Martin Edwards

"London, 1930. A headless corpse; an apparent suicide in a locked room; a man burned alive during an illusionist's show in front of thousands of people. Scotland Yard is baffled by the sequence of ghastly murders unfolding across the city and at the centre of it all is mysterious heiress Rachel Savernake. Daughter of a grand judge, Rachel is as glamorous as she is elusive. Jacob Flint, a tenacious young journalist eager to cover the gruesome crimes,...

"Ramona Smith went missing, presumed murdered twenty-one years ago; her body was never recovered. Gerald Lace, accused, tried, and acquitted of the crime, took his own life shortly thereafter in the treacherous waters along the Crooked Shore. In his suicide note, he blamed the police for wrongfully arresting him and ruining his life. On the twentieth anniversary of his father's suicide, Darren Lace has drowned himself in the very same spot. His death...

"First published in 1973 but written in the vintage mystery mode by Lettice Cooper, Tea on Sunday draws on a life lived in Leeds and London to deliver an authentic, literary detective story with a well-brewed psychological depth. This edition features includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar Award-winning author Martin Edwards. On a bitter winter's afternoon in London, Alberta Mansbridge sets the table with teacups for nine, mulling...

"Duchlan Castle is a gloomy, forbidding place in the Scottish Highlands. Late one night the body of Mary Gregor, sister of the laird of Duchlan, is found in the castle. She has been stabbed to death in her bedroom--but the room is locked from within and the windows are barred. 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 Duchlan to investigate the case. The Gregor...

"Ambling along the lanes of a sleepy village in the Downs, passing cozy Tudor cottages rustling with wisteria, a novelist imagines the sordid truth hidden behind the quaint, rustic facade. Her musings are confirmed when a spate of anonymous poison pen letters shocks the community, turning neighbor against neighbor and embroiling everyone from the rector and the "queen of the village" Decima Asprey to the high-born Scudamores. With venom in the air,...

"Vivian Lestrange--celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse--has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. After he was reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, crime and murder are afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially...

"A Christmas party is punctuated by a gunshot under a policeman's watchful eye. A jewel heist is planned amidst the glitz and glamour of Oxford Streets Christmas shopping. Lost in a snowstorm, a man finds a motive for murder. Featuring stories by John Bude and E.C.R. Lorac, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, this collection of mysteries explores the darker side of the festive season, from unexplained disturbances in the fresh...

Discover the captivating treasures buried in the British Library's archives. Largely inaccessible to the public until now, these enduring classics were written in the golden age of detective fiction. "A first-rate job"-- New York Times "A classic of the genre"-- Guardian Horniman, Birley and Craine is a highly respected legal firm with clients drawn from the highest in the land. When a deed box in the office is opened to reveal a corpse, the threat...

"A London crowd awaits the trial of Victoria Lamartine, suspected for the murder of her former lover. Lamartine - who years ago escaped from the Gestapo - is set to meet her end at the gallows. One final opportunity remains: solicitor Nap Rumbold is called to replace the defence counsel, granting an eight-day reprieve. Without any time to spare, Rumbold crosses the Channel to trace the roots of the crime back into the war-torn past. Expertly combining...

"James Bennett has been invited to stay at White Priory for Christmas among the retinue of the glamorous Hollywood actress Marcia Tait. Her producer, her lover, the playwright for her next hit and her agent are all here, soon to become so many suspects when Tait is found murdered on a cold December morning in the lakeside pavilion. Only the footprints of her discoverer disturb the snow which fell overnight - and which stopped just shortly after Marcia...