Books in series
#1
Case Pending
1960
Good mysteries are a-plenty in any given year, the ones that stand shoulders above the average entertainments..But the truly outstanding mystery novel is rare, the sort you have in Dell Shannon's CASE PENDING. This book belongs with the specials." —Dorothy B. Hughes — "A smash climax, a bang-up solution and plenty of suspense." -San Francisco Chronicle
#2
The Ace of Spades
1961
The Ace of Spades continues the case histories of Mendoza, the Mexican detective of the Los Angeles Police Department. Lt. Mendoza specializes in homicides … he has brains, uncanny flair, wealth, a passion for justice and Abyssinian cats. He has a weakness for poker and Alison Weir, the central female character in his life.
Mendoza’s new case enters Homicide through the back door of Stolen Property … in this instance the old fashioned jalopy, belonging to the redhead Alison Weir.
The story fast becomes entrangled with importers, museums, and a mysterious Madam K.
A chance scrap of paper begins as exciting, detective chain of events, quickly leading to high tension as Mendoza realizes that the life of the woman he loves is in danger.
#3
Extra Kill
1962
Instinct prompts Lt. Luis Mendoza of the Los Angeles Police Department to investigate the connection between a murdered con man and the death of a local patrolman
#4
Knave of Hearts
1962
Bad enough was Luis' violent quarrel with redheaded Alison Weir, the only woman who had ever given him the remotest thought of settling down. But also on his hands was the case of a rapist murderer who was terrorizing Los Angeles, one of whose crimes had probably already sent an innocent man to the gas chamber.
Alison, meanwhile, through such well meaning friends as Sgt. Hackett and his bride, was subjected to a parade of suitors well meaning, no doubt, but such pallid fare after Luis ....
Then one of Mendoza's famous "hunches" points the way toward a solution to the case but it points too close to home with none other than Alison herself heading inexorably toward disaster.
#5
Death of a Busybody
1963
A Good Reading Copy - Book Club Edition. Book Is In Very Good Condition. Boards Have A Light Amount Of Shelf Wear/Rub, A Bit Bumped. Fore Edges Have A Moderate Amount Of Reading Wear. Interior Is Clean And Legible. Not Remaindered. Dust Jacket Is In Very Good Condition. Small Amount Of Chip And Crinkle Along The Edges. Not Price Clipped. Dust Jacket Is Covered By Mylar Wrapper. Thanks And Enjoy.
#6
Double Bluff
1963
Lieutenant Mendoza seems to be beset on all sides: at home, his wife Alison is convinced she is having twins; at the office his worry is a man called Francis Ingram, prime suspect for a murder Mendoza does not think he has committed. Yet the fact remains that someone has murdered Ingram's wife, Arabella, and the evidence points straight at him. But as the case progresses it becomes clear that everyone has a grudge against her and a consuming interest in her will ...
#7
The Death-Bringers
1979
The Death-bringers means tragedy for LAPD Homicide. One of Lieutenant Luis Mendoza's friends is killed while going into a bank. Now Mendoza and his team of detectives are dealing with the loss of a friend and a colleague - and trying to find his murderer among the criminals of Los Angeles... 'Builds up to a superbly exciting mystery - with not one, but three climaxes' Manchester Evening News
#8
Mark of Murder
1964
Another Luis Mendoza mystery. Ten murders in ten days, and the attempted murder of Sergeant Hackett—left fighting for his life in a coma—cut short Mendoza's vacation in Bermuda. Hackett was working on the "private kill" of a well-to-do chiropractor who had as many enemies as he had patients.
#9
Root of All Evil
1966
Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, Los Angeles Police Department, likes nothing better than to wrap up his homicide cases neatly. The latest Jane Doe is identified as Valerie Ellis, a spoiled rich kid who was left penniless when her parents died four years ago. But there are many layers to this complex case...
#10
Death by Inches
1965
10th Dell Shannon mystery featuring her signature character, Lt. Luis Mendoza of LAPD homicide, who must find the identify of headless female corpse fished from a Southern California lake in this one just to begin the search for her killer.
