Bøker av Christopher Bush

The murderer was clever and the planning was perfect. There was apparently nothing that had been overlooked and nothing that didn’t go to plan. There was nothing that could be called a slip. Why then was the murderer caught?Too few answers chasing too many questions is the problem facing Ludovic Travers and Superintendent George Wharton when a famous actress is murdered. The crime-investigator always looks for unusual circumstances, departures from customary routines. Travers’ trouble is that in the odd-behaviour department he finds himself confronted by a definite surfeit of riches. . . .The Case of the Seven Bells was originally published in 1949. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.“Has all the elements of mounting suspense. . . . not only well-plotted but told with the skill in depicting atmosphere and character that readers have learned to expect from Mr. Bush.” Knoxville News-Sentinel

';I have an idea that a certain man is going to commit murder. He told me soin so many words.'If Ludovic Travers hadn't been so sure the man was serious, he might not have gone snooping. If he hadn't kept his eyes peeled, he might have noticed what happened to the housekeeper's hair. It is even less likely he would have uncovered those dark deeds that took place in France, deeds that led to three violent deaths.The Case of the Housekeeper's Hair was originally published in 1948. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Christopher Bush is one of the good ones. Although he has written so many mysteries, the strange thing is that they all sound fresh, wide-eyed and dewy, as if he had written hardly any.' New York Herald Tribune

It was Murder Eve, and I was the last person in Sandbeach to suspect it.Ludovic Travers certainly isn't anticipating anything remotely resembling murder, least of all his own. But when he is invited to a strange hotel, someone does turns up murdered, and in a most peculiar way. Travers, and his Scotland Yard supremo Superintendent Wharton, are not officially connected with the case, but still co-operate with the local police. The solution will be as ingenious as the mystery is baffling.The Case of the Haven Hotel was originally published in 1948. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Christopher Bush is one of the good ones. Although he has written so many mysteries, the strange thing is that they all sound fresh, wide-eyed and dewy, as if he had written hardly any.' New York Herald Tribune

What was I to be this time? A Commandant again of a Prisoner of War Camp? Was I to get a sedentary job at the War Office itself, and begin the slow process of fossilisation? Was I due for some wholly new job of which the rank and file had never even heard? As it turned out, I most certainly was.Ludovic Travers reports to room 299 of the War Office to receive new orders. He is sent up to Derbyshire to be a training officer for the local Home Guard, and to be plunged headlong into a new wartime mystery. It is not long before he meets the ';fighting soldier' of the title, a tough veteran of the Spanish Civil War and dozens of other bloody battlefields.But when chewing-gum is discovered wedged into the barrel of a bomb launcher, it is obvious there's an individualor more than onein the camp out to make sure someone doesn't live to fight another day. And it's not long before their diabolical intent leads to explosive murder. Once again, it will be down to Travers's quick wits to make sense of it and bring the guilty to justicewith able support from George Wharton of Scotland Yard.The Case of the Fighting Soldier was originally published in 1942. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

The curtain had been drawn back and there was the bed. Wharton and a stranger were standing by it, and when Wharton moved to meet me, I saw on the bed the body of Penelope Craye.';She's dead,' I said.Wharton merely nodded.Once again, we meet our old friend Ludovic Traversnow Major Travers, and commandant of Camp 55 in England during World War Two. Nearby lives the rather mysterious Colonel Brendemysterious because he is in possession of certain fact relating to aerial defence.Travers's suspicions that all is not well are intensified when Penelope, the colonel's flashy secretary, is murdered. Then George Wharton appears on the scenethe Scotland Yard man who has already solved some strange mysteries. In the rush of exciting events which follow, Travers plays a major part in solving the baffling happenings. Christopher Bush, Ludovic Travers, and George Whartonat their best!The Case of the Kidnapped Colonel was originally published in 1942. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Curiosity is whetted by the aptness and neatness of his plots. . . All kinds of whys and wherefores could plainly be devised, but it would be hard to imagine any so satisfying as Mr. Bush's.' Times Literary Supplement';Well written, supplied with good characters, its setting and military incidentals realistic . . . in short, a good specimen of detective-story fitted to war-time England.' Sunday Times';No wonder Ludovic Travers is puzzled, and so will be the reader in this amusing variety of the orthodox spy story.' Guardian

