Sir Leonard Craysh knows there'll be trouble when his wife announces that she has included Alexander McDowell, the radical Labour MP, on the list of guests that she has invited to stay at their country estate for the weekend. But when McDowell is found murdered in local woodland, even Craysh is taken aback. Could political differences really have provoked one of his house-guests to murder? Or is the motive altogether more personal?Originally published in 1932, this is a vintage Bri...

MR TOBIAS MANDER’S NEW STORES in Gaffikin Street had been a public wonder from start to finish. From the moment that this almost unknown man from the west country had visualised the idea of a store that would beat all other stores for cheapness combined with luxury, a highly-paid press-agent had seen to it that the country should join vicariously in the building and equipment.

When a guest at Stowe House is found dead, killed by a lethal dart, suspicion naturally falls on the resident collector of poisoned weapons from tribes in South America. With the entire house party as potential suspects, what part did the woman explorer play in this sinister tragedy? The local police are baffled, and call on the help of an amateur, whose recent assignment working with bushmen in Africa brings new insight into an increasingly unconventional investigation.

When Colonel Coppe, an elderly bachelor, inherits a fortune from his father, he is keen to do right by his large extended family. As well as setting up his various nieces and nephews in appropriate professions, he takes care to make the necessary provisions in his will. Everyone is content - until, that is, the Colonel becomes engaged to a local widow, Mrs. Brown. On the evening the Colonel announces his engagement, and the terms of his new will, one of the family resorts to murder in orde...

Mander's Stores is the newest department store in London. But when its owner and a young shop-worker are discovered murdered amongst the mannequins of the window display, the Store becomes the centre of a decidedly less savoury kind of sensation. Inspector Devenish of the Yard investigates and finds evidence of blackmail, fraudulent patents, tangled love affairs and embezzlement. Devenish is soon forced to admit that there might possibly be such a thing as too many clues...Original...

Crime novelist Edward Hope has recently purchased Fen Court, a beautiful country residence on the Essex marshes. However when he and his friend Nancy Johnson go to visit the new property, they find themselves caught up in a real-life murder mystery when three bodies are discovered in the ornamental fish-ponds.Finding himself high on the list of suspects, Hope must work in collaboration with Inspector Brews of the local police to unmask the true culprit behind this terrible deed...

Dansford, the wealthy financier, has arranged a meeting with seven fellow businessmen, to be held at his country residence, 'Colham Gorse'. Each of the seven men represent a failing concern, which Dansford is convinced he will be able to make good - if only his guests are willing to accede to his terms. Also present is the house's previous owner, Chauncey Colham, and his niece Letty, whom Dansford now employs as his host and hostess. Tensions run high, but when Dansford is found dead at th...

When the body of a murdered deaf-mute vagrant is found in a West End square, Scotland Yard have trouble finding a motive for the deed. When the body of another deaf-mute, apparently a suicide, is found in the grounds of a Hendon hotel, the police are even more baffled. Are the crimes related? And did the first murder have anything to do with a recent spate of jewel robberies in the houses near where the body was found? These are the questions that Superintendent "Paddy" Mix and Chief-Inspe...

In the midst of Corton Magna horse show, a man is struck down and killed by the hoofs of a horse. Why should a normally quiet animal suddenly have become a killer? Then a groom discovers a tiny wound in the horse’s hide, and when Inspector Chace is called in to investigate, he has a difficult question to answer—was the man’s death accidental or murder? Originally published in 1935 in Collins’s celebrated “Crime Club” imprint, this is a classic British mystery from the ‘golden...

"This was murder, my dear. Someone seems to have beaned Marden with your blasted crystal!"Jean Maze is looking forward immensely to the Ingle Parva village bazaar, at which she is to play the part of fortune teller, complete with a real crystal ball. On the day in question, however, she receives a macabre surprise when a business rival of her brother-in-law is discovered beaten to death in her fortune teller's tent. While the police diligently pursue all available leads, Jean does ...

When a policeman patrolling a country market in the sleepy village of Sulcote spots a car parked illegally on the Green, he knows he must wake the sleeping occupant and move him along. But the policeman is in for a shock. The Sulcote constabulary are about to encounter their first murder investigation for over a century - and the victim is a Chief Inspector from Scotland Yard...  Originally published in 1933 in Collins's celebrated 'Crime Club' imprint, this is an intrigu...

Old Dr. Purton has always been a mystery to the gossipers of Lower Plaine. His grandiose living arrangements at Rampole Manor hint at a hidden source of income, outside the remit of a simple country doctor. When Purton is found murdered, his head battered in, the local police, aided by Purton’s solicitor Mr. Gayte, get busy. What is the significance of the pages torn from Purton’s case-books? And how justified was the gossip about Purton’s unexplained wealth?Originally published in...