#11
Coffin Corner
1966
To a man, the members of the LAPD homicide department were yawning with unaccustomed inactivity. Then everything happened at once - a cop killed by a hit-and-run driver; the questionable suicide of a young girl; and the victim (apparently) of a heart attack found in the clutter of her 'second-hand' shop.
It was the last that led Lieutenant Luis Mendoza to the Celtic Hotel, where events moved swiftly and with about as much clarity as the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. But, in this case, the tea party was lethal.
#12
With a Vengeance
1966
The murder victim is a convicted rapist, so a note pinned to the body that reads "The Vengeance is Just" makes sense to the cops of the LAPD. But when another body- then yet a third- is found tagged with the same message, Lt. Mendoza fears he is dealing with a psychopath who selects his victims at random- a killer whose movements are impossible to anticipate.
#13
Chance to Kill
1981
Two heist men wanted for double homicide... the body of a young punk in an allly.. the corpse of a girl in the dry riverbed... in fact, everything more or less routine for Lt. Luis Mendoza and his colleagues in the Los Angeles Police Department.
and then they got the news...
The murdered girl was a police-woman of fine standing- one of their very own.
This is the 13th in the series of Luis Mendoza mysteries, each more baffling and absorbing than the last.
#14
Rain with Violence
1967
"Infierno! Another one dead! This means a trip to records to look for a special kind of killer—the ones with pedigrees in rape and assault."
A housewife raped and murdered in her own kitchen, a streetwalker killed in a sleazy hotel room, a plundered corpse discovered in a back alley; one after another the victims ended up cold and quiet on the morgue trays.
It was Sodom and Gomorrah all over again. It was L.A., the day the official report from the office of Homicide Lt. Luis Mendoza was rain with violence.
#15
Kill with Kindness
1968
Lieutenant Luis Mendoza is laid low with measles and the Homicide Squad of Los Angeles Police Department has to manage without its Chief of Detectives. There are several off-beat cases to occupy them, like the man tied to a railway and decapitated by a passing train. But, Mendoza does not take his convalescence lying down and he is soon unofficially investigating a case that his colleagues are already pursuing...
#16
Crime on Their Hands
1969
Bookstore stamp on first page. Reading creases on spine and edge of cover.
#17
Schooled to Kill
1969
The sixteenth Luis Mendoza book follows the men of the LAPD as they try to solve murder, and find the rapist of an eight year old girl before he kills again.
Introduces Cedric, the English sheep dog.
#18
Unexpected Death
1970
L.A.P.D. Lt. Luis Mendoza and his colleagues couldn't remember ever having been beset by such a varied and baffling series of crimes...
#19
Whim to Kill
1971
Things begin to heat up in the Los Angeles Police Department when Lieutenant Luis Mendoza's stolid and good-natured colleague Sergeant Higgins is kidnapped by three dangerous escaped prisoners.
A manhunt is launched but no one expects Higgins to be seen alive again. Can Mendoza's team ever recover, or is the officer's return just around the corner?
#20
The Ringer
1972
Mendoza investigates a series of apparently motiveless female homicides in which the victims are beaten to death, but not raped or robbed. Also, one of Mendoza's cops is accused of heading a stolen-car ring.
#21
Murder with Love
1971
Dell Shannons novel Murder with Love, published in 1971 by William Morrow & Company, New York is a First Edition. Hardcover red with black lettering of title and author. In very good condition. No d/j
#22
With Intent to Kill
1972
When a respectable young woman's naked body is found far from her home, the case proves baffling for Lieutenant Luis Mendoza of the Los Angeles Homicide squad.
But Mendoza is struggling with more than the case. He's a man down too. Sergeant Higgins' first baby has arrived and he is far too preoccupied to put his mind to murder. But killers go on killing...
#23
No Holiday for Crime
1973
A Good Reading Copy - Book Club Edition. Book Is In Very Good Condition. Boards Have A Light Amount Of Shelf Wear/Rub, A Bit Bumped. Fore Edges Have A Moderate Amount Of Reading Wear. Previous Owners Name And Address Written Inside. Interior Is Clean And Legible. Not Remaindered. Dust Jacket Is In Very Good Condition. Small Amount Of Chip And Crinkle Along The Edges. Not Price Clipped. Dust Jacket Is Covered By Mylar Wrapper. Thanks And Enjoy.