';';This is something desperately secret,' she said. ';Something I want you to do for me . . . But I can't tell you now. It's something I'm frightened about.'Ludovic Travers, consulting specialist for Scotland Yard, receives two invitations at once to visit Beechingford. One comes from Cuthbert Daine, his literary agent. Daine is an important and busy man, and it seems strange that he would want to see Travers personally about a matter that might have been handled by mail. The other invitation comes from Austin Chaice, the successful mystery writer. He is, he says, preparing a manual for detective story writers, and needs advice on certain points.The puzzlement aroused in Travers's mind by these two letters is crystallized by a half-hysterical telephone call from Chaice's attractive wife.Travers is prepared to find a delicate and involved situation at Beechingfordbut not prepared for the murder of his host!The Case of the Missing Men was originally published in 1946. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

It wasn't I who discovered the body. I want to make that perfectly clear, if only for the benefit of a couple of club acquaintances of mine.Ludovic Travers, special investigator for Scotland Yard, commits murder? Nobut at the end of this novel you will understand why he might claim to have done so.Sir William Pelle has become a missing person, and Superintendent Wharton of the Yard is prioritizing his recovery. But when Pelle is found murdered, there are serious questions to answer. Was the well-to-do jewellery-handler the victim of a well-planned robbery? And why was the corpse partly covered in sugar?Several of the enigmatic figures formerly surrounding the deceased are going to repay close scrutiny; as is the importance of the army corporal who keeps weaving in and out of the story. It will take all Travers's customary acuity to bring the case to a successful conclusionand eventually to explain his assertion of committing murder himself.The Case of the Corporal's Leave was originally published in 1945. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';It's about a murder. . . . Here. Five Oaks, they call it. . . . A man, he's murdered. . . . Oh, no, it isn't a joke. I wish it was. . . . I said I wished it was. . . . You'll send someone at once?'Ludovic Travers, still in the army, is obliged to combine his military duties with being an invaluable private sleuth on behalf of Scotland Yard. Now Inspector Wharton has asked Ludo to track down a man in a village rife with blackmail and skulduggery. A problem soon arises howevermurder, and that of the very man Travers was sent to find. Travers eventually faces a moral quandary about what to conceal and what to reveal about his discoverieswhich could lead to someone's execution.This classic English village murder mystery involves a large number of suspects, and a breathtaking series of twists, some if not all involving the Chief Constable's wifethe novel's ';platinum blonde'.The Case of the Platinum Blonde was originally published in 1944. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Readers who have asked ';Why?' impatiently at the beginning of this book will be twice shy.' Times Literary Supplement

';Is he bad, sir?'';Worse than that,' I said. ';In fact, he's dead.'1943. Ludovic Travers, consulting specialist for Scotland Yard, is on a fortnight's well-earned leave in London from his military posting. Anticipating relaxation, he is instead thrown into a fresh mystery by a letter from one Peter Worrack, the owner of a genteel gambling club.Worrack's business partner, Georgina, has disappeared. Or has she? Ludo rapidly has doubts, but the reasons for any deception remain obscure until he takes on the case, and finds that the clues he'll need to consider include the jokes of a radio comedian, a handful of jaded club-goers, the novelty of a mouse in the wainscotingand someone desperate enough to commit murder most foul.The Case of the Running Mouse was originally published in 1944. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Good God!' I was staring like a lunatic. ';Murdered, you say? When?'';Less than half an hour ago, sir.'TRAVERS: ';I don't know why I should call this case that of the Magic Mirror for there's nothing in it reminiscent of ';Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' even if the mirror did do a certain amount of magical revelation.';As a matter of fact the title is my obstinate own. In the first place, of the many murder cases with which I have been officially connected, this one which I am about to relate was easily the most unusual. On the face of it one could at first hardly call it a case at all, for its solution presented no difficulties. Then curious doubts arose, and the obvious was far from what it seemed, and finally the whole thing seemed incapable of any solution at all. Then when the solution did come, it was so absurdly simple that one doubted one's sanity for not having seen it from the very first.'The Case of the Magic Mirror was originally published in 1943. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

