In a writing career of over 60 years, Ben Travers is regarded as the master of the ‘Aldwych Farces’. This collection is being published at a time where farces are coming back into fashion following the smash hit of One Man Two Guvnors, and the success of The Magistrate both at the National Theatre, as well as the recent productions of Noises Off and What the Butler Saw. The four plays in this collection are representative of Travers’ work at its best and most characteristic.The plays inclu...

Six classic farces from the renowned comedy writer, with casts including Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Joan Hickson, Alex Jennings and Penelope WiltonIn the 1920s and ’30s, Ben Travers proved himself a master of comic confusion with his hugely successful Aldwych farces. Featuring battle-axe mothers-in-law, beleaguered wives, henpecked husbands and a host of humorous misunderstandings, they wowed West End audiences and were frequent...

'Best period book I have EVER read! - 5-star reader review'Emmy Carter's mother is a prostitute - and her life has made Emmy determined to avoid the same fate. But Emmy is beautiful, so attracts unwanted attention; her mother's protector has his eye on her, as does evil Marcus Armistead, her employer's nephew. Marcus is excited by Emmy's virginity and has her kidnapped, but Emmy hits him over the head and escapes. Marcus, futher enraged, kills her mother and become...

It was 1950. Magsy O’Gara, her husband killed in the war, plodded through her daily routine as a hospital cleaner, dedicating all her spare time to Beth, her genius daughter. Pursued by men who admired her great beauty, she was determined to remain a widow. Nothing was to divert her from her gruelling schedule. Her goal was simple: Beth would become a doctor.Beth, however, wanted a normal life – a brother, a sister, a stepfather who might make her wonderful mother happy. So Beth wa...

Speed makes the teenage bikers feel alive, but they soon find that murder is the fastest way to dieA five-mile stretch of arrow-straight road outside Latchford acts like a magnet to beatnik bikers using the road like a drag strip. When one of the bikers is killed in an accident, most people regard it as an inevitable consequence of the kids using drugs and racing bikes for kicks. But the evidence points to the young man's death being something more sinister than a mere accident and...

On a snowy Winter's morning, Inspector Head arrives at Westingborough Grange to investigate the murder of Mr Edward Carpenter, who was shot after answering the door to a stranger in the early hours of the morning. Head imagines the trail of footprints leading from the door of the Grange into the surrounding countryside will make things easy. But when the prints stop, suddenly and mysteriously, at the base of an ash tree in a nearby field, it appears that things may not be as straightforwar...

1895London is scared. A killer haunts the city’s streets; the poor are hungry; crime bosses are taking control; the police force is stretched to the breaking point.The rich turn to Sherlock Holmes, but the celebrated private detective rarely visits the densely populated streets of South London, where the crimes are sleazier and the people are poorer.In the dark corner of Southwark, victims turn to a man who despises Holmes, his wealthy clientele and his showy forens...

As James Cranage stood on the Clarence Pier at Portsmouth, he noticed a big, heavily-built man grasping a scrap of twisted paper, and looking around him, obviously annoyed and uncertain. Anxious to earn a shilling, Cranage approached him and asked if he could be of any assistance.The stranger started nervously, but after a moment's hesitation he thrust he bit of paper and a sovereign into Cranage's hand, with whispered instructions as to its delivery.From than moment Cranage ...

War doesn't only bring suffering . . .Born in Canning Town, in the heart of London's teeming dockland, red-headed Lily is a true Cockney in her zest for life, her natural humour and her instinct for survival.With the outbreak of World War II, husband George goes off to fight for King and Country and into the close-knit East End community bursts Kasie, a Dutch seaman who quickly falls for Lily's bright curls and ready smile. His romantic ways make Lily go we...

Mrs. Prentice's extra-marital affairs are the talk of London - and her current fling with film actor Carrington Case has been particularly efficacious in setting society tongues wagging. So when Mrs. Prentice is found murdered outside Sark Street Chapel one snowy winter's night, a crime of passion is suspected and Prentice's loyal secretary, Godfrey Marston, turns detective in the hunt for the killer of his employer's late wife.Originally published in 1930, this is a classic Britis...

Gamadge hunched up his shoulders against the rawness of the November air and peered from under his hat-brim at the little archway with its ornamental lantern. He asked: “But why does she live in a dump like this? Two hundred thousand dollars, and lives in a dump like this.”“Dump! My good fellow! We’ve made a very nice thing of it. It has atmosphere.”“That’s what you brokers tell the clients, is it?” Mr. Gamadge was not in his usual state of amiability. He glanced about him, w...

Simon Brade, connoisseur of antique china, is invited to Medbury Grange, the country home of noted socialist campaigner Selford Prentice. Ostensibly, Brade has been called in to examine a valuable porcelain fish, which Prentice wishes to sell. But no sooner has the specialist arrived at the Grange, than its owner's real motives are revealed. For Prentice suspects that someone has designs on more than his porcelain - suspicions which seem justified in the most violent fashion when he is fou...