"The crime was at once intriguing and bizarre, efficient and theatrical. The members of St. Anthony's College awake one bleak November morning to find the most chilling of crimes has happened in their quiet, contained college. Josiah Umbleby, President of the college, has been shot in his room during the night. The college buzzes with supposition and speculation. Orchard Ground and the lodgings are particularly insulated: only a limited number of...

Every English mansion has a locked room, and Grinton Hall is no exception - the library has hidden doors and passages and a corpse. But when the corpse goes missing, Sir John Appleby and Charles Honeybath have an even more perplexing case on their hands - just how did it disappear when the doors and windows were securely locked? A bevy of helpful houseguests offer endless assistance, but the two detectives suspect that they are concealing vital information....