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...

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.

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.

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...

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.' The Reverend Dodd spends his evenings reading detective novels by the fire while serving as the vicar of the sleepy Cornish village of Boscawen. However, God forbid that any real crimes ever take place in his seaside parish. The vicar's tranquility, however, is disturbed one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, a reclusive...

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.'The Reverend Dodd spends his evenings reading detective novels by the fire while serving as the vicar of the sleepy Cornish village of Boscawen. However, God forbid that any real crimes ever take place in his seaside parish.The vicar's tranquility, however, is disturbed one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, a reclusive a...

With some trepidation Nigel Derry approaches the country house of his enigmatic and unpredictable aunt Gwenny for an Easter holiday visit. After a tense few days in which her guests' interactions range from awkward dinners to a knife fight, a disgruntled aunt Gwenny departs for Europe. Receiving a telegram from Le Touquet inviting him to join Gwenny in the south of France, Nigel finds himself on a vacation cut short by murder as a cold shadow of suspicion eclipses the sunny beauty of the C...

"Already it looked as if the police were up against a carefully planned and cleverly executed murder, and, what was more, a murder without a corpse!" Two brothers, John and William Rother, live together at Chalklands Farm in the beautiful Sussex Downs. Their peaceful rural life is shattered when John Rother disappears and his abandoned car is found. Has he been kidnapped? Or is his disappearance more sinister – connected, perhaps, to his growing rather too friendly with his brother's wife?...

"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 – wh...

"Luke flung the light of his torch full onto the face of the immobile figure. Then he had the shock of his life. The man had no face! Where his face should have been was a sort of inhuman, uniform blank!" When a body is found at an isolated garage, Inspector Meredith is drawn into a complex investigation where every clue leads to another puzzle: was this a suicide, or something more sinister? Why was the dead man planning to flee the country? And how is this connected to the shady business...