Blotto, Twinks and the Bootlegger's Moll

Blotto, Twinks and the Bootlegger's Moll

Author: Simon Brett

Publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press

Published: 2014-06-15

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1937384934

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Hard times send a pair of aristocratic English siblings to Prohibition era-Chicago where a bride, gangsters, and trouble await. It’s almost too ghastly to say, darlings, but Blotto and la famille are facing . . . call it an embarrassment of no riches. No, I wouldn’t have imagined it either, but this is the 1920s, famed for financial reversals. At any rate, things are so dire that the Dowager Duchess—oh she’s a tiger, an absolute tiger!—is packing dearest Blotto off to America, if you can believe it, to marry some hideous heiress and make her the Duchess of Tawcester. Well of course Twinks is going with him: I adore Blotto, but left on his own he couldn’t find America from New York Harbor. Oh no, they’ve got a girl all picked out, the daughter of some man named Chapstick, in Chicago. Daddy says this Chapstick fellow is bound to be an unspeakable gangster who carries a machine gun and wears those vulgar hats, but I’m sure that can’t be right. I mean, Blotto and Twinks involved with gangsters? It would be too funny for words! Praise for the Blotto and Twinks Mysteries “A hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down, frequently, as you roar with laughter.” —Booklist, starred review


Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter

Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter

Author: Simon Brett

Publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press

Published: 2012-12-15

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1937384608

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A duke’s halfwit son and brainy daughter search for a kidnapped princess and a dangerous killer in this hilarious historical mystery series debut. It’s that glorious period between the two World Wars, and the exiled king of Mitteleuropa is celebrating with a visit to Tawcester Towers, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Tawcester. When the ex-king’s daughter is kidnapped, noblesse obliges Blotto, the Duke’s brave and handsome son, to drive off to the rescue. Sadly, he is rather staggeringly stupid—with a nickname like “Blotto,” what could one expect?—but his sister, Twinks, got all the family brains, and she is inclined to be helpful. And in more good news for the purloined princess, Blotto’s devoted valet is coming along for the ride. Plus, they’ve got a really swell car. First in a new series by a master of the comic mystery, Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter is a deliriously funny parody of the Golden Age of mystery. “Brett’s latest is a complete wow. . . . Brett re-creates the aristocratic world of Wodehouse and Dorothy Sayers piece by piece. . . . A breakneck plot in the Restoration comedy mold, absolutely bullet-riddled with Wodehouseian wit. Brett’s best yet.” —Booklist, starred review “Zany. . . . Brett puts a hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly


Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera

Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera

Author: Simon Brett

Publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1937384624

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A pair of aristocratic siblings chase art thieves to the French Riviera only to find more trouble in this humorous historical mystery. In yet another installment of the Blotto, Twinks series, his very funny parody of the golden age of mystery, Simon Brett sends his heroes to the French Riviera of the 1920s. Someone has stolen valuable paintings from Tawcester Towers, ancestral home of Blotto (the future Duke of Tawcester) and his sister, Twinks. Blotto is content to run around in a (handsome) sweat, cursing the thieving varlets and vowing revenge, but Twinks, rather more pragmatically, tracks the varlets to France. She and Blotto, accordingly, go zipping off to Paris—where they have rather a jolly time with the Left Bank bohemian set—but before the hangovers can take hold Twinks has redirected the search to the Riviera, headquarters of that dastardly criminal mastermind, La Puce! Will the noble Blotto and the brilliant Twinks recover their paintings, vanquish La Puce, and rescue the kidnapped film star I neglected to mention? Mesdames et messieurs, place your bets. Praise for the Blotto and Twinks Mysteries “A hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down, frequently, as you roar with laughter.” —Booklist, starred review


