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It wasn't I who discovered the body. I want to make that perfectly clear, if only for the benefit of a couple of club acquaintances of mine.Ludovic Travers, special investigator for Scotland Yard, commits murder? Nobut at the end of this novel you will understand why he might claim to have done so.Sir William Pelle has become a missing person, and Superintendent Wharton of the Yard is prioritizing his recovery. But when Pelle is found murdered, there are serious questions to answer. Was the well-to-do jewellery-handler the victim of a well-planned robbery? And why was the corpse partly covered in sugar?Several of the enigmatic figures formerly surrounding the deceased are going to repay close scrutiny; as is the importance of the army corporal who keeps weaving in and out of the story. It will take all Travers's customary acuity to bring the case to a successful conclusionand eventually to explain his assertion of committing murder himself.The Case of the Corporal's Leave was originally published in 1945. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';It's about a murder. . . . Here. Five Oaks, they call it. . . . A man, he's murdered. . . . Oh, no, it isn't a joke. I wish it was. . . . I said I wished it was. . . . You'll send someone at once?'Ludovic Travers, still in the army, is obliged to combine his military duties with being an invaluable private sleuth on behalf of Scotland Yard. Now Inspector Wharton has asked Ludo to track down a man in a village rife with blackmail and skulduggery. A problem soon arises howevermurder, and that of the very man Travers was sent to find. Travers eventually faces a moral quandary about what to conceal and what to reveal about his discoverieswhich could lead to someone's execution.This classic English village murder mystery involves a large number of suspects, and a breathtaking series of twists, some if not all involving the Chief Constable's wifethe novel's ';platinum blonde'.The Case of the Platinum Blonde was originally published in 1944. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Readers who have asked ';Why?' impatiently at the beginning of this book will be twice shy.' Times Literary Supplement

';Is he bad, sir?'';Worse than that,' I said. ';In fact, he's dead.'1943. Ludovic Travers, consulting specialist for Scotland Yard, is on a fortnight's well-earned leave in London from his military posting. Anticipating relaxation, he is instead thrown into a fresh mystery by a letter from one Peter Worrack, the owner of a genteel gambling club.Worrack's business partner, Georgina, has disappeared. Or has she? Ludo rapidly has doubts, but the reasons for any deception remain obscure until he takes on the case, and finds that the clues he'll need to consider include the jokes of a radio comedian, a handful of jaded club-goers, the novelty of a mouse in the wainscotingand someone desperate enough to commit murder most foul.The Case of the Running Mouse was originally published in 1944. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Good God!' I was staring like a lunatic. ';Murdered, you say? When?'';Less than half an hour ago, sir.'TRAVERS: ';I don't know why I should call this case that of the Magic Mirror for there's nothing in it reminiscent of ';Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' even if the mirror did do a certain amount of magical revelation.';As a matter of fact the title is my obstinate own. In the first place, of the many murder cases with which I have been officially connected, this one which I am about to relate was easily the most unusual. On the face of it one could at first hardly call it a case at all, for its solution presented no difficulties. Then curious doubts arose, and the obvious was far from what it seemed, and finally the whole thing seemed incapable of any solution at all. Then when the solution did come, it was so absurdly simple that one doubted one's sanity for not having seen it from the very first.'The Case of the Magic Mirror was originally published in 1943. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

The tea had brought a pleasant warmth and Travers snuggled down in bed. Once more he was busy with something that had vastly cheered him of latea perfect scheme for the murder of Stirrop.There were difficulties from the first day the blustering and objectionable Major Stirrop set foot in the Prisoner-of-War camp. Captain Ludovic Travers, his adjutant, saw troubledire troublelooming ever nearer. For there was something sinister about the camp, and there were strange happenings among the prisoners. One day, when Travers was making his count, there was one prisoner too many; the next the numbers tallied rightlyonly to be wrong again within an hour or two.An escape plan is uncovered, and then Major Stirrop was murdered. And not only the Majorfor another strange death is later brought to light. Travers will join forces once more with his old friend Superintendent George Wharton to get to the bottom of this mystery, one of Christopher Bush's most intriguing and thrilling.The Case of the Murdered Major was originally published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Great is the gain to any tale when the author is able to provide a novel and interesting environment described with evident knowledge.' Guardian

