Titles starting with M from Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Although published sixth in the Fred Taylor series, this mystery actually takes place before the other five, explaining the circumstances by which security expert Fred formed his partnership with art collector Clayton Reed. After Fred helps Reed get a drunken con artist home from a party, Reed apparently puts one over on the scammer by purchasing a wooden chest from him for a few thousand dollars. Reed is almost certain that Leonardo da Vinci painted the image on the inside lid, a Madonna with Child (and with monkey). While Reed searches for a provenance, Fred sticks around to assist and to fend off a variety of parties interested in the painting--including the original seller, who's anxious to get it back.

Edgar Award-winning author Jeffery Deaver spins a tale rivaled only by "In Cold Blood" and "The Silence of the Lambs." A school bus carrying eight deaf schoolgirls and their teachers stops abruptly where three prison escapees wait. The girls are led to an abandoned slaughterhouse. There, Lou Handy, the slimy ringleader, begins his private war against the weathered FBI negotiator Arthur Potter, who sets up his command post nearby. When Handy threatens to murder one girl an hour until they cut him a deal, the negotiator's fears are thrown into sharp relief.

What with her high-pressure Hollywood studio job, Ronnie Deal rarely has a conventionally "good" day, but things go from bad to worse when she intercedes in what seems to be a domestic dispute. When the dust settles, Ronnie finds that she has brained a big-time drug dealer's right-hand man. And crossing a dealer is her worst career move yet.