The Unfinished Clue

'Pure joy from start to finish' Dorothy L Sayers ____________________________________ The stabbing of irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith fails to stir up grief in anyone - least of all his family, which is no wonder considering the way he had treated them all during the fateful weekend. He had disinherited his son, humiliated his wife, refused to help his financially stricken nephew and made no secret of his loathing for his son's fiancée, a cabaret dancer. As Inspector Harding investigates, he must pick his way through a mass of familial discontent to find the culprit - and find much more besides ...

Through analyzing dress in detective fiction, Fear and Clothing reveals a cultural history of identity affected by the social upheaval caused by war. In-depth analysis of interwar publications by a comprehensive range of writers reveals readers' anxieties and fears about class, gender and race and how these changed over the period. Although read and written by both men and women, detective fiction was deemed at the time to be a masculine and high-status entertainment. However the literature demonstrates an admiration and acceptance of the woman's identity, performed during the Great War and continuing throughout the interwar period, as girl pal and female gentleman. In chapters that explore age, character, class, masculinity, performative womanhood and race, Jane Custance Baker exposes how dress was a status marker to both male and female readers, made anxious by social change brought about by war. Dress in detective fiction reveals a set of signs to be read, digested, and possibly employed to model the individual reader's personal dress choices. Fear and Clothing sheds new light on dress of the period, the social and cultural environment as depicted in the popular fiction genre in the early 20th century, and is of interest to researchers and scholars within dress history, literary and historical studies, as well as anyone who enjoys the history of detective fiction.

The groundbreaking biography of one of the world's best-loved and bestselling authors Who was the real Georgette Heyer? Georgette Heyer famously said, "I am to be found in my work." Who was this amazing writer who was so secretive about her personal life that she never gave an interview? Where did she get her ideas? Were there real-life models for her ultra-manly heroes, independent-minded heroines, irascible guardians, and clever villains? What motivated her to build a Regency worldso intricately researched that readers want to escape there again and again? Heyer's Regency romances, historical novels, and mysteries have surprised and delighted millions of readers for decades, while the woman behind the storieshas stayed hidden...Until now! With unprecedented, exclusive access to Heyer's notebooks, papers, and early letters, Jennifer Kloester uncovers both the complex life of a private woman anda masterful writer's craft that will forever resonate in literature and beyond. "A wonderful entertaining biography—a readable and lively account of this beloved writer."—Eloisa James, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Required reading for all lovers of Regency novels."—Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author of No Longer a Gentleman "A superb portrayal of one of my all-time favorite writers."—Anne Gracie, award-winning author of Bride By Mistake "An engaging, intriguing, absorbing, read!"—Stephanie Laurens, #1 New York Times bestselling author Praise for Georgette Heyer's Regency World: "Meticulously researched yet splendidly entertaining ... a must-have."—Publishers Weekly Starred Review "Detailed, informative, impressively researched. A Heyer lover writing for Heyer fans."—Times Literary Supplement "Kloester's lively book will delight died-in-the-wool Regency readers." —Booklist

If you love Bridgerton, you'll love Georgette Heyer! 'The greatest writer who ever lived' ANTONIA FRASER 'My generation's Julia Quinn' ADJOA ANDOH 'One of the wittiest, most insightful and rewarding prose writers imaginable' STEPHEN FRY ___________ 1815, and the British and French armies are massing ahead of one of the greatest battles of all time ... Occupied by the British, Brussels however is en fete. And Lady Barbara Childe, renowned for being as fashionable as she is beautiful, is at the centre of all that is fashionable and light-hearted. When she meets Charles Audley, the dashing aide de camp to the great Duke of Wellington, her sense of fun and mischief knows no bounds. But it is the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, and who knows whether they will ever meet again ... ___________ Reader's love An Infamous Army . . . ***** 'This was possibly Georgette Heyer's greatest book.' ***** 'A truly incredible novel.' ***** 'I love Georgette Heyer and so love all of her books. But this one is extra special.' ***** 'A powerful read!' ***** 'It is a good read for regency romance readers who would like a little more info on the battle that figures greatly in those novels.'

Burial Plots in British Detective Fiction offers an overview of the ways in which the past is brought back to the surface and influences the present in British detective fiction written between 1920 and 2020. Exploring a range of authors including Agatha Christie, Patricia Wentworth, Val McDermid, Sarah Caudwell, Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett, Jonathan Stroud and Ben Aaronovitch, Lisa Hopkins argues that both the literal and literary disinterment of the past use elements of the national past to interrogate the present. As such, in the texts discussed, uncovering the truth about an individual crime is also typically an uncovering of a more general connection between the present and the past. Whether detective novels explore murders on archaeological digs, hauntings, cold crimes or killings at Christmas, Hopkins explores the underlying message that you cannot understand the present unless you understand the past.

The show must go on . . . When mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance is invited to stage a Mystery Night for the annual antebellum house tour of the Historical Preservation Society of Chastain, South Carolina, she instead finds herself the leading lady in a flesh-and-blood drama. The play's the thing wherein the curtain falls on mean-spirited grande dame Corinne Webster. While jeweled fingers point, accusing Annie of murder, the perpetrator lurks within the genteel cast of Murder-Most-Make-Believe . . . and the murder weapon is one of the props. In the tight-laced society of Chastain, Annie is guilty until proven innocent. With her fiance, Max Darling, Annie pieces together evidence to clear her name—until her chief witness is murdered. Now it will take all her sleuthing skills to discover the evil in the heart of Chastain's Beautiful People.

Bruce Murphy's Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery is a comprehensive guide to the genre of the murder mystery that catalogues thousands of items in a broad range of categories: authors, titles, plots, characters, weapons, methods of killing, movie and theatrical adaptations. What distinguishes this encyclopedia from the others in the field is its critical stance.