Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Ex King s Daughter written by Simon Brett and published by Felony & Mayhem Press. This book was released on 2012-12-15 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A duke’s halfwit son and brainy daughter search for a kidnapped princess and a dangerous killer in this hilarious historical mystery series debut. It’s that glorious period between the two World Wars, and the exiled king of Mitteleuropa is celebrating with a visit to Tawcester Towers, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Tawcester. When the ex-king’s daughter is kidnapped, noblesse obliges Blotto, the Duke’s brave and handsome son, to drive off to the rescue. Sadly, he is rather staggeringly stupid—with a nickname like “Blotto,” what could one expect?—but his sister, Twinks, got all the family brains, and she is inclined to be helpful. And in more good news for the purloined princess, Blotto’s devoted valet is coming along for the ride. Plus, they’ve got a really swell car. First in a new series by a master of the comic mystery, Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter is a deliriously funny parody of the Golden Age of mystery. “Brett’s latest is a complete wow. . . . Brett re-creates the aristocratic world of Wodehouse and Dorothy Sayers piece by piece. . . . A breakneck plot in the Restoration comedy mold, absolutely bullet-riddled with Wodehouseian wit. Brett’s best yet.” —Booklist, starred review “Zany. . . . Brett puts a hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess written by Simon Brett and published by Felony & Mayhem Press. This book was released on 2012-12-15 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pair of aristocrat siblings must find a killer to clear their chauffeur’s name when a weekend house party goes awry in this historical mystery. Hurrah for the return of that intrepid duo: Blotto (handsome, honorable, not the sharpest knife in the drawer), and his sister Twinks (just a bit brainier than a girl should be)! As this is the 1920s, they are of course attending a weekend house party, where—how astonishing!—a murder is announced. One of the guests has the gall to accuse Corky, the siblings’ family chauffeur, so Blotto and Twinks have no choice but to find the real murderer and clear Corky’s good name. And also, you know, keep Corky from hanging and so on. Their sleuthing will take them to an opium den, a crumbling Scottish castle, and—most thrillingly—the headquarters of the evil League of the Crimson Hand. Second in Brett’s highly praised, outrageously funny new series of parodies of the Golden Age of mystery. “Brett intensifies the satire and the action, delivering readers absolute barrages of wordplay and one-liners, which make this romp reminiscent of theatrical farces like The Importance of Being Earnest or You Can’t Take It with You. . . . As in his other novels, Brett is a devastating social critic . . . and master of devastating physical characterization. This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down, frequently, as you roar with laughter.” —Booklist, starred review

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera written by Simon Brett and published by Felony & Mayhem Press. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pair of aristocratic siblings chase art thieves to the French Riviera only to find more trouble in this humorous historical mystery. In yet another installment of the Blotto, Twinks series, his very funny parody of the golden age of mystery, Simon Brett sends his heroes to the French Riviera of the 1920s. Someone has stolen valuable paintings from Tawcester Towers, ancestral home of Blotto (the future Duke of Tawcester) and his sister, Twinks. Blotto is content to run around in a (handsome) sweat, cursing the thieving varlets and vowing revenge, but Twinks, rather more pragmatically, tracks the varlets to France. She and Blotto, accordingly, go zipping off to Paris—where they have rather a jolly time with the Left Bank bohemian set—but before the hangovers can take hold Twinks has redirected the search to the Riviera, headquarters of that dastardly criminal mastermind, La Puce! Will the noble Blotto and the brilliant Twinks recover their paintings, vanquish La Puce, and rescue the kidnapped film star I neglected to mention? Mesdames et messieurs, place your bets. Praise for the Blotto and Twinks Mysteries “A hilarious spin on the traditional British mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “This is the kind of book you’ll have to put down, frequently, as you roar with laughter.” —Booklist, starred review

Download or read book There Goes the Bride written by M. C. Beaton and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-08-31 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wedding bells are ringing, but not for Agatha Raisin in this irresistible new adventure by "New York Times"-bestselling author Beaton. Martin's Press.

