Robert Barnard Books In Order

Amadeus Mozart Books In Publication Order

  1. Dead, Mr. Mozart (1994)
  2. Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart (1995)

Charlie Peace Books In Publication Order

  1. Death and the Chaste Apprentice (1989)
  2. A Fatal Attachment (1992)
  3. A Hovering of Vultures (1993)
  4. The Bad Samaritan (1995)
  5. No Place of Safety (1997)
  6. The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori (1998)
  7. Unholy Dying / Turbulent Priest (2001)
  8. The Bones in the Attic (2002)
  9. A Fall from Grace (2007)
  10. The Killings on Jubilee Terrace (2009)
  11. A Charitable Body (2012)

Idwal Meredith Books In Publication Order

  1. Unruly Son / Death of a Mystery Writer (1979)
  2. At Death’s Door (1988)

John Sutcliffe Books In Publication Order

  1. Political Suicide (1986)
  2. A Scandal in Belgravia (1991)

Perry Trethowan Books In Publication Order

  1. Death by Sheer Torture / Sheer Torture (1981)
  2. Death and the Princess (1982)
  3. The Case of the Missing Brontë / The Missing Brontë (1983)
  4. Bodies (1986)
  5. Death In Purple Prose / The Cherry Blossom Corpse (1987)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. Death of an Old Goat (1974)
  2. A Little Local Murder (1976)
  3. Death on the High C’s (1977)
  4. Blood Brotherhood (1977)
  5. Posthumous Papers / Death of a Literary Widow (1979)
  6. Death in a Cold Climate (1981)
  7. Death of a Perfect Mother / Mother’s Boys (1981)
  8. School for Murder / Little Victims (1983)
  9. A Corpse in a Gilded Cage (1984)
  10. Fete Fatale / The Disposal of the Living (1985)
  11. Out of the Blackout (1985)
  12. The Skeleton in the Grass (1988)
  13. A City of Strangers (1990)
  14. To Die Like a Gentleman (1993)
  15. The Masters of the House (1994)
  16. A Mansion and Its Murder (1998)
  17. A Murder in Mayfair / Touched by the Dead (1999)
  18. The Mistress of Alderley (2000)
  19. A Cry from the Dark (2003)
  20. Dying Flames (2005)
  21. The Graveyard Position (2005)
  22. Last Post (2007)
  23. A Stranger in the Family (2010)
  24. Touched by the Dead (2012)
  25. The Hours (2018)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. Death of a Salesperson and Other Untimely Exits (1989)
  2. The Habit of Widowhood and Other Murderous Proclivities (1996)
  3. Rogue’s Gallery (2011)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Imagery and Theme in the Novels of Dickens (1974)
  2. A Talent to Deceive: Appreciation of Agatha Christie (1980)
  3. A Short History of English Literature (1984)
  4. Emily Brontë (2000)
  5. A Bronte Encyclopedia (With: ) (2007)
  6. The Leisure Hour Improved: Or Moral Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, Original and Selected (2015)
  7. A Wreath from the Wilderness, a Selection from the Metrical Arrangements of Accola Montis-Am Ni (2016)

World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories Books In Publication Order

  1. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 (2000)
  2. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 (2000)
  3. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 (2002)
  4. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4 (2003)
  5. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5 (2004)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. A Suit of Diamonds (1991)
  2. 2nd Culprit (1993)
  3. Criminal Records (2000)
  4. Malice Domestic 9 (2000)
  5. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 (2000)
  6. The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 (2002)
  7. Much Ado About Murder (2002)
  8. Thou Shalt Not Kill (2005)
  9. The Detection Collection (2005)

Amadeus Mozart Book Covers

Charlie Peace Book Covers

Idwal Meredith Book Covers

John Sutcliffe Book Covers

Perry Trethowan Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Story Collections Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Robert Barnard Books Overview

Dead, Mr. Mozart

In a speculative mystery in which Mozart lives to a ripe old age, the aging composer is hired to compose a new opera in honor of the 1820 coronation of England’s George IV only to become caught up in the intrigues surrounding the king and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick.

Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart

Mozart is to become tutor to the Princess Victoria. As the possible future Queen there is interest in the child. During a stay at Windsor, a guest is poisoned by drinking from a glass intended for the Princess. Protective of his charge, Mozart begins to unravel a right royal conspiracy.

Death and the Chaste Apprentice

At the Ketterick Arts Festival, the apprentice is just about the only fella that is chaste, know what I mean wink wink nudge nudge? Ah, the pleasures of smutty innuendo, and no one relishes them more than Des Capper, a font of dubious gossip and unwanted advice. To the horror of the actors and singers performing at the Festival, Des has been promoted to landlord of the Saracen’s Head, the Elizabethan inn that is at the Festival’s heart. And when Des toddles off to meet his maker courtesy of someone’s helpful shove only his wretched wife can summon up a tear. Readers, meanwhile, will have trouble containing their snickers: While the mystery is a stunner with a pair of twists that no one will see coming, it is the wickedly witty characterizations that make Chaste Apprentice the literary definition of a guilty pleasure.

A Fatal Attachment

As old Lydia Perceval plans to destroy yet another group of impressionable young children’s love for their parents, the list of those who would have her die grows longer. NYT.

