{"title":"British Library Crime Classics","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"london-particular-christianna-brand-9780712355407","title":"London Particular","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"You have to reach for the greatest of the Great Names (Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen) to find Christianna Brand's rivals in the subtleties of the trade.\"  Anthony Boucher in the New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNight falls in the capital, and a \"London particular\" pea-souper fog envelops the city. In Maida Vale, Rose and her family doctor Tedwards struggle through the dark after a man has telephoned from Rose's house, claiming to have been attacked. By the time they arrive the victim, Raoul Vernet, is dead. The news he brought from Switzerland for Rose's mother has died with him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eArriving to the scene, Inspector Cockrill faces a fiendish case with seven suspects who could have murdered their guest  family members and friends with alibis muddled by the suffocating fog and motives wrapped in mystery. Now, the race is on to find the truth before the killer strikes again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1952, London Particular was Brand's favourite among her own books, and it remains a fast-paced and witty masterpiece of the genre, showing off the author's signature flair for the ruthless twist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Christianna Brand","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46985723478259,"sku":"9780712355407","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355407.jpg?v=1747166752"},{"product_id":"death-of-a-bookseller-bernard-j-farmer-9780712353281","title":"Death of a Bookseller","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn honest policeman, Sergeant Wigan, escorts a drunk man home one night to keep him out of trouble and, seeing his fine book collection, slowly falls in to the gentle art of book collecting. Just as the friendship is blossoming, the policeman's book-collecting friend is murdered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo solve the mystery of why the victim was killed, and which of his rare books was taken, Wigan dives into the world of 'runners' and book collectors, where avid agents will gladly cut you for a first edition and then offer you a lift home afterwards. This adventurous mystery, which combines exuberant characters with a wonderfully realised depiction of the second-hand book market, is sure to delight bibliophiles and classic crime enthusiasts alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bernard J Farmer","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47253783281907,"sku":"9780712353281","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353281.jpg?v=1751401443"},{"product_id":"it-walks-by-night-john-dickson-carr-9780712352642","title":"It Walks by Night","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe are thrilled to welcome John Dickson Carr into the Crime Classics series with his first novel, a brooding locked room mystery in the gathering dusk of the French capital. In the smoke-wreathed gloom of a Parisian salon, Inspector Bencolin has summoned his allies to discuss a peculiar case. A would-be murderer, imprisoned for his attempt to kill his wife, has escaped and is known to have visited a plastic surgeon. His whereabouts remain a mystery, though with his former wife poised to marry another, Bencolin predicts his return. Sure enough, the Inspector's worst suspicions are realized when the beheaded body of the new suitor is discovered in a locked room of the salon, with no apparent exit. Bencolin sets off into the Parisian night to unravel the dumbfounding mystery and track down the sadistic killer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Dickson Carr","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47253803794675,"sku":"9780712352642","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712352642.jpg?v=1751401501"},{"product_id":"the-edinburgh-mystery-martin-edwards-9780712354851","title":"The Edinburgh Mystery","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Cara!\" Mr. Wilkinson stood on the jetty looking out at the long, low shadow of the island, dark against the setting sun. \"A beautiful place, and a beautiful name.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"It's the Gaelic word for a corpse.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the dramatic Highlands to bustling cities and remote islands in wild seas, the unique landscapes and locales of Scotland have enthralled and shaped generations of mystery writers. This new collection presents seventeen classic stories, spanning a period from the 1880s to the 1970s, by a host of Scottish authors alongside writers from south of the border inspired by the history and majesty of the storied country. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing vintage tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson and Baroness Orczy together with mid-twentieth-century mini-masterpieces by Margot Bennett, Michael Innes and Cyril Hare, this anthology also includes a rare Josephine Tey short story, reprinted for the first time since 1930.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Edwards","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47253840429299,"sku":"9780712354851","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712354851.jpg?v=1751401598"},{"product_id":"the-lost-gallows-john-dickson-carr-9780712353632","title":"The Lost Gallows","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs the thick, autumnal fog chokes the capital, within the fire-lit lounge of London's notorious Brimstone Club a bizarre tale is being spun for Inspector Bencolin and his friend Jeff Marle. A member of the club has been sent a model of a tiny gallows, and the word is that the folkloric hangman Jack Ketch has been stalking the streets for victims by night, his gibbet in tow. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe threat of this supposed bogeyman becomes thrillingly real when that same night Bencolin and Marle are almost run down by a limousine with a corpse behind the wheel. When an ominous message claims the car's passenger has been taken to the gallows at Ruination St for hanging, the detective and his associate venture into the night to discover the truth behind the terrifying Ketch and a street which cannot be found on any map.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1931 at the outset of Carr's legendary career in crime writing, this atmospheric mystery boasts all of the twists, tension and unforgettable scenes of a young master at work. This edition also includes the rare short story 'The Ends of Justice'.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Dickson Carr","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47253844033779,"sku":"9780712353632","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353632.jpg?v=1751401615"},{"product_id":"the-arsenal-stadium-mystery-leonard-gribble-9780712352260","title":"The Arsenal Stadium Mystery","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 1939 Arsenal side is firing on all cylinders and celebrating a string of victories. They appear unstoppable, but the Trojans - a side of amateurs who are on a winning streak of their own - may be about to silence the Gunners. Moments into the second half the whistle blows, but not for a goal or penalty. One of the Trojans has collapsed on the pitch. By the end of the day, he is dead. Gribble's unique mystery, featuring the actual Arsenal squad of 1939, sends Inspector Anthony Slade into the world of professional football to investigate a case of deadly foul play on and off the pitch.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Leonard Gribble","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47307021648115,"sku":"9780712352260","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712352260.jpg?v=1751572977"},{"product_id":"before-the-fact-francis-iles-9780712355506","title":"Before the Fact","description":"\u003cp\u003eSome women give birth to murderers, some go to bed with them, and some marry them. Lina Aysgarth had lived with her husband for nearly eight years before she realized that she was married to a murderer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing the success of Malice Aforethought, novelist Anthony Berkeley Cox returned to his Francis Iles pen-name for another experiment in the inverted mystery. Where Malice Aforethought is a study of murder from the perpetrator's perspective, Before the Fact is a masterful tale of the suspicions of a possible victim and her impressions of disquieting husband Johnnie.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUnsettling and gripping for its incisive portrayal of human emotion and fears, this experimental classic of crime fiction was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's film Suspicion, but remains an arresting literary read today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Francis Iles","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47397620383987,"sku":"9780712355506","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355506.jpg?v=1752004934"},{"product_id":"cat-and-mouse-christianna-brand-9780712355520","title":"Cat and Mouse","description":"\u003cp\u003eGirls Together magazine agony-aunt 'Mrs Friendly-wise', aka Katinka Jones, finds herself at a loose end in Swansea, and decides to pay a surprise visit to one of the magazine's regular correspondents, 'Amista'. But reaching the address  a strange house perched atop a mountain which matches all of the descriptions in the letters  nobody has even heard of 'Amista'. As Katinka begins to fall for the dashing master of the house, Carleon, more weird mysteries emerge and the plucky Detective Inspector Chucky joins the search for the truth in this self-consciously lurid mystery-melodrama; a rollicking cavalcade of Brand's signature twists and turns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'From time to time there is published a mystery story which is also a piece of good writing. Such a novel is Cat and Mouse...a mystery novel for the connoisseur.'  Glasgow Herald, 1950\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'This department has never before admitted its inability to put a book down. But I had trouble with Cat and Mouse...A fine melodrama, with a cheerful disregard for the sterile rules of the detective game.'  News Chronicle, 1950\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Christianna Brand","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736789663987,"sku":"9780712355520","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355520.jpg?v=1757103082"},{"product_id":"death-of-an-author-ecr-lorac-9780712354677","title":"Death of an Author","description":"\u003cp\u003e'I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded mind.' \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eVivian Lestrange  celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse  has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, it appears that crime and murder is afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim, as E C R Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humour and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a man (since a woman could apparently not have written mysteries the way that she did). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIncredibly rare today, this mystery returns to print for the first time since 1935.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R. Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736789860595,"sku":"9780712354677","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712354677.jpg?v=1757103084"},{"product_id":"death-on-the-down-beat-sebastian-farr-9780712354028","title":"Death on the Down Beat","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe headline from The Maningpool Telegraph read: TRAGIC DEATH OF SIR NOEL GRAMPIAN  shot during performance  Symphony Concert Calamity. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a rousing Strauss piece is reaching its crescendo in Maningpool Civic Hall, the talented yet obnoxious conductor Sir Noel Grampian is shot dead in full view of the Municipal Orchestra and the audience. It was no secret that he had many enemies  musicians and music critics among them  but to be killed in mid flow suggests an act of the coldest calculation. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTold through the letters and documents sent by D.I. Alan Hope to his wife as he puzzles through the dauntingly vast pool of suspects and scant physical evidence in the case, this is an innovative and playful mystery underscored by the author's extensive experience of the highly-strung world of music professionals. First published in 1941, this new edition returns Farr's only crime novel to print to receive its long-deserved encore.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sebastian Farr","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736789893363,"sku":"9780712354028","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712354028.jpg?v=1757103087"},{"product_id":"dramatic-murder-elizabeth-anthony-9780712355568","title":"Dramatic Murder","description":"\u003cp\u003eShe could imagine the headlines all too well...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDEATH ON POSSETT ISLAND\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWell-known Playwright Found Dead on Christmas Tree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDimpson McCabe - Dimpsie - has invited all of his closest friends of the theatre world to join him for Christmas at his castle on a private island some hours' drive from Edinburgh. The festivities have barely had a chance to begin when poor Dimpsie is found draped atop the Christmas tree, electrocuted by the lights with which it is festooned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Sherriff's Court yields a verdict of Accidental Death, but in the swirling snow suspicion is dancing among the flakes. Through Dimpsie's cadre of directors, producers, actors and agents runs a hot streak of hidden grievances and theatrical scheming, and as the group return to London the dogged Inspector Smith begins to circle, seeking to find the leading man or prima donna responsible for this ghoulish crime.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1948 and lost for over 75 years, this lost Christmas novel returns to bedazzle a fresh audience of mystery-lovers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Elizabeth Anthony","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736789926131,"sku":"9780712355568","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355568.jpg?v=1757103091"},{"product_id":"impact-of-evidence-carol-carnac-9780712355254","title":"Impact of Evidence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Her best yet. A classic story with well concealed and ingenious clues, sufficiently difficult to leave us properly surprised by both murderer and method.\"  The Spectator\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNear St. Brynneys in the Welsh border country, isolated by heavy snow and flooding from the thaw, a calamity has occurred. Old Dr. Robinson, a known 'menace on the roads', has met his end in a collision with a jeep on a hazardous junction. But when the police arrive at the scene, a burning question hints at something murkier than mere accident: why was there a second body-a man not recognised by any locals-in the back of Robinson's car?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs the local inspectors dive into the muddy waters of this strange crime, Chief Inspector Julian Rivers and Inspector Lancing are summoned from Scotland Yard to the windswept wilds, where danger and deceit lie in wait.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePuzzling and atmospheric, this exceedingly rare mystery from one of the masters of crime fiction's Golden Age returns to print for the first time since its publication in 1954.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carol Carnac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790057203,"sku":"9780712355254","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355254.jpg?v=1757103099"},{"product_id":"murder-in-vienna-ecr-lorac-9780712355612","title":"Murder in Vienna","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter all, under its gaiety and brilliance Vienna has always been a centre of intrigue. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe distinguished industrialist, the fair girl and the aggressive young man  although Superintendent McDonald tried to avoid studying his fellow-passengers, he simply couldn't help it. For him, it was difficult to adjust to being on holiday. He turned away deliberately. These people weren't his problem, he was on holiday  or so he thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet against the enchanting background of post war Vienna, with its beautiful palaces and gardens, its disenchanted residents and scars of war, E. C. R. Lorac constructs a characteristic detective story, sure to puzzle and excite.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis exceedingly rare mystery, first published in 1956, makes its triumphant return to print for the first time since its original appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1956, this classic mystery leaps out of rarity to join the British Library Crime Classics series. Inspector McDonald ventures abroad into Ally occupied Vienna on this busman's holiday.