An attendant had come in with the cage. He stooped and held the rope taut. The cage door was opened, Jules called from high in the roof and at once the rat began to climb. Then something went wrong. All at once Auguste scampered down and shot back into his cage.When Ludovic Travers arrives in the South of France to say a few well-chosen words to his wife's shady relative, Gustave Rionne, he finds them unnecessary: a knife-thrust a few minutes before had put an end to Rionne's career.Also down on the Riviera, on business connected with the notorious murderer Bariche, is Inspector Gallois of the Srete. Joining forces, they are soon confronted with a second even more baffling murder. What is the connection, if any, between the two crimes? Who are the masked trapezists in the circus, and what is the significance of their performing rat? The car smashwas it deliberate? Had Madame Perthus been Letoque's lover? Ludovic Travers has been involved in some curious cases but none so strange and absorbing as that of the Climbing Rat.The Case of the Climbing Rat was originally published in 1940. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

As Travers's finger touched the dead hand, he felt the warmth, and wondered if the man were still alive. Then he saw the knife that stuck sideways in the ribs.It was three years after Ludovic Travers had acquired a painting by the famous contemporary French artist, Henri Larne, that a mysterious art dealer named Braque turned up, showed great interest in the picture, and invited Travers to visit him in Paris. But all Travers saw of Braque in Paris was his dead body: a knifealmost warm from the murderer's handwas stuck in his ribs.Travers and his old friend Inspector Gallois soon found some very pertinent questions to answer. What was Braque's ';gold mine'? Why had he been so interested in paintings by Larne? What were his relations with Pierre Larne, and with Elise, the model? But not until Travers suddenly realised the significance of the flying donkey was the murderer's astonishing identity revealed.The Case of the Flying Donkey was originally published in 1939. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Grayson tipped back his head, and stared at the ceiling. Herby was certainly not liked, but who on earth, apart from himself, hated him sufficiently to think of murder?As he waits for the Norfolk-bound train to steam from its London terminus, Brother Ignatius experiences a strange premonition. Quite suddenly he knows that a man on the platform will shortly come to join him in his compartment and that their lives will become inextricably linked. Together they travel to Norfolk, and within hours the stranger comes under suspicion of murder.Superintendent Knollis arrives from Scotland Yard to investigate. Knollis soon finds that local loyalties are strewing his path with thorns and that, under the seal of Confession, Brother Ignatius cannot tell all he knows. It is a problem that calls for psychological as well as deductive reasoningand Inspector Knollis, supported by the trusty Sergeant Ellis, is on the case!Darkling Death was originally published in 1956. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.' Observer';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

';Where are you going?' asked Knollis, as Brother Ignatius pushed back his chair.';To try to prevent a murder.'Roger Cartland was a successful and respected business man in Burnham. So all the citizens believeuntil his poisoned body is found late one night in the wreckage of his car, and it becomes a case of murder. It is only after Knollis starts his investigations that the startled authorities find that Cartland was not the honest jeweller his advertisements so loudly proclaimed him to be.When a dash of Brother IgnatiusKnollis's eccentric friendis added to the story, Vivian followers will know that the resulting mixture is sure to be exhilarating. Expert characterisation, tense and analytical detection and a steady stream of surprises, all make this a first-class mystery.The Ladies of Locksley was originally published in 1953. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.' Observer';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

He shone the torch into the depths of the well. There was water at the foot of the shaft. Something dark and mis-shapen was huddled against the brickwork.What Old Heatherington doesn't know about bee-keeping isn't worth knowing. But the behaviour of the bees that day was extraordinarythey swarmed to a new hive where no hive should have been, and which was damp to boot. There was the smell of cyanide; and in an abandoned well below the hive, was discovered the dead body of local philanderer, Gerald Batwell, a canister of the poison in his pocket.Inspector Knollis, brought into the case, soon learns that Batley had incurred the ire of numerous men whose wives he'd seduced. Or is the murderer the wealthy Daphne Moreland, motivated by jealousy? Or the unusually unlucky Maynards, a young couple who stood to gain financially by Batley's death? Only the bees, the ';Singing Masons' of the title, know for sureuntil Knollis, with his customary acuity, breaks the case.The Singing Masons was originally published in 1950. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.' Observer';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

';Inspector, it'sit's dastardly!'';Mrs. Huntingdon,' said Knollis, ';your choice of words is admirable!'Inspector Knollis of Scotland Yard is hoping for a nice quiet weekend in the country. Instead he is embroiled in a murder casethe death by gunshot of local bigwig Richard Huntingdon.Jean, the dead man's wife, discovers the body in dense woods near a river. Knollis soon learns that Jean's previous husband also met an untimely end, not that she is the only suspect. Despite his reputation for good deeds, Huntingdon had enemies in the district, including the progressive Bishop of Northcote. And it turns out the late Mr. Huntingdon was intimately involved with a grade-A femme fatale. . . .Knollis, along with the redoubtable Sergeant Ellis, has to deal with a plethora of puzzling clues before solving this bucolic case of Murder most Foul. Key to the mystery is a toy yacht found floating on the river near the bodya craft almost identical to the gift recently receivedanonymouslyby Huntingdon's young daughter, Dorrie.The Ninth Enemy was originally published in 1948. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.' Observer';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

