Patricia Moyes – författare

“Wins my Oscar for the craftiest murder method cooked up (literally) this month” from the author of the classic mystery Dead Men Don’t Ski (Sunday Telegraph). Rich, aristocratic, and at the heart of swinging London, “Pudge” Coombe-Peters has everything except a decent nickname. And in fact, he has two special attributes: He owns the narration—the drawling, deliciously snobbish, all-but-impossibly irritating narration—of Falling Star, and he has a chum named Henry Tibbett, who comes in just awfully handy when people start dying on the set of the film that Pudge is producing. Tibbett is especially welcome because, by the second death, it’s clear that we’re not dealing merely with murder but with Impossible Crime, the kind of fiendishly clever puzzle that is killingly hard to write and even more difficult to solve. The twisty plot and gorgeously retro setting on their own would make for a splendid read, but adding Pudge to the mix puts it over the top.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

Inspector Henry Tibbett’s better half, wife Emmy, takes center stage in a WWII mystery. “The classical whodunnit remains safe in Miss Moyes’ hands.” —The Sun To date, Emmy Tibbett has been something of a secondary character—a placid, pleasantly plump presence who serves mostly to make her detective-husband Henry all the more likeable. With Johnny, however, Emmy at last gets a turn in the spotlight, as she and Henry head off for the 20th reunion of her Royal Air Force squad. It’s a bittersweet trip for Emmy: She loved her work with the RAF, and she was in love with one of the pilots, but their happiness ended abruptly when he killed himself, crashing his plane into the North Sea. But was it suicide? At the reunion, Emmy is startled to realize that she may have been the last person to see her sweetheart alive. And she’s more than startled to discover that virtually everyone connected with that fatal flight had something to hide.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

An Inspector Tibbetts mystery “which only serves to prove how ingeniously well Patricia Moyes is keeping up her variations on the classical whodunit” (The Sun). Think the Country-House Murder is a relic of the 1930s? Think again, and say hello to the Manciples, exactly the kind of eccentric family you’d like to see lording it over your little English village. Sadly, the Manciples’ day as lords of the manor may be winding down: A certain Mr. Mason—a local bookie who appears to have made some very good bets—wants to buy the Manciple estate, and he won’t take no for an answer, despite their lack of interest in selling. So it’s a matter of some suspicion when Mason is found in the Manciples’ driveway with a bullet in his head. Like all the best small-town coppers everywhere, the village bobby is befuddled, calls on Scotland Yard, and is (mostly) gratified to be gifted with Inspector Henry Tibbett. Henry, though, is a little less than delighted to find himself saddled with a case that opens with an old man solemnly intoning “bang-bang,” goes on to the mysteries of the Bishop of Bugolaland, and finishes with an inquiry into just what the family was up to in Africa, lo these many years ago.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

A classic mystery “bubbling with humor, bursting with clues, and switching from petty misdemeanors on the home shores to intrigue and adventure abroad.” —Sheffield Morning Telegraph As “Pudge” Coombe-Peters proved, Moyes had a gift for the kind of dreadful nicknames the British are so good at. This time around it’s “Flutter” Byers, a small-time hood who gets himself killed in a seedy Soho pub (was there, ever, any other kind?). Byers consorted with criminals and owed money all over town; his death should have been little more than a footnote in the history of London gangs. But for some reason, Inspector Tibbett of Scotland Yard believes it’s connected to PIFL, a backwater do-good outfit, currently trying to referee a murderous squabble between two small African nations. And these dark suspicions begin to look more likely when Henry gets word of another assassin’s bullet—headed, this time, for one of PIFL’s earnest, tweedy justice warriors.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

“Of all Miss Moyes’s stories of Chief Superintendent Henry Tibbett and his wife Emmy this, for really pretty classic detection, is far and away the best.” —The Times Literary Supplement A bit of a delicious throwback, in many senses of the word. For starters, we have a weekend house party, that hallmark of Golden Age crime-fiction, and apparently still going strong in 1970, when this book was first published. The party is in honor of a certain Lady Balaclava, herself something of a hallmark of the Golden Age, and still, yes, going strong. Well, at least until midway through the festivities, when she keels over, having apparently been poisoned. The most obvious suspects are her Ladyship’s daughters and their (suspiciously foreign) husbands: Leave it to Henry Tibbett to head off to the Continent, there to check on the daughters’ alibis and, once again, establish his bona fides as Scotland Yard’s most peripatetic detective.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

Tibbett takes to the slopes. “A good who-did-do-it mystery, a Swiss ski resort setting, vigorous, professional writing. For a long winter evening: ideal.” —The Times If I were Scotland Yard, I might be that put-out with Henry Tibbett: He seems never to stay in England for more than about ten minutes, and he’s always taking vacations! This time around, he and the ever-pleasant Emmy are holidaying in the Alps when a popular ski instructor gets it in the neck. Everybody in town is eager to point a finger—typically at the victim’s wife, who is widely assumed to have had enough of his philandering. But Henry isn’t sure, and sure enough, he is soon to be found poking his British bulldog’s nose into a decidedly French scandale, turning up dirt on some of the swankiest swells on the mountain.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

