The novel tells the story of Dalziel's re-investigation of the 1963 murder at a local manor, Mickledore Hall, and the crime is billed as the last of the golden age murders. The murder took place shortly before the story of the Profumo affair broke, and during a weekend get together at the Hall.
The guests at Mickledore Hall that weekend included a government minister, a CIA officer who specialised in dirty tricks, a British diplomat with Royal connections, and the young American nanny charged with looking after the children of the house. The nanny, Cissy Kohler, was wrongly implicated in a murder committed by the local landowner, and has spent almost 30 years in prison as a result.
Following Cissy's release, Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel remains convinced of her guilt, but, investigating further, he begins to find his certainties being eroded. Not a state of affairs Dalziel is prepared to put up with, particularly as the reputation of his old mentor is on the line. Not to mention his own.
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime. All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some more than once. In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.
A whodunit is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues to the case, from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professional detective.
Max Allan Collins is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his Road to Perdition series was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for many years and has produced numerous novels featuring the character as well.
Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a detective novel by the British writer Agatha Christie, her third to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. The novel was published in the UK in June 1926 by William Collins, Sons, having previously been serialised as Who Killed Ackroyd? between July and September 1925 in the London Evening News. An American edition by Dodd, Mead and Company followed in 1926.
Reginald Charles Hill FRSL was an English crime writer and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club in 1978.
Michael Joseph Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bestselling author of 38 novels and one work of non-fiction, with over 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 languages. His first novel, The Black Echo, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1997 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. Connelly was the President of the Mystery Writers of America from 2003 to 2004.
Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill.
The Murder at the Vicarage is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in October 1930 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.
Cat Among the Pigeons is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1959, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1960 with a copyright date of 1959. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence (12/6), and the US edition at $2.95.
Dalziel and Pascoe is a British television crime drama based on the mystery novels of the same name, written by Reginald Hill. The series was first broadcast on 16 March 1996, with Warren Clarke being cast as Dalziel and Colin Buchanan being cast as Pascoe. The series is primarily set in the fictional town of Wetherton in Yorkshire, and "follows the work of two detectives who are thrown together as partners. Complete opposites. Different backgrounds, different beliefs, different styles. They get on each other's nerves. They are continually embarrassed by each other. But their differences make them a stunningly brilliant crime-solving team."
Quite Ugly One Morning is Christopher Brookmyre's first novel which introduces Jack Parlabane, the writer's most used character. It was published to popular and critical acclaim, winning the inaugural First Blood Award for the best first crime novel of the year. Comedian Ed Byrne is known for being a fan of this story, as well as a friend of the author: he also chose it for his appearance on Radio 4's A Good Read.
Good Morning, Midnight is a 2004 crime novel by British crime writer Reginald Hill, and part of the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The title takes its name from Good Morning -- Midnight, a poem by Emily Dickinson which is quoted throughout the story. Its adaptation for the TV series is Episode 37, Houdini's Ghost (2006).
A Mysterious Affair of Style is a whodunit mystery novel by British writer Gilbert Adair, first published in 2007. A homage to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in general and Agatha Christie in particular, the novel is a sequel to Adair's 2006 book, The Act of Roger Murgatroyd.
A Man Lay Dead is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the first novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1934. The plot concerns a murder committed during a detective game of murder at a weekend party in a country house.
Black Widow is a 1954 American DeLuxe Color mystery film in CinemaScope, with elements of film noir, written, produced, and directed by Nunnally Johnson, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Patrick Quentin. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, and George Raft.
Night Passage is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the first in his Jesse Stone series.
Jesse Stone: Night Passage is a 2006 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Robert Harmon and starring Tom Selleck, Saul Rubinek and Viola Davis. Based on the 1997 novel Night Passage by Robert B. Parker—the first novel in the Jesse Stone series—the film is about a former Los Angeles homicide detective who is hired as the police chief of a small New England town and finds himself immersed in a series of mysteries. Filmed on location in Nova Scotia, the story is set in the fictitious town of Paradise, Massachusetts.
One Small Step is a 1990 novella written by British writer Reginald Hill featuring the detective characters Dalziel and Pascoe. It is set in 2010, many years after the other Dalziel and Pascoe stories, and involves the detectives investigating the first murder on the Moon.
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