Inspector Knollis Mysteries

"Lomas was poisoned, shaved after death, and placed in the river. He is full of whisky and the post-mortem examination will undoubtedly prove that cocaine was in the alcohol. The murderer worked on him with a lavish hand, one so lavish that it may eventually prove to be his undoing." When Mr. Lomas visits the Chief Constable of Burnham and describes his symptoms, Sir Wilfred Burrows believes that his visitor suffers from nothing more serious than nerves. Later that day Mr. Lomas's body is recovered from the water at Willow Lock, yet death is not by drowning. Sir Wilfred recounts the interview to Inspector Knollis, who, realizing the significance of the symptoms, is satisfied that Mr. Lomas is a victim of cocaine poisoning. With characteristic energy. he sets about the task of unmasking the murderer. In this gripping story of a cunning murderer brought to justice by brilliant, logical reasoning, the solution is skillfully. yet legitimately concealed to the last. The Death of Mr. Lomas was first published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

If Lesley Dexter had not been a snob her husband might have lived out his three-score-and-ten years. Five years have passed without any major crime disturbing the provincial peace of the city of Burnham, and then, on an October night, a scream rends the midnight air in the residential suburb of Westford Bridge. P.C. Daker, hurrying to the door of Himalaya Villa in River Close, finds the tenant, Robert Dexter, lying dead across his own threshold. After a night's investigation, Sir Wilfrid Burrows, the Chief Constable, decides to call in New Scotland Yard. Inspector Gordon Knollis, transferred to the Yard during the war years, is sent down to the city where he had once been the head of the C.I.D. He finds himself faced with a disturbing puzzle, a crime with no apparent motive, and even his knowledge of local conditions does little to help him in his endeavours to unravel it. There is a host of alibis, but he breaks them down one by one in his own inimitable way, eventually resolving the situation and providing a denouement that comes as a surprise even to his own assistant, Sergeant Ellis. Sable Messenger was originally published in 1947. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

"Of course, it's rotten having a murder in the village, and especially in what was once my own house, but I'm not sorry that he's gone." Inspector Gordon Knollis heads from Scotland Yard to the village of Bowland, investigating what initially appears a trivial mystery. Mrs. Frederick Manchester's life centres on her husband and her two pets. Entering her boudoir after breakfast on Sunday morning, she finds her budgerigar lying dead, its neck broken, a blue silken cord tied loosely round it. On the Monday, in the cactus house, she finds her cat lying amongst the plants. A blue silken cord is looped round its neck-which is broken. But, Knollis soon sees the case as far from trivial, an opinion confirmed when the partly-decapitated body of Fred Manchester is found in the Green Alley early on the Tuesday evening - with a blue silken cord crushed into his outside breast-pocket. Knollis goes to work in his own determined way. There are many difficulties, and many setbacks, but he presses on in spite of them all, eventually solving the grim joke that lies behind the mystery of the three cords. The Threefold Cord was originally published in 1947.

"Inspector, it's-it's dastardly!" "Mrs. Huntingdon," said Knollis, "your choice of words is admirable!" Inspector Knollis of Scotland Yard is hoping for a nice quiet weekend in the country. Instead, he is embroiled in a murder case-the death by gunshot of local bigwig Richard Huntingdon. Jean, the dead man's wife, discovers the body in dense woods near a river. Knollis soon learns that Jean's previous husband also met an untimely end, not that she is the only suspect. Despite his reputation for good deeds, Huntingdon had enemies in the district, including the progressive Bishop of Northcote. And, it turns out the late Mr. Huntingdon was intimately involved with a grade-A femme fatale.... Knollis, along with the redoubtable Sergeant Ellis, has to deal with a plethora of puzzling clues before solving this bucolic case of Murder most Foul. Key to the mystery is a toy yacht found floating on the river near the body-a craft almost identical to the gift recently received-anonymously-by Huntingdon's young daughter, Dorrie.

Madeleine Burke is prepared to swear that she was Dr. Challoner's last patient on Tuesday evening, and that he was alive and in good spirits when she bade him good night. While holidaying in Algiers, Hugh Challoner encounters the lightning-sketch artist Aubrey Highton. Highton is desirous of finding a job back in England, and Challoner agrees to help-but then his enigmatic new friend disappears. Back in England, Dr. Challoner is strangled in his own surgery, and it is discovered that Highton is one of the last to have seen the slain man alive. Who exactly is Highton, other than a former Foreign Legionnaire? And why was a drawing of a laughing dog left in the diary just before-or just after-the unfortunate doctor's demise? The Laughing Dog was originally published in 1949. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "The author's pen has struck the gold with this one." The Writer "The reputation of detective and author are maintained in a swiftly moving story." Sheffield Telegraph "A detective story with a clever plot, good construction, and fine writing is a thing to welcome at all times. Mr. Vivian's latest adventure of Inspector Knollis is very good indeed." Edinburgh Evening News

