«Murder Fantastical» by Patricia Moyes

An Inspector Tibbetts mystery “which only serves to prove how ingeniously well Patricia Moyes is keeping up her variations on the classical whodunit” (The Sun).Think the Country-House Murder is a relic of the 1930s? Think again, and say hello to the Manciples, exactly the kind of eccentric family you’d like to see lording it over your little English village. Sadly, the Manciples’ day as lords of the manor may be winding down: A certain Mr. Mason—a local bookie who appears to have made some very good bets—wants to buy the Manciple estate, and he won’t take no for an answer, despite their lack of interest in selling. So it’s a matter of some suspicion when Mason is found in the Manciples’ driveway with a bullet in his head.Like all the best small-town coppers everywhere, the village bobby is befuddled, calls on Scotland Yard, and is (mostly) gratified to be gifted with Inspector Henry Tibbett. Henry, though, is a little less than delighted to find himself saddled with a case that opens with an old man solemnly intoning “bang-bang,” goes on to the mysteries of the Bishop of Bugolaland, and finishes with an inquiry into just what the family was up to in Africa, lo these many years ago.Praise for Patricia Moyes“The author who put the ‘who’ back in whodunit.” —Chicago Daily News“A new queen of crime . . . her name can be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.” —Daily Herald“Intricate plots, ingenious murders, and skillfully drawn, often hilarious, characters distinguish Patricia Moyes’ writing.” —Mystery Scene