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Bloody Sunrise
by Mickey SpillaneSecret agent Tiger Mann has his wedding interrupted by a call to look into the defection of a top Russian spy, Gabin Martrel, who has requested asylum in the US but won't provide any information.Tiger figures that he has defected to find an old flame, an Olympic skier named Sonia, and that if he finds her, Martrel will talk.But a nuclear threat thrown into the mix puts not just American but British national security at risk . . .
Bloody Tourists: Number 134 in Series (The Destroyer #134)
by Warren Murphy Richard SapirThe tiny Caribbean tourist trap of Union Island wants to declare its independence from the U.S. And while baby-faced island leader Greg Grom's "Free Union Island" movement is taken about as seriously as a summer day, good ol' Greg is touring Dixieland's hot spots, from the honky-tonks to the hee-haws, trying to rally support for the cause. And some weird stuff is happening . . .Ordinary beer-swilling, foot-stomping, line-dancing yahoos are running amok, brawling like beasts on a rampage. Remo Williams - currently not experiencing a lot of job satisfaction as Reigning Master - spots the connection between the goofball from Union Island and the redneck killer zombies. And he's pretty sure Greg is slipping something into the local brew, but the why is another matter. No biggie. Remo's not in a mood to make friends, or deal with the Chiun's abuse or CURE's insults. He's here to smoke some bacon. Happily.Breathlessly action-packed and boasting a winning combination of thrills, humour and mysticism, the Destroyer is one of the bestselling series of all time.
Bloody Tourists (The Destroyer)
by Warren Murphy Richard SapirThe tiny Caribbean tourist trap of Union Island wants to declare its independence from the U.S. And while baby-faced island leader Greg Grom’s “Free Union Island” movement is taken about as seriously as a summer day, good ol’ Greg is touring Dixieland’s hot spots, from the honky-tonks to the hee-haws, trying to rally support for the cause. And some weird stuff is happening . . . Ordinary beer-swilling, foot-stomping, line-dancing yahoos are running amok, brawling like beasts on a rampage. Remo Williams – currently not experiencing a lot of job satisfaction as Reigning Master – spots the connection between the goofball from Union Island and the redneck killer zombies. And he’s pretty sure Greg is slipping something into the local brew, but the why is another matter. No biggie. Remo’s not in a mood to make friends, or deal with the Chiun’s abuse or CURE’s insults. He’s here to smoke some bacon. Happily.Breathlessly action-packed and boasting a winning combination of thrills, humour and mysticism, the Destroyer is one of the bestselling series of all time.
The Bloody Tower: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery (Daisy Dalrymple #16)
by Carola DunnDaisy discovers fresh blood in a tower infamous through history for dark deeds...Now the mother of two-month-old twins, Daisy decides to resume her journalistic career by writing a piece for a new magazine on the Tower of London. On her visit she's not only given a tour of the Crown Jewels, she's also introduced to the Raven Master and the Yeoman Warders - and most importantly, she's been invited to attend the Ceremony of the Keys ritual, which involves spending the night in the haunted Bloody Tower.Having survived the night, Daisy can't wait to get away the next morning and in her eagerness to leave, trips over the body of a yeoman warder. Daisy instantly realises that this is murder most foul on account of the halberd sticking out of his back. And with her husband assigned to investigate the case, Daisy one again finds herself enmeshed in a case of an unexplained murder at the Tower...Praise for the Daisy Dalrymple series:'Cunning... appropriate historical detail and witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece.' Publishers Weekly'As always, Dunn evokes the life and times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy. This will delight readers who love country-house mysteries.' Booklist'For fans of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels' Library Journal
Bloody Valentine
by James PattersonValentine's Day goes horribly wrong in this exciting and gripping novel from bestselling author James Patterson ... because this year Valentine's Day isn't for romance - it's for murder.Mega rich restaurant owner Jack Barnes and his second wife Zee are very much in love. However, their plans for Valentine's Day are about to be torn apart by the most violent murder.Who is the strange figure plotting this sick crime? Who hates Jack that much? There are plenty of suspects living in Jack's fancy block of flats. Is it them, or could it be the work of an outsider with a twisted mind? One thing's for sure, the police have got their work cut out solving this bloody mess.
