Timothy Herring Books
Timothy Herring’s job evaluating and restoring historic buildings is far from dangerous. But when he accepts an assignment to investigate a Norman church in the village of Parsons Purity, he finds himself an unlikely target of intimidation. Reports on the church are stolen from his briefcase, a ladder he’s perched upon is pushed away from a wall, and he wakes to find a knife-wielding stranger in his bedroom. What’s more, the parish vicar and townspeople are exceedingly resistant to his efforts to restore the church roof. Timothy intends to abandon the project and the village…until a homemade bomb demolishes his car and a local man is slain in the most unusual of circumstances. With a murder trial looming, both justice and fear compel Timothy to turn from historian…to amateur detective. Sort through red herrings and clever twists as Timothy Herring races to unmask a murderer in this engrossing first mystery in his self-titled series.
Murder is committed at a medieval-style banquet held at a manor house just inside the border of North Wales. The Society for the Preservation of Buildings of Historic Interest, known to its members as Phisbe, has received an unusual appeal for financial help from a person who signs herself by a name which is not her own. The Society, though unaware of this, regards the request as unreasonable, since the letter suggests that Phisbe shall house the writer, and three children for whom she has made herself responsible, by repairing and refurbishing an ancient Welsh stronghold which she has been given on condition that she lives in it. Timothy Herring, Phisbe’s sleuth, to whom her letter is sent, feels certain that the Society will turn down her somewhat impudent request, but is sufficiently amused and intrigued by it to visit the stronghold and assess its possibilities. His visit leads to his meeting two eccentric characters, a man and a woman, who live in the manor house near the stronghold, and his subsequent investigations lead him to believe that the letter-writer may have some claim to the manor house as well as to the ruined stronghold. When a legal query is resolved by what appears to be a murder, Timothy Herring finds himself far more deeply involved in the affair than his first light-hearted meddling with it would have seemed to make possible.
Alison Marchmont Pallis never could have foreseen that her purchase of a large stone farmhouse would lead to murder. The headstrong mistress at a girls’ school had intended on a change of pace when she bought the house—Little Monkshood—with fellow teacher April Bounty. April’s one good suggestion was to call on her cousin Timothy Herring to help restore the old home. But April’s help ended there, and soon Alison was left with both a hefty mortgage…and a curse. Unbeknownst to Alison, an ambitious student-turned-witch has put a spell on the farmhouse. What initially seems like a child’s prank quickly takes a deadly turn, and neither Alison nor amateur detective Timothy could guess the fate that awaits them. New and lifelong fans of Gladys Mitchell/Malcolm Torrie will be captivated by this offbeat mystical mystery in the Timothy Herring series.
A body lies in wait for Timothy Herring. While scouting locations for a movie producer, Timothy and his wife, Alison, are charged with finding sites featuring a castle, a church, a stone bridge, a folly, and a manor house. Timothy thinks he may be able to knock out all the requests at once when he discovers the estate of the enigmatic Leigh-Fifields, but negotiations prove difficult. And Timothy is floored by the bizarre behavior he inadvertently witnesses, including a Black Mass, the secret demolition of the bricked entry to Castell Foel, and a skeleton reclining on the kitchen floor. When one of the Leigh cousins goes missing, Timothy suspects family involvement and feels compelled to seek her whereabouts. He and Alison soon discover that familial eccentricities might be masking a murder… The dizzying display of misdirection in this Timothy Herring caper will keep mystery lovers intrigued to the very last line.
