Books with author Cyril Hare

A country house murder mystery classic, as a party find themselves snowed-in on Christmas Eve with a murderer among them...The snow is thick, the phone line is down, and no one is getting in or out of Warbeck Hall. All is set for a lovely Christmas, with friends and family gathered round the fire, except as the bells chime midnight, a murder is committed. But who is responsible? The scorned young lover? The lord’s passed-over cousin? The social climbing politician’s wife? The Czech history professor? The obsequious butler? And perhaps the real question is: Can they survive long enough to find out?

Cyril Hare's short stories were mostly written for the London Evening Standard. Among them, The Story of Hermione, in which the eponymous character grows rich from the all too convenient deaths of several relatives, has been called one of the most chilling short stories ever written. Sister Bessie describes vividly the agonies of a blackmail victim and the desperate crimes he commits in the hope of freeing himself from his tormentor. Miss Burnside's Dilemma describes the predicament of a person who uncovers a piece of unscrupulous, but entirely legal chicanery by someone she had previously admired. A Life for a Life explores the possibility of atonement for one's earthly sins after death.

An Inspector Mallett mystery - Daylesford Gardens, South Kensington, is an unlikely address for the discovery of death by strangulation. Even more unusual is that the house does not belong to the deceased financier. In the meantime, the mysterious tenant, Colin James, has disappeared. Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard is brought in to unravel a complicated trail.

Cyril Hare's first mystery novel. Hare was a magistrate, learned in the law, and therefore familiar with the term "tenant for life" -- the holder of a property only while alive: that is, the property does not form part of his estate. But what is a tenant for death? Mr. Colin James may be an example: as the novel starts, he has mysteriously disappeared from the house he had rented, and gone to France. There is a murder, needless to say; also Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard.]

Originally published in 1937, Tenant for Death is the first novel by Cyril Hare, one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers. Two young estate agent's clerks are sent to check an inventory on a house in Daylesford Gardens, South Kensington. Upon arrival, they find an unlisted item - a corpse. Furthermore, the mysterious tenant, Colin James, has disappeared. In a tale which uncovers many of the seedier aspects of the world of high finance, Hare also introduces his readers to the formidable Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard. Upon first publication the Times Literary Supplement praised Tenant for Death as 'a most ingenious story' while the Spectator celebrated its 'wit, fair play, and characterization' and also declared that 'a new star has risen'.

These thirty stories, selected and introduced by fellow crime writer and lawyer Michael Gilbert, are a terrific introduction to Cyril Hare's inventive and clever Golden Age detective fiction, which often turns on an ingenious use of the law. Born in 1900, Hare was a barrister and judge and only began writing at the age of thirty-six. Some of his first short stories were published in Punch and he went on to write nine novels including his most famous, Tragedy at Law. Two of the stories in this collection feature Francis Pettigrew, a barrister and amateur detective who appeared in several of Hare's novels and was perhaps his best-loved creation. 'Dazzlingly ingenious.' Sunday Times 'Of Cyril Hare's detective stories my only complaint is, that they are too infrequent.' Tatler 'A master of the short story.' Spectator 'Neat, taut and sufficiently dipped in irony to give a sharp tang to the quirks of love and life.' Glasgow Herald

Two young estate agent's clerks are sent to check an inventory on a house in Daylesford Gardens, South Kensington. Upon arrival, they find an unlisted item - a corpse. Furthermore, the mysterious tenant, Colin James, has disappeared.In a tale which uncovers many of the seedier aspects of the world of high finance, Hare also introduces his readers to the formidable Inspector Mallett of Scotland Yard.

A classic detective story from one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers, Cyril Hare, originally published in 1951. The setting of An English Murder seems, at first, to be a very conventional one. A group of family and friends come together for Christmas at a country house, Warbeck Hall. The house is owned by Lord Warbeck, a dying and impoverished peer who wants to be among loved ones for what he thinks will be his last Christmas. The holiday decorations are up and snow is falling fast outside. The guests range from the Lord's difficult son to a visiting Czech historian. There is, of course, a faithful butler and his ambitious daughter. But when the murders begin, there is nothing at all conventional about them - or the manner of their detection. This ingenious detective story gleefully plays with all of our expectations about what an 'English murder' might be and offers enough twists and turns to keep us reading into the night. 'Of Cyril Hare's detective stories my only complaint is, that they are too infrequent.' Tatler

A classic detective story from one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers, Cyril Hare, originally published in 1951. The setting of An English Murder seems, at first, to be a very conventional one. A group of family and friends come together for Christmas at a country house, Warbeck Hall. The house is owned by Lord Warbeck, a dying and impoverished peer who wants to be among loved ones for what he thinks will be his last Christmas. The holiday decorations are up and snow is falling fast outside. The guests range from the Lord's difficult son to a visiting Czech historian. There is, of course, a faithful butler and his ambitious daughter. But when the murders begin, there is nothing at all conventional about them - or the manner of their detection. This ingenious detective story gleefully plays with all of our expectations about what an 'English murder' might be and offers enough twists and turns to keep us reading into the night. 'Of Cyril Hare's detective stories my only complaint is, that they are too infrequent.' Tatler

Originally published in 1937, Tenant for Death is the first novel by Cyril Hare, one of the best-loved Golden Age crime writers. Two young estate agent's clerks are sent to check an inventory on a house in Daylesford Gardens, South Kensington. Upon arrival, they find an unlisted item - a corpse. Furthermore, the mysterious tenant, Colin James, has disappeared.