“A mystery that throws Superintendent Henry Tibbett and wife Emmy head first into the greyhound racing underworld; a lively read.” —Northern Echo One of the oddities of Golden Age fiction was its fixation on the occult and the generally weird—ancient gypsy curses, haunted burial grounds, etc. It’s therefore something of a relief to settle in with the refreshingly literal Ms. Moyes: When a title refers to a third dog, we are not talking about some metaphysical barking: There were three dogs and now one is missing. Up in arms about this is Emmy Tibbett’s sister Jane, a stalwart of the animal-rights movement and a trial to the other locals, who are a lot more concerned with the fact that one of their number has recently been hauled off to prison for the minor crime of having killed someone while drunk. Happily, Henry Tibbett soon shows up to connect the two and restore order to the village . . . though not before being forced to dress in drag.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

A scandal that’s too hot to handle sends Inspector Tibbett to the Caribbean in a jet-setting mystery from “the author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit” (Chicago Daily News). Mavis Ironmonger is nobody’s idea of a good diplomatic wife. She drinks too much, she’s awfully friendly with the staff at the Washington embassy, and her music-hall roots have a way of bursting out at the most inappropriate moments. Indeed, it’s at an embassy reception that Mavis manages to insult a visiting ambassador and get herself hauled off to sober up. With the party winding down, Mavis is due downstairs, to say the official goodbyes, but in fact she has already made her final farewell, courtesy of a gunshot. The ambassador refuses to allow the Americans to investigate, demanding instead that Henry Tibbett be called in from London. But if you know Henry, you know he won’t be staying in DC; in an eyeblink he is headed to the ambassador’s island nation, before haring back to Washington to prevent a second murder.Praise for Patricia Moyes “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

A devilishly complex mystery in a heavenly setting puts Emmy Tibbett in the role of sleuth—from “the author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit” (Chicago Daily News). Fans of Emmy Tibbett, have we got the book for you! Vacationing with friends in the Caribbean, Emmy and Henry meet a sprightly and delightful spinster who spins a yarn about a young woman lost at sea and then (perhaps) found again. The yarn gets yet more fascinating when the spinster herself disappears, and Henry—wry, unflappable Henry Tibbett of Scotland Yard—responds in a most uncharacteristic fashion. It’s up to Emmy to untangle the clues, contending with drug smugglers on the one hand and an addled husband on the other. And did we mention the hurricanes? Emmy, of course, has resources to spare, so much so that we wish we could bring her back for a series of her very own.Praise for Patricia Moyes “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “The author has the authentic Agathian gift for mixing the ordinary and the sinister. Charmingly tea-tabled misdeeds.” —Financial Times “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

A killer of a crossword draws Inspector Tibbett into a mystery with “considerable charm, atmosphere (an Isle of Wight travelogue), and English geniality” (Kirkus Reviews). It’s a slow day at Scotland Yard, so Inspector Henry Tibbett takes a busman’s holiday, immersing himself in the world of puzzling puzzlers. The hijinks kick off with an amusing gift: Someone unnamed has sent Henry the beginnings of a crossword puzzle. Even more mysterious: The clues point to the group of mystery writers to whom Henry has pledged to give a presentation. Most mysterious of all: None of the writers are who they claim to be, and one is a murderer. Which one? For that you’ll need to solve the puzzle. Six across and then down, down, down.Praise for Patricia Moyes “The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News “A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald “An excellent detective novel in the best British tradition. Superbly handled.” —Columbus Dispatch “Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene

Inspector Henry Tibbett is taking a much-needed holiday from his job at Scotland Yard with his wife Emmy. Headed for a spot of skiing in the Italian Dolomites and some first-class people-watching, Tibbett’s worries blissfully melt away.That is, until a fellow guest who boards the ski lift alive at the top of the mountain is found dead when the lift touches bottom. Another dead body turns up, and then another, and it becomes clear that murder has come to the mountain.Dead Men Don't Ski reveals Patricia Moyes as one of the great mystery writers of her generation.

Inspector Henry Tibbett and his wife, Emmy, are enjoying a holiday on a friend's yacht, lazily sailing from one little English sea-town to the next.It should all be delicious indolence... except that Tibbett can't stop thinking about death. Well, one death in particular. The death of a local sailor.And he really can't stop thinking about it when it starts looking as though the drowned sailor is somehow connected to the robbery at a nearby manor house.

In the plush Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, law officers are assembled to discuss the control of drug smuggling. Among them is the intrepid Inspector Henry Tibbett, using the occasion to combine business and a holiday with his wife, Emmy.But when an important official is found slumped across his desk, a dagger in his back, the investigation becomes uncomfortably intimate. The suspects are Henry’s colleagues, acquaintances, and dinner companions – and Tibbett finds himself unable to account for his whereabouts.

The staff of Style magazine in London are in the feverishly exciting period just before the latest Paris fashion news is to break. They have debated late into the night about which photographs to feature, but only one of them knows that the stakes are so high that an employee will be dead by morning …Inspector Henry Tibbett must act quickly to save the life of his niece, a beautiful Style model, who is in danger of becoming the next victim of a crime as ingenious as the creations of haute couture itself.

When the handsome actor Bob Meakin was cast in the latest Northburn Films movie, he couldn’t believe his lucky stars.  But with the crew in position and the camera rolling, Meakin trips on more than his lines, falling directly beneath the wheels of an oncoming train.The producers claim this to be no more than an appalling accident, but subsequent events convince Inspector Henry Tibbett that murder was added to the script.