curiosa noticia en el Times: un ladrón irrumpió el día anterior en una tienducha de afilar cuchillos de la 44 Oeste, en pleno Manhattan, y libero al canario del propietario, un tal Marcus Lazarus, de su jaula. Nada mas. Comentandolo despues en comisaria con su colega, el inspector Foyle, resulta que la tienducha en cuestion esta junto a la entrada de artistas del Royalty Theatre, un imponente edificio un tanto demode, estilo pastel con glaseado, donde esa misma noche se estrena por todo lo alto una nueva adaptacion de Fedora, el nuevo espectaculo de la famosa actriz Wanda Morley. ¿Podria tratarse de un truco publicitario de la compañia para promocionar la obra? El sagaz doctor Willing tiene ya la mosca detras de la oreja, y no piensa perderse el gran estreno.