Nigel Strangeways Books

The faculty and student body at Sudeley are shocked but scarcely saddened when the headmaster’s obnoxious nephew, Algernon Wyvern-Wemyss, is found dead in a haystack on Sports Day. But when the young English master, Michael Evans, becomes a suspect in the case, he’s greatly relieved when his clever friend Nigel Strangeways, who is beginning to make a name for himself as a private inquiry agent, shows up to lend a hand to the local constabulary. Strangeways immediately wins over the students and even becomes an initiate in one of their secret societies, The Black Spot, whose members provide him with some of the information he needs to solve the case. In the meantime Michael and Hero Vale, the pretty young wife of the headmaster, continue their hopeless love affair. When another murder follows, Strangeways is soon certain of the murderer’s identity, but until he can prove it, he’s reluctant to share his theory with the unimaginative but thorough Superintendent Armstrong. Published in 1935 while he was a schoolmaster himself, this is the first detective novel by C. Day-Lewis, the noted man of letters who went on to become England’s poet laureate.

2009 Rue Morgue Press larger trade paperback, Nicholas Blake (The Deadly Joker). Private inquiry agent Nigel Strangeways meets his future wife, the female explorer, Georgia Cavendish, who finds herself mixed up in a nasty piece of business in this 1936 case. - Amazon

Nigel Strangeways is called in to a sleepy and serene town where all is not as serene as it seems. The strangest of murders happen in the quietest of places… Private detective and poet Nigel Strangeways has been invited to address the Maiden Astbury literary society in the sleepy and serene Dorset town. But all is not as peaceful as it seems. Local brewer, Eustace Bunnet, is on the war path after his beloved dog is found dead in one of the Bunnett’s Brewery vats. This grisly crime casts an air of suspicion over the whole town, but no culprit is found. When a body is discovered in the very same vat, gruesomely boiled down to its bones, Nigel Strangeways is called in to capture the killer and solve this very peculiar mystery in a town more perturbing than picturesque. There’s Trouble Brewing by Nicholas Blake was originally published in 1937. PRAISE FOR NICHOLAS BLAKE & THERE’S TROUBLE BREWING “He has hit another six… The plot is really exciting , the technical details are authentic , and the characters have a solidity unusual in this kind of fiction… The writing is beautiful and the wit as keen as ever … In fact, the book is a delicious entertainment .” — Oxford Mail “ Outstanding among recent murder stories. It is extremely well written ; the characters are people and not puppets, the detective work is neat and convincing , and leads to a logical but unexpected conclusion.” — Daily Mail “ An excellent murder story … The atmosphere of a small provincial town is cleverly employed to heighten the excitement of the hue and cry.” — Illustrated London News “ As good as its predecessors. A work of wit, intelligence, sympathy and style. ” — Daily Telegraph “A fun, engaging, cozy mystery.” — Reader Review “His plots are ingenious.” — Times Literary Supplement “A master of detective fiction. ” — Daily Telegraph “The Nicholas Blake books are something quite by themselves in English detective fiction.” — Elizabeth Bowen

Frank Cairnes, a popular detective writer who now embarks on a real-life crime of his own, determined to hunt down the runaway motorist who killed his small son Martin.

Seldom does a little bit of gardening change the course of history. Trimming the hedgerow one sunny morning, those incomparable partners in crime, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways, discover a tarnished locket. Hidden inside are dark secrets which threaten the nation’s democracy. Leaving Nigel disconsolate at home, Georgia sets off on an hilarious romp across the country, pursuing a clique of Little Englanders inspired by Fascist Germany. In her battle for Britain she encounters reckless gamblers and a quiet village vicar, England’s top batsman and the Radiance Girls in flowing orange chiffon, and, most suspicious of all, a peer of the realm with more on his mind than a coronet. Who is friend? Who is foe? Who would destroy the sanctity of England’s green and pleasant land?

A series of practical jokes that have been turning increasingly malicious brings Nigel Strangeways to the British holiday-camp Wonderland to investigate

Sex. Money. Drugs. Take your choice. In middle of a cold snap, with snow swirling round the imposing Easterham Manor, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways enter the warmth of the Victorian estate. But upon their arrival, the couple quickly learn that all is not as cozy as it seems. The whole house is pervaded by a sense of foreboding: a room is haunted, the cat is possessed, and the specter of the enigmatic Elizabeth Restorick looms. Confounded by the guests’ strange reactions to the very mention of Elizabeth’s name, Nigel never gets the chance to form his own opinion of the young woman. The next morning, Elizabeth Restorick is found hanged and naked in her room, a hint of a smile playing on her painted lips. Could her apparent suicide be more than just that? Would this beautiful girl, sensuous, compassionate, full of vitality, have taken her own life? Or did someone take it from her? With too many loose ends to count, planted evidence, and motives mounting, Nigel must delve into Miss Restorick’s colourful past to solve this tragic mystery.

