A Deed without a Name

“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Archy Mitford, and laughed in a way that choked the breath in his throat…



Archy Mitfold had always loved a mystery, but he never expected to take the lead role in a thriller. Yet there was no doubt that someone was trying to kill him. First there was the narrow miss on Trumpeter’s Row, where a car accelerated straight at him. Then there were the chocolates Archy received on his birthday—with an unsigned card—that made him ill. Most recent was the sharp push in the back that almost sent him sprawling in front of an oncoming commuter train. But why? What does Archy know that someone is willing to kill for? Chief Inspector Dan Pardoe is called to investigate and untangles more than one mystery in the process.



DOROTHY BOWERS (1902–48) was a champion of “fair play” mysteries, in which all the clues are cunningly displayed within the story. The daughter of a bakery owner, she attended Oxford University, and later became a History teacher, supplementing her income by compiling crossword puzzles. A member of the Detection Club, Bowers wrote five crime thrillers before her early death from tuberculosis: Postscript to Poison (1938), Shadows Before (1939), A Deed Without a Name (1940), Fear for Miss Betony (1941) and The Bells at Old Bailey (1947).