The tea had brought a pleasant warmth and Travers snuggled down in bed. Once more he was busy with something that had vastly cheered him of latea perfect scheme for the murder of Stirrop.There were difficulties from the first day the blustering and objectionable Major Stirrop set foot in the Prisoner-of-War camp. Captain Ludovic Travers, his adjutant, saw troubledire troublelooming ever nearer. For there was something sinister about the camp, and there were strange happenings among the prisoners. One day, when Travers was making his count, there was one prisoner too many; the next the numbers tallied rightlyonly to be wrong again within an hour or two.An escape plan is uncovered, and then Major Stirrop was murdered. And not only the Majorfor another strange death is later brought to light. Travers will join forces once more with his old friend Superintendent George Wharton to get to the bottom of this mystery, one of Christopher Bush's most intriguing and thrilling.The Case of the Murdered Major was originally published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Great is the gain to any tale when the author is able to provide a novel and interesting environment described with evident knowledge.' Guardian

An attendant had come in with the cage. He stooped and held the rope taut. The cage door was opened, Jules called from high in the roof and at once the rat began to climb. Then something went wrong. All at once Auguste scampered down and shot back into his cage.When Ludovic Travers arrives in the South of France to say a few well-chosen words to his wife's shady relative, Gustave Rionne, he finds them unnecessary: a knife-thrust a few minutes before had put an end to Rionne's career.Also down on the Riviera, on business connected with the notorious murderer Bariche, is Inspector Gallois of the Srete. Joining forces, they are soon confronted with a second even more baffling murder. What is the connection, if any, between the two crimes? Who are the masked trapezists in the circus, and what is the significance of their performing rat? The car smashwas it deliberate? Had Madame Perthus been Letoque's lover? Ludovic Travers has been involved in some curious cases but none so strange and absorbing as that of the Climbing Rat.The Case of the Climbing Rat was originally published in 1940. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

As Travers's finger touched the dead hand, he felt the warmth, and wondered if the man were still alive. Then he saw the knife that stuck sideways in the ribs.It was three years after Ludovic Travers had acquired a painting by the famous contemporary French artist, Henri Larne, that a mysterious art dealer named Braque turned up, showed great interest in the picture, and invited Travers to visit him in Paris. But all Travers saw of Braque in Paris was his dead body: a knifealmost warm from the murderer's handwas stuck in his ribs.Travers and his old friend Inspector Gallois soon found some very pertinent questions to answer. What was Braque's ';gold mine'? Why had he been so interested in paintings by Larne? What were his relations with Pierre Larne, and with Elise, the model? But not until Travers suddenly realised the significance of the flying donkey was the murderer's astonishing identity revealed.The Case of the Flying Donkey was originally published in 1939. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';You needn't look impatient, sir. He'll be finished with you long before dinner.E Who has murdered the beautiful Sonia Vorge in her bridal bed? Why is the sinisterly looped rope hanging from the oak-beam? And what has the ghost of Montage Hall to do with it all? These are the problems confronting Ludovic Travers, and he rapidly finds that there is much more in this than meets the eyeand that there are things even Superintendent Wharton must not be told.Belgian hares, missing masterpieces, the mysterious man from OdessaTravers, with methods as unorthodox as they are brilliant, finally sees their significance and solves the case.The Case of the Hanging Rope was originally published in 1937. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Travers: ';As for my methods of crime detectionwell, I haven't any. For that my only tool is a brain that has been called agile, sharpened on crosswords rather than chess.'

