Bookseller Theodore Terhune is asked to research the history of a decaying Elizabethan mansion for its new owner, Dr. Vicente Salvaterra. Long abandoned and shunned by the locals, the house has beautiful views but is rumoured to be cursed. Digging through the past, Terhune uncovers strange ocurances and disappearances that span several centuries.. But the bigger mystery is the motivation of the wealthy Salvaterra to relocate his family - his vivacious sister, reserved wife, and highly strung stepson, Andres - from Panama to live in rural Kent. Not long after the family settle in their new home a tragedy occurs, and Terhune and the police must decide whether it is an accident or murder. Second in the Terhune series, House with Crooked Walls combines murder mystery and gothic novel in an entertaining package.
Bookseller Theodore Terhune investigates an old homicide case after he stumbles on the freshly murdered corpse of seaman Frank Smallwood, a man thought to have been killed nearly twenty years previously during a houseboat party on the Thames. Smallwood’s alleged killer, Charles Cockburn, was convicted and served a lengthy prison sentence before being killed in the war. So who wants Smallwood dead now? And what actually happened between Smallwood and Cockburn all those years ago? A book of poetry found lying near the body puts Terhune on the trail of an unlikely murderer, in this entertaining blend of detective story and courtroom drama.
Work for the Hangman
Bookseller Theodore Terhune buys the substantial library of recently deceased James Strudgewick, a wealthy Yorkshireman who drowned at a local beauty spot. Deemed an accidental death by the coroner, the locals remain suspicious, and dislike Strudgewick’s nephew and heir. But Ronald Strudgewick has a cast-iron alibi – he was 30 miles away visiting with friend Robert Shilling in Thirsk at the time of his uncle’s death, and the police have already picked over his movements. But Terhune and his friend Julia have met Shilling before, and know there is a mysterious accidental death in his past too…
Ten Trails to Tyburn
When well known local vagrant "Peter the Hermit" dies of seemingly natural causes, the police uncover an old Bulgarian newspaper and a beautiful bejewelled comb worth substantial money in his ramshackle hut in the woods. Before long, bookseller Theodore Terhune receives a series of five anonymous short stories, each subtitled "Ten Trails to Tyburn" that clearly aim to help Terhune (and the police) solve the mystery behind Peter's death. A crime classic from 1944 back in print for the first time; the fifth book in the Theodore Terhune series.
A Case of Books
When Theodore Terhune’s wealthy client Arthur Harrison is found stabbed and his library ransacked, the police suspect the murderer was looking for a book. Harrison collected rare early printed books called incunabula, but as the provenance of such titles is well documented in the book world it would make little sense to steal one. Terhune is hired by the estate to sell off Harrison’s library, but another armed break-in and a very strange book auction suggest the killer is still searching for something. Soon Terhune himself becomes a target, but what exactly does the murderer want? And why are crosses appearing in the turf of local fields?
And a Bottle of Rum
On the way home one evening in the Romney Marsh, Bookseller Theodore Terhune and friend Julia are caught in heavy coastal fog. A passing lorry provides some guidance on the narrow country roads, but the night ends with intentional mishap and a dead body. It becomes clear that the constable’s death was not accidental, but what possessed Tom Kitchen to try to stop a lorry singlehandedly at 1am? His widow is frightened; local farms vandalized; his home ransacked. Suspicion centres around the Load of Hay, an ancient Dickensian pub full of unsavoury characters, and Terhune finds the clues may lay in the history of 18th century smuggling in the Romney Marsh.