The Layton Court Mystery

The Layton Court Mystery

Author: Anthony Berkeley

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2021-01-05

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1504066219

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The renowned British crime writer’s classic locked-room Golden Age mystery that introduced amateur sleuth Roger Sheringham. A party at Layton Court, the country house of Victor Stanworth, is disrupted when the host is found shot through the forehead in his own library, a suicide as far as the police are concerned. After all, the gun is found in his hand, a note has been left, and the room is locked from the inside. But one of the guests, author Roger Sheringham, has his doubts. The bullet wound is not positioned where it could have been easily self-inflicted. With a house full of partygoers and servants, suspects abound. It will take Sheringham’s sharp wit and fearless investigating to deduce who brought the festivities to a fatal end. The founder of the Detection Club in London, along with Agatha Christie and other writers, Anthony Berkeley wrote numerous novels, sometimes using the pseudonyms Francis Iles and A. Monmouth Platts. The Layton Court Mystery is his first book in the Roger Sheringham Cases, which includes The Poisoned Chocolates Case and The Silk Stocking Murders, among other titles. “Certainly, Berkeley’s short and fascinating career deserves to be saluted. For fans of the classic English crime novel, his books remain enjoyable to this day. Nobody has ever done ironic ingenuity better than Anthony Berkeley.” —Mystery Scene “He was one of the most influential crime novelists of the 1920s and 1930s, but has languished somewhat in obscurity since. A troubled, dark, incredibly innovative writer . . .” —Shedunnit


Our Lady of Pain

Our Lady of Pain

Author: Elena Forbes

Publisher: House of Anansi

Published: 2008-09-08

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1770890262

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In the second novel in Elena Forbes’ bestselling mystery series, DI Mark Tartaglia’s investigation into a murder becomes a hunt for a possible serial killer. Hurting is her special skill. On a snowy February morning, London art dealer Rachel Tenison goes for a jog through Holland Park. Still giddy from the previous evening, her legs wobbly from too much drink and too little sleep, she falls at the bottom of an icy hill. Lying on her back, she savours the sensation of snowflakes melting on her skin and the unexpected stillness of the moment. But then there’s the sharp crack of a tree branch behind her, and a voice softly calling her name. Two days later, detectives Mark Tartaglia and Sam Donovan are assigned to the case when Rachel’s naked, frozen body is discovered in the park, bound and arranged in a strangely symbolic manner. Still haunted by “The Bridegroom,” a chillingly seductive serial killer with a penchant for lonely girls and deadly heights, they’re forced to put the past behind them as they try to catch Rachel’s murderer. But when a tip from a journalist draws their attention to grisly similarities between this and another unsolved crime, the web becomes more tangled than ever.


The Silk Stocking Murders

The Silk Stocking Murders

Author: Anthony Berkeley

Publisher: Collins

Published: 2021-02-04

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780008333898

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A classic Golden Age crime novel, and one of the first to feature a serial killer. Investigating the disappearance of a vicar's daughter in London, the popular novelist and amateur detective Roger Sheringham is shocked to discover that the girl is already dead, found hanging from a screw by her own silk stocking. Reports of similar deaths across the capital strengthen his conviction that this is no suicide cult but the work of a homicidal maniac out for vengeance - a desperate situation requiring desperate measures. Having established Roger Sheringham as a brilliant but headstrong young sleuth who frequently made mistakes, trusted the wrong people and imbibed considerable liquid refreshment, Anthony Berkeley took his controversial character into much darker territory with The Silk Stocking Murders, a sensational novel about gruesome serial killings by an apparent psychopath bent on targeting vulnerable young women.


Hasty Death

Hasty Death

Author: Marion Chesney

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2004-07

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0312304536

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The second in Chesney's Edwardian mystery series features Captain Cathcart, Lady Summer, and Superintendent Kerridge of Scotland Yard as they investigate the crimes of Edwardian aristocrats.


Lady Fortescue Steps Out

Lady Fortescue Steps Out

Author: Marion Chesney

Publisher: G K Hall & Company

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 9780816158362

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From the best of the Regency writers (Kirkus) comes the debut of an irresistible new series, in which life is not easy for the poor relations of England's upper crust. Desperate to keep up appearances, two of this unfortunate class open a successful hotel which serves as backdrop for a series of outlandish adventures and delightful love stories--of which this book is the first.


Sick of Shadows

Sick of Shadows

Author: Marion Chesney

Publisher:

Published: 2006-02

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 9780727863416

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Lady Rose Summer may be a beauty, but she's still a disappointment to her parents. So when she becomes engaged to Captain Harry Cathcard, it's a relief of sorts. Rose befriends Dolly Tremaine, an exquisite country girl, but when Dolly is found floating in the river, Harry must step up and solve the mystery of her death.