About this item
The theft of a painting takes crime-writer sleuth Donald Langham to a country house full of seething tensions, resentment and dark secrets. November, 1956. Lord Elsmere, an old friend of Donald Langham's literary agent, Charles Elder, is in a pickle - his favourite painting, a Gainsborough, has been stolen from under his nose. What's more, there's no evidence of a break-in. The family heirloom was recently re-insured for a hefty price, and Elsmere is struggling financially. Could he have staged the theft, or was it taken by one of the guests Old Major Rutherford, evasive beauty Rebecca Miles, Dutch war hero Patrick Verlinden, Elsmere's son Dudley Mariner and his statuesque sculpture fiance, Esmeralda Bellamy, are all guests at the manor. But who would steal the painting, and why Private investigators Langham and Ralph Ryland take on the case and soon uncover seething animosities, jealousy, secrets and deception, before events take a shocking turn .
About the Author
Born in Haworth, West Yorkshire, Eric Brown started writing in 1975 while living in Australia, has lived in India and Greece, and has travelled extensively in the far east. He has won the British Science Fiction Award twice for his short stories, and his novel Helix Wars was shortlisted for the 2012 Philip K. Dick award. He's published over seventy books and his latest include the sixth crime novel in the Langham and Dupré series, set in the 1950s, Murder Served Cold, and the SF novel Buying Time. He has also written a dozen books for children and over a hundred and fifty short stories.His only claim to fame is that he owns Scotland's largest collection of yeast extract jars.He is owned by a red and white setter, Uther, who exercises him regularly.He writes a monthly science fiction review column for the Guardian newspaper and lives in Cockburnspath near Dunbar, Scotland.