Bloody Winter: In Which Civil Unrest Sparks A Deadly Game Of Cat And Mouse (A\pyke Mystery Ser. #5)
by Andrew PepperThe troubled head of the Detective Branch returns, in an intriguing case of kidnap, rebellion and murder. A body is discovered in a ditch outside the town of Dundrum in County Tipperary. The local land agent tells Knox, a young Irish policeman with divided loyalties, that it is the body of a vagrant and that the landowner Lord Cornwallis wants the case dealt with swiftly and quietly. The potato crop has failed for a second time and the Irish people are dying in their thousands. However when Knox examines the corpse it is clear that this man died wearing a Saville Row suit. Keeping his investigations secret, it becomes clear to Knox that the stranger came from London. Three months earlier Detective Inspector Pyke receives a letter from the daughter of a family friend. She has married a wealthy industrialist who owns ironworks in Merthyd Tydfil and her son has been kidnapped. Lured by the promise of a substantial fee and wanting to escape the tensions of Scotland Yard, Pyke agrees to go to Wales to investigate. There, he discovers a town riven with social discord following the brutal suppression of a workers strike and the importation of cheap Irish labour. The kidnapping is linked to a group of rebels but Pyke soon begins to suspect the case is not as clear cut as it seems. What are the links between the rebellion in Wales and the unrest in Ireland, and has Pyke finally bitten off more than he can chew?
Bloody Women
by Helen FitzGeraldA delight to find something new ... funny, moving, horrifying and compelling' - Times Literary Supplement 'FitzGerald ... is adept at arresting openings, tense cliffhangers and tumultuous climaxes' - The Herald 'Bloody Women is delicious, ingenious, inventive and mordantly funny. Helen FitzGerald has a real skill for making the totally absurd and goofy, thoroughly logical and reasonable' - Big Beat from Badsville Returning to Scotland to organise her wedding, Catriona is overcome with the jitters. She decides to tie up loose ends before settling permanently in Tuscany, and seeks out her ex-boyfriends. Only problem is, they all end up dead and Catriona is the prime suspect.
The Bloomsbury Affair (A Flora Maguire Mystery #5)
by Anita Davison1905 London is a heady mix of unimaginable wealth and simmering political tensions, and with war looming Flora Maguire wants to keep her family safe. So when her beloved charge Viscount Edward Trent is accused of murder, she's determined not to leave the investigation to the police. Flora has trodden the path of amateur sleuth before, but with so much at stake, this time it's personal. Slowly the body of the victim found stabbed on a train bound for Paddington starts giving up its secrets, and Flora and her husband Bunny become mired in a murky world of spies, communists and fraudsters. And with the police more sure than ever that Edward is their murderer, Flora must work fast to keep him safe. Anita Davison's compulsive story-telling, combined with the irresistible mix of historical drama and gripping mystery, make this unputdownable.
The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury Handbooks)
by Mary Anna Evans and J.C. BernthalThe first specifically academic companion to contemporary scholarship on the work of Agatha Christie, this book includes chapters by an international group of scholars writing on topics and fields of study as various as ecocriticism and the anthropocene, popular modernism, middlebrow fiction, queer theory, feminism, crime and the state, and more. It addresses a broad selection of Christie's crime novels, as well as her short stories, literary novels written pseudonymously, and her own and others' dramatic adaptations for television, film, and the stage,Featuring unprecedented access to images and content held in Christie's personal archive, as well as a Foreword from renowned crime fiction writer Val McDermid, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Christie's work and legacy.
The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury Handbooks)
The first specifically academic companion to contemporary scholarship on the work of Agatha Christie, this book includes chapters by an international group of scholars writing on topics and fields of study as various as ecocriticism and the anthropocene, popular modernism, middlebrow fiction, queer theory, feminism, crime and the state, and more. It addresses a broad selection of Christie's crime novels, as well as her short stories, literary novels written pseudonymously, and her own and others' dramatic adaptations for television, film, and the stage,Featuring unprecedented access to images and content held in Christie's personal archive, as well as a Foreword from renowned crime fiction writer Val McDermid, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Christie's work and legacy.
