‘Yes, that was a pretty unsavoury moment. Sorn ought to get a medal for what he did: it was about ten to one on his being blown into hundreds and thousands; he told me this morning that he had often imagined in phantasy this situation arising and himself playing the hero who should draw the fires from under the boiler, so when it did actually happen in real life he jumped to it automatically—shows you there’s something to be said for phantasy-building. But the worst moment, I think, was when Eustace emerged from the well—he’d hidden behind that iron gate and got himself covered with cobwebs. The combination of cobwebs and sunken mouth—it’s extraordinary how much the absence of teeth alters the human face for the worse—made him so disagreeably resemble a risen corpse that my stomach turned over like a Catherine wheel. And of course that gun in his hand didn’t improve one’s morale either. You’d never think an oldish man like him would have the stamina to do all he did. It suggests he must have been insane since Joe attacked him in the refrigerator-room: it’s what you’d expect when a man who has wielded almost unlimited power suddenly finds himself outlawed from society.’
Nigel took a turn or two round the room, absent-mindedly picking up ornaments and putting them down again.
‘No,’ he said, ‘it’s been a dirty, untidy case in most ways, even though it does add force to a certain well-worn phrase.’
‘Namely?’
‘There’s trouble brewing.’
All the characters, places and business firms in this book are entirely fictitious. My best thanks are due to H. Sandeman Allen, Esq., F. W. Hands, Esq., and K. Mead, Esq., for assistance on technical points.
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
The Beast Must Die
Respected crime writer Frank Cairns plots the perfect murder – a murder that he himself will commit.
Cairns intends to murder the hit-and-run driver who killed his young son, but when his intended victim is found dead and Cairns becomes the prime suspect, the author insists that he has been framed. An old friend of Cairns calls in private detective Nigel Strangeways, who must unravel a fiendishly plotted mystery if he is to discover what really happened to George Rattery.
‘Ingenious’ P.D. James
‘An engaging yarn’ Guardian
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
Malice in Wonderland
‘The Nicholas Blake books are something quite by themselves in English detective fiction’ Elizabeth Bowen
Private detective Nigel Strangeways receives a call for help from Wonderland, a new holiday camp that has recently opened only to be plagued by a series of cruel practical jokes conducted by someone calling themselves ‘The Mad Hatter’.
The camp’s owners are convinced a rival firm, desperate to put them out of business, are behind the events but could it be a disgruntled employee, or even one of the four hundred guests currently staying at the camp? As the pranks become increasingly dangerous and tensions rise, Nigel must do all he can to uncover the Mad Hatter’s true identity – before it’s too late.
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
Minute For Murder
‘An outstanding mystery novel. Mr Blake’s writing is a delight in itself’ New York Times
The Second World War has just finished and amateur detective and poet Nigel Strangeways is working at the Ministry of Morale in London, in the Visual Propaganda Division. With war over, life seems to be calm again, that is until the Director’s beautiful secretary is poisoned in full view of seven members of the division, including Nigel himself. Who could have killed her? And how?
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
A Question of Proof
‘A master of detective fiction’ Daily Telegraph
The annual Sports Day at respected public school, Sudeley Hall, ends in tragedy when the headmaster’s obnoxious nephew is found strangled in a haystack. The boy was despised by staff and students alike but English master Michael Evans, who was seen sharing a kiss with the headmaster’s beautiful young wife earlier that day, soon becomes a prime suspect for the murder. Luckily, his friend Nigel Strangeways, nephew to the Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, is on hand to help investigate the case.
A Question of Proof is the first Nigel Strangeways Mystery and is the perfect introduction to this most charming and erudite detective from the Golden Age of crime writing.
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
The Worm of Death
‘Mr Blake tirelessly and entertainingly baffles his readers’ Times Literary Supplement
Several days after private detective and poet Nigel Strangeways dines with Dr Piers Loudon and his family, the doctor vanishes, only for his legless corpse to be fished out of the river Thames. When his family ask Nigel to protect their interests during the police investigation, it soon becomes apparent that each member of the deceased’s family, from his adopted son to his daughter’s unpleasant fiancée, had a strong motive for killing him.
As the winter fog swirls outside, Nigel must find his way through a maze of conflicting stories, missing diaries and red herrings.
‘It is one of Blake’s very best – and his best is better than almost anyone’s’ Louis Untermeyer
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
Thou Shell of Death
Fergus O’Brien, a legendary World War One flying ace with several skeletons hidden in his closet, receives a series of mocking letters predicting that he will be murdered on Boxing Day.
Undaunted, O’Brien throws a Christmas party, inviting everyone who could be suspected of making the threats, along with private detective Nigel Strangeways. But despite Nigel’s presence, the former pilot is found dead, just as predicted, and Nigel is left to aid the local police in their investigation while trying to ignore his growing attraction to one of the other guests – and suspects – explorer Georgia Cavendish.
Thou Shell of Death is a dazzlingly complex and addictive read, laced with literary allusions, from a master of detective fiction.
‘It has all the virtues of culture, intelligence and sensibility that the most exacting connoisseur could ask of detective fiction’ Times Literary Supplement
Also available from Vintage
NICHOLAS BLAKE
The Smiler With the Knife
‘Nicholas Blake at the very top of his form’ Woman’s Journal
Detective Nigel Strangeways and his explorer wife Georgia have taken a cottage in the countryside. They are slowly beginning to adjust to a more relaxed way of life when Georgia finds a mysterious locket in their garden and unwittingly sets the couple on a collision course with a power-hungry movement aimed at overthrowing the government.
It will take all of Nigel’s brilliance and Georgia’s bravery if they are to infiltrate the order and unmask the conspirators.
‘An extraordinarily well written and entertaining thriller’ Saturday Review of Literature
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Nicholas Blake, There's Trouble Brewing
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