Patrick Dawlish is used to solving crimes, not being suspected of them—until now, in this Golden Age British mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author.
Patrick Dawlish has to admire Marion Ard’s persistence. After first writing and telephoning, she shows up on his doorstep, begging for his help. Marion is convinced that a strange man has been following her for the last seven months. Tired of the police ignoring her pleas, she has turned to Dawlish as a last resort. But Dawlish and his wife are leaving on a much-needed holiday the following morning. All he can do is ask his friend Tim Jeremy to shadow her for the next few days.
Weeks into the cruise, Dawlish gets a letter from Tim. Not only was Marion being followed, but she’s disappeared. And then, her body is found—in a trunk in Dawlish’s home. Catching the next flight back, Dawlish finds himself in a position he’s never been in before—the prime suspect in a murder. With Tim missing, it becomes clear that someone has put into motion the perfect plan to take him down, but it’s never smart to count Dawlish out . . .
John Creasey, born in 1908, was a paramount English crime and science fiction writer who used myriad pseudonyms for more than six hundred novels. He founded the UK Crime Writers’ Association in 1953. In 1962, his book Gideon’s Fire received the Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. Many of the characters featured in Creasey’s titles became popular, including George Gideon of Scotland Yard, who was the basis for a subsequent television series and film. Creasey died in Salisbury, UK, in 1973.