Another hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!

The end of the cricket season spells gloom for Blotto, until he is invited to bat against the Hollywood cricket team out in sunny LA, where rain never stops play. And so begins the latest adventure for Blotto and his supremely gifted sister Twinks. Although their mother, the Dowager Duchess of Tawcester, keeps a strict rein on her two children, she knows America is full of wealthy young men, all of whom will fall in love with her daughter - and marriage to a Texan millionaire would solve the Tawcester financial problems once and for all.

So, accompanied by trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, the intrepid siblings head out to California. On arrival in Hollywood they are invited to a glitzy party where they are introduced to a firmament of Hollywood stars, directors and gossip columnists, but the mood of the party suddenly curdles with the breaking news that beautiful starlet Mimsy La Pim - the (former) love of Blotto's life - has been kidnapped. And Blotto is determined to make it his personal mission to rescue her.

But in the world of old-fashioned cricket matches, gigantic Hollywood egos, film-making disasters and merciless crooks, it soon falls to Twinks to rescue her brother from the various messes he creates when attempting to rescue his damsel in distress. Will the siblings ever get back to Tawcester Towers - or will it be a case of death before wicket?

About the Author

Simon Brett was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in English. A former radio and television producer, he has to date written over ninety books. A great many are crime novels, including the Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter and Fethering series.

Simon was Chairman of the Crime Writers Association from 1986 to 1987 and of the Society of Authors from 1995 to 1997. He is President of the Detection Club and was awarded the 2014 CWA Diamond Dagger. He lives near Arundel in West Sussex and is married with three grown-up children, three grandsons, one granddaughter, and a cat called Polly.

Reviews
A hilarious and old-fashioned whodunit romp in the mold of P. G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, with just a tiny dollop of John Buchan thrown in for good measure. Highly entertaining * The New York Journal of Books *
Simon Brett has a deft hand with parody, playfulness and punch lines * Read Me Deadly *
Simon Brett is one of British crime's most assured craftsmen, with idiosyncratic characters proving winning creations... A feast of red herrings, broadly drawn characters, and gentle thrills and spills litter the witty plot. Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment * THE GUARDIAN on Simon Brett *
Murder most enjoyable... An author who never takes himself that seriously, and for whom any fictional murder can frequently form part of the entertainment industry -- Colin Dexter on Simon Brett
A very traditional English mystery, the characters are as entertaining, charismatic and all out fantastic as they were in the first. Mystery readers will want the adventures of Blotto and Twinks to continue for a very long time to come * Feathered Quill Book Reviews on Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess *


Awards
Short-listed for Crimefest Last Laugh Award 2018 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781472118295
Author Simon Brett
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Constable
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 146g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 18mm