Lord Edward Corinth & Verity Browne
11 total works
August 1939, the last hot days of a perfect English summer - war is now certain, this week, next week . . . soon. Lord Edward Corinth, newly married, is determined to spend these last days of peace quietly with Verity in their new house, The Old Vicarage, in the sleepy Sussex village of Rodmell - a honeymoon of sorts. Fight against it as he might, for Edward it turns out to be a busman's holiday. The poet, Byron Gates is bizarrely murdered after the village fete - executed, in fact, his head chopped off on a wooden block - and Edward is asked to investigate.
Alas, murder is not yet done with Verity and Edward. For even in the hallowed studios of Broadcasting House, murder dares to rear its ugly head while Verity is being interviewed about her interesting life as a war correspondent. And before she can take up her new foreign posting, reporting on the international crisis for the New Gazette, there are more deaths, and the intrepid couple embark on one of their most dangerous investigations to date.
Praise for David Roberts:
'Roberts just keeps getting better with each book.' Publishers Weekly
'Roberts pays meticulous attention to period detail and the result is a really well crafted and charming mystery story.' Daily Mail
'This is a witty and meticulous recreation of the class-ridden middle England of the 1930s... a perfect example of golden age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away.' Guardian
'Roberts has captured brilliantly the light and shade of pre-War Britain under the falling shadow of Nazism.A gripping, richly satisfying whodunit, with finely observed characters, sparkling with insouciance and stinging menace.' Peter James
It is the spring of 1937 and distinguished economist Lord Benyon is on the Queen Mary, bound for New York harbour. His highly important mission is to persuade President Roosevelt to provide Britain with arms and money if it comes to war with Germany - as seems very likely. Many people want the mission to fail and will not stop at murder to achieve their aim. Major Ferguson of Special Branch and a friend of Lord Edward Corinth, asks him to keep an unofficial eye on Benyon who refuses to be surrounded by policemen on the Queen Mary but is prepared to have Edward at his side. Also on board is Verity Browne, going to America at the Party's behest to liaise with Communist sympathisers there.
But it is not Lord Benyon who is murdered but the racist senator from South Carolina who has managed to enrage a number of his fellow passengers - not least Warren Fairley, the black singer, actor and communist. But surely Fairley is too obvious a suspect? Might not the murderer be the German aeronautical engineer, or Marcus Fern, the city banker who is acting as Benyon's secretary? And what about Bernard Hunt, the art dealer, or even the young American union organiser Sam Forrest, with whom Verity is so taken?
Praise for David Roberts' previous novels: 'A gripping, richly satisfying whodunit with finely observed characters, sparkling with insouciance and stinging menace' - Peter James. 'A classic murder mystery with as complex a plot as one could hope for and a most engaging pair of amateur sleuths' - Charles Osborne, author of "The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie". 'This is a witty and meticulous recreation of the class-ridden middle England of the 1930s...a perfect example of golden-age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away' - "Guardian". 'The plot is both intricate and enthralling, like Poirot on the high seas, and lovingly recorded by an author with a meticulous eye and a huge sense of fun' - "Michael Dobbs".
A murder mystery featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne.
With Winston Churchill receiving unauthorised information on Britain's rearmament program, the Foreign Office brings in Lord Edward Corinth to investigate the leaks. However, Edward rapidly abandons the investigation to concentrate on the murder of a Foreign Office official, who might have been one of Churchill's sources. All too soon, he finds himself entangled in a web of deception threatening the very security of the United Kingdom.
All too soon there is a second murder. Setting out for Spain to find the victim's son, Edward joins his friend Verity Browne, whom he fears is in extreme peril. Verity is reporting on the Civil War and is headed for Guernica, where a source has informed her that an attack will take place. But Edward and Verity arrive in the small town just in time to witness a merciless aerial bombardment on the civilian population.
And the danger isn't over yet, as near-certain death awaits Edward in London, where nothing - not even the woman he loves - is what is seems.
Praise for David Roberts:
'Roberts just keeps getting better with each book ... highly recommended for fans of Love in a Cold Climate and Gosford Park' Publishers Weekly
'A really well-crafted and charming mystery story' Daily Mail
'A perfect example of golden-age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away' Guardian
A murder mystery featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne
When the Nazis seize Austria in March 1938, Verity Browne - the New Gazette's correspondent in Vienna - is one of the first to be deported as a well-known anti-Fascist. Before she leaves she is able to arrange for a young Jew, Georg Dreiser, to escape to England, but where he expects to find safety, he finds danger and sudden death.
Lord Edward Corinth also finds death where it is least expected, in the grounds of Lord Montbatten's country house, Broadlands. There to meet his friend the Maharaja of Batiala, Edward's nephew Frank stumbles on a corpse. The police are satisfied that the man, identified as Peter Gray, a painter of some repute, died of natural cause but his niece, Vera, persuades Edward that all is not as it seems.
