Most Popular Books by Helen McCloy

Gisela von Hohenems joins the teaching staff of an exclusive girls'' school in upstate New York, where she befriends fellow newcomer Faustina Coyle. But a climate of fear surrounds Faustina, and after several strange incidents that defy rational explanation, she is forced to resign. Gisela asks her fiancé, detective-psychologist Dr Basil Willing, to investigate in this highly acclaimed horror-mystery with shades of M. R. James.

The engagement of Archie, a young doctor, to night club artiste Frieda evokes ghostly phenomena when Archie takes Frieda to visit his mother near Washington. Untraceable phone calls, vandalism - and a murder - all happen before Dr Basil Willing, psychologist-sleuth, takes over and solves the mystery.

A woman dies by violence aboard the Santa Cristina. A radio flash from the West Indies brings word of an apparently related death. A man''s body turns up, and in his hand is a suicide note written in one woman''s handwriting but signed with another woman''s name. But what part does the jar of blood play - and why is everyone so interested in the contents of a certain package wrapped in cherub-bedecked paper? That''s the puzzle Captain Urizar has to solve in a case with a startling showdown.

A castle, a deserted village, and murder in the Scottish Highlands When child psychologist and US Naval Intelligence officer Lieutenant Peter Dunbar takes on a secret mission in the Scottish Highlands at the end of World War II, he finds himself drawn into the lives of a troubled boy and his beautiful young cousin. But why does Johnny Stockton refuse to explain why he keeps running away from his comfortable home? And how might the answer be entangled with the mystery of an escaped German prisoner and a dying man''s message?

When Dr Basil Willing rents a small shack for a vacation on Long Island he becomes embroiled with his landlady, Claudia Bethune. Claudia wants to learn the secrets of her relatives and friends, so she steals a truth serum and holds a dinner party for her nearest and dearest. In the early morning hours, as Dr Willing returns to his cottage, he sees what he thinks is a fire and investigates. He finds Claudia near death at the table and hears footsteps fading up the stairs. Someone didn''t want Claudia to learn the truth about them, and soon Dr Willing finds himself a suspect in murder.

Publisher Tony Kane and his wife host a party in honor of best-selling author Amos Cottle at their Connecticut home. But all eyes are on the guests when an unseen hand slips cyanide into Cottle''s drink. Also present at the party is Basil Willing, a psychiatrist-sleuth who soon figures out that Cottle was not the man that his jacket-flap blurb said he was. Willing embarks on a course of literary detection, scouting for clues in book reviews, publisher correspondence, and other documents related to this rather ghostly writer ...

Kyra Novacs: Who was she? Where did she come from? Bob knew almost nothing about her, just enough to fall hopelessly in love with her. They were thrown together for business reasons and, believing her to be single, he threw caution to the wind. But Kyra isn''t single. And when her husband is killed in the midst of an argument over divorce, it falls to Bob''s loyal wife of seventeen years, Susan, to prove his innocence ... ''Miss McCloy compels you to read every word'' Observer

A prominent American diplomat falls over a cliff to his death. The death is accepted as an accident, but could it have been suicide - or even murder? His widow finds a locked drawer in his desk and in it a file with a woman''s name on it - but the file is empty. Circumstances lead her to an elderly man bearing the same name, but he has a stroke and can neither speak nor write. And then she sees the car headlights coming at her, fast, at night, through an impenetrable mist ...

They told Lisa she was the daughter of an American aristocrat and an Italian princess both of whom died shortly after Lisa''s birth. They told Lisa she was heiress to a vast Boston fortune, and that her American family cherished her and wanted her to stay with them. At first Lisa tried to believe it all. Then she tried to separate the truth from the lies. Finally, she would know one thing for sure. Somebody or something was out to destroy her ...

