The Ernest Lamb Mysteries

The Ernest Lamb Mysteries
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 525
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 150405590X

Three intriguing World War II–era whodunits featuring the Scotland Yard detectives from the “timelessly charming” Miss Silver Mysteries (Charlotte MacLeod). Inspector Ernest Lamb and Det. Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard, who also made regular appearances in Patricia Wentworth’s beloved Miss Silver mystery series, confront a range of villains—from greedy landlords to ruthless blackmailers to diabolical Nazi spies. The Blind Side: Lucy Craddock has lived at No. 7 Craddock House for years. But now she’s about to be turned out of her home—by her own nephew. Since greedy Ross Craddock inherited the once-magnificent family estate, he has divided it into rented flats. But before he can boot out his aunt, he’s found shot to death with his own revolver. With a mansion full of suspects, Inspector Lamb comes to the door. Who Pays the Piper?: Lucas Dale is not above blackmail to get what he wants—in this case another man’s fiancée. Susan Lenox has no choice but to break off her engagement to up-and-coming architect Bill Carrick and agree to marry Dale—until he’s found in his study with a bullet in his head. Now it’s up to Inspector Lamb and Detective Abbott to construct a solid case. Pursuit of a Parcel: When a parcel from a double agent containing secrets the Nazis would love to get their hands on is delivered to a British law firm, an innocent woman becomes a pawn in a deadly game of international espionage, and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lamb and Detective Abbott—along with Frank Garrett of the Foreign Office—step in to solve a cold-blooded murder.

Who Pays the Piper?

Who Pays the Piper?
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504033264

A blackmailing businessman turns up dead in this mystery featuring Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ernest Lamb, from the creator of the Miss Silver series. Lucas Dale always gets what he wants. And this time he wants another man’s fiancée: Susan Lenox. Never mind that she’s engaged to Bill Carrick, an up-and-coming architect without a farthing to his name. Cathleen O’Hara, Dale’s mousy social secretary, serves as the unwitting instrument of his plan, and a nasty blackmail scheme is set in motion. Soon, Susan has no choice but to break off her engagement and agree to marry Dale—until he’s found in his study with a bullet in his head. Scotland Yard is called in, and before long, Inspector Ernest Lamb and Detective Frank Abbott have a suspect: Carrick. But as Lamb and Abbott dig deeper, they discover others with means, motive, and opportunity, including the victim’s penniless former wife who was handy with a gun, and his American business partner who wanted the money Dale owed him. No one has an alibi for the time of Dale’s demise. And someone else will die before the price of murder is paid. Who Pays the Piper? is the 2nd book in the Ernest Lamb Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504033256

Who killed Ross Craddock? Inspector Ernest Lamb will sift through multiple clues and suspects to find out in this golden age mystery from the author of the acclaimed Miss Silver Mysteries Lucy Craddock has lived at No. 7 Craddock House for years. But now she’s about to be turned out of her home—by her own nephew. She was at his christening, for mercy’s sake! Greed is what drives Ross Craddock, who inherited the once-magnificent family home built ninety years earlier and has since divided it into flats rented by quarreling, passionate tenants. But none is more wicked than Ross himself, his handsome visage concealing an evil heart. He gets his comeuppance when he’s found sprawled on the hearthrug in a pool of blood—shot to death with his own revolver. Who had a motive to kill him? Who didn’t? Is the murderer Peter Renshaw, a soldier with His Majesty’s Army, who may have been protecting pretty young Mavis Grey from Ross’s unwanted advances? Bobby Foster, Mavis’s jealous suitor? Or Lucy’s niece, Lee Fenton, who walks in her sleep? Then there’s Miss Lucy herself. They’re all concealing secrets. But one is worth killing for, as Inspector Ernest Lamb and Detective Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard discover in this classic British puzzler that will keep readers guessing until the shocking denouement. The Blind Side is the 1st book in the Ernest Lamb Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Pursuit of a Parcel

Pursuit of a Parcel
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504033272

Enemy forces will stop at nothing to retrieve an incriminating package in this gripping international thriller from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries Double agent Cornelius Roos is about to become dispensable to the Germans—until he reveals the existence of a recording that will guarantee the death of a high-ranking Nazi official if it finds its way into the hands of Hermann Goering. So Roos strikes a bargain: If he walks out of Gestapo headquarters alive, he will ensure that the compromising recording never reaches Goering. Meanwhile, in the Foreign Intelligence office in England, agent Antony Rossiter is interrogated about Roos, his older, adopted brother. A few days later, Rossiter parachutes into Holland to make contact with Roos. But when a brown paper parcel with Rossiter’s name on it is delivered to a British law firm, Rossiter’s fiancée, Delia Merridew, becomes an innocent pawn in a deadly game of international espionage and cold-blooded murder. Now it’s up to Scotland Yard Inspector Ernest Lamb and Detective Frank Abbott to ferret out the truth before a desperate enemy claims another victim. Pursuit of a Parcel is the 3rd book in the Ernest Lamb Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Dark Threat

