The Inspector Littlejohn Mysteries Series

On New Year’s Eve a string of grisly deaths strike a remote English hamlet For centuries Cobbold-in-the-Marsh has been haunted by the ghost of a Jesuit priest who lost his head rather than deny his faith. Since then, there hasn’t been much bloodshed in this peculiar little village, but all that changes during the icy week just after Christmas. First a policeman is found drowned in the canal, a tragic death that shows signs of foul play. Then, as the whole town gathers for midnight mass on New Year’s Eve, the prodigal son of the manor house staggers down the aisle. The congregation thinks he’s drunk—until they notice the blood seeping down his side. Detective-Inspector Thomas Littlejohn and Detective-Sergeant Robert Cromwell are called in from Scotland Yard to oversee the investigation. As they dig into the quirks and secrets of this eerie little enclave, they find that Cobbold is haunted by more than a decapitated priest.

A body in a trunk draws Thomas Littlejohn of Scotland Yard to a peculiar English village On a cobblestoned street almost too quaint to be believed, two antique dealers named Grossman and Small have set up shop. Grossman is short and meek, while Small is large and brutish, but their partnership seems happy enough until the day when old Miss Adlestrop purchases the large oak chest in the window and finds Mr. Grossman stuffed inside it—stone dead. The cozy English hamlet is thrown into an uproar, overwhelming the local constabulary and requiring the services of Detective-Inspector Thomas Littlejohn. Cool-headed and never in a hurry, Littlejohn has solved his fair share of village murder cases. But when the key to the fatal chest goes missing, Littlejohn discovers the community to be so infested with jealousies and secrets that he begins to envy the dead man.

At the height of World War II, Thomas Littlejohn investigates a factory boss’s murder Once, Henry Worth’s sprawling factory was filled with looms and textile workers, but since the onset of World War II, the space has been given over entirely to military production. Worth is walking the grounds late one night when he smells gas coming from an unused shed. When he enters to investigate, the door slams and locks behind him. He is dead in minutes. Detective-Inspector Littlejohn is called down from London to investigate the murder and finds the entire town upended by the question of Worth’s inheritance. Three children and a wife are feuding over the man’s fortune, and they are not afraid to kill to get their share. As British troops fight and die overseas, Littlejohn finds that the fiercest battlefield of all may be on the home front.

Thomas Littlejohn investigates a murder committed by the glow of a lighthouse The waterfront pub is closing up and the sailors are staggering home. World War II means a blackout in the English port town of Werrymouth, but the locals have no trouble finding their way over the Halfpenny Bridge, where a small toll shaves a mile off their drunken walk. A group of them are about to cross when a ship comes into the channel, and the lighthouse snaps on to guide its way. As the beams rake across the harbor, the sailors see two men struggling by the shore. One overpowers the other, killing him in the surf. The murderer escapes, and Detective-Inspector Littlejohn ventures down from London to find him. Two more murders follow, bringing this center of shipping to a halt just when England needs it most.

In Melchester, Thomas Littlejohn hunts the killer of a strangled poet The war is over and blackouts are a thing of the past, except in the village of Melchester, where the local council has refused to sully its streets with unsightly lamps. The night is pitch black, but hardly quiet. Young lovers are rendezvousing, a police constable is helping himself to a few of his neighbor’s partridges, and a poet is going to visit his beloved, a new verse on his lips. She will never hear it, sadly, for the young man is stopped along his way—stopped forever, by the tight grip of the garrote. The local constabulary wastes no time reaching out to Scotland Yard, which sends its best man: the easygoing detective-inspector Littlejohn. In Melchester he will find unspeakable secrets—and one citizen whose soul is as dark as the village night.

To solve a murder case, Thomas Littlejohn contends with ghosts, Nazis, and crooked real estate speculators Known across London as one of the premier slumlords of the East End, Solomon Burt has never fallen in love with a property the way he has with Harwood, a faded manor house halfway between London and the sea. When the owner refuses to sell, Burt uses every trick he knows to buy the house out from under the man and convert it into apartments. Now Burt owns the property lock, stock, and barrel—but he will have to share it with the ghosts. When Burt is found murdered, the tenants fear a ghost might be responsible. Detective-Inspector Littlejohn is called down from London to solve the case and restore reason. But what he find lurking in the back corners of Harwood is far more dangerous than a poltergeist.

