Francis Pettigrew, a former barrister and sometimes amateur detective, is plucked out of what promises to be a peaceful retirement in the Home Counties to deputise for the County Court judge. The proceedings offer him some unexpected insights into the...
These thirty stories, selected and introduced by fellow crime writer and lawyer Michael Gilbert, are a terrific introduction to Cyril Hare's inventive and clever Golden Age detective fiction, which often turns on an ingenious use of the law.
When Philip and his sister Mary opened the oddly-shaped bottle and found that they had released a Djinn, Philip, who knew his Arabian Nights , feared the worst. But the Djinn was an unexpected kind of Djinn, and his release was the start of some very unex...
England is in the grip of the Second World War and the Blitz has forced the evacuation of various government offices from London. Francis Pettigrew, an unsuccessful barrister and amateur detective, accompanies his ministry to the distant seaside resort...
The banks of the river Didder in the summertime seem, at first glance, idyllic: the sun is shining and the trout are rising. But then the body of a local landowner is discovered, and the peaceful surface of the countryside is shattered. It soon becomes...
Two young estate agent's clerks are sent to check an inventory on a house in Daylesford Gardens, South Kensington. Upon arrival, they find an unlisted item - a corpse. Furthermore, the mysterious tenant, Colin James, has disappeared.
Life on Mars, a strange dream, and attacks by murderous birds â these are just some of the subjects of these enjoyable short stories. They will amuse and shock you.