title: Suspense: A Stanley Hastings Mystery Novel
author:  Parnell Hall 
description: Stanley Hastings, hero of Parnell Hall's novel, <I>Suspense</I>, is not one of those derring-do private eyes, such as Spenser or Mike Hammer--guys who will put their lives on the line for a client. Stanley prefers his cases as unchallenging as possible. So he's understandably reluctant when a bestselling author hires him to find out who's been making threatening phone calls to the writer's wife. Stanley's reluctance turns out to be prescient indeed when the case turns deadly and Stanley stumbles into the role of prime suspect. As if all this weren't bad enough, he's also up to his neck in the shark-infested waters of publishing. Hall has a way with comedy and, in <I>Suspense</I>, he does a fine job of biting the hand that feeds him, wickedly satirizing publicists, editors, agents, and authors even as his hapless hero combs the streets of Manhattan in search of a killer.
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  Praise for Parnell Hall’s mystery MURDER
  
  “This thoroughly inventive novel heralds the very welcome return of Stanley
  Hastings ... who alternates his inspired blundering with rare moments of
  ruthless cunning.”
  
  —Booklist
  
  “By turns hair-rasing and hilarious”
  
  —Publishers Weekly
  
  “Loaded with warmth, wit and plot, MURDER is a gem of a novel.”
  
  —Rave Reviews
  
  “Author Hall's swift, spare prose captures the grit of Manhattan and the
  insurmountable difficulties of battling crime. He has also created a
  thoroughly credible character in the irrepressible Hastings.”
  
  —St. Louis Post Dispatch
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  MURDER
  
  Parnell Hall
  
  Copyright © 1987, 2011 by Parnell Hall
  
  Published by [Parnell Hall](http://parnellhall.com/), eBook edition, 2011.
  
  Published by Onyx Books—NAL, 1989.
  
  ISBN:0-451-40110-7
  
  Originally published by Donald I Fine,Inc., 1988.
  
  ISBN:1-55611-058-8
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in
  part without w