Death and the Joyful Woman

No case is too strange or too baffling for the policeman George Felse and his son, Dominic. Over 13 instalments and two decades, the Felse Investigations will take them from their home on the Welsh Borders to the southernmost tip of India.

Is vulgarity grounds for murder? Alfred Armiger had antagonised many with his greed and crass acquisitiveness. So when the ruthless beer baron is discovered dead, his head beaten in by a magnum of champagne, there is no shortage of suspects.

All of Comerford is shocked when Detective George Felse arrests Kitty Norris, the daughter of a rival beer baron, the last person to see Armiger alive, and the main beneficiary of his will. But Kitty, charming and popular, has an unexpected advocate in Felse''s young son, Dominic, who is secretly in love with her.

Passionately convinced of Kitty''s innocence, Dominic sets out to find the true culprit, a hazardous undertaking that might well cost him his life.

''Highly recommended to those who still like a proper five-course whodunnit with all the trimmings'' Sunday Times
''A cult figure of crime fiction'' Financial Times
''Charm is not usual in murder mysteries, but Ellis Peters'' stories are full of it'' Mail on Sunday