The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction
by Christine BerberichGuiding readers through key writers and genres, historical contexts and major theoretical approaches, this is a comprehensive introduction to the study of popular fiction. Charting the rise of commercial fiction from the 19th century to today, The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction includes introductory surveys, written by leading scholars, to a wide range of popular genres, including: Science Fiction Crime Writing Romance and Chick Lit Adventure Stories and Lad Lit Horror Graphic Novels Children's Literature Part II of the book also includes case-study readings of key writers and texts, from the work of HG Wells, Ian Fleming and Raymond Chandler to more recent books such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The book also includes a chapter covering "The Writer's Perspective" on popular publishing, while annotated guides to further reading and online resources throughout give students the tools they need to pursue independent study on their courses.
The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction
by Christine BerberichGuiding readers through key writers and genres, historical contexts and major theoretical approaches, this is a comprehensive introduction to the study of popular fiction. Charting the rise of commercial fiction from the 19th century to today, The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction includes introductory surveys, written by leading scholars, to a wide range of popular genres, including: Science Fiction Crime Writing Romance and Chick Lit Adventure Stories and Lad Lit Horror Graphic Novels Children's Literature Part II of the book also includes case-study readings of key writers and texts, from the work of HG Wells, Ian Fleming and Raymond Chandler to more recent books such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The book also includes a chapter covering "The Writer's Perspective" on popular publishing, while annotated guides to further reading and online resources throughout give students the tools they need to pursue independent study on their courses.
The Blotting Book
by E F BensonA VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERYWH Auden, Nancy Mitford and Noel Coward were among his fans... But have you discovered E. F. Benson yet?Morris Assheton is in love and means to be married. But his happiness is spoilt when he discovers that someone has been whispering poisonous rumours about him to the girl’s father. The culprit is Mills, dastardly partner to the Assheton family's trusted lawyer. Morris vows revenge.When Mills’ body is discovered, brutally beaten, the ugly quarrel comes to light and suspicion naturally falls on Morris. His innocence is debated in a tense courtroom, as an eager public and press look on.Murder mystery... Courtroom drama. This is a classic whodunnit from the author of Mapp and Lucia. Crime fiction at its best.
Blotto, Twinks and Riddle of the Sphinx (Blotto Twinks #5)
by Simon BrettThe curse of Pharaoh Sinus Nefertop is upon Blotto so it's up to Twinks to banish it!Yet another financial crisis at Tawcester Towers! So this time the Dowager Duchess decides to sell off the less important family possessions, which have, for a long time, been consigned to the attics of the ancestral home.Blotto and Twinks are dispatched to help the valuer as he carries out an inspection. Not much of any worth is found but then the valuer spies some Egyptian artifacts, collected by the tenth duke, Rupert the Egyptologist. In some excitement he rushes back to London to consult his reference books, leaving Blotto and Twinks alone in the attic, where they are drawn to a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: 'Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse...' - just as Blotto prises the lid off.From that moment on a series of unpleasant incidents start happening at Tawcester Towers but it is only when the Dowager Duchess's precious pug is struck down with a stomach bug that she instructs her son to sort things out and stop the accelerating sequence of disasters.It's the brainy Twinks who decide the only thing to be done is to put the genie back in the bottle and so she, together with Blotto and their trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, undertake take the sarcophagus back to Egypt, to the Valley of the Kings as only when this is done will the effect of the Pharoah's curse be lifted...
