Chief Inspector Pointer

The Footsteps That Stopped, first published in 1926, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains itself somewhat of a mystery), features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer who is called in to investigate the death of Mrs. Tangye on her estate. The woman was discovered sitting beside her tea-table, with a bullet wound to her heart caused by her World War I service revolver found lying on the floor nearby. Initially thought to be suicide or a tragic accident, Pointer determines that, in fact, the death was a case of murder.

The Clifford Affair, first published in 1927, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains itself somewhat of a mystery), features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer, who is called to the Heath Mansions building in Hampstead upon the discovery of a headless corpse in one of the apartments. As initial evidence points to the deceased being a notorious anarchist from Spain's Basque region, Pointer finds himself fighting for control of the case with an investigator from the Foreign Office. However, Pointer believes the corpse belongs to someone else, but must determine who, and also why the body was dismembered in such a gruesome fashion, and the identity of the killer.

The Craig Poisoning Mystery, first published in 1930, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains itself somewhat of a mystery), features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer, who is called to a country estate after the owner is found dead due to chronic arsenic poisoning. From the dustjacket: The case arising out of the death of Ronald Craig was one of the most perplexing that Chief Inspector Pointer ever had to solve. No clue, recognized as such, was left behind either as to the motive for the crime, the criminal, or the way in which the crime was carried out. Pointer has to hunt for each in turn. Though the circle is narrowed down to a handful of the dead man's intimates, yet it turns and re-turns in a very baffling manner.

The Tall House Mystery, first published in the U.S. in 1933, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains somewhat of a mystery itself) features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer, who is called in to investigate a murder in an old, once-elegant house, after a prank among friends takes a tragic turn.

Tragedy at Beechcroft, first published in 1935, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains somewhat of a mystery itself) features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer, who is called to the Beechcroft estate to investigate an 'accidental' death and an apparent suicide, but which are, in fact, murders. A host of characters, from the sinister to the silly, populate the Beechcroft household in this inventive, highly readable mystery. At first it had seemed just a tragic accident, a conjuring trick gone horribly wrong when a real sword substituted for a prop results in the death of a woman. Moments later the amateur magician, the ladies' husband, overwhelmed with grief committed suicide. But when certain aspects don't seem to add up, one of Scotland Yard's finest, Chief Inspector Pointer, is sent to the scene of the tragedy, Beechcroft, to investigate. Was it truly an accident and suicide? Or was it something more sinister, a double murder? And if so, why? And more importantly, by whom? These are the questions Pointer must unravel as he investigates the...Tragedy at Beechcroft.

The Case of the Two Pearl Necklaces, first published in 1936, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. The book, authored by A. E. Fielding (whose real identity remains itself somewhat of a mystery), features Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Pointer who is called in to investigate a mysterious murder on a large estate. From the dustjacket: Arthur Walsh, son and heir of a very wealthy father, Colonel Walsh, shatters the complacent lives of his parents by his declared intention of marrying Violet Finch, daughter of "the notorious Mrs. Finch," owner of several nightclubs. Arthur's wedding gift to Violet is two strings of very valuable pearls, said to have belonged to Queen Charlotte of Mexico and to have been sold because they brought bad luck to their owner. The pearls fully justify their evil reputation, for they bring sudden death, and present Chief-Inspector Pointer of Scotland Yard with one of the most baffling murder mysteries of his eminently successful career.

Scarecrow, first published in 1937, is a classic British 'golden-age' murder mystery. Chief Inspector Pointer has a problem. More specifically, he has a body and two women claiming it as their husband. The body, the apparent victim of robbery with violence, was discovered on the beach at Dover dressed in old clothes. The competing claims of the women are soon dismissed as those of women looking for a "convenient" body, the one to collect on an insurance policy, the other to remarry. That leaves Pointer with the question of the identity of the dead man and how did he come to be lying in a beach shelter with his head bashed in. His investigation leads him to the sunny fields of the south of France and entanglements with another, more sensational, murder case that had long been thought solved.