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Intimate Revue written by Simon Brett and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A quick trip to the capital goes horribly wrong when Blotto and Twinks get accidentally involved in London's criminal underworld . . . It starts innocently enough at the intimate review 'absolutely everyone is talking about', Light and Frothy, where its glamorous star, Frou Frou Gavotte, has rather taken the fancy of Blotto's school friend Giles 'Whiffler' Trumpington. But while Blotto and Whiffler wait for the star outside the theatre to take her to dinner, Whiffler is seized and manhandled into the back of a cab which then drives off into the night . . . Leaving Blotto with the problem of how to rescue his kidnapped schoolmate. Naturally, he enlists Twinks's help and the two of them encounter actors, singers, impresarios, revue writers, cockney showgirls and Scotland Yard's finest - and white slave traders, who succeed in abducting Twinks - leaving it up to Blotto and his trusty chauffeur, Corky Froggett, to rescue her before she's shipped off to foreign parts forever . . . Praise for Simon Brett 'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper

Download or read book The Shadow at Greystone Chase written by Clara Benson and published by Mount Street Press. This book was released on 2015-12-06 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After her bruising encounter with the law, Angela Marchmont has vowed to give up detecting, and is doing her best to forget the events of last winter and the terrible lie she told to save herself. So when a letter arrives from beyond the grave requesting her help and reminding her of the past, she is anything but pleased. Drawn reluctantly into one final case and spurred on by her guilty conscience, Angela soon discovers a viper's nest of family betrayals and hidden enmities which have lain undisturbed for years, and which may have led to the deaths of more than one person. Despite her unwillingness to reopen old wounds, Angela knows she must put aside her own feelings and solve the mystery if she is ever to find peace. Can she get to the heart of the matter, right the wrong she has done and be happy at last? Each of the Angela Marchmont books contains a standalone mystery which is resolved at the end. However, if you are new to the series, please note that Book 10, The Shadow at Greystone Chase, contains spoilers from Book 9, The Scandal at 23 Mount Street and is to some extent a sequel, and we therefore advise reading the two in order.

Download or read book Looking For A Weegie To Love written by Simon Smith and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-12-16 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weegie, n. and adj.: A native or inhabitant of Glasgow; a Glaswegian. Meet Jack Kemp; a 33-year-old, English journalist living in Glasgow. With his older brother vanishing into married life, Jack has put himself at the mercy of dating app Hinge. Told through 11 short stories, Simon Smith's Looking For A Weegie To Love - One Man, One App, One Goal offers a glimpse into the realities of being a guy looking for love. Embarrassingly honest, hilarious and raw, Jack Kemp is the male Bridget Jones of the millennial generation.

Download or read book Death on the Downs written by Simon Brett and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-09-03 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second novel in the Fethering Mystery series! Exploring the South Downs of the well-to-do town of Weldisham, Carole Seddon is caught in a sudden rainstorm. She finds refuge in an old barn—but relief turns to revulsion when she discovers the bones of a human skeleton packed inside two bags. Some townspeople believe the remains are those of a missing girl named Tamsin Lutteridge, who disappeared after becoming involved with several practitioners of alternative medicine—including Carole’s friend Jude. On her own investigation, Jude discovers that Tamsin is very much alive and keeping close company with a very charismatic New Age healer. Now Jude and Carole have two mysteries to unravel. Why is Tamsin deliberately hiding from her father? And if the skeleton wasn’t hers…whose was it?

Download or read book The Deep Blue Good by written by John D. MacDonald and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2013-01-08 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Deep Blue Good-by is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat. Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half. “John D. MacDonald was the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet backwoods girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. Enter Junior’s latest victim, Lois Atkinson. Frail and broken, Lois can barely get out of bed when Travis finds her, let alone keep herself alive. But Travis turns into Mother McGee, giving Lois new life as he looks for the ruthless man who steals women’s spirits and livelihoods. But he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse. Features a new Introduction by Lee Child

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Another hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo! The end of the cricket season spells gloom for Blotto, until he is invited to bat against the Hollywood cricket team out in sunny LA, where rain never stops play. And so begins the latest adventure for Blotto and his supremely gifted sister Twinks. Although their mother, the Dowager Duchess of Tawcester, keeps a strict rein on her two children, she knows America is full of wealthy young men, all of whom will fall in love with her daughter - and marriage to a Texan millionaire would solve the Tawcester financial problems once and for all. So, accompanied by trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, the intrepid siblings head out to California. On arrival in Hollywood they are invited to a glitzy party where they are introduced to a firmament of Hollywood stars, directors and gossip columnists, but the mood of the party suddenly curdles with the breaking news that beautiful starlet Mimsy La Pim - the (former) love of Blotto's life - has been kidnapped. And Blotto is determined to make it his personal mission to rescue her. But in the world of old-fashioned cricket matches, gigantic Hollywood egos, film-making disasters and merciless crooks, it soon falls to Twinks to rescue her brother from the various messes he creates when attempting to rescue his damsel in distress. Will the siblings ever get back to Tawcester Towers - or will it be a case of death before wicket?

