This image is the cover for the book Pink Umbrella, The Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

Pink Umbrella, The Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

As World War II rages, a newlywed PI must engage in some detection before his deployment . . .

Pat Abbott has put aside his work as a private detective to serve his country as a marine in World War II—though more presently, he’s sneaking in a quick New York honeymoon with his beloved brand-new wife, Jean. But because of the war, many of his old acquaintances are reluctantly returning from Paris—and one of them is now suspected of murder.

Neither Pat nor Jean is overly fond of the expatriate crowd in general—and Jean has a particular dislike for a divorcée whom Pat seems to admire—but Pat believes the accused is a decent sort, and intends to do his part in finding the real culprit . . .

Praise for thePat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

“Amusing and sophisticated.” —The Star (London)

“[A] well-plotted and mystifying case.” —Saturday Review

“One of the more interesting married teams of detectives . . . A sort of globetrotting Nick and Nora.” —Thrilling Detective

Frances Crane

Frances Crane (1890–1981) was an American author and former writer for the New Yorker. She was invited to leave Nazi Germany in the late 1930s after writing a number of unfavorable articles about Hitler. After settling in Taos, New Mexico, Crane introduced private investigator Pat Abbott and his future wife Jean in her first novel, The Turquoise Shop (1941). The Abbotts investigated crimes in a total of twenty-six volumes, each with a color in the title, with settings around the country and globe.

BANTAM Books, LONDON