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R. Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790450419,"sku":"9780712355612","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355612.jpg?v=1757103113"},{"product_id":"murder-by-the-book-martin-edwards-9780712353694","title":"Murder by the Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e'If much of the action is set in a bookshop or a library, it is a bibliomystery, just as it is if a major character is a bookseller or a librarian.'  Otto Penzler\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA bookish puzzle threatens an eagerly awaited inheritance; a submission to a publisher recounts a murder that seems increasingly to be a work of non-fiction; an irate novelist puts a grisly end to the source of his writer's block. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no better hiding place for clues  or red herrings  than inside the pages of a book. But in this world of resentful ghost writers, indiscreet playwrights and unscrupulous book collectors, literary prowess is often a prologue to disaster. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith Martin Edwards as librarian and guide, delve into an irresistible stack of tales perfect for every book-lover and armchair sleuth, featuring much-loved Golden Age detectives such as Nigel Strangeways, Philip Trent and Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But readers should be warned that the most riveting tales often conceal the deadliest of secrets...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Edwards","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790548723,"sku":"9780712353694","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353694.jpg?v=1757103110"},{"product_id":"murder-after-christmas-rupert-latimer-9780712353892","title":"Murder After Christmas","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A war's on and a murder has been committed-and we sit here talking nonsense about almond whirls and mince pies!\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGood old Uncle Willie-rich, truculent and seemingly propped up by his fierce willpower alone-has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. It is just their luck for him to be found dead in the snow on Boxing Day morning, dressed in his Santa Claus costume and seemingly poisoned by something in the Christmas confectionery. As the police flock to the house, Willie's descendants, past lovers and distant relatives are drawn into a perplexing investigation to find out how the old man met his fate, and who stands to gain by such an unseasonable crime. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, mince pies and misdirection, cleverly twisting the tropes of Golden Age detective fiction to create a pacey, light-hearted package admirably suited for the holiday season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rupert Latimer","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790581491,"sku":"9780712353892","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353892.jpg?v=1757103110"},{"product_id":"not-to-be-taken-berkeley-anthony-9780712355421","title":"Not to Be Taken","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Waterhouse has died of some gastric complication. Exhumed at his brother's request, it transpires that he has been killed by arsenical poisoning, though nobody in the sleepy village of Anneypenny seems to have had a reason to do him ill. Rumours abound of Nazi intrigue and military skullduggery, but whatever the motive, the truth remains; this was murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally serialised as a competition with a prize for the readers that could answer Berkeley's direct challenge of 'who was the poisoner?', Not to Be Taken remains one of the most fiendish exercises in subtle cluework and detection from the Golden Age of Crime.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'...now we have Not to Be Taken, a compact and fascinating essay in the art of home detection.'  Torquemada in The Observer, 1938\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'The murder is by arsenic; and although the number of suspects is strictly limited the construction is so ingenious that to attain the correct solution of the problem requires all the reader's concentration; to skip is fatal.'  Times Literary Supplement, 1938\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berkeley Anthony","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790647027,"sku":"9780712355421","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355421.jpg?v=1757103112"},{"product_id":"post-after-post-mortem-ecr-lorac-9780712354752","title":"Post After Post-Mortem","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Now tell us about your crime novel. Take my advice and don't try to be intellectual over it. What the public likes is blood.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Surrays and their five children form a prolific writing machine, with scores of treatises, reviews and crime thrillers published under their family name. Following a rare convergence of the whole household at their Oxfordshire home, Ruth  middle sister who writes 'books which are just books'  decides to spend some weeks there recovering from the pressures of the writing life while the rest of the brood scatter to the winds again. Their next return is heralded by the tragic news that Ruth has taken her life after an evening at the Surrays' hosting a set of publishers and writers, one of whom is named as Ruth's literary executor in the will she left behind. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDespite some suspicions from the family, the verdict at the inquest is suicide  but when Ruth's brother Richard receives a letter from the deceased which was delayed in the post, he enlists the help of CID Robert Macdonald to investigate what could only be an ingeniously planned murder.