A Hovering of Vultures

Death returns to a Yorkshire village when a museum opens on the site of an unexplained murder/suicide where a renowned author killed his sister with an ax and shot himself. From the author of Fatal Attachment. NYT. PW.

The Bad Samaritan

The wife of a vicar, Rosemary Sheffield suddenly decides she no longer believes in God, leaves her marriage, and befriends a Bosnian named Stanko, who ends leading her back to the parish and embroiling her murder investigation. PW.

No Place of Safety

Fifteen year old Katy Bourne and sixteen year old Alan Coughlan are missing. Though they are students at the same school, they hardly know each other, so it’s strange that they should disappear together. Katy’s mother, self centered and unloving, doesn’t mind if her daughter never comes home. Alan’s solid working class parents are pained and puzzled by their son’s departure. There’s not much the police can do about runaway teenagers, but Detective Constable Charlie Peace goes through the motions. He interviews the families, he visits the school. Alan had friends and had aspired to a good education. Katy had nothing, least of all self esteem. The two teens could be anywhere, even living dangerously on the streets of Leeds, so it’s with relief that Charlie discovers them in a hostel for homeless young people. But are they safe? And who is Ben Marchant, the man who runs the shelter? Whoever he is, he seems to be doing well. Young people beg or work as street musicians during the day, then eat and sleep at the hostel at night. They can remain there two weeks and then must leave for two weeks before beginning the cycle again. Only Katy and Alan stay longer. Only they have a special, mysterious understanding with Ben. But all is not well at the shelter. Neighbors complain about strange goings on. Residents too often display feelings of jealousy and suspicion. A young woman flees from a violent family member, perhaps bringing danger with her. Emotions run high, ranging from love and gratitude to fear and hate. One person may even hate enough to murder. One person’s hate may destroy this place that some regard as a haven of peace and safety and others fear as something more complex and diabolical. No Place of Safety combines brilliant social commentary with a mesmerizing mystery plot that will once again enthrall Robert Barnard’s legion of fans. Recognized as one of the best of all contemporary crime writers, Barnard is in top form.

The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori

Masterly mystery writer Robert Barnard transports us to the Yorkshire town of Haworth, once home to the literary Bront s, now a crowded tourist mecca, for The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori, which begins with the shocking discovery of a young man’s strangled body in an Indian Tandoori restaurant parking lot. Who is the victim, and how did he come to meet this untimely fate? Detective Constable Charlie Peace and Detective Superintendent Mike Oddie’s search for answers soon leads them to Ashworth, a nearby artists’ colony, where young Irishman Declan O’Hearn had recently sought work as a handyman. No ordinary place, Ashworth is something of a shrine to once renowned painter Ranulph Byatt, an egotistic man who craves adulation from his inferiors and resists the judgment of his peers. To the surprise of all and the jealousy of some, Declan O’Hearn is one of the rare people Byatt welcomes into his studio and allows to watch him paint. Charlie Peace, an experienced police officer and always a favorite among Barnard’s readers, has rarely encountered such tense undercurrents as he finds at Ashworth, and he’s perhaps never been among a group of people so ill matched. They live in supposed community but lead uniquely warped lives. How does young Declan, inexperienced in the ways of the world, seeking his first great adventure, fit into this dangerous mix? Charlie suspects Declan found more than adventure at Ashworth. Following in Declan’s footsteps, he searches for the incredible story behind the body in the parking lot and the sad facts behind the destroyed hopes of a youthful wanderer. With the kind of classic twist that only Barnard can provide, The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori evokes memories of such Barnard masterpieces as Death by Sheer Torture while claiming its own place in the Barnard body of work as a powerful, insightful, witty, and always superbly entertaining novel of suspense.

Unholy Dying / Turbulent Priest

England’s celebrated, multiple award winning master crime novelist returns with a witty and poignant chiller about the evil of gossip and the sin of indifference. Father Christopher Pardoe is a good priest. He cares about his parishioners. He is also a human being and is thus saddled with man’s inherent weaknesses. Is it a bit odd, then, how much time the good Father has been spending at the house of a certain young, single mother called Julie Norris? And why, during each of his visits, are Julie’s bedroom curtains always closed? Julie looks to be pregnant again. Just who could the father be? As nasty rumors begin to scorch the parish phone lines, Father Pardoe is suspended from St. Catherine’s, and Cosmo Horrocks, the West Yorkshire ‘Chronicle”s shameless, muckraking journalist, exploits the story in a big way. Nothing goes over better than a juicy sex and the church scandal, except, perhaps, murder. Do Father Pardoe and Julie protest too much? Why did Julie’s parents throw her out and disown her? Is she really as bad as they say? And what, exactly, does Cosmo Horrocks hear in that London to Leeds dining car that makes him tingle with excitement? A tale of chastity besmirched? This story could make his year. But will it lead to tragedy? And, if so, whose? When Inspector Mike Oddie and Sergeant Charlie Peace are called in to investigate a murder, they are saddened and surprised by the raw emotions the hate, the fear they find in the outwardly peaceful town of Shipley. There may be only one killer, but there are many others who must share the town’s guilt and, perhaps, one day start the process of healing. Rich with eccentric characters, crispdialogue, stylish prose, and perceptive insights into human nature, ‘Unholy Dying’ is vintage Barnard, acknowledged master of suspense.

