• The much-revered crime writers G.D.H & Margaret Cole’s first-ever crime novel back in print for the first time in almost a century. • ‘Inspired… will no doubt have a wide circulation’ NEW YORK TIMES. • ‘A first-class detective story’ THE SPECTATOR. • Includes a complete bibliography of the Coles’ crime novels. • Includes all the original illustrations, critical to the plot. ABOUT 'THE BROOKLYN MURDERS': The setting is the London mansion and nearby theatre belonging to Sir Vernon Brooklyn, the famed theatrical impresario. On the night of his birthday he announces a new will – and two dead bodies are discovered the next day. The clues point to the conclusion that each man killed the other – a physical impossibility as the two victims lie not together, but apart. The discovery of a heavy club at the scene of the crimes points to Sir Vernon’s wastrel brother, Walter, as the murderer. Determined to prove Walter’s innocence, Joan Cowper his estranged stepdaughter and her lover, Robert Ellery, set out to establish his movements. Meanwhile, Superintendent Henry Wilson of Scotland Yard is called in to officially investigate… ABOUT THE G.D.H. and Margaret Cole were a husband and wife detective fiction writing duo who wrote over thirty novels between 1923 and the early 1940s. Much admired at the time (‘The collaborating Coles, have long been known as writers of skilfully constructed detective tales’ NEW YORK TIMES; ‘Among the most remarkable and efficient of English detective story writers’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT), their success is all the more remarkable because they both led sterling careers in addition to their prodigious crime-writing output; George as an Oxford University economist and Margaret as a socialist politician. Their best-known character, Superintendent Wilson, starred in twenty-three novels. Originally a conscientious Scotland Yarder, Wilson is eventually forcibly retired into private practice after catching-out an ex-Home Secretary. Among their other literary creations are medic turned private detective, Dr Ben Tancred, the prickly and difficult Inspector Tom Fairford and the gentle, old-lady sleuth, Mrs Warrender. G.D.H. Cole died in 1959 and Margaret in 1980. PRAISE FOR G.D.H & MARGARET ‘Any mystery story by the Coles is sure to be worth while’ NEW YORK TIMES; ‘Highly recommended to readers who like a good, practical mystery neatly and entertainingly recorded’ CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE; ‘I enjoy all Mr and Mrs Cole’s stories’ THE SUNDAY TIMES; ‘Mr and Mrs Cole are deservedly noted for their detective stories’ THE SCOTSMAN; ‘A really entertaining yarn’ NEW YORK TRIBUNE; ‘Few crime experts are so consistently good as are the two Coles’ EVENING NEWS; ‘These famous authors have achieved a flawless technique’ COUNTRY LIFE; ‘A Cole story is always a first-class story’ ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS; ‘Well-written and carefully planned… will please the most fastidious devotee of mystery stories’ BOSTON TRANSCRIPT.
