Part of Series
Mrs. Bradley's niece-by-courtesy, Gillian, is instructed to embark upon a walking holiday, as rehabilitation after a failed romance. Once alone, amidst the border castle, colourful heather, and wild moors of Northumberland, Gillian not only succeeds in forgetting all about her past love, but also manages to stumble across an intriguing mystery. Mrs. Bradley finds herself drawn into the puzzle—but by chance or design, she cannot decide—and is forced to pit her considerable wits against as ruthless and unscrupulous an adversary as she has ever encountered. Church ghosts; music hall mayhem; a repeated and perplexing case of strychnine poisoning; and—not forgetting—hidden treasure, are just some of the things with which Mrs. Bradley must contend, before a murderer can be finally brought to a long awaited justice.
Author
Aka Malcolm Torrie, Stephen Hockaby. Born in Cowley, Oxford, in 1901, Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell was the daughter of market gardener James Mitchell, and his wife, Annie. She was educated at Rothschild School, Brentford and Green School, Isleworth, before attending Goldsmiths College and University College, London from 1919-1921. She taught English, history and games at St Paul's School, Brentford, from 1921-26, and at St Anne's Senior Girls School, Ealing until 1939. She earned an external diploma in European history from University College in 1926, beginning to write her novels at this point. Mitchell went on to teach at a number of other schools, including the Brentford Senior Girls School (1941-50), and the Matthew Arnold School, Staines (1953-61). She retired to Corfe Mullen, Dorset in 1961, where she lived until her death in 1983. Although primarily remembered for her mystery novels, and for her detective creation, Mrs. Bradley, who featured in 66 of her novels, Mitchell also published ten children's books under her own name, historical fiction under the pseudonym Stephen Hockaby, and more detective fiction under the pseudonym Malcolm Torrie. She also wrote a great many short stories, all of which were first published in the Evening Standard. She was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger Award in 1976.
