Showing results by author "Peter Zander-Howell" in All Categories

A man alights from a train at London’s Liverpool Street station, and takes a taxi to Scotland Yard. On arrival there, the cabbie finds that his fare is dead, and it is soon realised that the man has been shot. The victim worked for the intelligence services. This killing is clearly associated with a much larger investigation into other matters, including treason. Chief Inspector Adair and Inspector Davison are seconded to Special Branch to deal with the murder. The two detectives help to uncover a web of intrigue involving thugs, murderers – and traitors in high places.

In April 1937, the body of a vagrant is found in the middle of a little-used country lane in Somerset. He was evidently run over by a motor vehicle. Who is the man? Who killed him? The autopsy suggests that all is not what it first seemed, and Detective Inspector Leo Paget is assigned to investigate. He finds that the matter is linked to a major fraud in Suffolk, and also to a case of false imprisonment in Bristol. In the second mystery, a boy is found battered to death in the bicycle shed of his prestigious boarding school. Who is responsible? And why was the boy killed? DI Paget ...

1936. In Lincoln, two men are on trial on charges of manslaughter. The trial has hardly started when one of the jurors dies in the jury box in the courtroom. It is quickly found that she has been poisoned. Chief Inspector Acton, already present in the courthouse for other reasons, takes charge of the investigations. A suspect soon emerges – and anonymous letters point the detectives towards the same man. But is all as it seems? And even if the suspect is innocent of this murder, are his hands quite clean? DCI Acton and his colleagues filter out the red herrings, and arrive at a solution.

Two more cases for Philip Bryce. 1. An affluent elderly lady dies. The death certificate cites ‘natural causes’, but the servants are uncomfortable. A parlourmaid decides to go to New Scotland Yard, and talk to someone there. She is fortunate, because Detective Sergeant Haig happens to pass through the foyer while she is trying to explain. The busy desk officer intercepts him, and asks to him to listen to the maid’s story. Haig listens politely, but is ready to dismiss the story as tittle-tattle, when he hears one thing which makes him take notice. He goes to report to his boss, DCI ...

It is 1949. Sir Francis Sherwood - WW1 hero, landowner, magistrate - is shot dead while standing at an open bedroom window in his country house. A rifle is found in the grounds. The county police seek help from Scotland Yard. Detective Chief Inspector Bryce and Detective Sergeant Haig are assigned to the case. The first difficulty for the Yard men is that nobody with even a mild dislike of Sherwood can be found. But before that problem can be resolved, others arise...... Philip Bryce is an unusual policeman. A Cambridge-educated barrister, he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1937 under ...

A funeral service in Oxfordshire has been held for the late chatelaine of Mistram Manor. The subsequent wake is disrupted by a further death. Suspicions are aroused, and Scotland Yard is called upon to investigate. DCI Philip Bryce takes charge, supported by DS Haig and DC Kittow.

A well-dressed man is admitted to a London hospital in a coma. He dies before regaining consciousness, and it is found that he had ingested a quantity of an opiate. It is assumed that this is a case of suicide. But at around the time that he dies, a young student nurse is strangled in the hospital grounds. Scotland Yard detectives Superintendent David Adair and Chief Inspector Andrew Sinclair arrive to investigate the murder of the nurse.It is found that she had been working on the same ward that the apparent suicide had been in, and indeed had been assisting with his care. Is there a ...

A number of anonymous letters, all typed, are sent to various residents in a Sussex village. Each contains allegations of misbehaviour. Some are described by the writer as "sins against the laws of God", and others as "sins against the laws of the land". Each of the letters is sent separately to three different people - but none go directly to the persons named. Some of the accusations are serious, and the police begin to investigate. Then, a villager is found battered to death...

In 1950, Philip Bryce is suddenly given two pieces of unexpected but welcome news - one domestic, the other work-related. He is also given a new case to tackle. It’s a change from the murder cases he spends a lot of time on, but it’s tricky. This is one involving ‘demands with menaces’ – the offence commonly known as blackmail. And the first three victims are very high-ranking people. Bryce investigates, with the newly-promoted Inspector Haig alongside him. But who is the blackmailer? From where does he or she acquire the information? And just how innocent are the ‘victims’?

In August 1949, Detective Chief Inspector Bryce and his new bride Veronica are holidaying in the East Anglian resort of Felixstowe. During afternoon tea in the Palm Court of their hotel, a man dies at a nearby table. He has been poisoned. Reluctant to get directly involved, Bryce nevertheless agrees to help the inexperienced local police inspector get to grips with his first murder case, turning his honeymoon into a ‘busman’s holiday’.