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790778099,"sku":"9780712354752","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712354752.jpg?v=1757103119"},{"product_id":"scandalize-my-name-fiona-sinclair-9780712355476","title":"Scandalize My Name","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Caroline, too, stared out at the restless traffic, her mind's eye revolted by the memory of Ivan Sweet's pale cold face and the explosive malice that had seethed behind his dead brown eyes...'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the eve of Elaine Southey's 21st birthday, Ivan Sweet has been found dead in his flat in the basement of the Southeys' historic north London home. A slick charmer to some of the tenants  and a loathsome young scoundrel to others  his death doesn't draw out many tears among the house's residents and neighbours. And yet the sordid truth starts to seep into the heart of their small community  a murder is living among them, and who's to say when they might strike again? The shrewd Oxford man Superintendent Paul Grainger finds himself faced with a small circle of suspects whose connections and hidden motives heap complexity upon complexity in this tightly wrought mystery, shot through with a chilling touch of the macabre.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fiona Sinclair","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736790974707,"sku":"9780712355476","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355476.jpg?v=1757103122"},{"product_id":"silent-nights-martin-edwards-9780712356107","title":"Silent Nights","description":"\u003cp\u003eChristmas is a mysterious, as well as magical, time of year. Strange things can happen, and this helps to explain the hallowed tradition of telling ghost stories around the fireside as the year draws to a close. Christmas tales of crime and detection have a similar appeal. When television becomes tiresome, and party games pall, the prospect of curling up in the warm with a good mystery is enticing - and much better for the digestion than yet another helping of plum pudding. Crime writers are just as susceptible as readers to the countless attractions of Christmas. Over the years, many distinguished practitioners of the genre have given one or more of their stories a Yuletide setting. The most memorable Christmas mysteries blend a lively storyline with an atmospheric evocation of the season. Getting the mixture right is much harder than it looks.This book introduces readers to some of the finest Christmas detective stories of the past. Martin Edwards' selection blends festive pieces from much-loved authors with one or two stories which are likely to be unfamiliar even to diehard mystery fans. The result is a collection of crime fiction to savour, whatever the season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Edwards","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791007475,"sku":"9780712356107","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712356107.jpg?v=1757103122"},{"product_id":"tea-on-sunday-lettice-cooper-9780712355667","title":"Tea on Sunday","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn a cold winter's afternoon, Alberta Mansbridge waits at a table set with teacups for eight, musing over her guests. The ex-jailbird Barry, the nephew and his ghastly new flibbertijibbet of a wife, the Italian playboy, the old friend with whom she had so recently fallen out...Alberta returns upstairs to get herself ready.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the guests arrive, the door is locked and there is no response to their knocking. Alberta has been murdered, and with no sign of robbery or break in, the killer must have been somebody she let into the house herself  somebody who was due for tea on Sunday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspector Corby is soon on the case, faced with eight suspects without a concrete alibi between them  and a raft of motives steeped in mystery which will take him from London back to Alberta's roots in Hithamroyd, Yorkshire in search of the truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1973 but written in the vintage mystery mode, Lettice Cooper uses her literary sensibilities to deliver a strong detective story with a well-brewed psychological depth.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lettice Cooper","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791105779,"sku":"9780712355667","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355667.jpg?v=1757103125"},{"product_id":"the-christmas-egg-mary-kelly-9780712353106","title":"The Christmas Egg","description":"\u003cp\u003eA new award-winning author joins the Crime Classics series with one of her best novels. This is a mystery of international intrigue set in London at Christmas time, mixing the best parts of traditional mystery with thriller elements such as a climactic chase involving a helicopter! 'The Easter egg. I told 'im. All white an' glittering, lovely, like ice an' frost an' stars ... An' I lost it, I lost it. I lost all of it.' In a gloomy flat off Islington High Street, Chief Inspector Brett Nightingale and Sergeant Beddoes find an old woman dead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Princess Olga Karukhin, who fled from Russia at the time of the Revolution, has lived in terror of being discovered ever since. Olga's grandson, Ivan, appears to have run from the scene, but is later seen returning to the flat as though oblivious to the terrible crime. Taking place between 22nd and 24th December, Nightingale's enquiry takes him across London, culminating in the wrapping of the mystery on Christmas Eve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis never-before-republished novel from 1958 has a noticeably different feel to the neat puzzles and country house mysteries of crime fiction's golden age, revealing the darker side of police detection in an evocative urban setting.