Counterfeit currency is circulating on the French Riviera and it's suspected that an Englishman is behind the crime, so DI Meredith is sent along with acting-Sergeant Strang to trace the whereabouts of Chalky Corbett. It isn't long before their interest settles on the Villa Poloma, home of an eccentric expatriate Englishwoman, Nesta Hedderwick and her band of bohemian house guests as a simple task of apprehending a forger turns into a murder investigation.

John Rother drives away from Chalklands Farm in Sussex for a short vacation - and promptly disappears. His car turns up - with bloodstains - but there is no sign of John Rother - unless, of course, those stains are a sign of foul play. Enter Superintendent Meredith - and the sinister discovery of human bones at Chalklands. Superintendent Meredith comes to the not unreasonable conclusion that he is probably investigating a murder.

The inhabitants of Regency Square in Cheltenham are horrified when one of their number is killed, especially when the murder weapon is a bow and arrow. It is one thing to read about violent crimes in the newspapers, quite another when it happens in their own square and they could become suspects. Investigation unearths many secrets concealed by the respectable residents of Regency Square, but it is not until another death occurs that we can discover the truth behind the killings.

The Lake District Murder opens with the discovery of a faceless body in an isolated garage, then follows Inspector Meredith through a complex investigation where every clue seems to lead only to another puzzle. Was this a bizarre suicide, or something more sinister? Why was the dead man apparently making plans to flee the country? And what does all this have to do with the newly discovered shady business dealings of the garage? All becomes clear in time, but not before John Bude h...

Never, even in his most optimistic moments, had he visualised a scene of this nature—himself in one arm-chair, a police officer in another, and between them . . . a mystery.” So thinks the Reverend Dodd—vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen and a reader of detective novels—when an actual mystery unexpectedly lands on his doorstep in The Cornish Coast Murder. Julius Tregarthan, a secretive and ill-tempered magistrate, is found at his house in Boscawen, shot through the head—and the...

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of MurderTwo mysteries of the kind John Bude does best, with well-drawn and authentic period settings and a satisfying whodunit structure, following the traditional rules and style of the Golden Age of the genre.Death in White Pyjamas: At the country home of Sam Richardson, a group of actors have gathered along with their somewhat sinister producer Basil Barnes, and a...

Small hostilities were growing; vague jealousies were gaining strength; and far off, wasn't there a nebulous hint of approaching tragedy in the air? Welworth Garden City in the 1940s is a forward-thinking town where free spirits find a home - vegetarians, socialists, and an array of exotic religious groups. Chief among these are the Children of Osiris, led by the eccentric High Prophet, Eustace K. Mildmann. The cult is a seething hotbed of petty resentment, jealousy and dark secrets - whic...

When the northbound road leaves Keswick, it skirts the head of Derwentwater, curves into the picturesque village of Portinscale and then runs more or less straight up a broad and level valley until it arrives at the little, mountain-shadowed hamlet of Braithwaite. There is a fair amount of traffic up this valley, particularly in the summer; tourists wending their way into the Buttermere valley are bound to take this road, for the very simple reason that there’s no other road to take. It al...

Here are the ingredients of the plot. SCENE : Sam Richardson's country house. CHARACTERS - Sam himself, a kindly business man, more amiable than artistic. Basil Barnes, his producer, tall, slender, sleek-haired and slightly sinister. Willy Farnham, a grand old character actor, always hard up, Angela Walsh, a brilliant young Ingenue from the Provinces. Deirdre Lehaye, tall, dark, icy, and so dead sure of herself that most men were scared to approach her. Clara Maddison, the company's most t...

A shooting in a locked artist's studio. Four suspects; at least two of whom are engaged in an affair. An exuberant and energetic case for Major Boddy.

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder"An absorbing head-scratcher." —BooklistIn the seeming tranquility of Regency Square in Cheltenham live the diverse inhabitants of its ten houses. One summer's evening, the square's rivalries and allegiances are disrupted by a sudden and unusual death—an arrow to the head, shot through an open window at no. 6.Unfortunately for the murderer, an invitation to visit had just been sent by...

A new musical Old Seville produced by Kurt Goldmayer is having a try-out at a South Coast theatre before transferring to London's West End. One night, however, the leading lady Adrienne Daw disappears from her dressing room and is later found murdered.