Anthony Gilbert – författare

Lawyer-detective Arthur Crook always believes his clients are innocent... despite the evidence to the contrary.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubA famous art collector''s car discovered at the bottom of a cliff after he was supposed to have taken a young woman to the railway station, so naturally the police expect to find his body there, too. But it turns up weeks later, in a locked room in his country house, and he''s been stabbed to death...

An actress, a politician - and a murder by poison where no one is above suspicion.Classic crime fiction from one of the greats of the era. Marjorie Hyde, a gifted but unsuccessful actress, is happily married. Like many members of her profession she is temperamental, and though not that beautiful has that Titian colouring that is supposed to make men mad. Her husband, Christopher, is insanely jealous, and after learning that she is frequently in the company of Philip Clare, a barrister and Parliamentary candidate, Christopher threatens to instigate divorce proceedings that would ruin his rival''s career.The same night, he drinks his usual glass of after-dinner port and dies from hyosin poisoning. And in the unravelling of the mystery surrounding his death, nobody is free from suspicion.

A mysterious warning - will it end in murder?Classic crime fiction from one of the greats of The Detection ClubFlora Horsley, wife of a MP, is warned by a palmist that she must leave her husband or she will die. Flora, believing that her husband is attempting to murder her, decides to leave him. The haunting fear of death already holds her in a terrifying and remorseless grip, but will she be able to escape its embraces?

It''s often the ordinary people who spot the murderer - whether they know it or not...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club''Few murders would go unhung,'' said plump, cynical Arthur Crook, ''if people used their eyes more. It''s the man selling violets in the gutter, the woman exercising her Pekinese, the chap reading the midday racing news in the Tube who actually have the chance to spot the murderer. They''re the people he can''t guard against.''Arthur Crook is a delightful nosey-parker, and here his blustering humour and bulldog tenacity face their toughest test yet.

A body in the belfry... and a gruesome mystery to uncover for the inimitable Crook and Parsons.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubThe bell of St Ethelburga''s had stopped ringing. It had pealed out its customary call to the faithful, its gentle reproach to the sluggards; but somehow that morning it did not seem to ring as long as usual. For Death had been busy in the belfry, where a startled vicar made an appalling discovery.The murder in the church begins another mystery for the inimitable Crook and Parsons, who shine with their trademark ingenuity and impudence.

A man is accused of murdering his wife - and all the evidence points to his guilt.Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club''No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant'' Sunday ExpressIt was a dark night, clammy with fog; an evil night when anything could happen. That was the night it all began - when the net of cruel circumstance began to close in around Jack Barton The body of his beautiful, murdered wife had rotted away in a trunk in the dark cellar where he had hidden it. It was useless to say hiding the body was all he had done. It was pointless to insist he was innocent of her death. Who would believe him?

The most unlikely person is plunged into danger - but the police don''t believe her. After all, she''s not the kind of woman these things happen to... not murder, surely...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ''No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant'' Sunday ExpressLaura Verity is an elderly lady with not much money and no past - not someone things happen to. But suddenly her life is plunged into danger, and without lawyer-sleuth Arthur Crook''s timely interference, she might have lost it altogether.One thing she will never lose, though, is her head: the police don''t believe her - she proves them wrong. The wine might be poisoned - she''ll keep it for Crook to test. Does that car belong to the murderer? She''ll just get in and see where he takes her. Together, brave Miss Verity and Arthur Crook uncover the truth about a murder.

''No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant'' Sunday ExpressWhen Julia Ross, a jobless and penniless girl, is sent to meet a prospective employer, she is oblivious to the trap that awaits her. As she rings the bell to 30 Henriques Square, the door opens on a London household ruled by a red-wigged old lady with murderous intentions.Two days later, Julia awakes in a different house in different clothes and with a new identity. And it''s down to lawyer-sleuth Arthur Crook to rescue the missing heroine and clear out the villainous nest.''An excellent thriller'' Time Magazine

In the ''ads - wanted'' section, no one said anything about murder...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club''No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant'' Sunday ExpressMiddle-aged spinsters of independent means shouldn''t answer matrimonial adverts. Agatha Forbes realised this when she saw what her brand new husband kept in his woodshed and screamed in mortal terror.By then her husband''s tender caresses had slowly turned into a stranglehold. But, unbeknown to her, the moment that a doctor would scrawl his signature on her death certificate was creeping nearer with each passing day.

In the darkness of World War Two, a murderer strikes... Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club''No author is more skilled at making a good story seem brilliant'' Sunday Express''He stood very still for a moment. He said he had a sixth sense that warned him of danger. The fact that more murderous attempts had been made on his life did not affect his belief in his instinct. He said that in his profession a man had to harden himself to take risks. That was what his clients paid him for, "and," he would add, "they pay damn well." ''Death in the Blackout takes place in the heart of World War II and opens as a bomb drops uncomfortably close to detective Arthur Crook''s London flat, setting off a mysterious chain of events.

How do you catch a killer when the murder goes unnoticed?Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubThe victim was certainly deserving of death, but not the hard, cruel death he found. No one deserved that . . .At first, the killer goes unsuspected. Someone else would pay the price for the crime - an innocent woman would pay and the murderer was willing to arrange other, more ''accidental'' deaths to ensure it . . . until solicitor-detective Arthur Crook steps in. In one of his most baffling cases, Crook only has two guiding principles: his client is always innocent and, come hell or high water, he always gets his man.

Murder, politics and Nazi sympathisers - Arthur Crook has his detection skills pushed to the limit., with a most unlikely conspirator...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection Club''The lobby of the House of Commons was very full on the momentous afternoon that Miss Sarah Bennett, a composed and amused spinster, torn from her happy obscurity by an energetic and enterprising Minister of Labour, came from the Temporary Pass Office, up the stairs, through a corridor lined with effigies of the great . . .''Arthur Crook, and valiant conspirator Miss Sarah Bennett, secretary to Allen Wilkinson Stout MP, adventure through murders, Nazi incitement and parliamentary happenings to save a wing commander arrested for murder.

Blackmail leads to murder - but which of the blackmailer''s victims is guilty of such a brutal crime?Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubJames Chigwell is a blackmailer, a human spider who fattens on the blood of other men - on their misfortunes and on their mistakes. But retribution comes to Chigwell when one of his victims at last rebels against his maliciousness and bludgeons him to death.But who among Chigwell''s final victims has the courage of despair to slay his tormentor?The Scarlet Button is at once grim and entertaining and, of course, features the celebrated detective Arthur Crook.

A young woman has a new position - but will she listen to the voice warning her not to cross the threshold of that sinister house...Classic crime from one of the greats of the Detection ClubNora Deane, a young nurse, has been instructed to report to 12 Askew Avenue, Charlbury, to look after a new patient. As she steps from the station into an impenetrable blanket of fog, she is glad to accept the escort of a mysterious young man to the address. Once alone in the darkness, she presses the bell and waits. She shivers. She wants to be inside, out of the dangers of the dark. Yet some inner voice persistently warns her not to cross the threshold of that sinister house . . .