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mary Kelly","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791302387,"sku":"9780712353106","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353106.jpg?v=1757103132"},{"product_id":"the-corpse-in-the-waxworks-john-dickson-carr-9780712353731","title":"The Corpse in the Waxworks","description":"\u003cp\u003e'\"The purpose, the illusion, the spirit of a waxworks. It is an atmosphere of death. It is soundless and motionless... Do you see?\"'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLast night Mademoiselle Duchene was seen heading into the Gallery of Horrors at the Musee Augustin waxworks, alive. Today she was found in the Seine, murdered. The museum's proprietor, long perturbed by the unnatural vitality of his figures, claims that he saw one of them following the victim into the dark  a lead that Henri Bencolin, head of the Paris police and expert of 'impossible' crimes, cannot possibly resist. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSurrounded by the eerie noises of the night, Bencolin prepares to enter the ill-fated waxworks, his associate Jeff Marle and the victim's fiance in tow. Waiting within, beneath the glass-eyed gaze of a leering waxen satyr, is a gruesome discovery and the first clues of a twisted and ingenious mystery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1932 at the height of crime fiction's Golden Age, this macabre and atmospheric dives into the murky underground of Parisian society presents an intelligent puzzle delivered at a stunning pace. This new edition also includes 'The Murder in Number Four', a rare Inspector Bencolin short story.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Dickson Carr","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791433459,"sku":"9780712353731","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353731.jpg?v=1757103130"},{"product_id":"the-ten-teacups-carter-dickson-9780712355278","title":"The Ten Teacups","description":"\u003cp\u003e'There will be ten teacups at number 4, Berwick Terrace, W. 8, on Wednesday, July 31, at 5 p.m. precisely. The presence of the Metropolitan Police is respectfully requested.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWriting as Carter Dickson, the master of the locked room mystery John Dickson Carr returns to the Crime Classics series, pitching his series amateur detective Henry Merrivale against a seemingly watertight mystery: after the police are sent a note warning them about a forthcoming crime, a man is shot in a room on the top floor of a Kensington townhouse  a house watched from all sides during the murder. Surely nobody could have gotten in or out? And yet the man is dead, and just like the last time the police received a note like this, there are ten teacups set out at the scene of the crime. H.M. is drawn to unravel this bizarre crime, as the mysterious significance of the ten teacups in murders past and present pushes the police to their limits.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carter Dickson","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791826675,"sku":"9780712355278","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355278.jpg?v=1757103146"},{"product_id":"the-wheel-spins-ethel-lina-white-9780712354882","title":"The Wheel Spins","description":"\u003cp\u003eThen the rhythm of the train changed, and she seemed to be sliding backwards down a long slope. Click-click-click- click. The wheels rattled over the rails, with a sound of castanets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTravelling home from a European holiday, Iris Carr ends up alone at the station after a quarrel with her friends. Struck by a mysterious assailant and waking up just in time to board the train which will take her on her journey to London, things seem to be looking up after a chance meeting with the affable Miss Froy. But when Iris passes out and reawakens, Miss Froy is nowhere to be found. The other passengers deny any knowledge of her existence and as the train speeds across Europe, Iris spirals deeper and deeper into a strange conspiracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdapted for the screen as The Lady Vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock in 1938, Ethel Lina White's suspenseful mystery remains her best-known novel, worthy of acknowledgement as a classic of the genre in its own right.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ethel Lina White","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791859443,"sku":"9780712354882","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712354882.jpg?v=1757103146"},{"product_id":"these-names-make-clues-ecr-lorac-9780712353847","title":"These Names Make Clues","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Should detectives go to parties? Was it consistent with the dignity of the Yard? The inspector tossed for it-and went.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at the house of Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of Murder by Mesmerism. Despite a handful of misgivings, the inspector joins a guestlist of novelists and thriller writers disguised on the night under literary pseudonyms. The fun comes to an abrupt end, however, when 'Samuel Pepys' is found dead in the telephone room in bizarre circumstances. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmidst the confusion of too many fake names, clues, ciphers and convoluted alibis, Macdonald and his allies in the CID must unravel a truly tangled case in this metafictional masterpiece, which returns to print for the first time since its publication in 1937.