Between them, Edward and Verity investigate two murders and Verity's eyes are opened to what has been obvious to all their friends, that Edward is the man she loves and that her destiny is to be his partner in life as well as in crime.
The Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne Omnibus (Books 1-4)
by David Roberts
Sweet Poison
It is August 1935 and the Duke of Mersham is hosting one of his influential parties, bringing together public figures interested in improving Anglo-German relations. One of his guests is General Sir Alistair Craig VC, who swallows poison in the duke's excellent port and dies just as latecomer Lord Edward Corinth and journalist Verity Browne arrive on the scene. The unlikely pair - the younger son of a duke and a journalist committed to the Communist Party find common ground as they seek for the truth behind the genera's murder and discover that everyone present - including the duke himself - had a motive for wanting Sir Alistair out of the way. First published in hardback in 2000, this classic detective story introducing Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne was much acclaimed.
Bones of the Buried
Second in the popular Lord Edward Corinth murder-mystery series; This exciting 1930s murder-mystery is the second in the Lord Edward Corinth/Verity Browne series, following the success of David Roberts' first book Sweet Poison. Corinth returns to London after six months in New York to find his sleuthing partner, journalist Verity Browne, Insisting he investigate a murder in Madrid. It is 1936 and Spain is about to erupt into civil war. Verity is now correspondent for a national newspaper and passionately committed to defending the Spanish republic against the Fascist threat. Her lover, David Griffiths-Jones, a senior figure in the Communist Party, has been convicted of murder and Verity appeals to Edward to help save him from the firing squad, even though she knows he sees him as his rival in love
Hollow Crown
It is October 1936. Lord Edward Corinth is invited by his friend Joe Weaver, the press lord and close friend of the British royal family, to recover certain letters stolen from the king's intimate friend Wallis Simpson. There is no mystery about who has taken these letters - a woman called Mrs Raymond Harkness, a former mistress of the king and a close friend of Edward's.
When Edward goes down to Haling, the country house of conservative MP Leo Scannon where Mrs Harkness is also a house guest, he is far from easy in his mind at the task before him, but he cannot guess that retrieving stolen goods is to be complicated by murder...
Dangerous Sea
Fourth in the Corinth/Browne Murder Mystery Series.
Lord Benyon is on the Queen Mary, bound for New York. It is 1937, and his mission is to persuade President Roosevelt to supply Britain with arms and money if it comes to war with Germany. Those who want him to fail will not stop at murder to achieve their aim. But, when Benyon refuses police protection, Special Branch asks Lord Edward Corinth to keep an unofficial eye on him.
However, it is not Benyon who is murdered but a racist senator from South Carolina, who has enraged many of his fellow passengers - not least Warren Fairley, the black singer. But if Fairley is too obvious a candidate, there are other suspects. How about union organiser Sam Forrest, with whom Verity Browne - going to America at the Party's behest to liaise with Communist sympathisers - is so taken? The thrilling denouement is yet another triumph for classic murder-mystery writer David Roberts.
A murder mystery featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne.
After six months in New York, Lord Edward returns to London only for his old sparring partner, Verity Browne, to convince him to investigate a murder in Madrid. Her lover, David Griffith-Jones, has been convicted for the murder of a fellow Communist Party member and is set to face a firing squad.
Against all odds, Edward clears David's name and heads back to England. Here, Edward discovers another murder, surprisingly connected to the murder back in Spain. And it isn't too long before a third mysterious murder comes to light...
Edward and Verity join forces once again in search of the truth. But danger is all around them, and there is no guarantee that justice will be served and the murders avenged...
Praise for David Roberts:
'A classic murder mystery [...] and a most engaging pair of amateur sleuths' Charles Osborne, author of The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie
'A gripping, richly satisfying whodunit with finely observed characters, sparkling with insouciance and stinging menace' Peter James
'A really well-crafted and charming mystery story' Daily Mail
'A perfect example of golden-age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away' Guardian
A murder mystery featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne.
Verity Browne and Lord Edward Corinth are attending a memorial in Westminster when the service is interrupted by a young woman's desperate cry for help. Too late, they find Maude Pitt-Messanger's father slumped in his seat, stabbed to death with an ancient Assyrian dagger.
Verity travels to Swifts Hill, Sir Simon Castlewood's Kent estate, to investigate the murder, where she begins to discover more about Maud's father: the old man was selfish and cruel, and had prevented Maude from marrying the man she loved, making his daughter's life miserable.
When Maud herself is stabbed to death with a dagger from Sir Castlewood archaeological collection, Edward and Verity join forces to unmask the killer. However, Verity's growing attraction to young German aristocrat Adam von Trott drives a wedge between the two friends - bringing them both unhappiness and endangering the outcome of their investigation...
Praise for David Roberts:
'A classic murder mystery [...] and a most engaging pair of amateur sleuths' Charles Osborne, author of The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie
'A really well-crafted and charming mystery story' Daily Mail
'A perfect example of golden-age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away' Guardian