In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and all the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises...

Brendon Frye is a loner, someone who always knows all the angles but has chosen to stay on the outside. When the girl he loves turns up dead, he is determined to find the 'who' and 'why'.

Fred Madison is a saxophonist who finds a video tape on his doorstep that shows the interior of his house. He becomes convinced that someone has broken in and calls the police. He finds another videotape showing him killing his wife. The police arrest him for murdering his wife. In prison, he inexplicably morphs into a young man named Pete Dayton and begins living a completely different life. When Pete is released, his and Fred's paths begin to cross...

It's Christmas Eve in icebound Wichita, Kansas, and this year Charlie Arglist just might have something to celebrate. Charlie is an attorney for the sleazy businesses of Wichita, along with his unsavory associate, the steely Vic Cavanaugh, the two have just successfully embezzled $2 million from Kansas City boss Bill Guerrard. But the real prize for Charlie is the stunning Renata, who runs the Sweet Cage strip club. Charlie hopes to slip out of town...

A hitman is a mysterious loner. Getting his instructions at the airport before leaving for Madrid, he is told simply to go to a café and look for the violin. Further instructions come from various people he meets along the way and each is a part of his dangerous mission. He uses a coded greeting and exchanges matchboxes, one of which contains a curious code which the hitman simply eats. He prefers two cups of espresso served in separate cups and...