The Whole Truth is a detective story by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson. The story explores the complicated nature of truth and the difficulty of discovering what really happened during a suspicious event. The plot begins with a situation in which several people give different versions of the same incident. Each character claims to be telling the truth, but their stories do not fully agree with each other. As the investigation continues, the reader re...

In a small English town, family conflict can be murder...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubWhen spinster Emily Foss, who ran the haberdashery, is found bludgeoned to death, the silver pencil that had surely been in her purse that night is found in brash young Lennie Hunter's possession, and it is he who is to be hanged for the crime.To clear his name, Hunter's fiancée brings in Detective Arthur Crook. Soon Cro...

She lost her memory - now her life is at risk.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubWhen lawyer-detective Arthur Crook bumped into a woman called Barbara on the parade at Beachampton it became apparent she had no idea who she was. She had been closely involved in the sudden deaths of two rich old ladies but something had instinctively prevented her from going to the police.Now Barbara finds herself under grave suspicion and fighti...

An ordinary couple - but wherever they go, death follows...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubMr Cobb is the third elderly invalid to die conveniently, if unexpectedly, in the house of Fred and Bessie Meadows. Yet who could suspect this responsible, honest couple? Nothing is too much trouble, yet wherever they go, death goes too. But their third crime involves them with Arthur Crook, and that's when their luck turns.Fans of the...

In the 'ads - wanted' section, no one said anything about murder...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club'No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant' Sunday ExpressMiddle-aged spinsters of independent means shouldn't answer matrimonial adverts. Agatha Forbes realised this when she saw what her brand new husband kept in his woodshed and screamed in mortal terror.By then her hus...

May Forbes came four nights a week to feed the wild cats on Broomstick Common. That was how she happened to glimpse a masked man with a spade - and she's now in fear for her life.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubMay leaves the common and ends up at the Mettlesome Horse, where irascible lawyer, Arthur Crook, is drinking at the bar. So when the body of eighteen-year-old Linda Myers is found buried on the Common, Crook discovers a numb...

A chilling day of murder in the midst of post-World War II austerityClassic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubIn the spring of 1946, the redoubtable Lady Bate arrives at The Downs, built by the eccentric Colonel Anstruther years before. The aftermath of war has forced the colonel's daughter to take in paying guests, but only Lady Bate knows the secret of Mrs Anstruther's past life and the mystery behind her hermit-like existence.When ...

Some men are born to be murderedClassic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubLewis Bishop was born to be murdered - the perfect victim, a man whom many had every reason to hate and fear. When he is suddenly shot dead one night he leaves behind him only unpleasant memories, a flood of relief, and a pretty puzzle for the police - and a case for the irrepressible detective Arthur Crook . . .

A rich, curmudgeonly old husband, a beautiful young wife, a mysterious voice from the past - and murder...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubWhen murder hits the sleepy town of Hinton St Luke tongues start wagging. It's what you might call a cosy domestic murder: a beautiful young wife; her much-older husband dying at just the right moment; a jealous nurse; a mysterious voice from the past and a set of anonymous letters.But whi...

The most unlikely person is plunged into danger - but the police don't believe her. After all, she's not the kind of woman these things happen to... not murder, surely...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection'No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant' Sunday ExpressLaura Verity is an elderly lady with not much money and no past - not someone things happen to. But suddenly her life is plun...

A grotesque murder and a mysterious woman lead to the most difficult choice of his life.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubAndrew Fane is faced with five years in prison for fraud, and a penniless future. When he appeals for help from his uncle his pleas go unanswered, but on visiting him Fane is welcomed by a mysterious and heavily veiled woman.When he finds his uncle's body, murdered in horrible and grotesque circumstances, s...

Murder, politics and Nazi sympathisers - Arthur Crook has his detection skills pushed to the limit., with a most unlikely conspirator...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club'The lobby of the House of Commons was very full on the momentous afternoon that Miss Sarah Bennett, a composed and amused spinster, torn from her happy obscurity by an energetic and enterprising Minister of Labour, came from the Temporary Pass Office, up the stairs, ...