A relaxing holiday is cut short by murder for the Scotland Yard detective in a mystery by “one of [the genre’s] subtlest and wittiest practitioners” (The New York Times). Set on having a relaxing holiday in Tilsey, Detective Inspector Littlejohn once again finds himself pulled into a baffling investigation. When local judge Nicholas Crake is found dead in his home, Littlejohn and his partner Sergeant Cromwell have the difficult task of sifting out the murderer from a mass of feuding neighbors, friends, and family. Could Crake’s faithless wife have had the means? Or his strange brother-in-law? Or what about the superintendent, who seems to be doing more to impede the case than solve it? Faced with family secrets, old grudges, and more than one dead body, Littlejohn must unravel a web of deceit to get to the bottom of this case.

When a remote farm is visited by a killer, Chief Superintendent Littlejohn must uncover the secrets of a tight-lipped clan in this British mystery. When police investigate a fire at Harry Quill’s desolate farm, they find the owner dead and his invalid wife unconscious. Mrs. Quill had apparently started the fire as a call for help. Already investigating a criminal gang raiding isolated farms, Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell are on the case. But the gang was just arrested in Northern Scotland. Surely, they cannot be involved? The Quill family is old and widespread, a closed shop to all except its own, who keep its many secrets among themselves. They are headed by Aunt Clara, a formidable matron who rules by fear. To get to the truth of who killed Harry, Littlejohn must engage in a battle of wits with Claraand her crafty coven of lawyers.

The case of a missing antiques dealer brings Scotland Yard to France . . .   When Samuel Cheever, a shady dealer, goes to France to buy antiques and never returns, people begin to ask questions, and Superintendent Littlejohn is sent to uncover the mystery. Then, when Cheever’s bones are discovered in the wilderness of the Camargue, Littlejohn finds himself having to navigate the company of the French police.   While working the case, Littlejohn and his partner, Sergeant Cromwell, throw themselves into la vie française with gusto: the sunshine, the food and, of course, the wine. But Cheever’s trail leads to many strange places, and even stranger people, from travelers to bullfighters to cowboys—and when one of the cowboys turns up dead and Cheever’s possessions are found in his home, the investigation takes a dark turn . . .

When a lady gambler’s luck runs out, Detective Littlejohn follows a trail of deception and danger across Europe in this classic mystery. When professional gambler Sylvia Garnier arrives at the casino on the Isle of Man, everyone is intrigued to see what drama unfolds. Knowing all the tricks and betting on all the right numbers, she seems to be enjoying a solid winning streak. That is until she’s found dead on the beach. As theories about her murder run wild, Inspector Littlejohn is called in to get to the bottom of her mysterious demise. Dredging through years of family secrets and wartime betrayal, Littlejohn must untangle a conspiracy that takes him to France and Switzerland and leads all the way back to the French Resistance, if he is to solve this perplexing case.

A murder in plain sight brings Scotland Yard to investigate family secrets in a sleepy English town in this mystery from the beloved series. In the close-knit community of Enderby, Ned Bunn wasn’t what you’d call popular. In fact, there were some fellow residents who wished him dead. But when Bunn is found dead on the doorstep of his own shop, the town is in shock. As Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard investigates, he finds more than typical small-town animosity in the victim’s past. Surprising revelations about Bunn and his family bring new leads—and new suspects—to this unexpectedly baffling case.

Scotland Yard takes on a murder case that may have international implications . . .   During a police conference in Geneva, a detective named Alec Cling had been assigned to ensure the personal safety of the British minister of security. But Cling couldn’t even ensure his own safety. He’s been found dead in a car in the middle of a rose garden. And the car in question just happened to be hired by Superintendent Littlejohn.   Littlejohn is assigned to the case in London and, for once, finds that he isn’t short of potential motives. The victim was a loner who seemed to hate everyone and everything, aside from children, old people, and dogs. Littlejohn is determined to crack this case before it becomes an international crisis, and sets off on a trail that leads him through a seedy hotel in Geneva, a mental clinic in the mountains, and an airport in London. Will he manage to head off disaster, or is this case simply too big for Littlejohn?   This is a superb British mystery from an author acclaimed for the “jolly, civilized way in which he writes a detective story” (The New York Times).