The Bones in the Attic

Matt Harper, a television and radio personality and a former professional soccer player, has just bought Elderholm, an old stone house in Leeds in the north of England. It’s ideal for him, his partner Aileen, and her three children. Even the attic space seems just right the perfect place for a game room or a children’s retreat. But as Matt and his decorator tour the property, they find something that will put the attic off limits for a long time to come: a tiny child’s skeleton that has clearly been there for years. What happened to the child, and how did its skeleton get into the attic? Detective Sergeant Charlie Peace and his forensic team think the child’s remains have been in the attic for thirty years. Thirty years? Matt remembers that time. It was 1969 and he was seven years old. He was in the neighborhood, spending the summer with an aunt. That was the summer that Elderholm’s owner left her house empty when she went to visit a daughter in Australia. What happened that summer? What memories lie deep in Matt’s consciousness? Where are the other children from that summer who now, of course, are adults? Who killed the little child and why was he or she never reported missing? And who has now written to Matt, assuring him that he had no part in what occurred, that he had gone home to London before it happened? As Matt struggles to recover his memory of that strange summer, both he and Charlie Peace ponder what it means to love and lose a child and how one thoughtless decision can change a life forever. Richly evocative and deeply poignant, ‘The Bones in the Attic‘ is crime writing at its best from one of the great contemporary masters of mystery.

A Fall from Grace

From Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger winning crime writer…
With A Fall from Grace, Robert Barnard triumphs once again with a witty tale of family discord and murder. Detective Inspector Charlie Peace and his wife, Felicity, are shocked when Felicity’s difficult dad, Rupert Coggenhoe, suddenly announces that he’s moving north to their Yorkshire village. Felicity has never much liked her father, and to have him as a near neighbor fills her with foreboding. The boorish old man has always loved to impress the ladies, young and old, by exaggerating his modest success as a novelist. True to form, soon after his move to Slepton Edge he surrounds himself with adoring females, including a precocious, theatrical teenager named Anne Michaels. Rupert and Anne could make a lethal combination. Rumors fly, but Felicity convinces herself that Rupert would do nothing seriously wrong. He can be annoying and outrageous but he’s not a criminal. She relies on a friend, a doctor who seems to be strangely aware of everything that’s happening in the community, to warn her if he hears of anything really troubling. She doesn’t have long to wait, but the news is not what she expects. It’s worse. A body has been found and it looks like murder. Stunned by a difficult reality, Felicity is even more shocked to discover that she, herself, may be a suspect. This is one criminal investigation that’s much too close to home for Charlie Peace. He’s not officially on the case, but he uses his copper’s instincts and a husband’s heart to find a killer and to discover anew the meaning of family. Praised for his ‘perfect pitch, exquisite pacing, and meticulous plotting’ Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times, Robert Barnard proves yet again that he is one of the great masters of mystery.

The Killings on Jubilee Terrace

Vernon Watts may have been beloved by the millions of faithful viewers of the long running soap opera Jubilee Terrace but his fellow cast members knew him for what he was an egotistical former music hall performer whose untimely death in a pedestrian accident was not something to be universally regretted.

Sadly, though, director Reggie Friedman soon fills the supposed void by asking Hamish Fawley, an equally unpleasant former member of the Jubilee Terrace troupe, to rejoin the soap. Hamish was never much liked. Now he’s more obnoxious than ever.

The mood on the set is not exactly serene, a situation made worse when the police receive an anonymous letter suggesting that Vernon Watts’s ‘accident’ may in fact have been murder. Did one of his fellow actors push Vernon into the oncoming traffic?

Detective Inspector Charlie Peace faces tough challenges as he probes the make believe world of skilled thespians to find a possible killer. With a cast of suspects who are trained to emote on cue, Charlie will need all of his policeman’s instincts if he’s to avert further tragedy.

Writing with his usual acerbic wit and penetrating insight into human foibles, acclaimed master of mystery Robert Barnard gives us another winning entry in his magnificent body of work.

A Charitable Body

Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger winning crime writer, dissects family bonds at their best and worst in this stunning novel of suspense. What an honor to become trustee of an English stately home museum. Yorkshire Detective Inspector Charlie Peace’s wife, Felicity, is initially thrilled when she s asked to join the board that oversees Walbrook Manor, an eighteenth century mansion that s now part of a charitable trust. She s in for some surprises. With its shabby salons and drafty hallways, Walbrook shows signs of the financial burden it caused its recent owners, members of the related Quarles and Fiennes families, known more for feuds than for affectionate familial ties. They are known also for shadowy intrigues, great and small, some of which may emerge now that Walbrook and its archives are open to the public. The revelations could be devastating…
and dangerous. Rupert Fiennes and Sir Stafford Quarles represent two lines of Walbrook s lords of the manor. Rupert seems relieved to have relinquished the estate to charitable hands, while Sir Stafford clings with perhaps unseemly pride to his position as chairman of the Walbrook Manor Trust Board. A tentative peace reigns, but when the wreck of a car and the remains of a body turn up in a nearby lake, it soon becomes clear that one of Walbrook s grimmest secrets may date to the years between the two world wars and may involve something much worse than mere malice. With police resources focused on more timely cases, Charlie and Felicity are left to discover that old sins are never forgotten, that family means more than a slot on the ancestral tree, and that sometimes there can be a good reason for murder. Suspenseful, witty, and, as always, superbly insight ful, A Charitable Body shows acclaimed master of mystery Robert Barnard at his clever best.

