Republished for the first time since 1951, Beware of Johnny Washington is Francis Durbridge’s clever reworking of the very first Paul Temple radio serial using his new characters, the amiable Johnny Washington and newspaper columnist Verity Glyn. Includes as a bonus the first Paul Temple short story, ‘A Present for Paul’.When a gang of desperate criminals begins leaving calling cards inscribed ‘Wi…
A handful of grain is found in the pocket of a murdered businessman…Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his ‘counting house’ when he suffered an agonising and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.Yet, it was the incident in the parlour which confirmed Jane Marple’s suspicion that here she was looking at a c…
A collection of Miss Marple mysteries, plus some bonus short stories…First, the mystery man in the church with a bullet-wound… then, the riddle of a dead man’s buried treasure… the curious conduct oif a caretaker after a fatal riding accident… the corpse and a tape-measure… the girl framed for theft… and the suspect accused of stabbing his wife with a dagger.Six gripping cases with one thing in co…
Two short stories featuring Francis Durbridge’s famous detective, Paul Temple.The perfect winter read, these two short stories follow Paul and Steve through a blustery Christmas and New Year’s Eve to solve two compelling crimes. Also featuring an introduction from Francis Durbridge on how he created his famous detective.
What could possibly connect expensive Margo ‘designer’ coats, an industrialist, a petrified celebrity, and a psychiatrist with a peculiar secretary?A potent murder plot is underway when a terrifying warning is received on the grounds of a funfair. It’s up to Paul to unravel a disturbing set of mysteries that turns this funhouse into a deadly death trap
When two young women are found murdered within a week of each other, Scotland Yard enlist the help of sleuthing crime writer Paul Temple to unravel the mystery.Working in tandem with his astute and elegant wife Steve, Temple takes up the scent and discovers a dark secret that places them both in mortal danger.
An aeroplane crash sends billows of fire down the cliffs of Dulworth Bay and two boys from a public school go missing, what connects these two events? Paul Temple is called onto the scene and there’s one name that’s causing a stir, Curzon.The mysterious name appears etched on a cricket bat that belongs to one of the missing Baxter boys, but family members and village folk have never even heard of …
Historian Alfred Kelby decides to publish the diaries of Margaret Spender, Lord Delamore’s secretary and secret lover. But these diaries go beyond historical records, they are pure scandal.Before the diary can be published, Kelby makes an unsettling disappearance.Someone is out to get their hands on these potentially explosive diaries no matter what and Temple is desperate to stop them. As he digs…
Paul and Steve plan to relax and take in some fresh sea air on board a luxurious trans-Atlantic liner … that is until they meet the elusive Sam Portland. After the innocent introduction, grave danger lies ahead for the couple.As events unfold, a concoction of murder, blackmail and terror ensues. Life on board the ship requires cruise control as Temple attempts to get to the bottom of the secret be…
Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving Carl Milbourne, the brother-in-law of wealthy financier Maurice Lonsdale. After the news that Carl has perished in a fatal car accident, rumours begin to stir that despite all odds, Carl is alive and well.When Maurice’s widowed Sister Margaret pleads for the crime-fighting duos help, Paul and Steve find themselves on a trail of deception str…
A body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery, perhaps the finest of Marsh’s 1930s novels.The season had begun. Débutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim.But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up. He had already planted his friend Lord…
A winter weekend ends in snowbound disaster in a novel which remains a favourite among Marsh readers.It begins as an entertainment: eight people, many of them adversaries, gathered for a winter weekend by a host with a love for theatre. It ends in snowbound disaster. Everyone has an alibi – and a motive as well. But Roderick Alleyn soon realizes that it all hangs on Thomas, the dancing footman…
The daughter of an American millionaire dies on a train en route for Nice…When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again – for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing.The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, Der…
Agatha Christie’s most daring crime mystery – an early and particularly brilliant outing of Hercule Poirot, ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, with its legendary twist, changed the detective fiction genre for ever.Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Now, tragically, came the news t…
Agatha Christie’s first ever murder mystery.With impeccable timing Hercule Poirot, the renowned Belgian detective, makes his dramatic entrance on to the English crime stage.Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about ‘a lot of sharks’. And with her, something indefinable …