When Sara Dacre comes across a large red pendant at a twenty cent jewellery stall she is tempted to buy it - especially when she bumps into her friend Gerry Hone, who persuades her that it will brighten up her old grey taffeta. But soon she finds herself at the centre of some strange events. On leaving the shop she and Gerry witness the scene of an accident - but nobody can agree what happened. And when Gerry takes her to an automat for coffee he goes to the counter to order - and never comes back ... ''Explosive'' Birmingham Post

After 15 years of living elsewhere under an assumed name - one he has made famous by becoming a successful writer - Frank Bly, aka Stephen Longworth, returns to the town where an attempt was made on his life, and from which he escaped leaving no clues behind. He confronts several people who have thought him dead. He thinks one of them is the person who tried to kill him. Before he finds the truth, there is more murder, attempted murder and a suicide ...

Maria Skinner recovers consciousness after a car crash to find herself in a psychiatric clinic. She remembers the crash quite clearly but she is told that she is suffering from delusions - and must not leave hospital. She tries to contact her husband but is informed that he is unavailable. Finally, in a desperate attempt to escape, she reluctantly agrees to accompany a man who insists he is her husband - but whom she knows is an impostor. Moving from one captivity to another, she becomes a pawn in someone else''s sinister game ...

Lydia Grey, an American returning to London after many years, is woken by footsteps in the night. There is someone in her room - of that she is sure. But that is also impossible. There is only one door and it is bolted shut. The windows are eight floors up, and are locked against the winter night. As the noise recedes she switches on her bedside lamp. No one is there. Was it a dream? An illusion of a half-awakened state? Or is someone out to get her?

Marian Tansey appears to be living a happy life. She has great friends, a job in a thrift shop, and she has just bought a new car. She may even be falling in love with Dick Lang, who sold it to her. She could be on top of the world, but there are a few clouds in the sky. There is a mystery surrounding the car. It has been ''borrowed'' during the night by someone unknown. But most of all there''s the frightening fact that, although she hasn''t admitted it to any of her friends or colleagues, Marian lost her memory a year or two ago and has no idea who she is. Then, there is a murder ...

Boston landlady Harriet Sutton discovers a note about a conspiracy to murder someone - a note that must have come from one of her tenants. When a tenant is murdered, she asks psychiatrist-sleuth Dr Basil Willing to investigate. Her son, a Vietnam veteran whom the police consider a victim of combat fatigue who may be capable of anything, is under suspicion. And as the mystery unfolds, Harriet Sutton tries desperately to prove them wrong.

A murder has taken place on stage and it seems that one of three people must be guilty. The crime was committed in full view of the audience and players, but no one can say whom the murderer is. There appear to be no clues, the suspects are all well trained in the art of dissimulation, and all three deny any knowledge of the crime. It looks like the perfect murder, until Dr Basil Willing, psychiatrist-sleuth, begins to investigate the peculiar behaviour of a pet canary and a housefly.

When a prominent New York socialite is murdered by means of an overdose of medication, it takes Dr Basil Willing, a psychiatrist attached to the police department, to solve the case. But mysterious accidents start occurring during his investigation, and Willing must look deeper to uncover the motive and prevent the murderer from striking again ...

In the second case featuring psychiatrist-sleuth Basil Willing, he is called to a university campus to help investigate the death of a scientist. It looks like suicide, but with local scandal aplenty, more murders in the mix and a dose of Nazi espionage, all may not be as it appears.

Harry Vaughan''s uncle has just passed away, providing the young man with a colossal fortune. Giving up his job, Harry goes back to his roots - and to Celia, the woman he loves. But Harry Vaughan has lost part of his memory. He feels himself ten years older, suffers from headaches, meets people who know him but whom he doesn''t remember. When Celia''s husband is killed it becomes clear that someone is following Vaughan''s life. But who is this shadow and what do they want? ''A real psychiatric shocker'' The Tablet

The sign read ''Do Not Disturb'', and at first Edith Talbot ignored the pitiful whimpering that came through the door. The hotel clerk assured her that the room was occupied by a sick boy under the care of a physician. Later in the night, when the cries resumed, she felt something must be done, and she made the fatal mistake of knocking on the door ... From then on things begin to happen, strange things that at first seem like coincidence but crescendo into a series of hair-raising events. ''Continuous action, and extra good writing'' Saturday Review of Literature