These Names Make Clues (1937) – E. C. R. Lorac

A chance encounter with publisher Graham Coombe leads to Chief Inspector Macdonald getting an invite to his "Treasure Hunt"; a party where attendees must solve cryptic clues in order to find treasure. With all the guests apparently unknown to each other and going under literary pseudonyms, the evening gets off to a good start - until the lights go out, and a body is found in the telephone room. The dead man is Andrew Gardien, mystery writer, and something of a mystery himself. Further…

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Mr. Fortune, Please (1927) – H.C. Bailey

I've previously come across H.C. Bailey's Reggie Fortune short stories via their appearances in the British Library Crime Classics anthologies, and I often count them as my favourites when they appear. Reggie Fortune is a medical doctor who becomes a consultant for the police. He often acts childishly, though he has a ruthless streak, and has an odd, elliptical way of speaking. He can seem omniscient at times, which is lucky, as he seems happy to cause justice to occur outside the limits of…

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Murder’s a Swine (1943) – Nap Lombard

One night early in the Second World War, Agnes Kinghof finds a body outside her block of flats, and her neighbour is disturbed by the appearance of a pig's head at her top-floor window. A mysterious person calling themself the "Pig-sticker" claims credit for both, and what's worse, the killer appears to be living within the block of flats. Agnes and her husband Andrew decide it would be a lot of fun to investigate, and they have to face down a prank war, cursed…

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The Lost Gallows (1931) – John Dickson Carr

A limousine joyrides through the fogbound streets of London with a corpse at the wheel. The shadow of a gallows is seen on an unknown street. Nezam al Moulk receives threatening packages delivered directly to his room even though no one could have entered.Ten years ago a duel was fought in Paris - and now the mysterious hangman Jack Ketch wants revenge. Will he drag his victims to Ruination Street, or can Henri Bencolin stop him before it's too late? Henri Bencolin and Jeff…

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