Old Hunt slithered in the most amazing way and then fell to the floor. He lay between the seats, face upwards.Ludovic Travers is on his way by train from Toulon to Marignac. Along for the ride are several suspicious characters, two of whom die en route. Although the murders seem at first unrelated, Travers is able to prove the connection between the two, while diverting the eye of official suspicion from himself. After Travers learns that one of the victim's country house has been burgled soon after the murderous act, the inquisitive sleuth decides to look into the case himself when he returns to England. Soon Travers, his Isotta now replaced with a Bentley, is working in tandem with Superintendent Wharton to solve one of the strangest cases which he has yet encountered. It is one in which some of the darkest of human impulses are exposed, and a twist is guaranteed in the tail.The Case of the Three Strange Faces was originally published in 1933. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Let us know when you're dead!'Ludovic Travers had known it was a publicity stunt, all that business about the anonymous threatening letters. He expected a hoax but what he found was two men lying dead on the floor of Crewe's bedroom. To be confronted with murder at eight in the morning was no joke. Norris, the quiet, steady Inspector of Scotland Yard, certainly didn't think so, although during the weeks he and Travers sought to puzzle it all out, he many times remarked, ';It was on April Fool's Day, don't forget that.' This is one of Bush's masterpieces an intricate and baffling country house murder mystery.The Case of the April Fools was originally published in 1933. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Travers looked down at the face. On the collar was a red patch and a long streak. Across the throat was a gash.Two rival London newspaper tycoons are at daggers drawn. But when Sir William Griffith's corpse turns up in a hamper, his throat cut from ear to ear, the enmity appears to turned deadly. Or is it instead a case of domestic terrorism? Superintendent Wharton of the Yard brings Ludovic Travers into the case and together they investigate a gallery of additional suspects: explorer Tim Griffiths; Sir William's financial secretary, Bland, and his wife; local vicar Reverend Cross; an archetypally sinister butler and an intrusive crime reporter, who always seems to find himself in the thick of a crime scene. Wharton and Travers come to believe they have identified their murderer but how can they break a cast-iron alibi?Cut Throat was originally published in 1932. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';If you don't think I'm taking a liberty in saying so, my opinion is that he was knocked down first and hanged after!'Ludovic Travers starts an investigation of unnatural death by means of an automobile mishap on a rural road. His associate Superintendent Wharton is investigating a suspicious suicide by hanging at the nearby village of Pawlton Ferris. When the supposed suicide turns out to be a case of murder, Travers realizes he recognizes the corpse, despite attempts to alter the dead man's appearance. The plot is thickened by a strange letter sent to Travers by the eccentric and musical Claude Rook. As Travers and Wharton are drawn further into the investigation of the murder, they begin to fit more and more pieces into a weird puzzle, unlocking the strange secret of the dead man's music.Dead Man's Music was originally published in 1931. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

However thorough your search was, I'm convinced the murderer, or the burglarcall him what you willis still in the house.Little Levington Hall, the site of the seasonal house party in Dancing Death, is owned by Martin Braishe, inventor of a lethal gas. Unfortunately for Braishe and his houseguests, their fancy-dress ball might more accurately be described as a fancy-death ball. After the formal festivities have taken place place, nine guests remain at the snowbound Hall, along with a retinue of servants. It is at this point that dead bodies most inconveniently begin to turn up at Little Levington Hall, like so many unwanted Christmas presents. It will be up to the eccentric Ludovic Travers, with his companions John Franklin and Superintendent Wharton of Scotland Yard, to solve this most intricate and ingenious of Yuletide mysteries.Dancing Death was originally published in 1931. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';And that's not all. Somers is dead too He poisoned himself in the lounge!'When the wealthy Cosmo Revere is killed by a falling tree, ex-CID officer John Franklin and Ludovic Travers chance to be staying in the vicinity. After examining the scene Franklin determines it was no accident. At the family lawyer's request Franklin and Travers go undercover at Fenwold Hall, where the dramatis personae, among others, include a bewitching niece, a blustering colonel, and a vicar with a passion for amateur theatricals. Fenwold is a country house beset by secrets and devious murder.Murder at Fenwold was originally published in 1930. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';A cleverly plotted tale of murder in rural England.' Dashiell Hammett';It is always a pleasure to read a really complicated detective story and Murder at Fenwold fully deserves a place in this category.' Spectator

