Philip Castleford was more than worried. Were all those years he had spent attending to Winifred's whims, enduring her habits, to count for nothing? He hadn't minded it too much for he thought that his daughter Hilary would have security - but now he found her shabbily treated and his own position undermined by his wife's grasping brothers. Such were the affairs at Carron Hill one fine morning when Winifred was discovered murdered in the deserted summer house ...

It was not altogether surprising that Ambrose Brenthurst was found brutally murdered outside Fountain Court the night he had presided over the diner meeting of the 'Hernshaw Thirteen Club'. Many were the potential murderers - some of them guests at the diner. But when a second murder takes place it precipitates a crisis in which investigator Sir Clinton Driffield must penetrate a maze of conflicting evidence to spot the murderer.

'Mr J. J. Connington is a name revered by all specialists on detective fiction' Spectator In Clinton Driffield's second case he must tangle with a plethora of crimes including robbery, murder and a disappearance - not to mention a Family Curse, and a less than sympathetic victim ...

Nine men formed a sweepstake syndicate. One man died. To forestall legal argument they agreed that only living members should share any winnings. They won £241,920. And then the deadly arithmetic began. Nine less one left eight shares worth £30,240; Eight less one left seven shares worth £34,560; Seven less one left six shares worth £40,320; Six less one left five shares worth £48,384. Who was killing for profit? And who would be left to collect?

The terms of her father's will tie Joyce to her Aunt Evelyn until she is 25 - or Evelyn will inherit the entire estate. But Joyce wants to marry Leslie, and the money she will eventually inherit would be a considerable help to him in his career. Aunt Evelyn is a violent drunk, and one evening Joyce speculates to Leslie that if she fended of one of her aunt's violent attacks and her aunt died of 'one of her heart attacks' she could hardly be held accountable - could she? Leslie isn't really sure. And the next day Aunt Evelyn dies suddenly.

The Constable was content to call it a suicide pact. All the evidence was there. The bodies of John Barratt and Mrs Callis were discovered in a lovers' nook among some bracken. Beside them was a pistol with Barratt's fingerprints on it, and torn up letters in the handwriting of Barratt and Mrs Callis were scattered around. Arrangements for the elopement had apparently been complete. Why had their plans fallen through? Why had they turned their backs on the railway station with tickets to London in their pockets? Sir Clinton Driffield is not so sure that the obvious solution is the right one ...

When two corpses are found in a small English village, all who have a go at solving the crime are completely baffled, and spur the local Chief Constable to investigating. Local gossip, blackmail and a family feud form the ingredients that point towards the perpetrator ... 'A top-notch murder yarn that is guaranteed to leave its readers baffled until the 11th hour' Boston Herald