Unruly Son / Death of a Mystery Writer

From master mystery writer Robert Barnard, one of his early novels, Death of a Mystery Writer. First published in 1979, Death of a Mystery Writer received an Edgar Award nomination for ‘Best Novel’ of that year. It’s with great pleasure that Scribner reissues this beloved novel from one of the most respected names in crime writing. Sir Oliver Fairleigh Stubbs, overweight and overbearing, collapses and dies at his birthday party while indulging his taste for rare liquors. He had promised his daughter he would be polite and charitable for the entire day, but the strain of such exemplary behavior was obviously too great. He leaves a family relieved to be rid of him, and he also leaves a fortune, earned as a bestselling mystery author. To everyone’s surprise, Sir Oliver’s elder son, who openly hated his father, inherits most of the estate. His wife, his daughter, and his younger son are each to receive the royalties from one carefully chosen book. But the manuscript of the unpublished volume left to Sir Oliver’s wife a posthumous ‘last case’ that might be worth millions has disappeared. And Sir Oliver’s death is beginning to look less than natural. Into this bitter household comes Inspector Meredith, a spirited Welshman who in some ways resembles Sir Oliver’s fictional hero. In Robert Barnard’s skillful hands, Inspector Meredith’s investigation becomes not only a classic example of detection but an elegant and humorous slice of crime.

Political Suicide

When the body of a Member of Parliament is found floating in the Thames, everyone assumes it is suicide, except for Superintendent Sutcliffe, whose investigation of the case reveals some nasty and ruthless politics. Three time Edgar Award nominee Robert Barnard takes on the cunning and ruthless world of politics in this suspenseful tale centering upon the mysterious death of a member of Parliament.

A Scandal in Belgravia

Murder pays no respect to rank…
or the neighborhood. And so it happened that young aristocrat Timothy Wycliffe was bludgeoned to death in his elegantly furnished flat in Belgravia by a person or persons unknown. Unknown, in fact, for 30 years. Then the dead man’s friend Peter Proctor once a young man on his way up in the diplomatic service, now a retired Member of Parliament seeks an antidote to boredom by attempting to write his own memoirs. Unfortunately, they seem to be creating more problems than he anticipated, and not just of the writer’s block variety. Peter keeps getting sidetracked by speculations on Timothy’s death. The murder was allegedly accomplished by a beating from one of his boyfriends. But Peter can’t accept so simple a solution, so he begins to probe the past. In so doing, he opens a fascinating window on British society during the 1950s and its changing and unchanging mores since.

Death by Sheer Torture / Sheer Torture

He had led the posse for miles through the desert, but now Matt Keelock was growing desperate. He was worried about Kristina. His trip to the town of Freedom for supplies had ended in a shootout. If caught he would hang. Even though Kris could handle a horse and rifle as well as most men, the possibility of Oskar Neerland’s finding her made Matt s blood run cold. He knew the violent and obsessive Neerland, publicly embarrassed when Matt had stepped in and stolen Kris away, would try to kill them both if given half a chance. Matt tried to convince himself that Neerland had returned to the East. But Matt was wrong. Miles away in the town of Freedom, Oskar Neerland was accepting a new job. In his first duty as marshal, he would lead the posse that was tracking down Matt Keelock.

The Case of the Missing Brontë / The Missing Brontë

Scotland Yard Superintendent Perry Trethowan is enjoying a vacation evening at a cozy Yorkshire pub when an old woman shows him an original, unpublished Bronte manuscript. Trethowan agrees to engage in a little literary detective work, but he doesn’t realize that for a criminal the manuscript is motive for theft, torture and murder.

A Little Local Murder

Social infighting in the tiny village of Twythching, just when Radio Broadwich starts to do a documentary on the town, leads to some poison pen letters and a murder, which Inspector George Parrish must investigate. IP.

Death on the High C’s

Opera singers are often described as being larger than life, and certainly this is true of Gaylene Ffrench. Her appetites for men, for booze, for attention are gargantuan, and her ability to irritate is similarly outsized. So when someone electrocutes the bombastic Australian contralto, few tears are shed at the Northern Opera Company though it’s a pity her understudy s so lousy. In fact, most of the company members are dancing a jig, and it falls on Superintendent Nichols to determine which of them might have helped Gaylene along to her just reward. The black tenor tired of being the butt of Gaylene s bigotry? The soprano weary of jealous whispers in her ears? Gaylene s many bedroom conquests, all anxious to avoid a repeat performance? With so many potential suspects, Nichols has his hands full, but Barnard and his readers have a deliciously malicious good time.

School for Murder / Little Victims

Hilariously satirizing Britain’s education system, a mystery at the Burleigh School involves the inept leadership of its headmaster, Edward Crumwallis, and the evil pupil he chooses as his next headboy sneaky sycophant Hillary Frome. IP.

A Corpse in a Gilded Cage

A man’s home is his castle, but for Percy Spender ‘call me perce’ that motto has been taken just a bit too literally. After the sudden death of first one distant relative and then another, the amiable Perce has become the 12th Earl of Ellesmere. And his home, no longer a cozy council flat, is now the drafty, imposing Chetton Hall, complete with more bedrooms than Perce can count and an army of servants. Frankly, all these fancy pants trappings make Perce itch. He’d just as soon sell up, buy a comfy cottage, and put a bundle on the ponies. However, some of his mates and family members have other ideas. And the sad fact is that an Unfortunate Accident can happen to anyone, even a lord of the realm.