Download or read book The Layton Court Mystery written by Anthony Berkeley and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2021-01-05 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The renowned British crime writer’s classic locked-room Golden Age mystery that introduced amateur sleuth Roger Sheringham. A party at Layton Court, the country house of Victor Stanworth, is disrupted when the host is found shot through the forehead in his own library, a suicide as far as the police are concerned. After all, the gun is found in his hand, a note has been left, and the room is locked from the inside. But one of the guests, author Roger Sheringham, has his doubts. The bullet wound is not positioned where it could have been easily self-inflicted. With a house full of partygoers and servants, suspects abound. It will take Sheringham’s sharp wit and fearless investigating to deduce who brought the festivities to a fatal end. The founder of the Detection Club in London, along with Agatha Christie and other writers, Anthony Berkeley wrote numerous novels, sometimes using the pseudonyms Francis Iles and A. Monmouth Platts. The Layton Court Mystery is his first book in the Roger Sheringham Cases, which includes The Poisoned Chocolates Case and The Silk Stocking Murders, among other titles. “Certainly, Berkeley’s short and fascinating career deserves to be saluted. For fans of the classic English crime novel, his books remain enjoyable to this day. Nobody has ever done ironic ingenuity better than Anthony Berkeley.” —Mystery Scene “He was one of the most influential crime novelists of the 1920s and 1930s, but has languished somewhat in obscurity since. A troubled, dark, incredibly innovative writer . . .” —Shedunnit

