Peter Lovesey

"I think that it is desirable to discuss the affair - here, in the room in which the Bishop's body was found."A pernicious parson outwits the thieves of a priceless chalice from the parish treasury. A beloved vicar contemplates a perfect crime when a blackmailer comes knocking. Poisoned pen letters lead to a fall from grace for a rector's wife, and a suspicious fall from the second storey for the rector. Gathered here in this new collection are some of the greatest mystery tales in which the tendrils of crime steal into the churchyard, featuring clergymen and nuns as victims, amateur sleuths and villainous perpetrators of the devil's work. Replete with a fascinating introduction and notes from one of the guiding lights of crime fiction, Martin Edwards, this anthology delivers cosy brainteasers and fiendishly-fashioned stories with a sting in the tail, from a congregation of writers including Joyce Porter, H. C. Bailey, Cyril Hare and Edmund Crispin.

To celebrate a writing career spanning over fifty years, this collection showcases the very best of Peter Lovesey's short stories, featuring many of his most beloved characters such as Sergeant Cribb and Bertie. These inventive and entertaining stories have something for new and old fans alike. From unexpected discoveries hidden among the branches of the family tree, to a parrot and an astonishing cache of uncut diamonds, as well as the story of a marriage revealed between the lines of a Victorian advice column, these tales are all told with Lovesey's trademark wit.

Pěstní zápasy – brutální forma boxu bez rukavic – jsou v pozdní viktoriánské Anglii zákonem dávno zakázány. Seržant Cribb ale objeví důkazy o tom, že dále tajně pokračují. U mrtvoly, kterou vyplavila Temže a má uříznutou hlavu, si všimne také kloubů na rukou, které byly „marinovány“ a speciálně připravovány právě pro pěstní zápasení. Pošle proto mladého a fyzicky zdatného konstábla Henryho Jaga, aby se infiltroval do tajné zápasnické komunity. Jenže následují další vraždy a Henry je ve vážném ohrožení života…