A burglar is found shot dead in the home of Viscount Tallis, a wealthy industrialist. The man was equipped with a stethoscope, and appears to have been attempting to open a safe in the study. Tallis himself is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, on his way to America on Government business. Although various members of his family are present in the house, together with guests, nobody has access to the safe – nobody even knows what it might contain. It isn't even clear if the safebreaker succeeded in opening it. Detective Inspector Tommy Rees is given the case. Rees is approaching ...

A young provincial journalist receives a telephone call from a man who won’t give his name. Anticipating the scoop of his career, Marcus Cunningham arranges to meet the informant at Liverpool Street station. Subsequent events quickly draw in Scotland Yard detectives Chief Inspector Philip Bryce and his colleague Sergeant Alex Haig, as they conduct a complex murder investigation.

There are at least two reasons why Robin Whitaker wants to eliminate his wife, Dulcie. He is not allowed to drink any alcohol, nor to gamble. Dulcie controls his life to an extent that he finds intolerable. But she is also wealthy, so merely leaving her is not an acceptable option. In most circumstances Dr Whitaker thinks and acts like the very intelligent and highly-educated man he is. However, he has somehow convinced himself that the action of killing his wife is justified. He is also certain that his innate brainpower will give him a significant edge over any police detectives, and ...

In July 1949, an unpopular and deeply unpleasant man is stabbed to death in the courthouse of an English city. As the murder has been committed in a room to which the general public doesn’t have access, it seems probable that the culprit is someone involved with the business of the courts. Suspects include a number of lawyers, police officers, and magistrates. For various reasons, the local Chief Constable decides to ask Scotland Yard to investigate the murder. Chief Inspector Philip Bryce and Sergeant Alex Haig are assigned to the case. Theirs is a recent partnership, but the two men ...

Three more 1940s cases for Detective Chief Inspector Philip Bryce. The first two are set in 1949, and follow on from The Bedroom Window Murder, The Courthouse Murder, and The Felixstowe Murder. The third is a ‘prequel’, going back to 1946, when Bryce – having returned to the police after army service – was a still a Detective Inspector, based in Whitechapel rather than Scotland Yard. 1. DEATH IN AN OFFICE KITCHEN In the office kitchen of a London advertising agency, a man falls to the floor, dead. Natural causes are presumed – until evidence emerges showing this cannot be the case...

A waitress at one of the great London 'Corner Houses' dies while at work. It is quickly realised that she has been poisoned. Her death is initially thought to be suicide, but doubts soon arise. It is then found that on the previous day another 'nippy' was poisoned at a different restaurant owned by the same company. This girl is still alive - just - and it was initially believed that she had appendicitis. Even when the hospital reported that she had been poisoned, the message was misinterpreted and the restaurant management assumed that the problem was one of food poisoning. Eventually, it ...

In July 1939, three men are shot dead within a few days of each other. The incidents are all in Lancashire but in different police force areas. When it is eventually realised that the cases are linked, the various constabularies agree to call in the expertise of Scotland Yard. Detective Chief Inspector Adair, who has been holidaying with his wife and daughter in the same county, is tasked with investigating the crimes. These do not appear to be random shootings. It seems that the gunman has a motive for killing each of the victims. But what could that be? And is the grudge against each one ...

A teenage girl is assaulted in Torquay. A few days later two girls of similar age are murdered – all three incidents occurring in the same vicinity. The Devon detectives are making no progress, so Scotland Yard is asked to take over the investigation. Chief Superintendent Bryce travels to Torquay, accompanied by Sergeant Lomax. Together with a local officer who wasn’t involved earlier, they look into these tragic crimes.

A man dies after falling in front of a London underground train. The following day, another man dies after being shot while walking along an Essex road. It is soon found that the first man has not committed suicide, as first thought. He has been shot. Are the two incidents connected? Scotland Yard detectives, led by Chief Superintendent Bryce, investigate. Are the two men who they appear to be? Who would want them dead? Then there is a third murder.

In 1950, a death occurs under the uniquely-banded cliffs in Hunstanton. It is soon realised that this is a case of murder, but the Norfolk police inspector runs into difficulties, and Scotland Yard DCI Philip Bryce finds himself back in the county for the second time in a matter of months. A local amateur detective with a considerable knowledge of murder cases (both real and fictional) is determined to help the police, and comes up with various suggestions. However, initially neither he nor the police seem to be able to pin all the usual key elements – means, motive, and opportunity – ...