As Miss Maggs made her way nervously home, a clock stuck one, the town's lights were switched off and footsteps sounded behind her. She broke into a desperate run. Later the doctor pronounced that she had literally died of fright.In a provincial town, who was there to suspect but the rowdy gang led by Nick Salter? But Nick's young wife swore to an alibi for him and so Sergeant Brent - a trifle embarrassed as a beneficiary under the will of the deceased - must look deeper into a cas...

Laura Chance, wife of Borford's prospective Lord Mayor, becomes infatuated with her young hairdresser, Pierre, who resembles her dead son. Pierre is utterly selfish, unscrupulous and sees in the wealthy, middle-aged woman a dupe who can give him some of the material possessions he covets.Despite her innate intelligence, Laura deceives herself that their relationship has a basis of real affection. But the trouble really starts when James Chance discovers what is happening and determ...

Archie Wayne, successful playwright, could not say what impulse had made him return to the small town of his boyhood. On impulse, he called on his boyhood friend, and the matter would have ended there had he not met and fallen for his friend's daughter, the young and innocent Christine.Their brief idyll is interrupted by a police enquiry: Archie's wife Irma is missing, leaving behind a disquieting message, and he finds himself suspect number one in a possible murder case. But Archi...

Joyce Cave had her husband, Robert, exactly where she wanted him - in a private gaol with herself, her aunt and her uncle as warders. He had been charged with killing the local good-time girl, who had tried the oldest trick in the world on the panicky Robert and ended up in the canal for her pains.But Joyce hadn't bargained on John Trewen Forbes, a slick operator with schemes to rid himself of his young cousin Lucy, who was following the dangrous course of not parting with any of t...

George White, an inoffensive little chemist in East Anglia, finds himself the possessor of a somewhat unusual accomplishment - he only has to wish someone dead and his wish is granted.The first inkling of his abilities comes when Major James, a petty tyrant who made George the butt of his jokes, dies suddenly. Did he succumb to occult powers or had his own weak heart finally got to him? Although the police accept that the major's death has natural causes, several of the locals thin...

**'**A masterpiece of mystery writing' H R F KeatingWho killed Gilbert Worth? The official verdict was suicide, but those that knew him best thought he was not the type to take his own life. Furthermore, before his death, a missing gun, a half-written letter and two 'accidents' had convinced Worth that someone was trying to kill him.Worth's family and mistress all had motives and opportunity, and those close to him have their own ideas as to how he was murd...

The quiet town of Cattminster is shocked by news of a startling murder - startling because all the evidence points to the murderer being Richard Groom, grandson of the late canon of Cattminster Cathedral and ex-fiancé of the victim's wife.Richard, however, has five stout allies who believe unquestionably in his innocence. With the one idea in common, but with their own individual ideas on how to set about it, they go to work to prove his innocence - with surprising results.

When Dorothy Squirl's speech for the opening of the Fallowfield Fête blew out of her hands, she found herself under the heady influence of an overdose of pep pills, calling on all women to unite to put the world to rights. The husbands didn't like it, but once the press, and especially columnist Gabrielle Patch, had taken Dorothy to their hearts, there was no stopping the movement. The nation took notice.But soon Gabrielle Patch was disputing her rights in the Women's Party with th...

In the cheerful, grubby backstreets of Soho, Jessie Milk finds herself a most unsuitable occupation as a receptionist in a hotel frequented by unsuccessful variety artists. Among the hotel's regulars is a dyspeptic conjurer with a plain wife and pretty assistant, both of whom drive him to distraction and encourage his professional and lethal tendencies . . .Miss Milk confides her troubles to a retired Merchant Navy captain, now employed as a store detective. Combining their resourc...

Mrs Bonnet was renowned for the delicacies she concocted in her semi-basement kitchen, but never did she imagine she would serve up murder to her beloved mistress! But when Mrs Bonnet, who has the lightest touch with pastry, tries her hand at the science of detection, she does so with astonishing results.

A Victorian family is left high and dry when its lord and master sails off to China to bring back the first tea of the season. Absent for six months at a time, he never ceases to dominate the lives of his wife and children.The yearly race to be the first home with the tea is underway, with every ship vying for both kudos and the prize money. The year is 1866, and as both Ariel and Taeping are surging up the channel, Caroline, the second daughter of the oppressed f...

When Bertha Harris's husband dies she draws comfort from routine and expects the rest of her life to drift by in the same quiet, uneventful way. But she hasn't reckoned on her nephews and niece, who are quick on the uptake that Bertha is that most desirable of relatives: a wealthy and childless widow.It does not escape Bertha that the common thread in her young relatives' lives is a lack of money, but she hadn't bargained on one of them becoming impatient and orchestrating a string...