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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Patricia Wentworth Reprints

Dean Street Press announces the first ten Patricia Wentworth novel reissues will be out on May 2. This is part of a major project to republish all 33 of her non-Miss Silver mysteries, some of which haven't been in print or available for many decades. The remaining 23 will be published in a further two batches in June and July.

The first ten include the four Benbow Smith mysteries, featuring the eminence grise Benbow Smith, and his loquacious parrot Ananias. The first batch also includes SILENCE IN COURT from 1945 which is an exceptional courtroom mystery.

The novels also contain a typically well-researched and new introduction by Curtis Evans.

Jacket Blurb of Fool Errant shown in the photo above:

FOOL ERRANT
“You mustn’t go to Meade House. I’ve heard...”

Ambrose Minstrel, the inventor, is undoubtedly eccentric. But even his oddities cannot account for the strange events at Meade House. Young Hugo Ross, Minstrel’s new secretary, feels that all the dark happenings centre somehow on himselfcryptic remarks and veiled glances between Minstrel and his assistant, stealthy footsteps in the dead of night, the offer of a small fortune for the worthless field glasses. And then there is the unknown girl who had called from the dark, the rest of her statement swallowed by the night? But in spite of all his caution, Hugo Ross is drawn into a despicable plot involving government intrigue and espionage. With his own life on the line, how much is he willing to risk for his country?
Fool Errant was originally published in 1929, and introduced the eccentric, elderly series character of Benbow Smith. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself—and I always do.” Mary Dell, Daily Mirror.

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