';Of course, it's rotten having a murder in the village, and especially in what was once my own house, but I'm not sorry that he's gone.'Inspector Gordon Knollis heads from Scotland Yard to the village of Bowland, investigating what initially appears a trivial mystery. Mrs. Frederick Manchester's life centres on her husband and her two pets. Entering her boudoir after breakfast on Sunday morning, she finds her budgerigar lying dead, its neck broken, a blue silken cord tied loosely round it. On the Monday, in the cactus house, she finds her cat lying amongst the plants. A blue silken cord is looped round its neckwhich is broken.But Knollis soon sees the case as far from trivial, an opinion confirmed when the partly-decapitated body of Fred Manchester is found in the Green Alley early on the Tuesday eveningwith a blue silken cord crushed into his outside breast-pocket.Knollis goes to work in his own determined way. There are many difficulties, and many setbacks, but he presses on in spite of them all, eventually solving the grim joke that lies behind the mystery of the three cords.The Threefold Cord was originally published in 1947. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.' Observer';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

';Lomas was poisoned, shaved after death, and placed in the river. He is full of whisky and the post-mortem examination will undoubtedly prove that cocaine was in the alcohol. The murderer worked on him with a lavish hand, one so lavish that it may eventually prove to be his undoing.'When Mr. Lomas visits the Chief Constable of Burnham and describes his symptoms, Sir Wilfred Burrows believes that his visitor suffers from nothing more serious than nerves. Later that day Mr. Lomass body is recovered from the water at Willow Lock; yet death is not by drowning.Sir Wilfred recounts the interview to Inspector Knollis, who, realizing the significance of the symptoms, is satisfied that Mr. Lomas is a victim of cocaine poisoning. With characteristic energy he sets about the task of unmasking the murderer.In this gripping story of a cunning murderer brought to justice by brilliant, logical reasoning, the solution is skilfully yet legitimately concealed to the last.The Death of Mr. Lomas was first published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure. Observer';A commendably fast-moving story of mystery and detection.' Liverpool Post';Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.' Times Literary Supplement

';You needn't look impatient, sir. He'll be finished with you long before dinner.E Who has murdered the beautiful Sonia Vorge in her bridal bed? Why is the sinisterly looped rope hanging from the oak-beam? And what has the ghost of Montage Hall to do with it all? These are the problems confronting Ludovic Travers, and he rapidly finds that there is much more in this than meets the eyeand that there are things even Superintendent Wharton must not be told.Belgian hares, missing masterpieces, the mysterious man from OdessaTravers, with methods as unorthodox as they are brilliant, finally sees their significance and solves the case.The Case of the Hanging Rope was originally published in 1937. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Travers: ';As for my methods of crime detectionwell, I haven't any. For that my only tool is a brain that has been called agile, sharpened on crosswords rather than chess.'

Old Hunt slithered in the most amazing way and then fell to the floor. He lay between the seats, face upwards.Ludovic Travers is on his way by train from Toulon to Marignac. Along for the ride are several suspicious characters, two of whom die en route. Although the murders seem at first unrelated, Travers is able to prove the connection between the two, while diverting the eye of official suspicion from himself. After Travers learns that one of the victim's country house has been burgled soon after the murderous act, the inquisitive sleuth decides to look into the case himself when he returns to England. Soon Travers, his Isotta now replaced with a Bentley, is working in tandem with Superintendent Wharton to solve one of the strangest cases which he has yet encountered. It is one in which some of the darkest of human impulses are exposed, and a twist is guaranteed in the tail.The Case of the Three Strange Faces was originally published in 1933. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Let us know when you're dead!'Ludovic Travers had known it was a publicity stunt, all that business about the anonymous threatening letters. He expected a hoax but what he found was two men lying dead on the floor of Crewe's bedroom. To be confronted with murder at eight in the morning was no joke. Norris, the quiet, steady Inspector of Scotland Yard, certainly didn't think so, although during the weeks he and Travers sought to puzzle it all out, he many times remarked, ';It was on April Fool's Day, don't forget that.' This is one of Bush's masterpieces an intricate and baffling country house murder mystery.The Case of the April Fools was originally published in 1933. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Travers looked down at the face. On the collar was a red patch and a long streak. Across the throat was a gash.Two rival London newspaper tycoons are at daggers drawn. But when Sir William Griffith's corpse turns up in a hamper, his throat cut from ear to ear, the enmity appears to turned deadly. Or is it instead a case of domestic terrorism? Superintendent Wharton of the Yard brings Ludovic Travers into the case and together they investigate a gallery of additional suspects: explorer Tim Griffiths; Sir William's financial secretary, Bland, and his wife; local vicar Reverend Cross; an archetypally sinister butler and an intrusive crime reporter, who always seems to find himself in the thick of a crime scene. Wharton and Travers come to believe they have identified their murderer but how can they break a cast-iron alibi?Cut Throat was originally published in 1932. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';If you don't think I'm taking a liberty in saying so, my opinion is that he was knocked down first and hanged after!'Ludovic Travers starts an investigation of unnatural death by means of an automobile mishap on a rural road. His associate Superintendent Wharton is investigating a suspicious suicide by hanging at the nearby village of Pawlton Ferris. When the supposed suicide turns out to be a case of murder, Travers realizes he recognizes the corpse, despite attempts to alter the dead man's appearance. The plot is thickened by a strange letter sent to Travers by the eccentric and musical Claude Rook. As Travers and Wharton are drawn further into the investigation of the murder, they begin to fit more and more pieces into a weird puzzle, unlocking the strange secret of the dead man's music.Dead Man's Music was originally published in 1931. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