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791924979,"sku":"9780712353847","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353847.jpg?v=1757103146"},{"product_id":"two-way-murder-ecr-lorac-9780712353830","title":"Two-Way Murder","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lost novel from the golden age of crime, published for the very first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt happened on a dark and misty night; the night of the ball at The Prince's Hall, Fordings. Abuzz with rumours surrounding the disappearance of Rosemary Reeve on the eve of last year's ball, the date proves ill-fated again when two homebound partygoers, Nick and Dilys, come to a swerving halt before a corpse on the road. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eArriving at the scene to the news that Nick has been attacked after telephoning for the police, Inspector Turner suspects there may be more to the case than deadly accident. It's not long before Waring of the local C.I.D. is drawn into the investigation, faced with the task of unravelling an increasingly tangled knot of misleading alibis and deep-rooted local grievances. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten in the last years of the author's life, this previously unpublished novel is a tribute to Lorac's enduring skill for constructing an ingenious puzzle, replete with memorable characters and gripping detective work. This edition also includes an introduction by the CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author Martin Edwards.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R. Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47736791957747,"sku":"9780712353830","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712353830.jpg?v=1757103147"},{"product_id":"the-judas-window-carter-dickson-9780712355339","title":"The Judas Window","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the greatest locked-room murder mysteries of all time, hailing from 1938, returns to baffle a new bevy of armchair detectives. James Answell, visiting his father-in-law Avery Hume in his locked study, has the misfortune to wake up from a drugged-Whisky swoon to find his host dead, skewered with an arrow. He is, of course, prime suspect. After setting up this devilish scenario, unravels an ingenious courtroom thriller, in which the razor-sharp amateur detective (and barrister) Sir Henry Merrivale stars in all of his outlandish glory  and the mystery of the 'Judas Window' is revealed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carter Dickson","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":48006698467571,"sku":"9780712355339","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355339.jpg?v=1762542508"},{"product_id":"cyanide-in-the-sun-martin-edwards-9780712355575","title":"Cyanide in the Sun","description":"\u003cp\u003eMartin Edwards presents a jam-packed travel case of short mysteries bristling with murder and chicanery, perfect for a summer getaway.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother of the series' popular anthologies celebrating forgotten classics and material not printed since its original publication. Perfect bitesize holiday reading for the Classic Crime enthusiast and the casual sleuther alike, featuring mysteries focused on British holidays and abroad.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Edwards","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":48239555379443,"sku":"9780712355575","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355575.jpg?v=1765912143"},{"product_id":"the-chianti-flask-marie-belloc-lowndes-9781464215469","title":"The Chianti Flask","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt seems clear that the poison was delivered in a flask of Chianti with supper...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn enigmatic young woman named Laura Dousland stands on trial for murder, accused of poisoning her elderly husband, Fordish. It seems clear that the poison was delivered in a flask of Chianti with supper, but according to the couple's servant in the witness-box, the flask disappeared the night Fordish died, and all attempts to trace it have come to nothing. The jury delivers its verdict, but this is just the end of the beginning of Marie Belloc Lowndes's gripping story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1934, this exquisitely crafted novel blends the tenets of a traditional mystery with an exploration of the psychological impact of death, accusation, guilt, and justice in the aftermath of murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis edition includes an introduction by the CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author Martin Edwards.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Marie Belloc Lowndes","offers":[{"title":"As New","offer_id":48437365932275,"sku":"7770002935299","price":12.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781464215469.jpg?v=1769542409"},{"product_id":"still-waters-ecr-lorac-9780712355346","title":"Still Waters","description":"\u003cp\u003eTrouble is brewing once more for the Hoggetts and their friend Chief Inspector Macdonald in Lunesdale, deep in the Lancashire fell country. The treacherous slopes and still waters of a quarry pool have become the backdrop for strange happenings by night, and after an architect surveying the area is nearly hoisted into the cold waters by an unseen assailant, the suspicions of local farmers become a matter for the CID. Lorac's authentic writing of the Lunesdale countryside is paired with a twisting plot in this classic of lake district crime fiction, first published in 1949.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"E.C.R. Lorac","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":48705122369779,"sku":"9780712355346","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780712355346.jpg?v=1774119543"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/collections\/british-library-crime-classics.oembed","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}