Fete Fatale / The Disposal of the Living

The women of Hexton on Weir decide that Father Battersby, the new vicar, cannot remain professionally celibate, but their matchmaking plans run amok when the church gala planned to draw out the vicar is halted by murder. IP.

Out of the Blackout

With the Na*zis bombing London on a nightly basis, many working class families sent their children to the comparative safety of the countryside. When the Blitz ended, the families came for their kids…
but no one ever came for Simon Thorn. His name appears on no list of the evacuated children. And none of his meager belongings offer any clues to his origins. Now an adult, newly moved to London, Simon is puzzled by an odd sense of familiarity when he walks down certain streets. He remembers his years of terrible nightmares nightmares that would cause him to wake up screaming, terrifying his bewildered foster parents. And he resolves, once and for all, to find out where he originally came from…
even as everything he uncovers suggests that, really, he doesn t want to know. Widely praised for his deliciously, maliciously witty mysteries, the multi award winning Barnard takes a decidedly different tack in this fascinating novel of wartime London and the dark side of identity.

The Skeleton in the Grass

A small town vicar’s daughter, Sara Causseley could not be more delighted by her new job as governess to the aristocratic Hallam clan. The children are precociously adorable, the gardens at Hallam House are a dream, and the conversation at glittering dinners, at boisterous family picnics is as stimulating as she could possibly have wished. But ominous political clouds are gathering over Europe, and as England slips inexorably toward World War II, the Hallams’ political views make the family increasingly unpopular. No one, though, suspects the extent of the malice that is percolating in the surrounding countryside until a human skeleton and then a human corpse are found on the Hallam grounds, sending some kind of ugly message. That message and the source of its hate will remain all but incomprehensible to Sara for some time, until war and its violations have left her with a very new view of those sunny picnics on the Hallam lawns.

The Masters of the House

Hiding their father’s insanity after the death of their mother in order to keep their family together, two resourceful adolescents, Matthew and Annie, find their plans thwarted when they discover a body on their property. NYT. K.

A Mansion and Its Murder

Spanning the Belle Epoque from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, A Mansion and Its Murder holds its secrets right to the end, and proves the author”s mettle as a mystery mastermind.’

A Murder in Mayfair / Touched by the Dead

‘There’s one thing you can count on: just when you think you’ve figured out what Barnard is up to, he’ll outfox you again.’ People Mystery readers everywhere cherish their favorites among Robert Barnard’s critically acclaimed body of work, but one title high on most lists is A Scandal in Belgravia. With A Murder in Mayfair, Barnard gives us a compelling new story set in the same intriguing London milieu, where power, politics, and personality make a lethal mix. When Colin Pinnock becomes a junior minister in the new Prime Minister’s government, he’s understandably thrilled. Still a youngish man, with a shining reputation among his colleagues, he’s clearly being groomed for even higher office. Messages of congratulations flow in from near and far. Basking in the greetings and the praise, Colin picks one soiled postcard out of the stack of congratulatory missives. ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ it asks. Who wrote the card? How did the person know his home address? Does the writer think Colin is getting a big head, or do the words carry a more profound meaning? And, taking the question literally, who, indeed, is Colin? Who were his real parents? What were the circumstances of his birth? He had a happy childhood in the north of England, but he now recalls some clues that he might have been adopted. His mother is dead and his father is too senile to offer any help on family history. He’ll have to find his answers on his own. Even more puzzling, perhaps, than Colin’s origins, is a top civil servant’s shocked response when she first encounters him. Whose image does she see in Colin’s face, and what possible link does Colin have to an infamous crime of the past? Faced with additional threatening messages that seem to come from somebody who knows his every movement, Colin begins an urgent investigation into his past and a dangerous search for his tormentor. In a richly textured novel that takes us from the precincts of the powerful to a simple cottage in remotest Ireland, Robert Barnard spins an intricate tale of love and obsession that once again places him among the premier crime writers of our era.

The Mistress of Alderley

Robert Barnard, one of the great contemporary masters of classic mystery, returns with a brilliant new tale of passion and deception. Well known actress Caroline Fawley has given up a successful stage and television career for love and life in the country. International business titan Marius Fleetwood can’t marry her. He already has a wife, though he claims they are ‘just friends.’ But Marius has done something very special for Caroline: he has ‘bought’ her Alderley, an elegant country home. If he should die, he’s arranged to leave her enough money to maintain the extensive house and gardens. Of course, some inquisitive villagers would be happier if Caroline and Marius were respectably wed. People in small towns know all, and they ‘will’ talk, especially about a glamorous actress. Caroline’s adolescent children, Stella and Alexander, seem to accept Marius’s weekend visits without distress. And older daughter Olivia, an opera singer on the rise, is too involved in her own career and romantic intrigues to express much interest in her mother’s personal life. Caroline is happy and the world is good. Until one day when Caroline’s life begins to fall apart. First, a mysterious young man backpacking his way through the countryside arrives at the door. He says his name is Peter Bagshaw, but Caroline sees instantly that he must be related to Marius; perhaps he’s even his son. What else has Marius hidden from Caroline? Who is this man, Marius Fleetwood? Is everything about him a lie? When a murder occurs, detectives Mike Oddie and Charlie Peace must probe the lives of numerous suspects who had good reason to kill. As always in a Barnard mystery, the fun is in the details, the characters, the twists. With big houses, wealth, opera, and obsessive devotion as some of his ingredients, Robert Barnard gives us a witty, richly nuanced novel worthy of the crime writing star that he is.

