Bücher von Patricia Wentworth

"They are letting me say good-bye. I'm to be shot to-morrow. It will be over by the time you get this…"Laura stood, pale and trembling, in the veiled dress she was to have worn as Jim Mackenzie's bride, and gave her word to marry Basil Stevens, a man she scarcely knew. In his unexpected visit Basil had made three things clear: Laura was the heiress of the great Hallingdon fortune; Jim faced a Soviet firing squad; and only this marriage would save Jim. Why? What was the plot that threatened to destroy him?It was not until Laura phoned Jim late one night after he had returned to England, half insane with grief, that he had an inkling of the truth about the remorseless power back of it all, and its single, far-reaching purpose. How Jim saves Laura from her fate underlies one of the most exciting mysteries Patricia Wentworth has written.Red Shadow was originally published in 1932. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans."When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself-and I always do." Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

Ten years! He had been dead ten years!Uncannily alike in appearance were the twins, Jim and Jack Laydon. Both, too, loved beautiful Evelyn Prothero. For three mad, ecstatic days early in the Great War, Evelyn had been engaged to Jack. Then the engagement was broken, for reasons the girl chose never to make public. Soon after, she abruptly married Jim, but no one who saw it could ever forget Jack's face during the ceremony. A week later, on the same day, in the same raid, both brothers went missing. Now, ten years later, Evelyn is still a widow grieving - some say for Jack, some say for Jim.Then suddenly in Germany a mute peasant is struck on the head. When he recovers consciousness he claims his name is Laydon - Jim or Jack, he will not say. And how is Evelyn to know, when every distinguishing trait has been lost? Who - Jim, Jack, or A.N. Other - has grasped at a chance for a new life, and what steps has he taken to live it?The Amazing Chance was originally published in 1926. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans."When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself-and I always do." Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';How would you like to die for your country?' asked Benbow Smith languidly.Now that Marian has broken their engagement, Lindsay Trevor finds danger welcome, even though it means dyeing his hair red and impersonating his cousin Froth as Restow's secretary.Who is this Restow, huge, good-natured is he fabulously rich or desperately poor? Is he the mysterious Vulture, that master of deceit and manipulation? And there is Restow's wife, the big, tempestuous snake-charmer Gloria; Dalton, the lean, black, spider-like librarian, and Elsie Manning, Froth's friend, who is afraid of what? When Marian comes back into his life most unexpectedly, Lindsay enters a desperate struggle against the Vulture, with Marian's life at stake.Danger Calling was originally published in 1931, and was the second novel to feature the series character of Benbow Smith. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';You mustn't go to Meade House. I've heard'Ambrose Minstrel, the inventor, is undoubtedly eccentric. But even his oddities cannot account for the strange events at Meade House. Young Hugo Ross, Minstrel's new secretary, feels that all the dark happenings centre somehow on himself cryptic remarks and veiled glances between Minstrel and his assistant, stealthy footsteps in the dead of night, the offer of a small fortune for the worthless field glasses. And then there is the unknown girl who had called from the dark, the rest of her statement swallowed by the night? But in spite of all his caution, Hugo Ross is drawn into a despicable plot involving government intrigue and espionage. With his own life on the line, how much is he willing to risk for his country?Fool Errant was originally published in 1929, and introduced the eccentric, elderly series character of Benbow Smith. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';How would you like to be a rocket? A stranger for a week, an heiress for a week, then down with the stick and a stranger again.'Imperious, warm-hearted Honoria Maquisten plans to revise her will but before the papers can be drawn up, she is dead from an overdose of pills. All eyes are on Carey Silence, a penniless orphan who was recently made Honoria's ward. Suspicion becomes evidence, Carey is arrested and her trial is prepared. So begins a classic golden age mystery with many suspects and twists. Who was the ';rocket' referred to? Who was it Honoria really intended to cut out of her will? And most importantly who murdered her?This novel, from 1945, tells the story of one of the most dramatic trials in detective fiction the trial of Carey Silence. The new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';You told me a lot of things,' said James grimly. ';Most of them weren't true.'James Elliott, lost in a fog, comes upon a lonely house in the English countryside. The house shows no lights but the front door is ajar. He enters in search of a telephone but instead finds a girl whose white face, eyes wide in a stare of horror and mouth open as if to scream. But instead of screaming, she yells ';run!' At that moment there is the sound of a shot and James feels the wind of a bullet as it goes past. Though he rescues the girl, she cannot or will not tell him quite where the danger liesIs the girl's name Aspidistra Aspinall, as she originally claims? Or perhaps it's Sally West, as she later styles herself, when revealing that bestselling author Ambrose Sylvester may have passed off a dead man's work as his own. The girl's fear is real enough, and for good reason someone is playing for high stakes, and another corpse has been left to prove it. But will James himself turn out to be the intended victim?Run! was originally published in 1938. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

