Martha Grimes

A young friend pulls Scotland Yard’s Richard Jury into the life—and death—of a wealthy bachelor. The once-charismatic Billy Maples was last seen in a club named Dust, before his murder in a trendy London hotel. Proving as inscrutable, and challenging, to Jury as the case is the beautiful chief inspecting officer. …

Lines from an unknown poem are the trademark of a brutal killer preying on a group of wealthy Americans visiting Stratford and bedeviling the investigation of Scotland Yard's Richard Jury. Reprint.

When a dismembered corpse is found in the compartments of an antique secretaire a abattant, Marshall Trueblood, recipient of the precious piece of furniture, is the first to protest: "I bought the desk, not the body, send it back." Who would want to kill Simon Lean, the greedy nephew of the wealthy Lady Summerston? …

Bad tidings come to Scotland Yard's Richard Jury and sidekick Melrose Plant when clues from two corpses lead them to a remote country inn-where holiday cheer turns to holiday fear.