When Daisy Wells & Hazel Wong set up their very own secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia`s missing tie. Which they don`t.) Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She assumes it was a terrible accident
- but when she & Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel & Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel & Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects & use all the cunning & intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? & can their friendship stand the test? ” Ripping good fun”. (The Times). ”A skilful blend of golden era crime novel & boarding school romp... The novel works both as an affectionate satire & an effective murder mystery, & Stevens can go places Enid Blyton never dreamt of... Top class”. (Financial Times).” Plotting is what sets this book apart; this is about who was where at the time of the murder, & it`s about finding the chink in the alibi”. (Telegraph).
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Duchlan Castle is a gloomy, forbidding place in the Scottish Highlands. Late one night the body of Mary Gregor, sister of the laird of Duchlan, is found in the castle. She has been stabbed to death in her bedroom
- but the room is locked from within & the windows are barred. The only tiny clue to the culprit is a silver fish`s scale, left on the floor next to Mary`s body. Inspector Dundas is dispatched to Duchlan to investigate the case. The Gregor family & their servants are quick
- perhaps too quick
- to explain that Mary was a kind & charitable woman. Dundas uncovers a more complex truth, & the cruel character of the dead woman continues to pervade the house after her death. Soon further deaths, equally impossible, occur, & the atmosphere grows ever darker. Superstitious locals believe that fish creatures from the nearby waters are responsible; but luckily for Inspector Dundas, the gifted amateur sleuth Eustace Hailey is on the scene, & unravels a more logical solution to this most fiendish of plots. Anthony Wynne wrote some of the best locked-room mysteries from the golden age of British crime fiction. This cunningly plotted novel
- one of Wynne`s finest
- has never been reprinted since 1931, & is long overdue for rediscovery.




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Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents await under the tree.. . & murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries from the best crime writers in history, death & mayhem take many festive forms, from the inventive to the unexpected. From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy
- & be mystified by
- in front of a roaring fire, mince pie to h&.

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A scream rings out through the theatre. The man on stage is dead! Who killed him? Alfie has a few suspects in his sights. But when the spotlight turns on Alfie himself, the search for the murderer becomes a fight for his own survival. He & his gang must pick their way through a deadly web of revenge to unmask the true villain. ...

Another runaway adventure with glamorous heroine Phryne Fisher! When Phryne Fisher arranges to go to Ballarat for a week, she eschews the excitement of her Hispano-Suiza for the sedate safety of the train. But as the passengers sleep, they are all overcome by chloroform poisoning. In the morning Phryne is left to piece together all the clues: a young girl suffering from amnesia, the body of an old woman missing her emerald rings & rumours of white slavery & black magic...the last thing Phryne was expecting of this train journey was that she will have to use her trusty Beretta. 32 to save lives! ...

Agatha Christie`s most famous murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans & book lovers. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated & with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer
- in case he or she decides to strike again.
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Agatha Christie`s most famous murder mystery, reissued with a new cover to tie in with the hugely anticipated 2017 film adaptation. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated & with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer
- in case he or she decides to strike again.
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In an unnamed country, in an unnamed year sometime in the future, Chief Inspector Jensen of the Sixteenth Division is called in after the publishers controlling the entire country`s newspapers & magazines receive a threat to blow up their building, in retaliation for a murder they are accused of committing. The building is evacuated, but the bomb fails to explode & Jensen is given seven days in which to track down the letter writer. Jensen has never had a case he could not solve before, but as his investigation into the identity of the letter writer begins it soon becomes clear that the directors of the publishers have their own secrets, not least the identity of the ` Special Department` on the thirty first floor; the only department not permitted to be evacuated after the bomb threat. Author of the Martin Beck series. ...

Murder most festive...A locked room mystery solved with a flourish on Boxing Day. Blackmail on Christmas Eve. A missing jewel discovered in a very festive hiding place. A body slumped in a chair on Christmas morning, still listening to carols. The midnight theft of a gift intended for a saint. Crime doesn`t take a holiday, so these
- & many more
- are the puzzles that make up Murder under the Christmas Tree, a collection of festive mysteries featuring fictional sleuths from Lord Peter Wimsey to Sherlock Holmes, Cadfael to Father Brown. This is the very best of Christmas murder & mayhem
- so settle into your armchair, put another log on the fire & take a bite of your mince pie. Just make sure it`s not poisoned...


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` This detective novel is much more than interesting. The numerous characters are well differentiated, & include one of the most feckless, exasperating & lifelike literary men that ever confused a trail.` Dorothy L. Sayers, Sunday Times, 1934 When Miss Pongleton is found murdered on the stairs of Belsize Park station, her fellow-boarders in the Frampton Hotel are not overwhelmed with grief at the death of a tiresome old woman. But they all have their theories about the identity of the murderer, & help to unravel the mystery of who killed the wealthy ` Pongle`. Several of her fellow residents
- even Tuppy the terrier
- have a part to play in the events that lead to a dramatic arrest. This classic mystery novel is set in & around the Northern Line of the London Underground. It is now republished for the first time since the 1930s.

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