#24
Spring of Violence
1973
Lt. Luis Mendoza and the men of the LAPD are deluged by a series of bizarre and unusual cases. — There is a senseless killing of a pharmacist and his family... the death of a young man that leads to the reopening of an old case... the disappearance of a woman who, it turns out, has a lot more money than people realize. — Spring of Violence is yet another top flight police procedural laced with suspense by one of the most popular mystery writers of all time.
#25
Crime File
1974
Book by Dell Shannon
#26
Deuces Wild
1974
1st Pocket edition paperback new unissued copy
#27
Streets of Death
1976
CREASE ON BOTTOM EDGE OF COVER. INITIAL ON FRONT COVER. DISCOLORATION INSIDE COVERS.
#29
Cold Trail
1978
Fully seasoned to the anonymous urban violence that is all in a day's work, Lieutenant Mendoza must once again adapt his mode of operation to a chilling sequence of senseless crimes. As Cold Trail opens, a murderous rapist and child molester is loose in the streets; an unidentified female body is found under a condemned house in a decaying section of the city; a thug is shot to death and a chain of robberies continues unabated—all without a clue.
#30
Felony at Random
1979
First Edition. Some shelf and edge wear. Plastic protective cover on DJ. Original Price intact on DJ. Pages are clean and binding is tight. Solid Book.
#31
Felony File
1980
Luis Mendoza of the Los Angeles Police Department takes on the challenge of big-city crime—four robberies, the murder of a young divorcee and a middle-aged woman, and the brutal beating and rape of a nine-year-old girl
#32
Murder Most Strange
1981
Aided by his men in the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery and Homicide Division, seasoned veteran Luis Mendoza bravely meets the tough challenge of big-city crime and violence. Working with faint clues, he and his detectives systematically break their most shocking and difficult cases to date. They track down a rapist and murderer who has clean good looks and the perfect ploy; unravel the motive behind a bloody double homicide/suicide with a bizarre twist; trap the perpetrator of a series of flawless robberies; get to the root of a young woman's baffling disappearance; learn the truth about the implausibly 'natural' death of a senator; and solve still other disturbing mysteries.
#33
The Motive on Record
1982
Veteran detective Luis Mendoza and the Los Angeles Police Department investigate a wide range of big-city crimes, including the shocking case of a brutal child rapist
#34
Exploit of Death
1983
F
#35
Destiny of Death
1984
Luis Mendoza and the Los Angeles Police Department attempt to solve a variety of crimes ranging from the petty to the passionate
#36
Chaos of Crime
1985
An early June hot spell takes its toll as it fuels a wave of bloody and bizarre crimes for Luis Mendoza of the LAPD. Grisliest by far is the psycho they call the werewolf, who gets his kicks by killing hookers before vanishing into the dark. A gorgeous teenage redhead holds up liquor stores with her boyfriend. And to make the caseload really interesting, 'Jack the Stripper' hits the city's gas stations - stealing cash and his victim's clothes . . .
#37
Blood Count
1986
the 37th volume in the much-praised, highly popular detective series featuring Luis Mendoza and his LAPD colleagues.
#38
Murder by the Tale
1987
This collection of short crime fiction includes eight new Lt. Luis Mendoza mysteries and six additional, widely diverse mysteries
Author
Dell Shannon
Author · 39 books
Pseudonym of Elizabeth Linington. Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best first mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1960 novel, Case Pending, which introduced her most popular series character, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. Her 1961 book, Nightmare, and her 1962 novel, Knave of Hearts, another entry in the Mendoza series, were both nominated for Edgars in the Best Novel category. Regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals," she was one of the first women to write police procedurals—a male-dominated genre of police-story writing. Besides crime, Linington also took interest in archaeology, the occult, gemstones, antique weapons and languages. Linington was also a conservative political activist who was an active member of the John Birch Society
