In Portrait in Smoke, a collection agent specializing in missing persons falls in love with the photograph of a missing woman, and a man hunts down his wife's killer in The Tooth and the Nail. Original.

Portrait in Smoke/the Tooth and the Nail/2 Mysteries in 1 Book

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Ballinger, Bill S.

Mystery

Harpercollins

The Corsican

Dodd, Mead

The Ultimate Warrior

WARNER BOOKS

The Body in the Bed

Signet

PORTRAIT IN SMOKE Danny April is obsessed. He buys out a little collection agency in Chicago, and that’s how he first meets Krassy. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful. She was Krassy Almauniski then, when he first runs across her picture in his files. She’s gone through several identities since then. As Danny tries to track her down, each new name presents him with a portrait of a woman on the move. Krassy is climbing up the social ladder, one sucker at a time. There’s the photographer who signs off on a charge account for her, later arrested for larceny. And the ad executive… he gets off lightly. He gets to walk away with his pride. Not all the men who Krassy meet are so lucky. But Danny knows he’ll be different. So he keeps looking… until at last he finds her. THE LONGEST SECOND When I awakened, I stared straight above me at the ceiling … I attempted to turn my head. It was then I realized that my throat had been cut. The pain ran down both sides of my neck … I gasped, choking for air. The next day I regained consciousness again ... Suddenly it struck me that I didn't know my own name!… They check his fingerprints and find out that his name is Victor Pacific. He has no memories of who he is, what he is, or why someone tried to kill him. He remembers the name Horstman. But he has no idea of how to find him. All he can do is to begin a search for the clues to his former life. Then he meets Bianca—but will she be able to help him before they strike again?

Portrait in Smoke / The Longest Second

Stark House Press

THE TOOTH AND THE NAIL As the trial begins, a man stands accused of murder. There is no body, but all the signs of a body's disposal are in evidence. When the police search the accused man's house, they find traces of blood in the bathroom, and a hastily-cleaned up furnace room, where it appears a body had recently been burned--there is burnt part of a leg bone, a false tooth, and off in a corner, the end of a finger. The crime scene is obvious, and the prosecutor is presenting a very good case. Every indication points to murder. The defense lawyer is doing what he can, but his client's cause appears to be hopeless... THE WIFE OF THE RED-HAIRED MAN When Hugh Ronan escapes prison and returns to his first love, Mercedes, he finds her married to another man. Turner has no intention of giving up his wife and brandishes a gun to make his point. But it's Turner who is killed, and now Ronan and Mercedes are on the run. Mercedes could have stayed and escaped the murder charge, but she makes her choice to help her red-haired love escape. Cashing out her bank account and taking her jewels with her, the two of them leave New York. But Turner had his fingers in a lot of political pies, and important people want this killing solved. Everyone figures that it must have been Mercedes who shot her husband. Only one city detective figures that there is someone else involved. Now the hunt is on.

The Tooth and the Nail / The Wife of the Red-Haired Man

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ballinger, Bill S.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ballinger, Bill S.