Ice is still. Death is still. But no living flesh should be as still as thisAgent Stephen Enderby, known in Russia as Red Stefan, meets Elizabeth Radin, the lovely widow of a Soviet inventor, just at the moment she is about to throw herself into a river in despair. The Communists have been persecuting her in order to obtain the vital formula her husband devised just before his execution. Stephen prevents her from committing suicide, takes her away with him and tries to escort her out of the country, posing as his wife. But Elizabeth has not told Stephen her deadly secretRed Stefan was originally published in 1935. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';I went down to the pool, and he was lying half in and half out of it with his head bleeding and the tide coming in. The water was up to his shoulders.'The marriage between Nan Forsyth and Jervis Weare is a purely business arrangement to Jervis. But for Nan there is true romance behind it a romance which began for her in childhood days and she is content to be considered for the time a scheming adventuress. But, as she soon discovers, both she and Jervis are now the targets of a golden-haired devil and her villainous partner who'll stop at nothing in this story of lively and profound thrills.Nothing Venture was originally published in 1932. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';Beware walk with care,Or mumbo jumbo will hoodoo you.Young Jeremy Ware is suspected of stealing important papers, and Colonel Garrett of the Secret Service (last seen in Danger Calling) consults Benbow Smith about it. Even Rosalind Denny, still grieving for her late husband, suspects Jeremy. But when the young man, trying to exonerate himself, meets a beautiful sleepwalker in a cellar, matters quickly progress to a case of murderWalk with Care was originally published in 1933, and was the third novel to feature the series character of Benbow Smith (not to mention his delightfully perspicacious parrot, Ananias). This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';Do you want to make 500 pounds? If you do and are willing to earn it, write to...'So reads the handbill thrust on Car Fairfax. He is literally down and out, for the soles of his shoes had gone long ago and the uppers show a crack which mean doom to his hopes of a job. And he has just met Isobel: Isobel whom he had not seen for three long, weary years.But Car's road back to fortune is beset by mystifying experiences involving his cousin Anna; a precise gentleman in neat clothes and pince-nez; and a job whose sole duties apparently consist of dining in a fashionable restaurant. And then he is caught in a web which leads to the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his cousin Anna and finally to danger which threatens both Isobel and himselfBeggar's Choice was originally published in 1930. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

';You talk of him as if he were alive.'';He is alive,' said Benbow Smith.';And you think he would do murder?'';I am quite sure that he would do murder, Captain Loddon.'Rose Anne disappeared on the eve of her wedding to Captain Oliver Loddon. Her fianc received a letter posted from Paris saying she was sorry but there was someone else.To the police it is quite simple. But Oliver can't believe Rose Anne capable of such a cruel act, and then discovers that her note carries quite another message. Benbow Smith is brought in to investigate, and we learn the young woman's disappearance is connected to an escaped and dangerous criminal and Rose Anne isn't the only one who's recently gone missingDown Under was originally published in 1937, and was the fourth and last novel to feature the series character Benbow Smith. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself and I always do.' Mary Dell, Daily Mirror