The people in the ancient village of Saxon Wall had a number of unsavory secrets, which they hid rather imperfectly from any who wandered into the village. It took Mrs. Bradley quite a while to dig out the truths about what was really going on in the village - and who was responsible for some pretty chilling murders.

Professor Quinn was obnoxious, to say the least. But who disliked him enough to poison his coffee? And how did the murderer put the poison in the Professor's cup without anyone seeing it happen? These are just a few of the questions New York City Police Lieutenant Sigrid Harald must answer in order to solve the mystery.

Who would kill to uncover the secret of a small statuette of a Chinese goddess, the goddess of the green shiver?

Judge Dee expected a relaxing few days off when he arrived in Rivertown on his way home. What he found instead was a gruesome murder, the theft of a pearl necklace, and a court intrigue that threatened the foundation of the Chinese empire.

Maigret's first recorded case finds him trying to track a criminal known as "Pietr the Latvian" - who may be a murderer or who may be a murder victim.