Anthony Berkeley Books In Order

The Layton Court Mystery

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. In a typical English country house, a murder is committed. The wealthy Victor Stanworth, who’d been playing host to a party of friends, is found dead in the library. At first it appears to be suicide, for the room was undoubtedly locked. But could there be more to the case? As one of the guests at Layton Court, gentleman sleuth Roger Sheringham begins to investigate. Many come under suspicion, but how could anyone have killed the man and gotten out of the room, leaving it all locked behind?

The Silk Stocking Murders

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. When the daughter of a country parson goes missing in London, Roger Sheringham receives a letter from her father pleading for help. As the amateur sleuth investigates, he discovers that the girl is already dead, found hanging from a door by her own silk stocking. It is presumed suicide, but when more young women are found dead in the same manner, questions arise. Was it merely copycat suicide, or will the case lead Sheringham into a maze of murder?

The Poisoned Chocolates Case

Sir Eustace is a cad of the first water, with a specialty in other men?s wives, and the list of people who might want to do him in could fill a London phone book. But which of them actually sent the chocolates with their nasty hidden payload? Scotland Yard is baffled. Enter the Crime Circle, a group of society intellectuals with a shared conviction in their ability to succeed where the police have failed. Eventually, each member will produce a tightly reasoned solution to the Case of the Poisoned Chocolates, but each of those solutions will identify a different murderer. First published in 1929, this is both a classic of the golden age of mystery fiction, and one of the great puzzle mysteries of all time.

The Second Shot

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. Detective writer John Hillyard is entertaining a small house party at Minton Deeps Farm when a shocking accident takes place. Shortly after enacting a murder drama for their own amuseme*nt, the guests are returning to the house when Eric Scott Davies, the man who played victim, is found dead after two gunshots go off. The police suspect murder, but when Roger Sheringham is summoned from London it is not by Superintendent Hancock but by one of the guests. In a web of scandal, opportunity and multiple motives, the case turns out to be more complex than even Sheringham could have expected.

Dead Mrs. Stratton/Jumping Jenny

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. Gentleman sleuth Roger Sheringham is at a weekend house party when one of the guests is found hanged. The victim has spent most of the evening talking about suicide and had, apparently, left the party after a row with her husband. Life would be best for everyone if the death was suicide, but is that verdict too much to hope for? The victim was extremely unpopular, and many people’s lives would be better off without her. Some might even say that she deserved to die. What conclusion will the Coroner come to?

The Avenging Chance and Other Mysteries from Roger Sheringham’s Casebook

Detection in the Golden Age!!!

In 1930, Anthony Berkeley Cox 1893 1971 founded London’s Detection Club, whose members swore that their ‘detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them, using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them.’ The Detection Club pledged ‘never to conceal a vital clue from the reader.’

Anthony Berkeley s novels and short stories featuring Roger Sheringham and Inspector Moresby are among the finest examples of the fair play, challenge to the reader tradition of the Golden Age. Berkeley punctiliously presented all the clues to the reader, but as Tony Medawar and Arthur Robinson point out in their introduction, he loved showing that clues could be interpreted in multiple ways and Sheringham is often wrong in his conclusions.

The title story in The Avenging Chance has long been considered one of the five or six greatest formal detective stories. This book also collects seven additional cases of Sheringham and Moresby, one of which ‘The Mystery of Horne’s Copse’ is a recently discovered novelette. Also included are Berkeley s own tongue in cheek satire of the Sheringham stories and a complete checklist of the Sheringham novels and tales.

The Avenging Chance is the eleventh in Crippen & Landru s Lost Classics series. Cover illustration by Gail Cross. Lost Classics design by Deborah Miller.

Malice Aforethought (As: Francis Iles)

On a balmy summer’s day in 1930 the great and the good of the county are out in force for the annual, much anticipated tennis party at the Bickleighs, although not everyone has much enthusiasm for the game. The tennis party exists for other reasons and charmingly mannered infidelity is now the most popular pastime in the small but exclusive Devonshire hamlet of Wyvern’s Cross. Which is why, in his own garden, the host, Dr Edmund Bickleigh, is desperately fighting to conceal the two things on his mind: a mounting passion for Gwynfryd Rattery and the certain conviction that he is going to kill his wife…

Before the Fact (As: Francis Iles)

Lina McLaidlaw waits until she is 30 before accepting a marriage proposal from the feckless and irresponsible Johnnie Aysgarth. As head of a fine household and guardian of both the morals and finances of the man she chose to marry, she finds her husband was, and perhaps still is, a killer.

