There were all the makings of murder at Martin and Lissa Cole's fashionable dinner party on that fatal night. On the surface there were smiles and good cheer, but behind the clever animated expressions that masked the faces of those powerful men and women lay greed and jealously, fear and arrogance and ruthlessness. Set against the background of the executive offices of a large Fifth Avenue department store, this tale of subtle intrigue and calculated murder moves with swiftness and precision, as deal succeeds deal and death follows death. Readers are immersed in the inner world of merchandising fashion, learning the ways of models and buyers and promoters, watching from behind the scenes extravagant private showings and sitting in on the councils of high-powered executives--all as a cold-blooded killer moves remorselessly toward the completion of an intricate and deadly design. Murder a la Mode was first published in 1941, as a Red Badge $1000 Prize Detective Novel. This edition includes a biographical introduction by golden-age mystery historian Curtis Evans. See more classic mystery reprints at CoachwhipBooks.com.