Homicide Haven

"Believe me, Mr. Petrie, places like Lyndbridge only look quiet and respectable until something moves that ruffles the surface."

Mr. and Mrs. Percy Stone are excited to have finally bought a house together in the quiet town of Lyndbridge. As it nears completion they discuss the furnishings, and argue about an appropriate name. But on the Sunday morning when Percy's father and mother-in-law arrive to inspect the property they discovere that the first item of furniture has been delivered. A corpse lies on the floor of the dining-room. The melancholy Inspector Ripple of Scotland Yard is sent down and, fortunately for him, finds Amos Petrie, the eccentric solicitor from the Public Prosecution Department, spending a fishing holiday in the district. At first Petrie is not interested. But as inquiries produce one odd fact after another, as clues arise only to collapse, as the trail leads from the country town to London's underworld, and back again, he becomes more eager to solve the problem of the murder at the house he has decided to christen Homicide Haven.

Originally published in 1935, this is a vintage murder mystery from the golden age of crime fiction.