In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerism's, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the imposter's plan and his life.

Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard is highly skeptical of a young woman's tale of her brutal kidnapping and imprisonment in a musty attic--until an enterprising young lawyer shines a light on some dark corners in The Franchise, a decrepit old country house.

It was eight years since Patrick had vanished leaving a pitiful note, "I'm sorry but I can't bear it any longer. Don't be angry with me, Patrick." Now it seemed, he had returned -- just in time to claim the family inheritance. But if Patrick really had committed suicide, who was this mysterious young man claiming to be him and calling himself Brat Farrar?

"From the Paperback edition."

When a woman's body washes up on an isolated stretch of coast, Inspector Alan Grant is on the case. But the inquiry turns into a nightmare of false leads and baffling clues. Was there anyone who didn't want the lovely screen actress dead?

Leys Physical Training College was famous for its excellent discipline and Miss Lucy Pym was pleased and flattered to be invited to give a psychology lecture there. But she had to admit that the health and vibrant beauty of the students made her feel just a little inadequate. Then there was a nasty accident -- and suddenly Miss Pym was forced to apply her agile intellect to the unpleasant fact that among all those impressively healthy bodies someone had a very sick mind...

A classic mystery from the Golden Age of detection fiction.
Outside a London theatre a throng of people wait expectantly for the last performance of a popular musical. But as the doors open at last, something spoils all thought of entertainment: a man in the queue is found murdered by the deadly thrust of a stiletto."

On his train journey back to Scotland for a well-earned rest, Inspector Grant learns that a fellow passenger, one Charles Martin, has been found dead. It looks like a case of misadventure -- but Grant is not so sure. Teased by some enigmatic lines of verse that the deceased had apparently scrawled on a newspaper, he follows a trail to the remote Outer Hebrides. And though it is the end of his holiday, it is also the beginning of an intriguing investigation into the bizarre circumstances shrouding Charles Martin's death...

"From the Paperback edition."

Působivý detektivní příběh, ve kterém jsou dvě ženy neprávem obviněny z únosu patnáctileté školačky. Román se odehrává v poklidné venkovské obci a hlavním vyšetřovatelem je právník, který se dosud žádnými kriminalistickými případy nezabýval. Je variantou skutečného případu, který vzbouřil anglické veřejné mínění.