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.

Marsh House, Upperton, England—Hay Smith, editor of The Daily Record, is been dead in the private study of Sir James Sitheby. In his hands are the torn fragments of confidential Foreign Office documents. How Smith came to possess these documents is a mystery, but not as much of a mystery as which of Sir James’s house-guests murdered the editor. So when Inspector Brews arrives at the scene soon after the tragedy, having been summoned to Marsh House by a mysterious telephone call from Hay Sm...

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...

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...

The delight of Christmas shoppers at the unveiling of a London department store’s famous window display turns to horror when one of the mannequins is discovered to be a dead body…Mander’s Department Store in London’s West End is so famous for its elaborate window displays that on Monday mornings crowds gather to watch the window blinds being raised on a new weekly display. On this particular Monday, just a few weeks before Christmas, the onlookers quickly realise that one of the fi...

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 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...

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...

All is not well in the town of Cwyll, North Wales. The Horn Hotel is doing a brisk trade, with anglers coming from far and wide to enjoy the local fishing. But amongst them is Solomon Hayes, an unpleasant womaniser who has already come to blows with one of the guests over his selfish and rude behaviour. So no-one is entirely surprised when Hayes's body is discovered floating face down in one of the fishing pools - his throat pierced by a gaff. But who committed the crime? And what has happ...

First published by Collins in 1928, this was the first of 22 mystery novels by Vernon Loder, one of the most popular British mystery-thriller writers of his generation.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...

To look at, little, unprepossessing Augustus Faynes is an unlikely criminal genius. And yet this unassuming gentleman is a formidable crook - the mastermind of many a subtle art theft. Nearing the end of his career, Faynes has managed to con his way into Pumphrey Abbey, home of kindly millionaire Robert Smith, where he plans one final coup which will enable him and his wife Hetty to retire in style.  But when his plans are threatened, Faynes takes drastic measures which m...

On a stormy night in June, nine guests assemble at the home of wealthy Greek financier, Mr. Cupolis - nine guests who have heavy investments in their host's financial schemes. They soon learn that Cupolis is bankrupt and that their investments are lost. So when their host is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Superintendent Cobham finds no difficulty in amassing at least nine suspects with a vengeful desire for the man's demise. But whose hand committed the crime?First publish...