A Cry from the Dark

Master of mystery Robert Barnard, internationally acclaimed for his suspenseful, witty literary gems, cleverly mixes past and present in A Cry from the Dark, an intriguing tour de force sweeping from 1930s Australia to contemporary London.

Bettina Whitelaw has come a long way from her childhood in the little outback town of Bundaroo, Australia. Many years have passed, a lifetime really, but she’s never forgotten what happened there on the evening that changed her life forever.

How could she forget the school dance, her taunting classmates, dancing with the strange but brilliant English boy, Hughie Naismyth? How could she forget what happened next, when, overheated and exhilarated by the music and the moment, she wandered off alone into a secluded, wooded area?

Now a renowned, elderly author living in London’s elegant Holland Park, Bettina faces a flood of memories as she works on her memoirs, even though her focus is more on the frightening things that are happening today. Someone has recently entered her home and gone through her desk. The intruder is clearly not an ordinary burglar. It must be someone she knows. She’s been a little lax in handing out keys, so the suspects are many her nephew, Mark; her agent, Clare; her friends, Peter or Katie. Or it could be someone else.

What does Bettina possess that this person would want to steal? A puzzle that at first seems mildly disturbing soon turns deadly serious. Someone is willing to kill but why? Does the answer rest in Bundaroo or nearer to home?

A Cry from the Dark shows us vintage Robert Barnard as he slyly lays the clues that lead to his trademark surprise and poignant ending.

Dying Flames

From Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger winning crime writer…
Some memories are better left buried in the past. Well known author Graham Broadbent has managed to repress one particularly dangerous memory for many years, but a trip home to a school reunion brings back the shocking reality of a desperate youthful passion. It all begins with a knock on Graham’s hotel door. His visitor is nineteen year old Christa, who read in the newspaper that he would be in town. She introduces herself as his long lost daughter. His daughter? It’s true that many years ago Graham had a fling with Christa’s mother, an exquisitely alluring school actress named Peggy Somers. The dates don’t work, though. Graham maintains he was out of the country when Christa was conceived. He couldn’t be her father. He’s almost sorry that he can’t claim Christa, a lively young woman who intrigues him in a strange way. And what about Christa’s mother, the formidable Peggy, who made such an impression when she portrayed Saint Joan in the school play all those years ago? Why would she have lied to Christa about her paternity? Why name Graham as the girl’s father? Separated from his wife, at loose ends in his writing, Graham takes the fateful step of searching out Peggy. It’s a big mistake. Peggy’s life, which started with such promise, has been a major disappointment. Now it’s about to become a disaster. Peggy lies. She fabricates. She fantasizes. She is the kind of person who will destroy Graham if he lets her. As Graham finds himself drawn increasingly into the turmoil surrounding this woman and her children, he must deal with deception and, ultimately, with murder. The sins of the past return to haunt the living, and the lives of those who survive will never be the same. Writing with the piercing insight and wit for which he is renowned, Robert Barnard creates a poignant masterpiece of mystery, as thoughtful as it is entertaining.

The Graveyard Position

After 22 years, Merlyn Docherty returns to his family home for his aunt’s funeral. He had developed a special affection for Clarissa Cantelo who had adopted him and raised him. But when he reached the age of 16, his clairvoyant aunt predicted his life would be blighted by violent death and suggested that he should disappear for a time.

Last Post

A mysterious envelope arrives on Eve McNabb’s doorstep soon after she has buried her mother, a woman who kept many secrets. The puzzling letter inside this envelope hints at an illicit passion between the letter writer and Eve’s mother, May McNabb.

Even when she was a child, Eve sensed that there were parts of May’s life she would never understand. She would never know the details of her parents’ marriage or why her father suddenly disappeared from her life. While Eve has always believed that her father was dead, she begins to wonder whether her mother’s life as a widow had been a ruse. Will she have to question everything her mother has told her? Could her father be alive and well? The letter writer may have some answers, but how can Eve find him or her?

With only a blurred postmark for a clue, Eve sets out to locate the writer and journey into her own past. What she never suspected was that questions can be dangerous, perhaps even deadly…

Filled with piercing wit and illuminating insight into the human condition, Robert Barnard’s Last Post proves yet again that he is one of the great masters of mystery.

A Stranger in the Family

From Robert Barnard, the internationally acclaimed Diamond Dagger winning crime writer…
Kit Philipson has always felt like something of a stranger in his family. Growing up as the only child of professional parents in Glasgow, Scotland, he had every advantage. His mother was a teacher; his father, a journalist, escaped from Na*zi Germany at the age of three on one of the 1939 Kindertransports. But on her deathbed, Kit’s mother tells him he was adopted and that his birth name was Novello. Soon, vague memories of his early life begin to surface: his nursery, pictures on the wall, the smell of his birth mother when she d been cooking. And, sometimes, there are more disturbing memories of strangers taking him by the hand and leading him away from the only family he had ever known. A search of old newspaper files reveals that a three year old boy named Peter Novello was abducted from his parents holiday hotel in Sicily in 1989. Now the young man who has known himself only as Kit sets out to rediscover his past, the story of two three year old boys torn from their mothers in very different circumstances. Kit s probing inquiries are sure to bring surprises. They may also unearth dangerous secrets that dare never be revealed. With sharp wit and deep insight, Robert Barnard sweeps away all preconceptions in this powerful study of maternal love and the danger of obsession.