Dark Threat
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1453223711

DIVMiss Silver visits the country to keep an eye on a friend who may be in peril/divDIV/divDIVIt is time for Judy to get out of London. Her sister and brother-in-law have just perished in an air raid, leaving her in charge of their four-year-old daughter, and Judy wants no more to do with death. She arranges for work in a piece of the countryside untouched by the war: a charming manor called Pilgrim’s Rest. But it may be that she has more to fear than the Blitz./divDIV /divDIVWhen she tells Frank Abbott of her plans, he warns her that strange things have been happening at Pilgrim’s Rest. The family patriarch is recently dead of mysterious circumstances, and his heir has just suffered a series of near-fatal accidents. He cannot sway Judy, for she needs the work. But he does convince the governess-turned-detective Maud Silver to follow Judy to the village, to be on hand in case country living turns dangerous./div

Grey Mask

Grey Mask
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1453223622

Governess-turned-detective Miss Silver investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime. Never one for the heroic, Charles’s first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice. Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Maud Silver, a onetime governess who applies reason to solve crimes and face the dangers of London’s underworld.

Three Bags Full

Three Bags Full
Author: Leonie Swann
Publisher: Anchor Canada
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2010-10-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0385673795

A witty philosophical murder mystery with a charming twist: the crack detectives are sheep determined to discover who killed their beloved shepherd. On a hillside near the cozy Irish village of Glennkill, a flock of sheep gathers around their shepherd, George, whose body lies pinned to the ground with a spade. George has cared devotedly for the flock, even reading them books every night. Led by Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world), they set out to find George’s killer. The A-team of investigators includes Othello, the “bad-boy” black ram; Mopple the Whale, a Merino who eats a lot and remembers everything; and Zora, a pensive black-faced ewe with a weakness for abysses. Joined by other members of the richly talented flock, they engage in nightlong discussions about the crime, wild metaphysical speculations, and embark on reconnaissance missions into the village, where they encounter some likely suspects. Along the way, the sheep confront their own all-too-human struggles with guilt, misdeeds, and unrequited love. Funny, fresh, and endearing, it introduces a wonderful new breed of detectives to Canadian readers.

Who Pays the Piper?

Who Pays the Piper?
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher:
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2016-06-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9781911413011

A golden age mystery novel, first published in 1940.

The Miss Silver Mysteries Volume Six

The Miss Silver Mysteries Volume Six
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 976
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504057686

Three mysteries featuring governess-turned-sleuth Miss Silver, who “has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot” (Manchester Evening News). Retired governess Maud Silver is about as unlikely a sleuth that Scotland Yard has ever seen—but her unassuming manner only helps her unravel their most mystifying cases in “some of the best examples of the British country-house murder mystery” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine). Miss Silver Comes to Stay: While visiting an old school chum in the rustic town of Melling, Miss Silver soon finds that its bucolic charm hides undercurrents of murderous vengeance. When Melling’s prodigal son returns with a lot of money and a long-held grudge against the town, he intends to sell his manor house and be done with Melling forever. But this cozy English hamlet isn’t finished with him . . . and it may be about to finish him off. Mr. Brading’s Collection: Jewel collector Lewis Brading leaves little to chance, housing his gems in a concrete annex protected by the latest security system and his own watchful eye. But he still suspects something might be wrong. He consults Maud Silver, who tells him to send his collection to a museum as soon as possible. Ignoring her advice may be the last mistake Brading ever makes . . . The Ivory Dagger: Bill Waring had a promising career and the love of a young beauty—until a freak train accident puts him in the hospital for a month. When he gets out, he is stunned to learn that his beloved has become engaged to another. Determined to win her back, Bill follows her and her charmless new fiancé on a weekend in the country. When her new betrothed is stabbed to death, blame falls squarely on Bill—and only the brilliant, demure Maud Silver can clear his name. These charming British mysteries featuring the unstoppable Miss Silver—whose stout figure, fondness for Tennyson, and passion for knitting belie a keen intellect and a knack for cracking even the toughest cases—are sure to delight readers of Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The Black Cabinet

The Black Cabinet
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504033299

Chloe Dane inherits a fabled ancestral estate—and plunges into deadly danger—in this novel of romance and suspense from the author of the acclaimed Miss Silver Mysteries The lowly assistant to a London dressmaker, Chloe Dane yearns for a new life. She has bittersweet memories of being a carefree child playing hide-and-seek at Danesborough, her family’s magnificent country estate. Decades later, the ancestral mansion has been restored to its former glory—and Chloe is shocked to discover that she is the sole heir. Danesborough is not the sun-filled, evergreen place she remembers. The trees are bare and the house is shrouded in mist. But the enormous gold-and-black lacquered Chinese cabinet in the drawing room is exactly the same. Chloe’s childhood imagination created an entire story out of the intricate carvings on the cabinet: a flowing river filled with boats and fishermen and one frightening man she called Mr. Dark. But now, as Chloe begins to uncover Mitchell Dane’s true motives for bequeathing her the centuries-old manse, she has a very real reason to be afraid: The truth about what’s hidden in the black cabinet will soon threaten her life.