';And that's not all. Somers is dead too He poisoned himself in the lounge!'The great English boxer Michael France looks set to become the new Heavyweight Champion of the world. Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the forthcoming and decisive match. Ex-CID officer John Franklin is no exception but once the boxer is apparently murdered (twice), Franklin must join forces with Ludovic Travers once more in a layered and ingenious mystery where Michael France's closest friends are the primary suspects yet have cast-iron alibis. The final solution involves an ingenious and plausible murder technique, a fine demonstration of Christopher Bush's imaginative and suspenseful plotting at its best.Dead Man Twice was originally published in 1930. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';Have you heard the news, sir?' the waiter said.';I'm afraid I haven't. What is it?'';Plumley's dead, sir. Henry Plumley. We just got the news over the 'phone. Suicide they say it was. Anything else you want, sir?'Out-of-print for over nine decades and one of the rarest classic crime novels from the Golden Age of detective fiction, The Plumley Inheritance, first of the Ludovic Travers mysteries, is now available in a new edition by Dean Street Press.When the eccentric magnate Henry Plumley shockingly collapses and dies, a great adventure begins for Ludovic Travers, the dead man's secretary, and his comrade Geoffrey Wrentham a romp with not only mystery and mischief in the offing but murder too.The Plumley Inheritance was originally published in 1926. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

';I judge him to have been dead just about twenty-four hours. Suicide, almost certainly.'Ludovic Travers polished his eyeglasses. Inspector Wharton gruntedsure signs of impending mystery. And they were right.The car took the wrong turning and landed them in double murder dressed as suicide. In one room, made up for her principal success, Mary Tudor, was Mary Legreyepoisoned on her throne. In the next, the handymandead on the floor. Nothing initially justifies arrestbut Travers pursues his hunch, breaks a cast-iron alibi, and justifies, as never before, his reputation for unerring intuition.The Case of the Tudor Queen was originally published in 1938. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';The visionary Travers seems to be crooning to himself with considerable justice: ';We are the alibi breakers; we are the dreamers of dreams.''--Observer

';George Wharton said he hoped I'd have a nice murder for you.'Ludovic Travers and his wife choose to spend part of their honeymoon in the quiet town of Edensthorpeone place where they can be sure of peace and quiet, and where an eminent author and his famous wife might not be recognised.Unfortunately for them, however, another fugitive has sought anonymity in the nearby village of Pettistonea swindler named Brewse who has just completed a prison sentence for fraud. Brewse has made an unfortunate choice of home, because the leading citizens of Pettistone all suffered serious financial losses as a result of his fraudulent dealings, and they unite in an effort to drive him away from the village. Before they can do so, however, somebody decides upon a more permanent method of getting rid of Brewse.Ludovic Travers cannot, once again, resist the temptation to use his powers of insight and detection to discover the murderer of the man in the green hat.The Case of the Green Felt Hat was originally published in 1939. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Travers: ';As for my methods of crime detectionwell, I haven't any. For that my only tool is a brain that has been called agile, sharpened on crosswords rather than chess.'

