Bobby Owen Mystery

"You're the murder man, aren't you?" Mrs. James demanded. "Well, that's not exactly how I describe myself," Bobby answered. Bobby Owen and his wife Olive are on holiday, enjoying a motor tour of England, when they visit Bobby's old ancestral home and his cousin Myra. An eerie air hangs over the household, where Teddy Peel, a psychic medium of dubious repute, has become a fixture. Myra's husband himself is a specialist in African folklore, the owner of a genuine witch doctor's bag. What's inside the bag, and how that connects to the promise of riches, whispered threats and very real murder, forms another absorbing puzzler for Bobby. Six Were Present (1956) is the thirty-fifth and final novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, here presented with a new introduction and additional notes. This new edition also features the script of the rare radio play Death on the Up-Lift (1941), starring Bobby Owen, here published for the first time. "What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time."--Dorothy L. Sayers

Bobby studied the Rembrandt intently, with his own strange intensity of gaze that seemed as if by sheer strength of will it could force all secrets to reveal themselves. Commander Bobby Owen receives a visit from private detective Marmaduke Groan. Groan is concerned about a missing client, the influential art critic Alfred Atts. Due to give a much-anticipated Royal Arts lecture, Atts promised to use the occasion to reveal sensational facts. But he vanished before getting the chance. And Mr Atts had suspected his wife of wanting to poison him … Triple Quest, a thrilling and thoughtful tale of art fraud and murder, is the thirty-fourth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1955. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time."--Dorothy L. Sayers

"It's murder all right; no one could bash his own head in the way this chap's was." The stranger's body was discovered by businesswoman Mrs Holcombe, the unofficial queen of Pending Dale. As if there wasn't enough gossip rife in the village, now the Queen may be under suspicion of murder. Talk is cheap, but reputations are valuable – but were they worth buying silence at the cost of a man's life? When Bobby Owen of the Yard arrives in Pending Dale to investigate, amid a panoply of local characters and red herrings he discovers a compelling and unpredictable motive. A reason why the unassuming and anonymous commercial traveller had to die … The Attending Truth is the thirtieth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1952. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time."--Dorothy L. Sayers

"There's a spot of trouble this morning. Old gentleman found dead in his bath." Bobby answered: "there may be one chance in a million it's natural death." When the notorious gangster Cy King was, imprisoned thanks to Commander Bobby Owen's investigation, he spent a good deal of time talking about avenging himself. Now Cy's out of jail, linked to a notorious London nightclub owner, while a man impersonating Bobby has been spotted snooping around in a remote London suburb. The same suburb, as it happens, where a young woman, recently arrived from Canada, has seemingly, vanished into thin air. All Bobby's investigations lead to the unassuming borough of Southam, where the disappearance of Elizabeth Smith is, compounded by the sudden death of a respectable old man. Cy keep dodging around in the background of the case, but can Bobby bring it home to the old villain, or find an alternative solution? The Secret Search, a classic golden age whodunit, is the twenty-eighth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally, published in 1951. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

"You called him a 'wrong 'un'. Why? Birds of a feather know each other? Is that the idea? Or do you really know something about him? Oh, and don't lie." Commander Bobby Owen of the Yard is on his way to visit Willoughby Wynne, concerning a gang of thieves operating in the immediate rural neighbourhood. But when murder comes, amid the loganberry bushes, it is a suspected blackmailer, not gangster, who is found strangled. Mr Wynne demands to be considered a suspect himself, but the list isn't short. It seems more than one person in the district has been living a double life, one they are anxious to protect. And among the petty feuds, petty criminals and respectable gentry, a criminal mastermind is moving anonymously, pulling strings. Bobby will need a very large pair of shears to cut them this time. Dark is the Clue is the thirty-third novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1955. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.