Ken and Nancy are members of singing group The Joyful Jays, who have been sent to entertain British troops in France during the early years of the second world war. They are also secretly married and looking forward to being... alone, for the first time. But the need to keep the fact of their marriage secret, not least from the Nancy's formidable father, means that their continental honeymoon does not go entirely to plan...The only non-crime novel by master of mystery, J.C. Lenehan...

Detective Charlie Ryan and his assistant Isabel Fraser (a.k.a. "Boston Belle") are the dinner guests of their client, the solicitor Richard Windermere and his wife. Also present are three of their host's friends and business acquaintances: an underwriter, a bank manager, and Doctor Dunlavin. Tensions are already fraught after Windermere's unexpected announcement that he would shoot his wife rather than allow her to be unfaithful to him. But the uncomfortable occasion reaches a climax when ...

Edward Dennison, of Coote and Dennison, is found murdered - killed by a bullet fired from his own marked pistol, which had been stolen that evening by Colonel Somers, after a stormy interview concerning some missing jewels belonging to the Colonel's niece. Detective Inspector Kilby is called in from Scotland Yard, ably assisted by Inspector Hemingway of the local police. But with such an unsavoury victim, there is no shortage of possible motives - amongst them, Dennison's step-daughter, th...

Reformed criminal Isabel Fraser (a.k.a. Boston Belle) has swapped counterfeiting for crimefighting and has recently begun work as an 'assistant' to uncle and nephew detective duo Charlie and Peter Ryan. Her first case proves particularly intriguing: the dead body of financier Hector Warren lies in state so that his friends, colleagues and admirers can come and pay their last respects to the great businessman. Shortly before the funeral, however, mourners notice a strange and macabre detail...

The moneylender Ralph Silecroft has ruined countless lives - and many would be happy to see him dead. Peggy Marsden, however, is less than pleased when she finds Silecroft's corpse deposited on the floor of her bedroom. Upon summoning the police, she is even more disconcerted to find that the body has disappeared!When the corpse turns up again, the plot thickens even further. For Inspector Kilby recognises Silecroft from a previous case - a case that he never expected to have to re...

When John Broome commits suicide by cutting his throat, he leaves behind a large number of people with an obvious motive for desiring the death of Sir Wylie Hawkweed, the unscrupolous moneylender generally held to have driven him to this terrible action. So when Hawkweed's body is discovered in a smashed up car, it isn't long before Charlie Ryan and his wife Belle begin to suspect that this may not have been an accident, but a cleverly staged murder...Originally published posthumou...

"She ought to be poisoned!" For Charlie and Isabel Ryan (previously known as Boston Belle), this sinister remark is the harbinger of a tragedy that threatens to disturb the peace of their honeymoon. For shortly afterwards, the woman in question, Pauline Miller, is found dead in the grounds of the hotel where she is staying with her husband and aunt. Inspector Kilby, an old friend of the Ryans, is also on a fishing holiday in the area - and he is not satisfied that Pauline's death is accide...

November the Fifth. Bonfire Night. A Guy Fawkes ball is in progress at the home of the solicitor, Gregory Halewood. But the festivities are cut short when Halewood receives a dramatic and troubling telephone call from his friend and colleague James Mansfield, who has chosen this inopportune moment to deliver the news that he is about to commit suicide. Rushing to Mansfield's house, Halewood and his friends discover Mansfield's body sprawled on the floor of the study. Has Mansfield fulfille...

At the height of Warton Hospital Carnival Ball, six hundred pairs of eyes gaze on enraptured as the Mayor presents the Carnival Queen with a beautiful silver paper-knife, before retiring backstage for a private supper. Shortly afterwards, a piercing scream alerts the crowd to a terrible tragedy. Amongst the first on the scene are nephew and uncle detective duo Charlie and Peter Ryan, who are greeted by a gruesome sight. For the Mayor lies dying from a gaping wound, the body of the Carnival...

On the branch line from Boxfield, at the edge of the Peak District, a baffling murder has been committed. As the train passes through Highpen Tunnel, someone has taken advantage of the total blackout to shoot dead one of the passengers. With the discovery that the victim was David Hyde, the noted Hatton Garden diamond merchant, a motive of robbery seems clear. Yet the local police (ably assisted by Inspector Kilby of the Yard) face some challenging questions. What happened to the murder we...

Scotland Yard is busy investigating the appearance of forged bank notes into general circulation, and Charlie Ryan and his Uncle Peter immediately suspect that master-forger Isabel Fraser (a.k.a. "Boston Belle") is up to her old tricks. Assisting Detective-Inspector Beecham in tracking the counterfeiters, Charlie suspects that a mysterious bookshop may hold the key to the mystery. But an old antagonist of Charlie's, an unstable criminal genius know only as "The Professor", is on the loose ...

Charlie Ryan and Isabel Fraser (a.k.a. 'Boston Belle') are in London, enjoying a holiday from the Ryan Detective Agency. But when their old friend General Appleby invites them to observe the divorce court proceedings between Dr. Beverley and his wife Madeleine, their professional interest is piqued. The good doctor has been accused of adultery and the judge rules in favour of the wife, granting a decree that the marriage be terminated. But a month later, Madeleine is found dead and suddenl...