The Ladies of Locksley

“Where are you going?” asked Knollis, as Brother Ignatius pushed back his chair.

“To try to prevent a murder.”

Roger Cartland was a successful and respected business man in Burnham. So all the citizens believe—until his poisoned body is found late one night in the wreckage of his car, and it becomes a case of murder. It is only after Knollis starts his investigations that the startled authorities find that Cartland was not the honest jeweller his advertisements so loudly proclaimed him to be.

When a dash of Brother Ignatius—Knollis’s eccentric friend—is added to the story, Vivian followers will know that the resulting mixture is sure to be exhilarating. Expert characterisation, tense and analytical detection and a steady stream of surprises, all make this a first-class mystery.

The Ladies of Locksley was originally published in 1953. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“Francis Vivian skips all tedious preliminaries and is commendably quick off the mark; we meet his characters with lively pleasure.” Observer

“Mr. Vivian neatly fits everything in its place.” Times Literary Supplement