Touched by the Dead

‘There’s one thing you can count on: just when you think you’ve figured out what Barnard is up to, he’ll outfox you again.’ People Mystery readers everywhere cherish their favorites among Robert Barnard’s critically acclaimed body of work, but one title high on most lists is A Scandal in Belgravia. With A Murder in Mayfair, Barnard gives us a compelling new story set in the same intriguing London milieu, where power, politics, and personality make a lethal mix. When Colin Pinnock becomes a junior minister in the new Prime Minister’s government, he’s understandably thrilled. Still a youngish man, with a shining reputation among his colleagues, he’s clearly being groomed for even higher office. Messages of congratulations flow in from near and far. Basking in the greetings and the praise, Colin picks one soiled postcard out of the stack of congratulatory missives. ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ it asks. Who wrote the card? How did the person know his home address? Does the writer think Colin is getting a big head, or do the words carry a more profound meaning? And, taking the question literally, who, indeed, is Colin? Who were his real parents? What were the circumstances of his birth? He had a happy childhood in the north of England, but he now recalls some clues that he might have been adopted. His mother is dead and his father is too senile to offer any help on family history. He’ll have to find his answers on his own. Even more puzzling, perhaps, than Colin’s origins, is a top civil servant’s shocked response when she first encounters him. Whose image does she see in Colin’s face, and what possible link does Colin have to an infamous crime of the past? Faced with additional threatening messages that seem to come from somebody who knows his every movement, Colin begins an urgent investigation into his past and a dangerous search for his tormentor. In a richly textured novel that takes us from the precincts of the powerful to a simple cottage in remotest Ireland, Robert Barnard spins an intricate tale of love and obsession that once again places him among the premier crime writers of our era.

The Habit of Widowhood and Other Murderous Proclivities

A young girl is brought up in seclusion by her elderly parents who are obsessed with isolating her from the sinfulness of life in the wicked world. When, to secure her future, they marry her off to an elderly widower, they set in motion events more terrible than the most hateful of parents could have foreseen. A woman with an enticing sexual secret marries an elderly gentleman and then another and another. It is all too easy, it seems, to get into the habit of widowhood. A young soldier, home from World War I, is determined to live and love not just for himself, but for all his fallen comrades. But in doing so he enrages a number of husbands. A man going through a midlife crisis meets the bully who made his life hell at school. Some things never change, he discovers, including the taste for inflicting pain.

Rogue’s Gallery

How far would a child go to rid himself of a despised parent? Or a man of the cloth to be elected pope? From murderous ministers and conniving cardinals to the dark imagination of a schoolboy and the suspicions of an ageing Mr Mozart, this unique collection of Robert Barnard’s short stories takes you on a trail of murder, mystery and intrigue with some of his finest and darkest literary creations. Including the prizewinning ‘Rogues’ Gallery’, the haunting tale of a devilish portrait, and ‘Sins of Scarlet’, a story of sudden death in the Vatican, this eclectic collection proves that, whether reimagining the life of cultural icons or spying opportunity for morbid crimes amidst events grand and domestic, novelist Robert Barnard is the master of the short story mystery.

A Talent to Deceive: Appreciation of Agatha Christie

A biography of the English mystery writer who, after creating Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, became a Dame Commander of the British Empire.

A Short History of English Literature

Thoroughly updated, this book remains the best overall survey of English literature available. Brings this successful book up to date with new material on, among others, Caryl Churchill, Brian Friel, Martin Amis and Graham Swift Very accessible

Emily Brontë

This illustrated biography examines the life and legacy of Emily Bronte. The enigma that a young woman from such a closed and protected environment as a Yorkshire rectory could write the wildly romantic and complex ‘Wuthering Heights’ has long been a source of fascination. Largely self educated, Emily spent most of her life at the rectory in Haworth. Her solitary instincts are well known, and the biographer’s task has been made no easier by her refusal to give anything of herself away to anyone during her lifetime. Robert Barnard examines her insulated childhood, and the stories of Gondal and Angria, leading to the lyrical poems of her twenties which prefigure the raw intensity of ‘Wuthering Heights’. He demonstrates that many aspects of ‘Wuthering Heights’ were shaped or stimulated by her own experiences, many of which can be traced to real examples. He also refers extensively to other critical sources, from early reviews of ‘Wuthering Heights’ to Mrs. Gaskell’s appraisal of Emily’s ‘stern selfishness’, to Juliet Barker’s recent biography of the Bronte family.

