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When an opera company gathers in Oxford for the first post-war production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger its happiness is soon soured by the discovery that the unpleasant Edwin Shorthouse will be singing a leading role. Nearly everyone involved has reason to loathe Shorthouse, but who amongst them has the fiendish ingenuity to kill him in his own locked dressing room?
Gervase Fen is more at home in his ivory tower than in a London film studio, but Murder can take place anywhere, and aspiring actress Gloria Scott's suicide definitely looks like murder. Oxford don Gervase Fen is at the film studios to advise about a film biography of Alexander Pope. Gloria Scott appears to have had little reason for wanting to kill herself by jumping off Waterloo bridge, but someone has taken great pains to hide Gloria's real identity, and Gervase Fen's detective nose begins to twitch.
Death and decapitation seem to go hand in hand in the Devon village of Aller. When the first victim's head is sent floating down the river, the village's rural calm is shattered. Soon the corpses are multiplying and the entire community is involved in the murder hunt. While the rector, the major, the police and a journalist, desperate for the scoop of the century, chase false trails, it is left to Gervase Fen, Oxford don and amateur criminologist, to uncover the sordid truth.
Yseut Haskell, a pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives, is found dead in a college room just metres from unconventional Oxford don Gervase Fen's office. The victim is found wearing an unusual ring, a reproduction of a piece in the British Museum featuring a gold gilded fly but does this shed any light on her murder? As they delve deeper into Yseut's unhappy life the police soon realise that anyone who knew her would have shot her, but can Fen discover who could have shot her?
Who burglarised the train heading for Victoria Station and whatever became of its conductor? Did the village idiot or Mrs Foley murder the mean-spirited Edgar Foley? Or could the constable be responsible for the devious deed? Who on earth will be able to untangle the affair of the disappearing car, the black necktie, and the abortive theft?
Dandelions and hearing aids, a bloodstained cat, a Leonardo drawing, a corpse with an alibi, a truly poisonous letter...just some of the unusual clues that Oxford don/detective Gervase Fen and his friend Inspector Humbleby are confronted with in this sparkling collection of short mystery stories by one of the great masters of detective fiction.
When an opera company gathers in Oxford for the first post-war production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger its happiness is soon soured by the discovery that the unpleasant Edwin Shorthouse will be singing a leading role. Nearly everyone involved has reason to loathe Shorthouse, but who amongst them has the fiendish ingenuity to kill him in his own locked dressing room?
Gervase Fen is more at home in his ivory tower than in a London film studio, but Murder can take place anywhere, and aspiring actress Gloria Scott's suicide definitely looks like murder. Oxford don Gervase Fen is at the film studios to advise about a film biography of Alexander Pope. Gloria Scott appears to have had little reason for wanting to kill herself by jumping off Waterloo bridge, but someone has taken great pains to hide Gloria's real identity, and Gervase Fen's detective nose begins to twitch.
Death and decapitation seem to go hand in hand in the Devon village of Aller. When the first victim's head is sent floating down the river, the village's rural calm is shattered. Soon the corpses are multiplying and the entire community is involved in the murder hunt. While the rector, the major, the police and a journalist, desperate for the scoop of the century, chase false trails, it is left to Gervase Fen, Oxford don and amateur criminologist, to uncover the sordid truth.
Yseut Haskell, a pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives, is found dead in a college room just metres from unconventional Oxford don Gervase Fen's office. The victim is found wearing an unusual ring, a reproduction of a piece in the British Museum featuring a gold gilded fly but does this shed any light on her murder? As they delve deeper into Yseut's unhappy life the police soon realise that anyone who knew her would have shot her, but can Fen discover who could have shot her?
Who burglarised the train heading for Victoria Station and whatever became of its conductor? Did the village idiot or Mrs Foley murder the mean-spirited Edgar Foley? Or could the constable be responsible for the devious deed? Who on earth will be able to untangle the affair of the disappearing car, the black necktie, and the abortive theft?
Dandelions and hearing aids, a bloodstained cat, a Leonardo drawing, a corpse with an alibi, a truly poisonous letter...just some of the unusual clues that Oxford don/detective Gervase Fen and his friend Inspector Humbleby are confronted with in this sparkling collection of short mystery stories by one of the great masters of detective fiction.
The year is 1920: Flying in the face of convention, legendary American adventuress Beryl Helliwell never fails to surprise and shock. The last thing her adoring public would expect is that she craves some peace and quiet. The humdrum hamlet of Walmsley Parva in the English countryside seems just the ticket. And, honestly, until America comes to its senses and repeals Prohibition, Beryl has no intention of returning stateside and subjecting herself to bathtub gin.
1957. Lord James Harrington and his wife, Beth, run a country hotel in the village of Cavendish, deep in the heart of West Sussex. James and Beth are discussing the latest Cavendish Players production, The Devil Incarnate, when their cleaner informs them that farmer Alec Grimes is missing.
Three perplexing puzzles - and three inimitable Wimsey solutions - told with wit, humor, and suspense. Narrator Ian Carmichael, the quintessential Lord Peter, provides great entertainment with his talented performance of these three stories. In "Striding Folly", a frightening dream provides a haunting premonition. A house numbered 13 is in a street of even numbers, and a dead man was never alive in "The Haunted Policeman." And "Talboys" sees Lord Peter's own children accused of theft.