However thorough your search was, I'm convinced the murderer, or the burglarcall him what you willis still in the house.Little Levington Hall, the site of the seasonal house party in Dancing Death, is owned by Martin Braishe, inventor of a lethal gas. Unfortunately for Braishe and his houseguests, their fancy-dress ball might more accurately be described as a fancy-death ball. After the formal festivities have taken place place, nine guests remain at the snowbound Hall, along with a retinue of servants. It is at this point that dead bodies most inconveniently begin to turn up at Little Levington Hall, like so many unwanted Christmas presents. It will be up to the eccentric Ludovic Travers, with his companions John Franklin and Superintendent Wharton of Scotland Yard, to solve this most intricate and ingenious of Yuletide mysteries.Dancing Death was originally published in 1931. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';And that's not all. Somers is dead too He poisoned himself in the lounge!'When the wealthy Cosmo Revere is killed by a falling tree, ex-CID officer John Franklin and Ludovic Travers chance to be staying in the vicinity. After examining the scene Franklin determines it was no accident. At the family lawyer's request Franklin and Travers go undercover at Fenwold Hall, where the dramatis personae, among others, include a bewitching niece, a blustering colonel, and a vicar with a passion for amateur theatricals. Fenwold is a country house beset by secrets and devious murder.Murder at Fenwold was originally published in 1930. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';A cleverly plotted tale of murder in rural England.' Dashiell Hammett';It is always a pleasure to read a really complicated detective story and Murder at Fenwold fully deserves a place in this category.' Spectator

';And that's not all. Somers is dead too He poisoned himself in the lounge!'The great English boxer Michael France looks set to become the new Heavyweight Champion of the world. Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the forthcoming and decisive match. Ex-CID officer John Franklin is no exception but once the boxer is apparently murdered (twice), Franklin must join forces with Ludovic Travers once more in a layered and ingenious mystery where Michael France's closest friends are the primary suspects yet have cast-iron alibis. The final solution involves an ingenious and plausible murder technique, a fine demonstration of Christopher Bush's imaginative and suspenseful plotting at its best.Dead Man Twice was originally published in 1930. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Have you heard the news, sir?' the waiter said.';I'm afraid I haven't. What is it?'';Plumley's dead, sir. Henry Plumley. We just got the news over the 'phone. Suicide they say it was. Anything else you want, sir?'Out-of-print for over nine decades and one of the rarest classic crime novels from the Golden Age of detective fiction, The Plumley Inheritance, first of the Ludovic Travers mysteries, is now available in a new edition by Dean Street Press.When the eccentric magnate Henry Plumley shockingly collapses and dies, a great adventure begins for Ludovic Travers, the dead man's secretary, and his comrade Geoffrey Wrentham a romp with not only mystery and mischief in the offing but murder too.The Plumley Inheritance was originally published in 1926. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Hollywood is a chain gang and we lose the will to escape; the links of our chain are forged not of cruelties but of luxuries: we are pelted with orchids and roses; we are overpaid and underworked.'First there was Charles Chaplin. Then came Stan Laurel, and subsequently a host of well-loved British actors and characters whose lives, loves, lavish parties and bitter rivalries constitute the sceptred isle's last empire builders. This unique and comprehensive history of the dream factory starts at the very beginning of cinema history with Eadweard Muybridge, the inventor of moving pictures, and the founder of RADA Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who starred in a version of Macbeth filmed in a studio before the area was even called Hollywood. The book looks at the golden age of the 1930s, when expat life under the Californian sun revolved around cricket clubs and food parcels sent by family members left behind, before absorbing the impact of McCarthyism. Morley discusses the paradox of establishing oneself as a Beverly Hills player without losing one's roots, the numerous successes, disasters, murders, suicides, Oscars and scandals that epitomise the British experience in the place where dreams are made.';Darling,' Robert Coote once called across to Gladys Cooper in tones of some disapproval during a weekly gathering: ';there seems to be an American on your lawn.'