Blotto, Twinks and the Bootlegger's Moll (Blotto Twinks #4)
by Simon BrettDue to financial hardships at Tawcester Towers, the Dowager Duchess has decreed that the only way the family fortunes can be restored is to marry Blotto off... to an American!So begins the fourth adventure in the Blotto and Twinks series, and this time the aristocratic sleuthing siblings end up being transported across the Pond to the gangster-ridden hell-hole that is Prohibition Chicago.Reluctantly, Blotto, together with Twinks and his trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett set sail on ocean liner S/S His Majesty. He feels like a condemned man as awaiting him in Illinois is fabulously wealthy heiress Mary Chapstick, the only daughter of meat-packing magnate Hiram P. Chapstick III. But it's Twinks who discovers early on that all is not as it seems and that Hiram P. Chapstick III is in fact up to his neck in a bootlegging operation run by the notorious Chicago mobster, Spagsy Chiaparelli. So Blotto and Twinks set out to unmask the villainy of Hiram P. Chapstick III, where a final shootout takes place among the filthy stockyards, abattoirs and caning factories of Chicago's Meatpacking District - will Blotto and Twinks ever make it back to dear old Blighty?
Blotto, Twinks and the Conquistadors' Gold (Blotto Twinks #12)
by Simon Brett'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper'Murder most enjoyable' Colin DexterThe two aristocratic siblings Blotto and Twinks are once again launched into another death-defying adventure, this time in the civil war-torn republic of Jalapeno, in Mexico. But how did they ever get to such a foreign and distant land in the first place?For Twinks it was an easy decision - to escape her mother's match-making attempts she sets out to visit her old friend, Begonia Guiteras, who lives in Jalapeno, which is fortuitously on the doorstep of an Aztec dig Twinks wants to work on. Unfortunately, her visit coincides with the War for Jalapeno Independence, headed by Colonel Henriquez Guiteras, Begonia's father.At the same time, Twinks's excavation of the Aztec site is revealing the exciting prospect of a hoard of Conquistadors' gold - but will taking it away from the burial ground unleash the dreaded Curse of Attatotalloss?Into this confusion stumbles Blotto, who only comes to Mexico as he's missing his sister. On being reunited with Twinks they then discover Begonia has been kidnapped by Mexican government forces and both set out to rescue her. This leads to many chases and challenges across the Mexican countryside, resulting in the capture of the twins where death by firing squad seems inevitable... but will trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, as so very often in past adventures, be able to save the day?Praise for Simon Brett'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times
Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess (Blotto Twinks #2)
by Simon BrettThe extremely aristocratic but extremely thick Blotto and his extremely brainy sister Twinks are attending a weekend house party when the inevitable happens. Their hostess, the Dowager Duchess of Melmont, is murdered. An amateur detective, conveniently staying for the weekend, deduces that the Lyminster family chauffeur Corky Froggett must have done it. For Blotto and Twinks, the only way to prove Corky's innocence is by finding the real perpetrator.So begins the second investigation for the daring duo... one which takes them via an opium den in Limehouse, a Scottish castle and a disused Cornish tin mine, to a thrilling final confrontation at the nerve-centre of the evil League of the Crimson Hand. Yes, Blotto and Twinks are back! Praise for Simon Brett:'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P D James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone.' Jilly Cooper'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen... Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment.' Guardian
Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter: a hair-raising adventure introducing the fabulous brother and sister sleuthing duo (Blotto Twinks #1)
by Simon Brett'Murder most enjoyable' Colin DexterEx-Princess Etheline, daughter of the exiled king of Mitteleuropia, has been kidnapped during a visit to Tawcester Towers, ancestral seat of the Dukes of Tawcester, and ducal family honour demands that she should be rescued. The Dowager Duchess entrusts the task to her son, the Right Hon. Devereux Lyminster, known universally as 'Blotto'. He is, of course, terribly handsome, honourable and brave, but as sadly deficient in the brains department as his sister 'Twinks' is gifted.So the siblings set off, accompanied by trusty chauffeur, Corky Froggett. They drive across many countries to Mitteleuropia, a realm now ruled by a usurper, the ex-king's brother, where they suspect the princess has been taken.Can brave Blotto and Twinks rescue Ethelinda, or will they meet their end in the evil clutches of King Vlatislav?Praise for Simon Brett: 'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Perfect entertainment' Guardian'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone.' Jilly Cooper