Death in the House

Lord Wellacombe, Secretary of State for India, dies whilst giving a speech to introduce a new bill on the floor of the House of Commons. His untimely demise looks like a stroke, but is it mere coincidence that a threat on his life had been made? The bill needs to be passed, but is anyone brave enough to defy the threats and risk potential murder?

The Great Impersonation (By:E. Phillips Oppenheim)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www. million books. com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III Mr. John Lambert Mangan of Lincoln’s Inn gazed at the card which a junior clerk had just presented in blank astonishment, an astonishment which became speedily blended with dismay. ‘Good God, do you see this, Harrison?’ he exclaimed, passing it over to his manager, with whom he had been in consultation. ‘ Dominey Sir Everard Dominey back here in England! ‘ The head clerk glanced at the narrow piece of pasteboard and sighed. ‘ I’m afraid you will find him rather a troublesome client, sir,’ he remarked. His employer frowned. ‘ Of course I shall,’ he answered testily. ‘ There isn’t an extra penny to be had out of the estates you know that, Harrison. The last two quarters’ allowance which we sent to Africa came out of the timber. Why the mischief didn’t he stay where he was! ‘ ‘What shall I tell the gentleman, sir?’ the boy enquired. ‘ Oh, show him in!’ Mr. Mangan directed ill temperedly. ‘ I suppose I shall have to see him sooner or later. I’ll finish these affidavits after lunch, Harrison.’ The solicitor composed his features to welcome a client who, however troublesome his affairs had become, still represented a family who had been valued patrons of the firm for several generations. He was prepared to greet a seedy looking and degenerate individual, looking older than his years. Instead, he found himself extending his hand to one of the best turned out and handsomest men who had ever crossed the threshold of his not very inviting office. For a moment he stared at his visitor, speechless. Then certain points of familiarity the well shaped nose, the rather deep set grey eyes presented themselves. The surprise enabled him to infuse a little real heartiness into his welcome. ‘ My dear Sir Everard ! ‘ he exclaimed. ‘ This is a most unex…

The Murder of My Aunt (By:Richard Hull)

In this darkly comic, quite immoral masterwork, Edward is an effete, poor young man who has something in store for his only relative, his wealthy aunt. First published in 1934, this classic mystery is considered a masterpiece of the inverted detective story, in which it is known ‘whodunit.’ The question is ‘how will they catch ’em?’ Highly unpredictable, it contains one of the most surprising denouements in all of detective fiction.

Antidote to Venom (By:Freeman Wills Crofts)

In an English city zoo a murderer plans to use snake venom to kill an old professor, hoping to inherit a fortune. In this unusual detective story we are shown the planning of the crime. When Inspector French is called in to solve the mystery we learn how an ingenious murder has been committed and follow the actions of the guilty men.

The Colour Of Murder (By:Julian Symons)

John Wilkins was a gentle, mild mannered man who lived a simple, predictable life. So when he met a beautiful, irresistible girl his world was turned upside down. Looking at his wife, and thinking of the girl, everything turned red before his eyes the colour of murder. Later, his mind a blank, his only defence was that he loved his wife far too much to hurt her…
‘A book to delight every puzzle suspense enthusiast’ The New York Times

The Progress of a Crime (By:Julian Symons)

Hugh Bennett, young reporter on a local paper, witnessed a terrible crime a group of boys stabbed a man to death on Guy Fawkes’ night, right in front of the fire on the village green. But as Bennett attempts to write the story for his paper, doubts begin to creep in about what he had actually seen and he finds himself in an immense moral dilemma. On first publication, The Progress of a Crime was seen as setting new standards in crime fiction. ‘Brilliant’ The Guardian

The Belting Inheritance (By:Julian Symons)

When a stranger arrives at Belting, he is met with a very mixed reception by the occupants of the old house. Claiming his so called rightful inheritance the stranger makes plans to take up residence at once. Such a thing was bound to cause problems amongst the family but why were so many of them turning up dead?