';If Robert had a mission, it was to emphasise that life was meant to be fun; he was one of the few men I knew who strode through life instead of circumnavigating it. He died without ever growing old.' Michael Parkinson';Comic genius' was the uncontested verdict of the International Herald Tribune. But Robert Morley was bigger even than that. While he is remembered for landmark performances such as the first portrayal of Oscar Wilde on stage and screen, and for many more as the epitome of the crusty but lovable English gentleman, Robert Morley is equally remembered for perhaps his finest role: playing himself. Through books, plays and countless radio and television performances, Robert Morley spread his own unique brand of irresistible humour and joie de vivre, generally resembling, to quote one memorable description, ';an indignant elephant'. In this wonderfully entertaining account of a remarkable life, Sheridan Morley reveals the true Robert Morley actor, playwright, bon viveur, and, not least, father.';Warm yet unsentimental a first-rate portrait of a true original and star' Evening Standard';Affectionate and moving, packed with anecdotes. Above all it is fun' Sunday Express';Charming and affectionate What his son's biography sets out to do, and succeeds in admirably, is to celebrate the joyful pleasure that old-fashioned performers took in their art' Times Literary Supplement';Hugely entertaining, and bulges with very good stories' Mail on Sunday

';It's murder all right; no one could bash his own head in the way this chap's was.'The stranger's body was discovered by businesswoman Mrs Holcombe, the unofficial queen of Pending Dale. As if there wasn't enough gossip rife in the village, now the Queen may be under suspicion of murder.Talk is cheap, but reputations are valuable but were they worth buying silence at the cost of a man's life? When Bobby Owen of the Yard arrives in Pending Dale to investigate, amid a panoply of local characters and red herrings he discovers a compelling and unpredictable motive. A reason why the unassuming and anonymous commercial traveller had to die The Attending Truth is the thirtieth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1952. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';What is distinction? in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.'--Dorothy L. Sayers

';Why should anyone want to pinch the daggerexcept to do somebody in?'No one answered this question.Item: one anonymous phone call reporting a murder at a historic country house but no body is to be found. Item: one ornate antique knife, discovered in a village call-box, blood-stains on the blade.Rather than identifying a corpse, Bobby Owen of the Yard has to find out who, if anyone, has actually been killed. Two persons, one a best-selling author, the other no-one's cup of tea, are missing but a particular kind of hat keep turning up in the case which also involves a haunted wood, a hatchet-wielding secretary, and a curious abundance of writers.The Golden Dagger is the twenty-ninth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1951. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans, and a selection of E.R. Punshon's prolific Guardian reviews of other golden age mystery fiction.';What is distinction? in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.'--Dorothy L. Sayers

She wondered how Lady Masters got her old parlour maid to carry the coffee right across the lawn. But, of course, Lady Masters got things simply by always having had them and by taking it for granted that she always would have them.In Bramton Wick, the setting of Elizabeth Fair's cheerful debut novel, tensions and resentmentsnot to mention romanceroil beneath the polite interactions of its charming and eccentric residents.There's upper crust Lady Masters, taking the good things for granted but thoroughly cowed by her gardener. There's Gillian Cole, a war widow, and her sister Laura, for whom romance may (or may not) be in the offing. There's Miss Selbourne and ';Tiger' Garrett, who met driving ambulances during the war (the first one, though Miss Garrett does get them confused). There's Major Worthy, who is quite energetic for an invalid. And there's the three Misses Cleeve, who are ';all remarkably like toads' and who have a casual relationship with the truth.Furrowed Middlebrow is delighted to make available, for the first time in over half a century, all six of Elizabeth Fair's irresistible comedies of domestic life. These new editions all feature an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.';Miss Fair's understanding is deeper than Mrs. Thirkell's and her humour is untouched by snobbishness; she is much nearer to Trollope, grand master in these matters.'--Stevie Smith';Miss Fair's first novel is not one of promise but of accomplishment. Good luck to her!'--John Betjeman';Deliciously malicious humour abounds.'--Vanity Fair