BOOKSTORE STAMP ON FIRST PAGE. MINOR WEAR ON BOTTOM EDGE OF SPINE. NO OTHER WRITING OR MARKS ON PAGES.

Upon stopping by Plash Meadows to visit revered poet Robert Seaton, Nigel Strangeways is absolutely enamoured: like something out of a fairy tale, a perfect Queen Anne house stands among sprawling lawns as smooth as green glass, and whimsical gardens overflowing with roses. And not so far off, a dark and winding wood… While visiting with the Seatons, Nigel gets more than he bargained for. He learns about the contentious legacy of the family estate, stumbles upon a secret meeting, and at lunch, when table talk turns to murder and motive, Nigel leaves feeling a little uneasy… Two months later, Nigel is summoned back to the Seaton’s in less pleasant circumstances. A headless corpse has been pulled from the river behind the house and no one can identify the victim… let alone the murderer. As oppressive thunderstorms roll through the countryside and the mood in the house takes a turn, Nigel has only one lead, but it’s throwing up more questions than it answers. The corpse bears a striking resemblance to Robert Seaton’s long-missing brother… but he walked into the ocean ten years prior, never to be heard from again. Bewitched by poet and property, will Nigel be able to put his admiration aside and get to the bottom of this case?

The investigation of anonymous poisonpen letters in a small French village by Nigel Strangeways leads to the murder of his employer, an eminent financier

Nigel Strangeways and Scotland Yard come to the assistance of a group of boys in possession of a mysterious, message given to one of the boys in the park by a dying stranger

Wenham & Geraldine are a long-established and very well respected publishing firm, so when a printer's proof is sabotaged and libellous passages are mysteriously reinstated, they call in private detective Nigel Strangeways.

CLEAN COPY WITH NO WRITING OR MARKS ON PAGES.

SAME COVER AS STOCK PHOTO SHOWN. SCUFFING, MINOR EDGE WEAR AND SOME CHAFING ON COVERS & SPINE. SMALL TAPED RIP ON SPINE SIDE OF FRONT COVER. SOME DISCOLORATION AND BROWNING INSIDE COVERS AND ON PAGES. SMALL BLACKOUT ON FIRST PAGE. NO OTHER MARKING/WRITING NOTED IN BOOK.

Nigel Strangeways is off to a Christmas houseparty hosted by Fergus O’Brien, a legendary World War I flying ace now retired from private life, who has received a series of mocking letters predicting that he will be murdered on Boxing Day. His guest list includes everyone who could even remotely be suspected of making the threats, including several people who stand to profit from O’Brien’s death, as well as Nigel, who is invited in his capacity as a criminal investigator. Despite Nigel’s presence, the murder takes place as predicted, and he’s left to aid the local police in interviewing the suspects. One of them is Georgia Cavendish, a brave and colorful explorer who has been romantically linked with O’Brien and with whom Nigel falls in love. Convinced that the case will never be solved unless the mystery of O’Brien’s past is cleared up, Nigel heads for Ireland to learn what he can about the victim’s origins. Originally published in 1936, it’s the second mystery by Blake (really C. Day-Lewis, the late Poet Laureate of England) and without a doubt one of his best, with its dazzlingly complex plot, arresting characters, and shocking but inevitable solution.

You can’t keep Strangeways out of mischief. …On a fine August day in Kensington Garden, a young boy is anxious to test out his speed boat. Unbeknownst to him, a police informant has been running for his life and is cornered in the park. As the boy prepares to launch his boat, the man crawls up to him and hands the boy a piece of crumpled paper before bleeding to death at the edge of the pond.Realising the imminent danger, the boy tries to escape the two men now trailing him. With the help of Nigel Strangeways, he flees the park. It is only later that the boy realizes the true peril he is in – upon opening the note, he discovers the message states only his own name and Bert Hale 12.Scotland Yard is on high alert. A Soviet delegation is on its way to London and officers are working round the clock to protect against any demonstrations or assassinations. But their staff is running thin as an untimely conspiracy of crimes washes over London.As Bert and his friends try to piece this mystery together on their own, Strangeways and all of Scotland Yard are desperate to find them as the boys hold the only clue to solving this international conspiracy.