George Bellairs: 18 books

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "At 8 o'clock in the evening on the 8th of November, there was a terrific explosion in Green Lane, Evingden." The offices of the Excelsior Joinery Company have been blown to smithereens; three of the company directors...

A murder and a missing body interrupt a getaway in the south of France . . . Waldo and Averil Keelagher were looking forward to a holiday in the south of France in their new caravan. But delight turned to dismay when they discovered that Waldo’s unbearable stockbroking uncle would be joining...

First published in 1973, Devious Murder is a Chief Inspector Littlejohn mystery full of intrigue, tantalising clues and colourful characters. Whilst taking the dog out for the last walk of a rainy day, Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard stumbles across a dead body. Recognising it as Charles...

A corpse in a country house brings Scotland Yard to an eerily quiet English village, in this tale by a master of British mystery. Cyril Savage has inherited the home of his wealthy and estranged aunt. But before Savage has the chance to discover her fortune, he is struck dead in the cellar...

To solve a murder case, Thomas Littlejohn contends with ghosts, Nazis, and crooked real estate speculators Known across London as one of the premier slumlords of the East End, Solomon Burt has never fallen in love with a property the way he has with Harwood, a faded manor house halfway between...

Thomas Littlejohn investigates a murder committed by the glow of a lighthouse The waterfront pub is closing up and the sailors are staggering home. World War II means a blackout in the English port town of Werrymouth, but the locals have no trouble finding their way over the Halfpenny Bridge,...

Miss Tither, the village busybody, is not the best-loved resident of Hilary Magna. She has made many enemies: bombarding the villagers with religious tracts, berating drunkards, and informing the spouses of cheating partners. Her murder, however, is still a huge shock to the Reverend Ethelred Claplady...

First published in 1948, Death on the Last Train is a Chief Inspector Littlejohn mystery full of false leads, dead ends and old-fashioned charm. Detective Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is travelling to an assignment, exhausted after an arduous journey of delayed connections, when he...

A body surfaces off the Isle of Man in a puzzling mystery by the master of the “pure British detective story” (The New York Times). The Manx Shearwater was scallop dredging—but it dragged up a body from the water instead. Considering that the corpse was tied at the ankles and weighed...

In Melchester, Thomas Littlejohn hunts the killer of a strangled poet The war is over and blackouts are a thing of the past, except in the village of Melchester, where the local council has refused to sully its streets with unsightly lamps. The night is pitch black, but hardly quiet. Young...

At the height of World War II, Thomas Littlejohn investigates a factory boss’s murder Once, Henry Worth’s sprawling factory was filled with looms and textile workers, but since the onset of World War II, the space has been given over entirely to military production. Worth is walking the...

A body in a trunk draws Thomas Littlejohn of Scotland Yard to a peculiar English village On a cobblestoned street almost too quaint to be believed, two antique dealers named Grossman and Small have set up shop. Grossman is short and meek, while Small is large and brutish, but their partnership...

On New Year’s Eve a string of grisly deaths strike a remote English hamlet For centuries Cobbold-in-the-Marsh has been haunted by the ghost of a Jesuit priest who lost his head rather than deny his faith. Since then, there hasn’t been much bloodshed in this peculiar little village, but...

First published in 1962, Death Before Breakfast is a Chief Inspector Littlejohn mystery full of intrigue, mysterious motives, and ingenious speculation. On her way to church early one morning, Mrs. Jump sees a dead body in the gutter in July Street. Frightened, she hurries on, but her conscience...