Book 1

Close Quarters

by Michael Gilbert

Published 30 April 1981

Book 2


Book 3

The Doors Open

by Michael Gilbert

Published 1 November 1989
A man who worked for Stalagmite Insurance Corporation is dead. This is a world of audits and million pound turnovers, policies and shares. How far do the private lives of professionals affect their work and what happens behind closed doors?

Book 4

Smallbone Deceased

by Michael Gilbert

Published 1 February 1977
Horniman, Birley and Craine is a highly respected legal firm with clients reaching to the highest in the land. When a deed box in the office is opened to reveal a corpse, the threat of scandal promises to wreak havoc on the firm's reputation - especially as the murder looks like an inside job. The partners and staff of the firm keep a watchful and suspicious eye on their colleagues, as Inspector Hazlerigg sets out to solve the mystery of who Mr Smallbone was - and why he had to die.
Written with style, pace and wit, this is a masterpiece by one of the finest writers of traditional British crime novels since the Second World War.

Book 5

Death Has Deep Roots

by Michael Gilbert

Published 1 July 1975
At the Central Criminal Court, an eager crowd awaits the trial of Victoria Lamartine, an active participant in the Resistance during the war. She is now employed at the Family Hotel in Soho, where Major Eric Thoseby has been found murdered. The cause of death? A stabbing reminiscent of techniques developed by the Maquisards.

While the crime is committed in England, its roots are buried in a vividly depicted wartime France. Thoseby is believed to have fathered Lamartine's child, and the prosecution insist that his death is revenge for his abandonment of Lamartine and her arrest by the Gestapo.

A last-minute change in Lamartine's defence counsel grants solicitor Nap Rumbold just eight days to prove her innocence, with the highest of stakes should he fail. The proceedings of the courtroom are interspersed with Rumbold's perilous quest for evidence, which is aided by his old wartime comrades.

Book 6

Fear To Tread

by Michael Gilbert

Published December 1953