Palmer saw him out, and gave that little deprecatory cough.';If you'll pardon me, sir, is it another murder?'';Looks like it,' Travers told him from the door.This affair of Ludovic Travers and George ';the General' Wharton is packed full with sleuthing excitement, during which three men die, and the careers of four people are ruined before the round-up is accomplished. The leaning man, the kingpin of the plot, meets his death outside a London theatre.Travers soon finds a link between this case and the murder of a Maharajah, and is curious to know why the actor, Sir Jerome Haire, is involved. In finding out, he brings under suspicion Joy and Bernice Haire, Sir Jerome's daughters and music-hall stars in their own right. The travels of a priceless emerald ring add mystery to an already perplexing problem, elucidated by the keen deduction of Ludovic Travers.The Case of the Leaning Man was originally published in 1938. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Mr. Bush has produced another good detective story, this time with emotional complications such as the experts say should have no place in this type of fiction. But the experts are not always right.'--New York Times

Travers looked down at the thing that sprawled. The head gave a last movement, and there was a faint sound like a tired moan. The time was eight minutes to eight.Ludovic Travers is approached by his sister after tales of strange doings and horrible night shrieks in a country house called Highways. Travers makes an investigatory visit, where he finds stabbed to death the bizarre old man who was living at the house with his 10-year-old granddaughter. Among the prime suspects are the child's tutor, and a classical pianist who happens to be in the village on holiday. But airtight alibis abound, hinging on an ingenious manipulation of time. Chief Constable Major Tempest and his subordinates Inspector Carry and Sergeant Polegate are delighted to have the resourceful Travers's help in finding the murderer.The Case of the Missing Minutes was originally published in 1937. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Refreshingly different from that of the general run of detective novels. . .'--Times Literary Supplement

';It's terrible. It's a body . . . the head cut off . . . and the hands.'Who isor wasthe headless, handless corpse, found discarded on a bonfire? This baffling case of identity leads to a dead doctor who, according to information received, committed murder himself and was in turn murdered by his victim. A contradiction in termsor is it? The solution to this mystery involves a taciturn match-seller, unbreakable alibis and several double identities on the part of both the murderer and the victim. The case is dazzling in its ingenuity, as well as being one of the more chilling cases in Ludovic Travers's colourful investigative career. This is a story containing surprises which will satisfy all fans of golden age detective fiction.The Case of the Bonfire Body was originally published in 1936. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Travers: ';As for my methods of crime detectionwell, I haven't any. For that my only tool is a brain that has been called agile, sharpened on crosswords rather than chess.'

Murder on Mondays! Greatest prophecy of the century! T.P. Luffham was murdered!Ferdinand Pole of the Murder League claims that, since 1918, thirteen murders have been committed on a Monday. A sleazy economist has now been slain, followed the next week by a blameless actressboth on Monday. While the press have a field day, it is up to Inspector Wharton of Scotland Yard, along with his inspired amateur co-investigator Ludovic Travers, to see if London has a new Jack the Ripper at work. The eccentric parrot-owning Pole seems to be out to implicate himself in the murders, though whether this is bravado or fact remains very much in question . . . This sly, often satirical, whodunit shows a master of classic mystery on top form.The Case of the Monday Murders was originally published in 1936. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.Travers: ';As for my methods of crime detectionwell, I haven't any. For that my only tool is a brain that has been called agile, sharpened on crosswords rather than chess.'

Travers turned to Wharton. ';I ask you, George, as a man of the worlddo schoolmasters and mistresses have souls full of glamour and passion and intrigue? Are they torn by the same emotions that rend people like us?'At first the old schoolmaster's poisoning was judged a suicide. But there were too many suspicious circumstances to satisfy Inspector Wharton of Scotland Yard. Why, for instance, had the dead man clung to a large book as he expired? And where is Flint, the school caretaker? Wharton, accompanied as ever by inspired amateur sleuth Ludovic Travers, journey to the grim pile of Woodgate Hill school to find a shocking and unpredictable solution to this murder . . . and then another.The Case of the Dead Shepherd was originally published in 1934. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.';Thoroughly engrossing, well written and full of legitimate puzzlement.'Dorothy L. Sayers