Bøker av Cyril Hare

An English Murder (1951) was the sixth crime novel by 'Cyril Hare', nom de plume of Alfred Gordon Clark and one of the best-loved names in English 'Golden Age' crime writing.

The Magic Bottle - originally published in 1946 - is the only book for children by much-loved Golden Age crime writer Cyril Hare.When Philip and his sister Mary opened the oddly-shaped bottle and found that they had released a Djinn, Philip, who knew his Arabian Nights, feared the worst. But the Djinn was an unexpected kind of Djinn, and his release was the start of some very unexpected adventures ...'His style is easy and fluent, and his books are eminently readable ... A great novelist.' Spectator

Gordon Clark was a county judge at the time of the novel's compositionWhen Francis Pettigrew, former barrister and sometime amateur detective, is plucked out of peaceful retirement in the Home Counties to deputise for the County Court judge, the proceedings offer him some unexpected insights into the lives of his new neighbours.

These thirty stories, selected and introduced by fellow crime writer and lawyer Michael Gilbert, are a terrific introduction to Cyril Hare's inventive and clever Golden Age detective fiction, which often turns on an ingenious use of the law.

Death is No Sportsman (1938) was the second crime novel by 'Cyril Hare', nom de plume of Alfred Gordon Clark and one of the best-loved names in English 'Golden Age' crime writing. The banks of the river Didder in the summertime appear idyllic: the sun is shining, the trout rising.

Famous solo violinist Lucy Carless is making a guest appearance with the provincial Markshire Orchestra, only to be found strangled with a silk stocking part-way through the concert. Everyone in the orchestra had access to the scene of the crime, and the police officer in charge, Inspector Trimble, has no idea where to start. Luckily retired barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew has been acting as an honorary treasurer to the Markshire Orchestral Society, and he is soon on his way to finding the murderer.

Francis Pettigrew travels to Exmoor for a holiday with his wife - an area in which as a young boy he was traumatised by coming across a dead body on the moor. In an attempt to exorcise this trauma, Pettigrew walks across the moor to the place where the incident occurred - only to find another dead body. Moreover when he returns to the scene with the police, the body is gone. Did he really see a body - or is it a hallucination conjured up by his return to the scene of the crime that has haunted him since childhood? In Untimely Death, Cyril Hare conjures up an intriguing puzzle whose twists and turns will keep the reader turning the pages until the final surprising resolution.

Tenant for Death (1937) was the debut crime novel by 'Cyril Hare', nom de plume of Alfred Gordon Clark and one of the best-loved names in English 'Golden Age' crime writing.

The Blitz has forced the evacuation of various government offices from London and Pettigrew accompanies his ministry to the distant seaside resort of Marsett Bay. In this strange atmosphere, Pettigrew begins to fall in love with his secretary, who is also being courted by a widowed man much older than her.

An Inspector Mallett mystery, originally published in 1939, by one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers, Cyril Hare. Inspector Mallett's stay at the country house hotel of Pendlebury Old Hall has been a disappointment.

Tragedy at Law follows a rather self-important High Court judge, Mr Justice Barber, as he moves from town to town presiding over cases in the Southern England circuit. When an anonymous letter arrives for Barber, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless lunatic. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge's favourite chocolates, and he begins to fear for his life. Enter barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew, a man who was once in love with Barber's wife and has never quite succeeded in his profession - can he find out who is threatening Barber before it is too late?