TODD DOWNING MYSTERIES

Hugh Rennert investigates the murder of a US Customs Agent who was on the track of antiquity smugglers. Rennert goes undercover with a touring party to Mexico, ending in a chilling train ride to the border with a killer on the loose.

When Mura the cat screams, someone dies! A small group is quarantined in a Mexican pension . . . with a murderer! First published in 1934, this novel was Doubleday, Doran Crime Club Selection, an honor for a new author to their list.

Death strikes among the passengers on a train traveling to Mexico City. Many consider this fair-play mystery one of Downing's best.

In Mexico, yellow marigolds represent death. At Hacienda Flores, Rennert must determine the truth behind the "yellow death" that stalks the guests, and foil its murderous onslaught.

Death is on hand to greet the guests of the Faudree sisters, as an archaeological expedition meets murder in the lava fields of Mexico.

Death is a certainty in the bull-ring, but this time, it is murder. . . . Hugh Rennert investigates.

Hugh Rennert, now retired and growing citrus, must take a business trip into Mexico, but finds himself stranded at a lodge during a storm. Something strange is afoot, and it isn't long before there's a murder.

Sheriff Peter Bounty of Hesperides County, TX, searches for the murderer of a blood donor, sifting through a myriad of motives, while trying to figure out whether a conspiracy is in play.

Sheriff Peter Bounty takes a train ride in Mexico while trying to discover who has killed the Texas ex-Governor, who was about to marry. Villainy is afoot wherever he turns. . . .

Curtis Evans investigates the life and genre writing of Oklahoma Choctaw detective novelist Todd Downing (1902-1974). Included in this volume are nearly 300 annotated mystery book reviews from the 1930s by Downing and Downing’s essay “Murder is a Rather Serious Business” (1943), as well as analysis of Downing’s own detective fiction, most of which is set in Mexico. A biography of Downing provides details on his life at home and in academia. Preface by Bill Pronzini.