A murder and a missing body interrupt a getaway in the south of France . . .   Waldo and Averil Keelagher were looking forward to a holiday in the south of France in their new caravan. But delight turned to dismay when they discovered that Waldo’s unbearable stockbroking uncle would be joining them. Not long after their arrival on the Riviera, however, they’re relieved of their unwelcome guest when Waldo finds Uncle George dead in the wasteland of the Estérel.   Panicking, Waldo and Averil pack the body into the back of their car and rush to the nearest police station in Cannes. But things really take a turn for the peculiar when, after reporting the crime, the couple heads back to the car to find it has been stolen—with George’s body still inside.   Now, Superintendent Littlejohn, who happens to be on holiday nearby, finds himself caught up in one of his most complicated and unorthodox cases yet . . .

When a doctor is found murdered in a secret room of his mansion, a Scotland Yard detective uncovers a host of deadly secrets in this classic mystery. As the last stronghold of snobbery in the dying little city of Caldicott, Upper Square is home to the last remnants of old family dynasties. Doctor Beharrell, a prominent physician, is found murdered in a secret room in his home there. And Superintendent Littlejohn is already on the case—because someone warned him of the crime before it was discovered. Before he solves the case, Littlejohn must bring to light the strange history of the upper ten of Caldicott: a twisting tale of repressions, inbreeding, hatred, and madness. Littlejohn, whom David Holloway, of the News Chronicle, called “the most courteous of all fictional detectives,” finds all his good manners are needed to navigate this rarified world of eccentric characters.

Two separate murders put CI Littlejohn on a devious killer’s twisting path in this long-running British mystery series. Finlo Crennell, the former harbourmaster of Castletown, was reported missing one week ago. Now he’s turned up in London, wandering the streets and suffering from amnesia. He has no recollection of where he’s been or how he got here from the Isle of Man. When Chief Inspector Littlejohn is asked to escort the man home, he assumes the job will be quick and painless. But less than twenty-four hours later, Crennell is found brutally murdered. Littlejohn assumes the case and soon has a second murder to investigate. A bankrupt farmer, Charlie Cribbin, was killed in the same manner as Crennell. Could the two men be connected? And what happened to Crennell during the week he was missing? Littlejohn must connect the dots if he has any hope of tracking down the killer before he strikes again.

A corpse in a country house brings Scotland Yard to an eerily quiet English village, in this tale by a master of British mystery.   Cyril Savage has inherited the home of his wealthy and estranged aunt. But before Savage has the chance to discover her fortune, he is struck dead in the cellar of this once grand country house in the strange, nearly deserted village of Plumpton Bois.   The police are baffled and—unable to unearth a motive, let alone a killer—call for the assistance of Scotland Yard. Inspector Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell arrive in Plumpton Bois and find the village, the family, and the house itself full of secrets.   The door to a locked room has been bashed open. Savage’s aunt is not nearly as rich as she seemed to be. And now, another body has turned up on Littlejohn’s watch . . .

The murder of a convict on the night of his release brings Littlejohn to the silent marshes of the Isle of Man in this thrilling British mystery novel. A deckhand and petty criminal, Joss Varran was set to return home after a year in jail. Instead, he’s found dead in a ditch not far from his sister’s cottage. While Varran was never well liked, it’s a mystery why anyone would bother to kill him . . . Facing a dead end, Inspector Knell of the Manx police calls in his friend from Scotland Yard, Chief Superintendent Littlejohn. Together they find that Varran was up to no good while working on a container ship between Ramsey and Preston. It seems the dockhand may have gotten in over his head . . . so much so that prison would seem like a safe place to hide . . . Now the two investigators chase a trail of clues to find those responsible for Varran’s death . . . and prevent others from meeting the same fate.

A British detective goes undercover in the South of France to investigate a suspicious death in this twisting mystery. A British ministry official wants Inspector Littlejohn to look into the death of his brother and sister-in-law who were killed in an automobile accident outside a small village in southern France. Though the French police ruled it an accident, the official isn’t satisfied. Something seems wrong. With no jurisdiction in Provence, Littlejohn must investigate unofficially. So, he and his wife decide to vacation in the area. Soon witnesses start disappearing, the couple discovers they’re being followed, and the local marquis tells Littlejohn that it may be time to go back home. But the detective isn’t going anywhere until he solves the deadly mystery that reaches back to a shooting incident from before World War II.