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Phantom Skiers written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2024-01-11 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: font="+1"'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter Blotto and Twinks are off on another adventure - and this time they're bound for the Alpine village of Luzvimmen in Switzerland, where Blotto participates in racing the prestigious and very fast Croissant Run, though someone seems determined to sabotage his chances. Twinks, on the other hand, is on a mission to rescue her friend's sister from the sinister finishing school she is trapped in - the Convent of the Sacred Icicle. Once inside, Twinks is threatened by an elderly nun who shows her a secret glacier in which the Phantom Skiers are entombed... awaiting resurrection so they can wreak vengeance on people who are too curious... like Blotto and Twinks. Meanwhile, up at Schloss Luzvimmen, the crazed Count von Strapp is set on global domination via a deadly arsenal of Swiss cheese hardware he's planning to unleash on the world... Yes, everything's much as usual in the world of Blotto and Twinks Praise for Simon Brett 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Conquistadors Gold written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2023-05-25 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: font="+1"'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter The two aristocratic siblings Blotto and Twinks are once again launched into another death-defying adventure, this time in the civil war-torn republic of Jalapeno, in Mexico. But how did they ever get to such a foreign and distant land in the first place? For Twinks it was an easy decision - to escape her mother's match-making attempts she sets out to visit her old friend, Begonia Guiteras, who lives in Jalapeno, which is fortuitously on the doorstep of an Aztec dig Twinks wants to work on. Unfortunately, her visit coincides with the War for Jalapeno Independence, headed by Colonel Henriquez Guiteras, Begonia's father. At the same time, Twinks's excavation of the Aztec site is revealing the exciting prospect of a hoard of Conquistadors' gold - but will taking it away from the burial ground unleash the dreaded Curse of Attatotalloss? Into this confusion stumbles Blotto, who only comes to Mexico as he's missing his sister. On being reunited with Twinks they then discover Begonia has been kidnapped by Mexican government forces and both set out to rescue her. This leads to many chases and challenges across the Mexican countryside, resulting in the capture of the twins where death by firing squad seems inevitable... but will trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, as so very often in past adventures, be able to save the day? Praise for Simon Brett 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Maharajah s Jewel written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2021-01-21 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: font="+1"'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter Anyone for cricket - and a spot of burglary? /font An idle conversation on the merits of the glorious game with an old Etonian chum is just the excuse Blotto needs to put himself forward for a cricket tour to foreign climes... and so begins the next adventure for our intrepid duo, where the action takes them to India where, as everyone knows, the finest cricket players hail from - as well as the world's most skilled jewel thieves... The Dowager Duchess has no problems in letting her two children go to the subcontinent as having her beautiful daughter Twinks married off to a massively rich Maharaja offers the Dowager Duchess the prospect of a permanent solution to the cash-draining maintenance of the Tawcester Towers plumbing. So Twinks joins Blotto on a steamer bound for India, one that is full of young woman desperate to marry well there - only once having encountered the dashing Blotto, a lot of them fancy the idea of getting married before they reach their destination. And, unbeknownst to the siblings, also on the ship is the international jewel thief Archie Montmorency, passing himself off as one of Blotto's cricketing entourage. His real mission though is to steal the diamond which adorns the turban the Maharajah of Koorbleimee . . . Praise for Simon Brett 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Suspicious Guests written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2022-01-13 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: font="+1"'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter/font 'What? You mean the earl does it for money? That's way beyond the barbed wire!' This explosion of disgust from Blotto is provoked when Twinks informs him of the activities of the Earl of Woking. The gentleman in question is owner of Clusters, a stately home not far from Tawcester Towers, and he has been renting out parts of Clusters for private functions - and charging his guests! The discovery of this appalling lapse in aristocratic behaviour sets Blotto and Twinks off on their latest adventure. Determined to find out more about the Earl of Woking's activities, they discover the existence of a sinister group called Aristotours - brokers between impoverished owners of stately homes and the common people, offering 'a taste of the high life' to characters such as stockbrokers, surgeons and solicitors. And if this were not bad enough, the siblings discover Aristotours trying to infiltrate their evil practises into Tawcester Towers itself! So Blotto and Twinks set off on a quest to identify - and stop - the evil genius behind Aristotours. Praise for Simon Brett 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Great Road Race written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2019-10-24 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . perfect entertainment' Guardian Once again, the plumbing at Tawcester Towers is causing consternation for the Dowager Duchess, so - unusually for her - she gives her blessing for Blotto to take part in the 'Great Road Race' in his beloved Lagonda ... so long as he wins. The first prize of 10,000 pre-War sovereigns will help towards repairing the leaky ancestral home. Blotto elects to take chauffeur Corky Froggett as his spare mechanic, while Twinks is despatched by her mother to the Highlands, to paint water colours and bag herself a wealthy husband. But, on the morning of the race's start, enfeebled by food poisoning, Blotto and Corky are forced to employ an extra mechanic on their team - a slender, blonde and rather attractive young American... named Ronald. So Blotto and his team are pitted against Europe's finest, in a race which takes them through France, across the Alps, to a finish line at the Colosseum in Rome. Among the competitors are Florian Carré-Dagneau, indulged son of the race sponsors, Count Daspoontz from Germany, and the Italian Enrico Parmigiano-Reggiano. All want to win the race, and all want the prize money and all - with the exception of Blotto and his team - will resort to dastardly deception and fiendish sabotage to ensure Blotto's Lagonda is not the first car over the finishing line... The ninth hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo! Praise for Simon Brett: 'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper

Download or read book Blotto Twinks and the Intimate Revue written by Simon Brett and published by Constable. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A quick trip to the capital goes horribly wrong when Blotto and Twinks get accidentally involved in London's criminal underworld . . . It starts innocently enough at the intimate review 'absolutely everyone is talking about', Light and Frothy, where its glamorous star, Frou Frou Gavotte, has rather taken the fancy of Blotto's school friend Giles 'Whiffler' Trumpington. But while Blotto and Whiffler wait for the star outside the theatre to take her to dinner, Whiffler is seized and manhandled into the back of a cab which then drives off into the night . . . Leaving Blotto with the problem of how to rescue his kidnapped schoolmate. Naturally, he enlists Twinks's help and the two of them encounter actors, singers, impresarios, revue writers, cockney showgirls and Scotland Yard's finest - and white slave traders, who succeed in abducting Twinks - leaving it up to Blotto and his trusty chauffeur, Corky Froggett, to rescue her before she's shipped off to foreign parts forever . . . Praise for Simon Brett 'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. James 'Murder most enjoyable' Colin Dexter 'One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment' Guardian 'Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted' Sunday Times 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone' Jilly Cooper