He shone the torch into the depths of the well. There was water at the foot of the shaft. Something dark and misshapen was huddled against the brickwork. What Old Heatherington doesn't know about bee-keeping isn't worth knowing. But, the behavior of the bees that day was extraordinary-they swarmed to a new hive where no hive should have been, and which was damp to boot. There was the smell of cyanide; and in an abandoned well below the hive, was discovered the dead body of local philanderer, Gerald Batwell, a canister of the poison in his pocket. Inspector Knollis, brought into the case, soon learns that Batley had incurred the ire of numerous men whose, wives he'd seduced. Or, is the murderer the wealthy Daphne Moreland, motivated by jealousy? Or, the unusually unlucky Maynards, a young couple who stood to gain financially by Batley's death? Only the bees, the "Singing Masons" of the title, know for sure, until Knollis, with his customary acuity, breaks the case. The Singing Masons was originally, published in 1950. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

"He's dead all right. Taken him clean through the heart. It's murder, Rose!" Michael Maddison, the host of the Fox Inn, is hellbent on preventing his sister and niece from marrying-a difficult task when both ladies are being ardently courted in the district. When one of the suitors, expert archer Harry Saunders, finds two of his lethal arrows missing, it seems Maddison is in deadly earnest-yet it is the latter who is found murdered, two green-and-white fletched arrows sticking out of his ribs. Inspector Knollis is back on cracking form in this, his seventh mystery. A tale of archery and assasination in which Knollis must pull from his own quiver the solution lest the mysterious Bowman strike again . . . The Elusive Bowman was originally published in 1951. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "Mr. Vivian keeps his story as taut as the string on his elusive murderer's bow." Liverpool Evening Express "Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure." Observer

Frank Jennings was a keen murder-mystery fan, but no one was more surprised than, he to find himself mixed up in a murder mystery in real life, and that the victim was the wife of one of his own neighbors. Paul Murray was the sort of man who ought to have hanged for murder. There everybody who knew him was agreed. It was on the question of whether he was responsible for the murder of his wife, Brenda, that they disagreed. The case is not, made any easier for Inspector Knollis because of the attempts of Roy Palmer and Peter Fairfax to incriminate Murray by interference and careful lies. And, of course, there is Jennings, the spare-time criminologist, who is a voluble nuisance but with some occasional bright ideas; and the kippers of which Fairfax makes red herrings. A difficult case, but the genial Inspector will not be, beaten. The Sleeping Island was first, published in 1951. This new edition includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

"Where are you going?" asked Knollis, as Brother Ignatius pushed back his chair. "To try to prevent a murder." Roger Cartland was a successful and respected business man in Burnham. So all the citizens believe-until his poisoned body is found late one night in the wreckage of his car, and it becomes a case of murder. It is only after Knollis starts his investigations that the startled authorities find that Cartland was not the honest jeweller his advertisements so loudly proclaimed him to be. When a dash of Brother Ignatius-Knollis's eccentric friend-is added to the story, Vivian followers will know that the resulting mixture is sure to be exhilarating. Expert characterisation, tense and analytical detection and a steady stream of surprises, all make this a first-class mystery. The Ladies of Locksley was originally published in 1953. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure." Observer "Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place." Times Literary Supplement

Grayson tipped back his head, and stared at the ceiling. Herby was certainly not liked, but who on earth, apart from himself, hated him sufficiently to think of murder? As he waits for the Norfolk-bound train to steam from its London terminus, Brother Ignatius experiences a strange premonition. Quite suddenly he knows that a man on the platform will shortly come to join him in his compartment and that their lives will become inextricably linked. Together they travel to Norfolk, and within hours the stranger comes under suspicion of murder. Superintendent Knollis arrives from Scotland Yard to investigate. Knollis soon finds that local loyalties are strewing his path with thorns and that, under the seal of Confession, Brother Ignatius cannot tell all he knows. It is a problem that calls for psychological as well as deductive reasoning-and Inspector Knollis, supported by the trusty Sergeant Ellis, is on the case! Darkling Death was originally published in 1956. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. "Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure." Observer "Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place." Times Literary Supplement

At what point in the life of Edward Packman did the Angel of Death put his finger on him and say, "You are mine!" When Packman was, killed he, died unmourned. The editor of a weekly paper, Packman was heartily, hated by his staff, and where you have reason for hatred, you may have motive for murder. There was no lack of suspects. Shortly before he died, Packman was, knocked cold in his office by his chief reporter, Crompton. Davidson, another reporter, also had motive and opportunity; as had Carrington, a local author, who worked on the paper. And then, there were the women in the case. Lisbeth Ann did not look the sort of niece, who would murder an uncle, but what about Frances Mundeham? Frances' relationship with Packman was secret and could have been emotional; moreover, she stood to benefit under the dead man's will. Then somebody mentioned blackmail, and two of the suspects took it as their cue to disappear. The resourceful Inspector Knollis, can put two and two together and make four. The trouble is, can he prove it? Francis Vivian's ingenious and exciting story makes perfect reading for connoisseurs of crime. Dead Opposite the Church was originally, published in 1959. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.