Chief Inspector MacDonald is invited to an unusual party. Each guest is sent around the country estate with cryptic clues, full of puzzles and puns, to unravel, which will lead them to the next clue. Unfortunately for the players, a brief electrical outage reveals a dead body in the telephone room.
The cast of village characters becomes a network of suspects, amateur detectives, and gossips — each trying to piece together the events of the evening.
Nap Lombard wrote this novel set in Blitz London while they were living it. In fact, they were air-raid wardens themselves — the simultaneous monotony and chaos of inspired their writing.
Being restrained and told you are insane, when you are perfectly well, is one of the more terrifying fears. Dozens of movies and novels use this premise as their kernel of horror. For some, the terror is real. In 1860, Elizabeth Packard was institutionalized against her will. Her logical intelligence and extreme perseverance were her only tools. She used her time effectively.
Whoever says crime and Christmas don’t go together is just wrong. Editor Martin Edwards has put together a delightful selection of Yuletide crime stories, cheerful enough to put any reader into the holiday spirit.