Blotto, Twinks and the Great Road Race (Blotto Twinks #9)
by Simon Brett'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . perfect entertainment' GuardianOnce again, the plumbing at Tawcester Towers is causing consternation for the Dowager Duchess, so - unusually for her - she gives her blessing for Blotto to take part in the 'Great Road Race' in his beloved Lagonda ... so long as he wins. The first prize of 10,000 pre-War sovereigns will help towards repairing the leaky ancestral home.Blotto elects to take chauffeur Corky Froggett as his spare mechanic, while Twinks is despatched by her mother to the Highlands, to paint water colours and bag herself a wealthy husband. But, on the morning of the race's start, enfeebled by food poisoning, Blotto and Corky are forced to employ an extra mechanic on their team - a slender, blonde and rather attractive young American... named Ronald.So Blotto and his team are pitted against Europe's finest, in a race which takes them through France, across the Alps, to a finish line at the Colosseum in Rome. Among the competitors are Florian Carré-Dagneau, indulged son of the race sponsors, Count Daspoontz from Germany, and the Italian Enrico Parmigiano-Reggiano. All want to win the race, and all want the prize money and all - with the exception of Blotto and his team - will resort to dastardly deception and fiendish sabotage to ensure Blotto's Lagonda is not the first car over the finishing line...The ninth hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!Praise for Simon Brett:'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper
Blotto, Twinks and the Heir to the Tsar (Blotto Twinks #6)
by Simon BrettTawcester Towers, the family seat of the Lyminster family, has suffered an unwelcome injection of distant cousins, so distant that they aren't even British! Count Igor and Count Lyudmilla Bashusky had to flee Russia after the Revolution and have spent the intervening years building up debts in the hotels of Europe's capitals and sponging off ever more exasperated (and distant) relatives.The Bashusky's arrival at Tawcester Towers causes a stir, and it's up to Blotto and Twinks, that indefatigable duo, to provide a solution to get them back to Russia. Reversing the Russian Revolution and getting a Tsar back into St Petersburg's Winter Palace is just the sort of challenge the fiercely bright Twinks relishes, though her dim-witted brother Blotto shows less aptitude for the subtleties of international politics, despite his commendable bravery.The siblings soon find themselves in Berlin to try and broker a meeting with the White Russian community, and swiftly become embroiled in a world of spies, counterspies, conspiracies and counter-conspiracies. Just when things seem to be looking up, little do Blotto and Twinks realise that their plans are being monitored by the spymaster Fyodor Vlachko, a former worker on the Bushusky's estate who has now risen to a senior post in the secret police of the newly-formed Soviet Union . . .
Blotto, Twinks and the Intimate Revue (Blotto Twinks #8)
by Simon BrettA quick trip to the capital goes horribly wrong when Blotto and Twinks get accidentally involved in London's criminal underworld . . .It starts innocently enough at the intimate review 'absolutely everyone is talking about', Light and Frothy, where its glamorous star, Frou Frou Gavotte, has rather taken the fancy of Blotto's school friend Giles 'Whiffler' Trumpington. But while Blotto and Whiffler wait for the star outside the theatre to take her to dinner, Whiffler is seized and manhandled into the back of a cab which then drives off into the night . . . Leaving Blotto with the problem of how to rescue his kidnapped schoolmate.Naturally, he enlists Twinks's help and the two of them encounter actors, singers, impresarios, revue writers, cockney showgirls and Scotland Yard's finest - and white slave traders, who succeed in abducting Twinks - leaving it up to Blotto and his trusty chauffeur, Corky Froggett, to rescue her before she's shipped off to foreign parts forever . . .Praise for Simon Brett'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper
Blotto, Twinks and the Maharajah's Jewel (Blotto Twinks #10)
by Simon Brett'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin DexterAnyone for cricket - and a spot of burglary? An idle conversation on the merits of the glorious game with an old Etonian chum is just the excuse Blotto needs to put himself forward for a cricket tour to foreign climes... and so begins the next adventure for our intrepid duo, where the action takes them to India where, as everyone knows, the finest cricket players hail from - as well as the world's most skilled jewel thieves...The Dowager Duchess has no problems in letting her two children go to the subcontinent as having her beautiful daughter Twinks married off to a massively rich Maharaja offers the Dowager Duchess the prospect of a permanent solution to the cash-draining maintenance of the Tawcester Towers plumbing.So Twinks joins Blotto on a steamer bound for India, one that is full of young woman desperate to marry well there - only once having encountered the dashing Blotto, a lot of them fancy the idea of getting married before they reach their destination. And, unbeknownst to the siblings, also on the ship is the international jewel thief Archie Montmorency, passing himself off as one of Blotto's cricketing entourage. His real mission though is to steal the diamond which adorns the turban the Maharajah of Koorbleimee . . . Praise for Simon Brett'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper
Blotto, Twinks and the Phantom Skiers (Blotto Twinks #13)
by Simon Brett'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin DexterBlotto and Twinks are off on another adventure - and this time they're bound for the Alpine village of Luzvimmen in Switzerland, where Blotto participates in racing the prestigious and very fast Croissant Run, though someone seems determined to sabotage his chances.Twinks, on the other hand, is on a mission to rescue her friend's sister from the sinister finishing school she is trapped in - the Convent of the Sacred Icicle. Once inside, Twinks is threatened by an elderly nun who shows her a secret glacier in which the Phantom Skiers are entombed... awaiting resurrection so they can wreak vengeance on people who are too curious... like Blotto and Twinks.Meanwhile, up at Schloss Luzvimmen, the crazed Count von Strapp is set on global domination via a deadly arsenal of Swiss cheese hardware he's planning to unleash on the world...Yes, everything's much as usual in the world of Blotto and TwinksPraise for Simon Brett'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper
Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera (Blotto Twinks #3)
by Simon BrettConsternation at Tawcester Towers! While giving a guided tour of the house's Long Gallery Blotto is stunned to discover that two of the family portraits - a Gainsborough and a Reynolds - are missing.Tawcester Towers has been the victim of art thieves! Blotto is forced to summon his brilliantly intelligent sister Twinks who instantly deduces that the paintings have been stolen by a gang of international art thieves based in Paris. So Blotto and Twinks instantly set off in the former's Lagonda for France!Their investigations in Paris bring them into contact with the absinthe-soaked art community of the Rive Gauche, but after an attempt on his life at the Folies Bergere, Blotto is persuaded by Twinks that it is to Nice they must travel, as the criminal mastermind La Puce runs his evil empire from there, funded by the proceeds of many European art collections - including those from Tawcester Towers.The French Riviera is a gay old place, and following various lead, Twinks makes contacts with many expatriates and Americans all leading the good life, including the famous silent movie star Mimsy La Pim, who Blotto finds himself curiously drawn to. But after a particularly decadent party it is discovered that Mimsy has been kidnapped by La Puce - and so it is up to Blotto and Twinks to save the starlet from many fates worse than death and restore the fortunes of Tawcester Towers to boot!Praise for Simon Brett:'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P D James'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone.' Jilly Cooper'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen... Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment.' Guardian
Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen (Blotto Twinks #7)
by Simon BrettAnother hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!The end of the cricket season spells gloom for Blotto, until he is invited to bat against the Hollywood cricket team out in sunny LA, where rain never stops play. And so begins the latest adventure for Blotto and his supremely gifted sister Twinks. Although their mother, the Dowager Duchess of Tawcester, keeps a strict rein on her two children, she knows America is full of wealthy young men, all of whom will fall in love with her daughter - and marriage to a Texan millionaire would solve the Tawcester financial problems once and for all.So, accompanied by trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, the intrepid siblings head out to California. On arrival in Hollywood they are invited to a glitzy party where they are introduced to a firmament of Hollywood stars, directors and gossip columnists, but the mood of the party suddenly curdles with the breaking news that beautiful starlet Mimsy La Pim - the (former) love of Blotto's life - has been kidnapped. And Blotto is determined to make it his personal mission to rescue her.But in the world of old-fashioned cricket matches, gigantic Hollywood egos, film-making disasters and merciless crooks, it soon falls to Twinks to rescue her brother from the various messes he creates when attempting to rescue his damsel in distress. Will the siblings ever get back to Tawcester Towers - or will it be a case of death before wicket?