As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P.G. Wodehouse - discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin. Crime fiction at its quirkiest and best.

When a decapitated head is seen floating down the river in the Devon village of Aller, the rural calm is shattered. Soon the corpses are multiplying, and the entire community is involved in the hunt for the murderer.

Whilst many chase false trails, it is left to Gervase Fen, Oxford don and amateur criminologist, to uncover the sordid truth...

About the Author

Robert Bruce Montgomery was born in Buckinghamshire in 1921, and was a golden age crime writer as well as a successful concert pianist and composer. Under the pseudonym Edmund Crispin, he wrote 9 detective novels and 42 short stories. In addition to his reputation as a leader of the mystery genre, he contributed to many periodicals and newspapers and edited sci-fi anthologies. After the golden years of the 1950s he retired from the limelight to Devonshire until his death in 1978.

Reviews

'Both the mature and the discerning young choose to pick up one of Crispin's beautifully turned crime novels' The Times

'Crispin isn't in it for the mystery, but for the enigmas' Guardian

'His books are full of high spirits and excellent jokes, with constant literary allusions and an atmosphere of bibulous good humour. But at times the mood turns darker, and Crispin is capable of passages of both genuine suspense and ingenius deduction' Daily Telegraph

'Crispin is noted for an ability to embellish clever story lines with Marx Brothers touches' New York Times

'Rightly elevated to classic status' New York Sun

Book Information
ISBN 9780008530570
Author Edmund Crispin
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Collins Crime Club
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 220g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 28mm