“There’ll be blue murder here before Christmas!” A number of parties heading for a luxurious holiday spot, are forced by severe winter weather to put up at the ‘Noah’s Ark’, a hostelry they will share with Dr. Constantine, a shrewd chess master and keen observer of all around him. Other guests include bestselling novelist Angus Stuart, the aristocratic Romsey family, a pair of old spinster sisters, and a galloping major whose horseplay gets him into hot water – and then gets him murdered. Who is the masked intruder who causes such a commotion on the first night? Who has stolen Mrs van Dolen’s emeralds, and who has slashed everyone’s (almost everyone’s) car tyres? And are the murderer and thief one and the same, or are the guests faced with two desperate criminals hiding in plain sight in the snowbound inn? Dr. Constantine, aided by two of the younger guests, is compelled to investigate this sparkling Christmas mystery before anyone else ends up singing in the heavenly choir … The Crime at the ‘Noah’s Ark’ was first published in 1931. This new edition, the first in many decades, includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Constantine reflected on the various means dentists have at their disposal should they wish to silence their patients … Mr Humphrey Davenport, society dentist, has an embarrassing problem – he has managed to get locked out of his own surgery. And to make matters worse, Mrs Charles Miller is locked inside, minus her false teeth. When the door is finally opened, the patient is found with her throat cut. Dr. Constantine, a fellow patient at the clinic, is a witness to the gruesome discovery. He lends his chess player’s brain to solving a locked room mystery with a difference, ably assisted by Detective-Inspector Arkwright. Was the murderer the theatrical Mrs Vallon? Or little Mr Cattistick, who recognized the fortune in jewels around the dead woman's neck? Or perhaps it was Sir Richard Pomfrey, the subject of an unusually venomous look from Mrs Miller shortly before her demise? Death in the Dentist’s Chair was first published in 1932. This new edition, the first in many decades, includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“He had his enemies, I suppose?” “Disputes, you mean? Over the merits of Puccini and Wagner, Strauss and Verdi! But people do not entice an old man from his home many years afterwards to avenge Wagner or Puccini!” It was a shock to the Duchess of Steynes when her son announced his engagement to the grand-daughter of an obscure violinist, Julius Anthony; but still more of a shock was the discovery of Anthony’s murdered body in the cinema at which he played. Dr. Constantine and Detective-Inspector Arkwright join forces in their third (and final) case together. Their only clue at the outset is the dead man’s mysterious assignation at the Trastevere restaurant, one of London’s most fashionable eateries, and located, as it happens, on the property of the Steyneses. The biggest challenge at first appears to find any kind of motive for the old man’s slaying – until their investigations lead in a fiendishly unexpected direction. He Dies and Makes no Sign was first published in 1933. This new edition, the first in many decades, includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.