Inspector Littlejohn is drawn into a perplexing case when a judge is murdered on the Isle of Man in this classic British mystery. The small community of Castletown has plenty of odd customs—one being the office of Deemster, who serves as every sort of judge rolled into one. When Inspector Littlejohn arrives on the island for a sporting holiday, this particular custom is brought to his attention with the utmost urgency . . . because Deemster Quantrell has just been killed. The local police are glad to have the hotshot from Scotland Yard take the lead on such a perplexing case. Though the deemster was beloved by all, someone went to great lengths to poison him with cyanide in his private lunch room. As the investigation uncovers dark secrets and hidden crimes, other victims meet their end. And Littlejohn must act fast before a ruthless killer strikes again.

When a young hooligan is accused of murdering a prominent resident on the Isle of Man, Inspector Littlejohn must uncover the truth in this classic mystery. In a small town on the Isle of Man, an elderly gentleman is found violently stabbed in an alley, andhis wallet missing. All fingers point to a suspicious Teddy-Boy visiting from Liverpool. The victim was a well-known member of a distinguished family, and his relatives are eager to see justice served. To avoid an unwarranted arrest, the Manx police call in Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard to investigate. While the young man maintains his innocence, Littlejohn’s investigations lead him to the Bishop’s Arm pub. There he meets some of the island’s most dubious characters and begins to uncover surprising secrets about one of the island’s most respected individuals.

When a petty hoodlum encounters murder most foul, Inspector Littlejohn must uncover the dark secrets of a sleepy English village in this classic mystery. It’s a quiet night at the Oddfellow’s Arms until a stranger walks in. He looks like your average, untrustworthy, street corner spiv. But when he starts ranting to anyone who will listen about a dead body at Fennings’ Mill, he seems more like a raving lunatic. When local police investigate the mad-man’s tale, they find a grimly peculiar corpse: the face is smeared with theatrical makeup and a false mustache is pasted neatly over the lip. Once reporters descend on the tiny village, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Littlejohn to assist the investigation. But he quickly discovers that more than a few residents are telling lies, and the victim’s costume conceals a truly perplexing case.

In this British mystery, a Scotland Yard detective follows a deadly trail from the Isle of Man to the South of France to solve a movie star’s murder. The glamour of Hollywood has descended upon the Isle of Man. But behind this glossy façade, something sinister stirs. Superintendent Littlejohn thought he was in for a few days’ holiday, but when the depraved movie star Hal Vale is found dead in his hotel room, Littlejohn is called to investigate. As motives and rumors abound, this star-studded pursuit reaches from London and Dublin to the French Riviera. With the help of his old friend, Inspector Dorange of the Sûreete´ at Nice, Littlejohn follows the trail from the sensation headlines to the industry’s shadowy tycoons.

The disappearance of a reclusive widower sends Detective Littlejohn on a far-flung hunt for a killer in this classic British mystery. It was meant to be a fool-proof scheme. The victim was someone who wouldn’t be missed, yet even the most meticulous criminals can make mistakes. When questions about a minor case of fraud lead to a missing persons case, the local bank’s chief inspector calls in Detective Littlejohn to investigate. It seems that a bank customer has disappeared just after withdrawing a large sum of money. The only clue to his whereabouts is a note on his front door saying he’d gone abroad. But when they discover the man’s brother had been murdered, Littlejohn realizes something sinister is afoot.

A body surfaces off the Isle of Man in a puzzling mystery by the master of the “pure British detective story” (The New York Times).   The Manx Shearwater was scallop dredging—but it dragged up a body from the water instead. Considering that the corpse was tied at the ankles and weighed down with stones, it’s clear this was no accidental drowning—and now the locals are in an uproar.   The victim appears to be Cedric Levis, who had an extravagant house and a reputation for philandering. Was Levis murdered for his money—or was this a crime of passion? Under the pretext of a holiday, Chief Inspector Littlejohn is invited by his old friend Archdeacon Kinrade to unofficially assist with the murder investigation—but to separate fact from fiction, he’ll have to sort through accusations, town gossip, and mysterious stories surrounding the ancient Cursing Stones . . .

