E.R. Punshon – författare

“What happens,” Bobby asked, “when a woman with an irresistible attraction for men, and the man with an irresistible attraction for women, meet? When glamour meets glamour . . . ?”

“Lummy,” said the superintendent.

A seemingly innocent young woman has disappeared, presumably to elope with an unscrupulous lothario. Despite his wife Olive’s urging, Met Commander Bobby Owen is originally reluctant to get involved in a seemingly personal matter. But he soon finds his professional whiskers twitching when he discovers the cad in the case is a former suspect in a knife murder. Before long Bobby discovers a new murder scene – plenty of blood, but strangely no corpse …

So Many Doors, a classic golden age whodunit, is the twenty-sixth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1949. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans, and a selection of E.R. Punshon’s prolific Guardian reviews of other golden age mystery fiction.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

At that moment the door opened and a deep, harsh, husky voice said:

“Discussing my murder, are you?”

Bobby Owen of Scotland Yard and his wife Olive are busy bargain-hunting in a famous London department store. But a shopping expedition nearly turns into a crime scene when Olive discovers a necklace stuffed in her handbag. The plot thickens when it transpires it was placed there by one Lord Newdagonby – whose stout denial of the act is swiftly followed by a fatal knife blow to a prominent scientist. The meaning of this locked-room murder, and its connection to a dilettante inventor, a disrespectful daughter, and the pearls in Olive’s bag, form one of Bobby’s most puzzling investigations.

Everybody Always Tells, a classic golden age whodunit, is the twenty-seventh novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1950. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans, and a selection of E.R. Punshon’s prolific Guardian reviews of other golden age mystery fiction.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

“There’s a spot of trouble this morning. Old gentleman found dead in his bath.”

Bobby answered: “there may be one chance in a million it’s natural death.”

When the notorious gangster Cy King was imprisoned thanks to Commander Bobby Owen’s investigation, he spent a good deal of time talking about avenging himself. Now Cy’s out of jail, linked to a notorious London nightclub owner, while a man impersonating Bobby has been spotted snooping around in a remote London suburb. The same suburb, as it happens, where a young woman, recently arrived from Canada, has seemingly vanished into thin air. All Bobby’s investigations lead to the unassuming borough of Southam, where the disappearance of Elizabeth Smith is compounded by the sudden death of a respectable old man. Cy keep dodging around in the background of the case, but can Bobby bring it home to the old villain – or find an alternative solution?

The Secret Search, a classic golden age whodunit, is the twenty-eighth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1951. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans, and a selection of E.R. Punshon’s prolific Guardian reviews of other golden age mystery fiction.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

“Why should anyone want to pinch the dagger—except to do somebody in?”

No one answered this question.

Item: one anonymous phone call reporting a murder at a historic country house – but no body is to be found. Item: one ornate antique knife, discovered in a village call-box, blood-stains on the blade.

Rather than identifying a corpse, Bobby Owen of the Yard has to find out who, if anyone, has actually been killed. Two persons, one a best-selling author, the other no-one’s cup of tea, are missing but a particular kind of hat keep turning up in the case – which also involves a haunted wood, a hatchet-wielding secretary, and a curious abundance of writers.

The Golden Dagger is the twenty-ninth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1951. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans, and a selection of E.R. Punshon’s prolific Guardian reviews of other golden age mystery fiction.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

“It’s murder all right; no one could bash his own head in the way this chap’s was.”

The stranger’s body was discovered by businesswoman Mrs Holcombe, the unofficial queen of Pending Dale. As if there wasn’t enough gossip rife in the village, now the Queen may be under suspicion of murder.

Talk is cheap, but reputations are valuable – but were they worth buying silence at the cost of a man’s life? When Bobby Owen of the Yard arrives in Pending Dale to investigate, amid a panoply of local characters and red herrings he discovers a compelling and unpredictable motive. A reason why the unassuming and anonymous commercial traveller had to die …

The Attending Truth is the thirtieth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1952. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

“The poor devil’s mouth was filled with feathers. An unconscious man with his mouth full of feathers wouldn’t have had much chance of surviving, and this one didn’t.”

The press gleefully dubbed it the ‘Banquet Murder’. The murdered man, Hugh Newton, had apparently been making a sumptuous feast for two in his flat, before his own goose was cooked.

Bobby Owen of the Yard is drawn to the cold case. Starting with the curious fact that the apartment building has experienced two break-ins since the murder, Bobby starts investigating the colourful, or faintly macabre, inhabitants. Elsewhere in London, Doreen Caine, cookery instructor, is excited that the case has been reopened. And further afield, a travel agency specializing in gastronomic tours comes under suspicion. It’s a bouillabaise of a mystery, one of Punshon’s finest, in which Bobby will discover whether retribution – if not revenge – is a dish best served cold.

Strange Ending is the thirty-first novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1953. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

The stage was set, Bobby thought, the actors in position; but how the drama would develop, that he could not even guess.

The churchyard at Hillings-under-Moor is the final resting place of Janet Merton – buried, so everyone believes, along with celebrated poet Stephen Asprey’s unpublished verses and love letters. The potential value of the poems has posed a constant danger of grave-robbing, but the Duke of Blegborough has a new cause for alarm. He has heard that there is an official move to open the grave, and its contents may shed a most unwelcome light on his dead wife.

Bobby Owen of the Yard also discovers the former rector of the church, Rev. Thorne, had gone for an evening stroll two years earlier – and disappeared into thin air. Whether his disappearance was in connection with the contents of Janet Merton’s grave is something Bobby will come to find out, with the help of Edward Pyle, of the Morning Daily, Janet Merton’s formidable niece Christabel, John Hagen (church sexton and self-taught classical scholar) and a man named Item Sims.

Brought to Light is the thirty-second novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1954. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

“You called him a ‘wrong ’un’. Why? Birds of a feather know each other? Is that the idea? Or do you really know something about him? Oh, and don’t lie.”

Commander Bobby Owen of the Yard is on his way to visit Willoughby Wynne, concerning a gang of thieves operating in the immediate rural neighbourhood. But when murder comes, amid the loganberry bushes, it is a suspected blackmailer, not gangster, who is found strangled. Mr Wynne demands to be considered a suspect himself, but the list isn’t short. It seems more than one person in the district has been living a double life, one they are anxious to protect. And among the petty feuds, petty criminals and respectable gentry, a criminal mastermind is moving anonymously, pulling strings. Bobby will need a very large pair of shears to cut them this time.

Dark is the Clue is the thirty-third novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1955. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers

Bobby studied the Rembrandt intently, with his own strange intensity of gaze that seemed as if by sheer strength of will it could force all secrets to reveal themselves.

Commander Bobby Owen receives a visit from private detective Marmaduke Groan. Groan is concerned about a missing client, the influential art critic Alfred Atts. Due to give a much-anticipated Royal Arts lecture, Atts promised to use the occasion to reveal sensational facts. But he vanished before getting the chance.

And Mr Atts had suspected his wife of wanting to poison him …

Triple Quest, a thrilling and thoughtful tale of art fraud and murder, is the thirty-fourth novel in the Bobby Owen Mystery series, originally published in 1955. This new edition features a bonus Bobby Owen short story, and an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.”--Dorothy L. Sayers