Inspector Poole
7 total works
Hilary and John Pansel have muddled along in their cottage in the small community of Bryde-by-the-Sea for ten years, hopeful that John's paintings will ignite a flame of interest in the art world.
Now Hilary is being pursued by a successful writer from London, Dallas Fiennes, who has retreated to Norfolk to write another bestseller to replenish his bank account. For Dallas, Hilary is no more than an amusement - one of many - but when John becomes jealous of Dallas's attentions, Hilary is driven into the writer's arms.
Then Fiennes is found dead, and John Pansel is the prime suspect . . .
Sir Robert D'Arcy, High Sheriff of Brackenshire, harbours a painful memory of what he considers his shameful surrender to the Germans in 1916. Gradually he realises nothing is known of the incident and his confidence returns, and he gains in honour and responsibility in the county.
Then, out of the blue, a man appears who threatens to reveal the incident - or to keep it hidden, at a price. D'Arcy resists this new enemy, but is handicapped by his own view of his position, his past deed, his family pride. A tragedy occurs, and the Brackenshire police investigate, but are themselves hampered by reluctance to muddy distinguished waters.
How is the ageing Chief Constable to face the problem?
Two threats from a newly released convict - a poacher framed on a murder charge - put Captain Scole, Chief Constable of Brodshire, on his guard. Special men are assigned to protect him.
But four days later, Captain Scole is found shot through the head at his desk in Police Headquarters.
A full week later, young Inspector Poole of Scotland Yard is called in to follow a cold trail in the face of open hostility from the local police. And the further he explores the murder, the more baffling it becomes.
Could Scole's First World War past be catching up with him - or something much closer to home?
Cousins James and Charles Morden run a shipping company in Liverpool that is, in the wake of the Great War, struggling. It appears there have been financial irregularities, and then James Morden's body is washed up on a bank of the Mersey. Evidence points to Charles Morden, after burning a lot of papers, having fled to New York.
It turns out there's an illicit side to the business - and that James Morden's wife, Lilith, is a major player.
The strands of the plot seem past untangling, but the family solicitor, William Turnbull, grasps every thread and draws them all together . . .
At first it seems that Lord Henry Grayle has taken an overdose of sleeping medicine, but the autopsy reveals a tiny amount of scopolamine along with the draught - harmless in itself, but fatal when mixed . . .
A poisoner with apparently expert knowledge is at work in the great house at Tassart. But from what motive, and how? Before he can find an answer to these questions, Detective Inspector John Poole is faced with a second, more horrible murder.
And when there are shocking revelations both above and below stairs, Poole starts to see light breaking on the horizon.
A wealthy banker, Sir Garth Fratten, dies suddenly from an aneurysm on the Duke of York's Steps. His doctor is satisfied that a mild shock such as being jostled would be enough to cause Sir Garth's death. It all seems so straightforward, and there is no inquest.
But Fratten's daughter Inez is not satisfied. She places an advertisement in the London newspapers that comes to the attention of Scotland Yard, and Inspector John Poole is assigned to make enquiries.
Poole's investigation leads him into a world of high finance where things are not as they seem; a sordid world in which rich young men make fools of themselves over chorus girls.
Eustace Hendel, head of the younger branch of a rich and titled family, suddenly realises that, as the result of a holiday accident, the question of the succession to the entailed estates holds more than just academic interest for him.
Eustace is in financial difficulties, and in love; all his problems would be solved were he himself heir presumptive to old Lord Barradys. Other members of the elder branch are still living - but accidents do happen.
Yet Eustace is not the only family member with an interest in the inheritance . . .