{"product_id":"9781466822689","title":"The Marble Kite: A Mystery","description":"\u003cp\u003ePrivate investigator Alex Rasmussen has loved carnivals since he was a boy, and what better way to enjoy one as a grown man than with a lovely woman at his side? As he and his date stroll along the midway, playing games of chance, the soft September night is torn by a scream. Rasmussen rushes to a nearby field to find a woman's body in the weeds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the carnival workers---a man with trouble in his past and a motive for murder---is arrested and charged with the crime. The lawyer hired to defend him retains Rasmussen to investigate. The police are convinced they have a clear-cut case, but as Alex probes, he finds a trail as bewildering as a funhouse mirror maze.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn outsider to the close-knit \"carnies,\" and shunned by the police department he once served, Rasmussen faces a client who refuses to talk, gangsters looking to exploit the carnival's troubles, a mob of citizens bent on rough justice, and an elusive killer who seems to anticipate Alex's every move. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen the investigation points to crooked cops, the defending lawyer abandons the case. Wisdom says Rasmussen should do likewise, but staying on has become a matter of honor. As a woman tells him, \"We all end up in the graveyard, flying the marble kite.\" The only question now is: When?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the old city of Lowell (once the textile capital of America, now a husk of run-down mills), the streets have never been meaner. Beyond the flickering lights and the bright surfaces lies a shadow world where betrayal, deception, and violent death await.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47129834193136,"sku":"9781466822689","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781466822689_p0.jpg?v=1769891037","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781466822689","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}