For one unfortunate British politician, murder is the worst medicine: "An ingenious, logical, and sparkling tale." — The New York TimesFor Member of Parliament Sir Derek O'Callaghan, a simple visit to the hospital proves fatal. But as Inspector Alleyn will discover, any number of people had reason to help the gentleman to his just reward, including a sour surgeon, a besotted nurse, a resentful wife, and a cabinet full of political rivals, in this classic of...

Folkways turn fatal in a very old-fashioned English village, in this witty mystery filled with "ingenious" detective work ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).The village of South Mardian likes the old ways. The very old ways. This may be 1957, but South Mardian still features a blacksmith, a village idiot, and an elaborate fertility ritual performed at the winter solstice. There's squabbling, of course, and worse—like when one of the ritual's main players is ...

An aristocrat dies under fishy circumstances in this tale by "the finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit" ( The Sun).In an almost unspeakably charming little English village, one of the local aristocrats turns up dead next to the local trout-stream with, in fact, a trout at his side. Everyone is dreadfully upset, of course, but really, just a tad irritated as well—murder is so awfully messy. Inspector Alleyn doesn't qu...

A Shakespearean actor shuffles off his mortal coil in this "skillfully wrought" country-house mystery ( The New York Times).Sir Henry Ancred, a celebrated Shakespearean actor, has arranged to have his portrait painted by Agatha Troy, wife of Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But when Ancred is killed at his own birthday party, leaving behind a family full of suspects, Troy's work ends and Inspector Alleyn's begins . . ."It's time to start comparing Christie...

Commemorating 75 years since the Empress of Crime’s first book, the first volume in a set of omnibus editions presenting the complete run of 32 Inspector Alleyn mysteries.A MAN LAY DEADSir Hubert Handesley's extravagant weekend house-parties are deservedly famous for his exciting Murder Game. But when the lights go up this time, there is a real corpse with a real dagger in the back. All seven suspects have skilful alibis – so Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn has to ...

A classic Ngaio Marsh novel in which she more than lives up to her reputation as a crime writer of intelligence and style.It was planned as an act of charity: a new piano for the parish hall, an amusing play to finance the gift.But its execution was doomed when Miss Campanula sat down to play. A chord was struck, a shot rang out and Miss Campanula was dead.A case of sinister infatuation for the brilliant Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn.

I have a confession to make.I knocked my new boss's house off a cliff.Not on purpose! It was an accident. A very unfortunate, extremely expensive, career-ending kind of accident. And now Max Ivorsson — billionaire, rocket scientist, and the grumpiest man alive — wants revenge.His proposal? A bet.Find him the perfect replacement house, and I walk away with triple my bonus. Fail, and I spend a month of Sundays as his personal butler. At his beck and call. Ever...

A policeman in the audience sees an all-too-real death scene on a London stage: "Good enough to satisfy the most critical reader of detective stories." — The New York TimesInspector Roderick Alleyn has been invited to an opening night, a new play in which two characters quarrel and then struggle for a gun, with predictably sad results. Even sadder, the gun was not, in fact, loaded with blanks. And when it comes to interviewing witnesses, actors can be a dec...

A river cruise may be sunk by a ruthless criminal in this novel by "the doyenne of traditional mystery writers" ( The New York Times).Inspector Alleyn's wife, the artist Agatha Troy, has a special fondness for Constables—the paintings, that is, not the policemen. So she jumps at the chance to take a river cruise through "Constable Country" in the east of England, in honor of the nineteenth-century master of landscapes. Her enthusiasm dims a little, though, ...

A mystery with "atmosphere, humor . . .and a group of characters, English, Maori, and New Zealander, who are fascinating and completely credible." — The New York TimesDuring World War II, Colonel Claire—a tremendously nice fellow and a disastrously bad businessman—runs a mud-baths resort in rural New Zealand. But the place is on the brink of being taken over by a local blowhard who may be a Nazi spy. Inspector Alleyn has been sent in to sort things out—and ...

Don't miss this BRAND-NEW screamingly funny festive mystery that fans of Richard Osman, Agatha Christie, and How to Kill Men and Get Away With It will ADORE ️♀️**Roll up, roll up… this year’s Christmas show has a twist you won’t see coming… murder! When Clio – a former actress and current struggling private detective – manages to score a key role in the town’s Christmas pantomime, she’s secretly deli...

The inspector digs into a cold case on a New Zealand sheep farm in this "well-sustained crime story" from the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master ( Kirkus Reviews).Flossie Rubrick, a highly opinionated and influential member of the New Zealand Parliament, was last seen heading off to one of the storage sheds on her sheep farm. Three weeks later, she turned up dead and packed in a bale of her own wool. What happened on the night of her long-ago disappear...