When a seaside festival ends in murder, Superintendent Littlejohn gets caught up in a baffling investigation in this acclaimed British mystery series. It’s holiday time in Douglas and the town is alive with the local carnival. A brass band and bagpipes lead a procession down the promenade, and the cheering onlookers slowly make their way to the pier. But when the crowd thins and the promenade empties, a man is found dead at the center . . . Detective Littlejohn, who happens to be in town visiting a friend, now faces a perplexing case. In a small town that runs on gossip, nobody seems to know the victim. The waitress who identified him knew him only as ‘Uncle Fred.’ Who would want to murder an anonymous man? It soon becomes clear there is more to Uncle Fred than initially thought. As Littlejohn is pulled deeper into the mystery, the layers of Uncle Fred’s secretive life begin to unravel and the superintendent finds himself racing to prevent a second murder . . .

Inspector Littlejohn faces the most baffling case of his career when a killer in Cheshire strikes close to home in this acclaimed mystery series. It’s a shock what happens to Sergeant Cromwell, faithful friend and assistant to Superintendent Littlejohn. While attending his uncle’s funeral in the pretty village of Rushton Inferior, he is shot in the head. Now, Littlejohn faces a distressing crisis—and a perplexing question: Why was Cromwell shot in Rushton, where he is quite unknown? Littlejohn rushes north to the hospital where his sergeant is lying. There, he learns that the crime was committed with the smallest bullet the surgeon has ever seen. A shot from a pop gun, in fact. As the famous superintendent gets to work, he unravels a series of secrets and incidents that shed new light on Rushton—and his friend.

This night at the pub will be his last . . . A classic whodunit starring the “affable Scotland Yarder” (Publishers Weekly).   Harry Dodd needs a ride home from the pub—but it’s not because he’s schnockered. He’s actually been stabbed. Unfortunately, no one realizes it until it’s too late. Who would want to kill such a well-liked fellow? Inspector Littlejohn is called in, and his investigation reveals a recent woeful turn in Dodd’s life, the ambitious family that cast him out, and a cesspit of jealousy, greed, and tawdry secrets. Then another body turns up, and another . . .     Praise for the Inspector Littlejohn mysteries   “Solid and ingenious.” —The New York Times   “Littlejohn achieves his goal spectacularly and successfully.” —Kirkus Reviews   “When you get a George Bellairs story you get something worth reading.” —Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch

Inspector Littlejohn is once again summoned to the Isle of Man when a local vicar is accused of murder in this long-running British mystery series. As a rule, the towns of the Isle of Man are eerily silent after dark. But that silence is shattered one black night by an explosion followed by the violent ringing of the church bell. The vicar, Sullivan Lee, is discovered praying beside the murdered body of Sir Martin Skollick. Archdeacon Kinrade must summon his old friend, Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard, to get to the bottom of another perplexing crime. With the help of Inspector Knell of the Manx C.I.D., Littlejohn sheds light on the victim’s life, uncovering misdeeds and enemies aplenty. A womanizer and a fraud, it’s no wonder someone might want Skollick dead. But the inspectors have much more to unravel before they can clear the vicar’s name.

When a serial killer stalks a sleepy English village, a Scotland Yard detective must search for clues among terrified townsfolk in this classic mystery. Samuel Bracknell is found dead in his home with a knife in his back. It’s the third murder of its kind in as many weeks, and the residents of Carleton Unthank are left shaken. When Superintendent Littlejohn learns that all three crimes were committed with the same knife, a disturbing question arises: why, then, was the knife left in Bracknell’s body? When a fourth body turns up, this one an apparent suicide, Littlejohn is baffled. This once quaint village is gaining a ghoulish reputation. As the threat of murder looms each time the sun sets, Littlejohn must face sleep-deprived residents, no clues, and a race against the clock to prevent the body count from rising any further.

The mayor of a seaside town is murdered, and a London police detective must sort through motives both political and personal . . .   Thanks to its mayor, Sir Gideon Ware, the quiet harbor town of Westcombe has turned into a crowded and rather garish seaside destination where visitors can come to escape the stress of wartime. When Ware collapses at a lavish luncheon, felled by strychnine, Inspector Littlejohn must travel from London to solve the seemingly inexplicable murder. Ware was surrounded by local bigwigs at his table—but that’s just the beginning of the suspect list, as Littlejohn untangles the rivalries, resentments, and corrupt dealings that permeate this picturesque but troubled community . . .   Praise for the Inspector Littlejohn mysteries   “Assured prose, well-drawn characters, and the atmosphere of 1940s wartime England . . . well worth the reader’s time.” —Publishers Weekly   “Everything is quite comparable in tone to a really good Simenon.” —The New York Times   “Dryly ceremonious wit [that] shines from the very first page.” —Kirkus Reviews