A Bronte Encyclopedia (With: )

A Bront Encyclopedia is an A Z encyclopedia of the most notable literary family of the 19th century highlighting original literary insights and the significant people and places that influenced the Bront’s lives. Comprises approximately 2,000 alphabetically arranged entriesDefines and describes the Bront s’ fictional characters and settingsIncorporates original literary judgements and analyses of characters and motivesIncludes coverage of Charlotte’s unfinished novels and her and Branwell’s juvenile writingsFeatures over 60 illustrations

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5

More than 200,000 words of great crime and suspense fictionEach year, Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, editors of The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, have reached farther past the boundaries of the United States to find the very best suspense from the world over. In this third volume of their series they have included stories from Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom as well as, of course, a number of fine stories from the U.S.A. Among these tales are winners of the Edgar Award, the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers, and other major awards in the field. In addition, here are reports on the field of mystery and crime writing from correspondents in the U.S. Jon L. Breen, England Maxim Jakubowski, Canada Edo Van Belkom, Australia David Honeybone, and Germany Thomas Woertche. Altogether, with nearly 250,000 words of the best short suspense published in 2001, this bounteous volume is, as the Wall Street Journal said of the previous year s compilation, the best value for money of any such anthology. The A to Z of the authors should excite the interest of any mystery reader:Robert Barnard Lawrence Block Jon L. Breen Wolfgang Burger Lillian Stewart Carl Margaret Coel Max Allan Collins Bill Crider Jeffery Deaver Brendan DuBois Susanna Gregory Joseph Hansen Carolyn G. Hart Lauren Henderson Edward D. Hoch Clark Howard Tatjana Kruse Paul Lascaux Dick Lochte Peter Lovesey Mary Jane Maffini Ed McBain Val McDermid Marcia Muller Joyce Carol Oates Anne Perry Nancy Pickard Bill Pronzini Ruth Rendell S. J. Rozan Billie Rubin Kristine Kathryn Rusch Stephan Rykena David B. Silva Nancy Springer Jac. Toes John Vermeulen Donald E. Westlake Carolyn Wheat.

2nd Culprit

A crime lover’s collection of short stories includes works by such notable authors as Robert Barnard, Antonia Fraser, Reginald Hill, Peter Lovesey, Sue Grafton, Ellis Peters, and Tony Hillerman. K. PW.

Malice Domestic 9

An anthology of orginial traditional mystery storiesIncluding Agatha Christie’s classic mystery The Case of the Discontented SoldierWith fourteen Christie inspired tales from today’s most talented mystery writersDig into a toxic treat of murder most foul from the devious minds of the finest writers Robert Bernard Jan Burke Kate Charles Marjorie Eccles Teri Holbrook Gwen Moffat Marcia Talley Dorothy Cannell Charles Todd Ann Granger Walter Satterthwait Carolyn Wheat Susan Moody Sample some delectable bits of malicious motives…
and most intriguing murders Residents of an old age home have a killer of a plan for dealing with chronic complainers. The ladies of the parish just love Father Luke…
they love him to death. Someone just can’t wait for old Aunt Marigold’s heart to give out. Joan Hess presents Malice Domestic 9AN ANTHOLOGY OF ORIGINAL TRADITIONAL MYSTERY STORIES Including Agatha Christie’s classic mystery The Case of the Discontented SoldierWith fourteen Christie inspired tales from today’s most talented mystery writersDig into a toxic treat of murder most foul from the devious minds of the finest writersRobert Bernard Jan Burke Kate Charles Marjorie Eccles Teri Holbrook Gwen Moffat Marcia Talley Dorothy Cannell Charles Todd Ann Granger Walter Satterthwait Carolyn Wheat Susan MoodySample some delectable bits of malicious motives?and most intriguing murdersResidents of an old age home have a killer of a plan for dealing with chronic complainers. The ladies of the parish just love Father Luke…
they love him to death. Someone just can’t wait for old Aunt Marigold’s heart to give out.

Much Ado About Murder

A stellar cast of today’s finest mystery authors have come up with rapier sharp mystery stories inspired by Shakespeare’s life, times, and works. Each story in this collection offers murderous intrigue worthy of the Bard himself, assuring us that Shakespeare lives on…
and that the rest of us are quite mortal indeed. Includes stories by: Jeffery Deaver Carole Nelson Douglas Robert Barnard Sharan Newman Gillian Linscott Lillian Stewart Carl Marcia Talley Edward Marston Simon Brett Brendan Dubois Margaret Frazer Edward D. Hoch Kathy Lynn Emerson P.C. Doherty Peter Robinson Peter Treymayne Anne Perry

Thou Shalt Not Kill

The greatest story ever told; the rise and fall of civilizations, empires, kings, despots, prophets and disciples; tales of love, betrayal, revenge, war, and disaster, the most fundamental and eternal myths and fables of Judeo Christian society; the end of the world the Bible has all of these. And now acclaimed mystery author Anne Perry has culled together an extraordinary list of writers from Sharyn McCrumb, Carole Nelson Douglas, Robert Barnard, Marcia Talley, Susan Moody and Peter Lovesey to Sharan Newman, Nancy Pickard, Reginald Hill, Gillian Linscott, Simon Brett, and Peter Robinson to contribute all new mystery and crime stories inspired by and based on these most ancient of biblical tales.

From Sampson and Delilah to David and Goliath; from Mount Sinai to the Last Supper, Thou Shalt Not Kill explores the stories of the bible as chilling expressions of the most basic instincts found in the Good Book. With fifteen unique and inspired twists on the traditional mystery story, Thou Shalt Not Kill is an inimitable edition to any library.

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