When amiable old village eccentric Quentin Andrews dies, the good folk of Cherringham are astonished at the crowd that turns up to his funeral. But even more astonished are the beneficiaries of his will: Quentin has left a veritable fortune to whomever is the first to solve an intricate "Cherringham crossword". That puzzle is only the first of many that Jack and Sarah will uncover as they follow the treasure hunt for clues and learn the truth about who Quentin Andrews really was... and the biggest mystery of them al... was he - in fact - murdered?
"Albert dear, we are going to have a quiet family party at home here for the holiday, just ourselves and the dear village. It would be such fun to have you with us." Faced with an invitation he can't refuse, Albert Campion is spending Christmas with the Turretts at Pharaoh's Court, along with the Welkins and Mike Peters, a young man trying to shake off his father's reputation. But when Santa Claus is implicated in a burglary, Campion's skills are put to use.
It's Christmas 1909, and for once Lady Hardcastle - respectable gentlewoman, amateur spy - and her lady's maid, Florence Armstrong, are setting sleuthing aside. They are invited to the festivities up at The Grange, as guests of Sir Hector and Lady Farley-Stroud. But barely have corks been popped and parlour games played when a mysterious crime comes to light.
When magistrate Patrick Colquhoun orders a habitual thief and ne'er-do-well transported to Botany Bay, he doesn't realize a 14-year-old boy has been left behind to follow in his father's footsteps - not until young John Pickett is hauled into Bow Street for stealing an apple from the produce market at Covent Garden. Feeling to some extent responsible for the boy, Mr. Colquhoun prevails upon Elias Granger, a prosperous coal merchant, to take him on as an apprentice.
Ah, the pleasures of Christmas...the hanging of greens, the traditional feast, the gathering families, a few secrets in the air...and a bit of murder, conspiracy, and theft. The holiday season seems to inspire the imagination of the best mystery writers, and their talents shine here in these delightful tales of Yuletide crime. So seize a few quiet hours in this busiest of seasons to enjoy their sleigh full of mysterious treasures, here with the finest of flair.
It's 1929, and Ticky Maltravers is the toast of London high society, adored by everyone - or so it seems, until somebody poisons him over dinner. Now it turns out that numerous people with secrets to hide had every reason to wish him dead. But which of them murdered him? For Freddy Pilkington-Soames, newspaper reporter and man-about-town, the question hits a little too close to home.
Bill Vokes has played Santa at the children's Christmas show for years. But with the show just hours away, he vanishes with no explanation. The whole village is baffled. Did something bad happen to loveable Bill, upstanding citizen, churchgoer, life and soul of the party and the holiday season? Jack and Sarah are on the case - and soon discover there are secrets about this Santa that no one could have imagined.
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in the much-acclaimed radio dramatisations of: Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, Five Red Herrings and Have His Carcase.
Duchlan Castle is a gloomy place in the Scottish Highlands. Late one night the body of Mary Gregor, sister of the laird, is found in the castle. She has been stabbed to death in her locked bedroom. The only tiny clue to the culprit is a silver fish's scale, left on the floor next to Mary's body. Inspector Dundas is dispatched to investigate. The Gregor family and their servants are quick to explain that Mary was a kind and charitable woman, but Dundas uncovers a more complex truth.
In the sleepy English village of Sanford Angelorum, Professor Gervase Fen is taking a break from his books to run for Parliament. At first glance, the village he's come to canvass appears perfectly peaceful, but Fen soon discovers that appearances can be deceptive: Someone in the village has discovered a dark secret and is using it for blackmail. Anyone who comes close to uncovering the blackmailer's identity is swiftly dispatched. As the joys of politics wear off, Fen sets his mind to the mystery but finds himself caught up in a tangled tale of eccentric psychiatrists, escaped lunatics, beautiful women and lost heirs.
Philip Bird has an amazing agile voice that enhances the use of language humor,plot and character development that the author infused into thisbook.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I hadn't forgotten what a treasure this book is, in the 31 years since I last read it, but my memory of the elements had cleared enough that the humor was totally fresh. Gervase Fen, professor of classic literature, has decided to clear the fog from his brain by running for Parliament. The characters of a forgotten mid-country collection of small towns, from the local socialist earl to the non-doing pig, work up a happy fizz that stays in your head. The vibrant, flexible reading of Philip Bird makes the effect even more long-lasting. From this page I'm going to follow the link and see what else Philip Bird might be offering.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This is the best Gervase Fen book I've heard to date. I read a lot of Edmund Crispin's work many years ago and it's nice to see them finally being released in unabridged audio format. Fen is more mature and less "fluffy" than in, say, The Moving Toyshop and the book has a few different plot lines, all easy to follow. I have to say I almost guessed whodunnit from the clues given away in the story but not quite. I did guess a few other trifles though. All in all, I loved this book. I've listened to it a few times now and enjoyed it every time. The narration is good and well paced, with characterisation given for each participant. Worth buying!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Any additional comments?
I didn't like this story and as much as the previous ones but then I am not that interested in politics. I really enjoyed the car chase and the ending.
I love the Fen stories and the narration makes this performance very listen-to-again. Crispin's detective stories are charmingly silly plot-wise but both his prose and his hero are brilliant.