The Franchise Affair

London in den 1920er-Jahren: Großes Gedränge vor dem Theater im West End, die Karten für die letzten Aufführungen des Musicals sind heiß begehrt. Da sackt ein junger Mann inmitten der Menge zusammen, in seinem Rücken steckt ein Dolch. Niemand der Umstehenden will von der Tat etwas mitbekommen haben. Und wer ist das Opfer überhaupt? Ein Fall für Inspector Grant von Scotland Yard, dessen Ermittlungen sich mühsam genug anlassen. Die Schottin Josephine Tey (1896-1952) überwand die Grenzen, die dem Krimi-Genre zu ihrer Zeit gesetzt waren, und schuf mit ihrem ersten Fall für Inspector Grant einen klugen Roman voll überraschender Wendungen. Josephine Teys Krimis sollte man nicht verpassen: Einer wurde Grundlage für einen Hitchcock-Film, einen anderen wählte die »Crime Writers' Association« 1990 zum »besten Kriminalroman aller Zeiten«! »Inspektor Alan Grant, ein super Typ und die Bücher sind richtig gut geschrieben.« NDR Ein Klassiker des Golden Age der Kriminalliteratur und erster Band der sechsteiligen Alan-Grant-Reihe Großes Lesevergnügen mit einer ordentlichen Prise britischen Humors (lib)

Milford ist ein Provinznest in England, in dem nie etwas passiert. In der einzigen Anwaltskanzlei führt der junge Robert Blair in 41. Generation die Geschäfte. Seine einzige Abwechslung sind die Kekse, die täglich zur tea time gereicht werden - bis eines Abends das Telefon klingelt. Marion Sharpe und ihre Mutter, die ein abgelegenes Herrenhaus bewohnen, haben Besuch von Scotland Yard. Ein junges Mädchen behauptet, von den beiden entführt und in ihr Haus verschleppt worden zu sein. Einen Monat lang wurde die 15-Jährige dort festgehalten, sagt sie, und musste als Haushälterin arbeiten, ehe ihr schließlich die Flucht gelang. Eine unerhörte Behauptung, eine Unverschämtheit! Allerdings: Das Mädchen kann jedes Detail im Innern des Hauses beschreiben. Der Anwalt, der sonst nur Testamente aufsetzt (für eine schrullige alte Dame jede zweite Woche ein neues), steht vor einer großen Herausforderung: Er soll die Unschuld der Frauen beweisen. (lib)

'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect' Daily TelegraphAbducted, beaten, hidden in an attic, a young woman stages an audacious escape. But is her story everything she claims it to be?Fifteen-year-old Betty Kane can recall every detail of the room where she says she was held at the country house known as The Franchise - even the crack in its round window. But her alleged kidnappers, a quiet-living mother and daughter, claim they have never seen her before. Somebody has to be lying. But who? As the case sparks a media frenzy, it is up to unassuming village solicitor Robert Blair to find out.

Discover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage seriesAn impostor has a fortune to win - but he may be in danger of losing his life...Twenty-one-year-old Brat Farrar is an orphan, alone in the world without friends or family. So when he is offered the unexpected chance to impersonate Patrick Ashby, the long-lost heir to a vast fortune on a country estate, he agrees. Brat is the spitting image of Patrick, who disappeared years ago. At first it seems Brat can pull off this incredible deception, until he starts to realise that he is in far greater peril than he ever imagined.

'The most interesting of the great female writers of the Golden Age. This disarmingly low-key tale of a mysterious disappearance is the perfect introduction to her world' VAL MCDERMID 'The definition of a classic, a real cut above. It hasn't aged a day' JOSEPH KNOX When Hollywood-star photographer Leslie Searle disappears from a remote English village, gifted inspector Alan Grant is called in to investigate. But what would bring such a successful individual to the village? And was his vanishing his own doing, or did something eerie occur at the hands of an unsuspected culprit?'Will leave you desperate to re-read' SARAH HILARY 'Worth reading for its ingenious denouement'TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

'A detective story with a very considerable difference. Ingenious, stimulating and very enjoyable' SUNDAY TIMES'As interesting and enjoyable a book as they will meet in a month of Sundays' OBSERVERScotland Yard inspector Alan Grant, recovering from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III, believed to have brutally killed his brother's children - the Princes in the Tower - to make his crown secure. But is the hunchback with such a sensitive, noble face really one of the world's most heinous villains? Or was he the victim of one of the most insidious plots in history?'One of the best mysteries of all time' NEW YORK TIMES'Suspense is achieved by unexpected twists and extremely competent storytelling . . . credible and convincing' SPECTATOR (lib)

Brat Farrar is a 1949 crime novel by Josephine Tey, based in part on The Tichborne Claimant.The story is about the Ashbys, an English country-squire family. Their centuries-old family estate is Latchetts, in the fictional village of Clare, near the south coast of England. It takes place in the late 1940s, after World War II.The Ashby family consists of Beatrice Ashby ("Aunt Bee"), a spinster of about 50, and the four children of her late brother Bill: Simon, 20; Eleanor, 18¿19 and the twins Jane and Ruth.Bill and his wife Nora died eight years earlier. Since then, the Ashbys have been short of money. Bee has kept the estate going by turning the family stable into a profitable business and combining breeding, selling and training horses with riding lessons. When Simon turns 21, he will inherit Latchetts and a large trust fund left by his mother.Simon had a twin brother, Patrick, who was older than him by a few minutes, but soon after Bill and Nora died, Patrick had disappeared and left what was taken to be a suicide note.The title character, Brat Farrar, is a young man recently returned to England from America. He was a foundling. At the age of 13, the orphanage placed him in an office job but he ran away instead. He ended up in the western US, where he worked at ranches and stables for several years and became an expert horseman, until a fall injured his leg, leaving him with a limp.On a street in London, someone completely unknown to Brat greets him as "Simon". The stranger is Alec Loding, a second-rate actor. He knows the Ashby family intimately and sees a way to help his own fortunes.Alec's idea is for Brat to impersonate Simon's missing twin, Patrick, and, as the elder brother, claim the trust and the estate. Alec remembers a great deal about the Ashbys, Latchetts and the village, which will allow him to coach Brat on all of the background details. In return, Brat will give him a share of the money. Brat is reluctant but eventually agrees, especially when he hears about the horses.After two weeks of tutoring, Brat appears at the office of the Ashby family solicitor by saying he adopted the name "Brat Farrar" after he had run away. He gives his own story as the account of Patrick's missing years. Mr Sandal informs Bee, who meets Brat and is also convinced. Over the next two weeks, Sandal verifies Brat's story. The family receives "Patrick" at Latchetts.His presence leads to the discovery of Patrick's actual fate of being murdered by Simon. The final confrontation leaves Simon dead and Brat in hospital. There, Bee's Uncle Charles identifies Brat as an illegitimate son of Bee's wastrel cousin, Walter. (lib)

The story is about the Ashbys, an English country-squire family. Their centuries-old family estate is Latchetts, in the fictional village of Clare, near the south coast of England. It takes place in the late 1940s, after World War II.The Ashby family consists of Beatrice Ashby ("Aunt Bee"), a spinster of about 50, and the four children of her late brother Bill: Simon, 20; Eleanor, 18¿19 and the twins Jane and Ruth, 9.Bill and his wife Nora died eight years earlier. Since then, the Ashbys have been short of money. Bee has kept the estate going by turning the family stable into a profitable business and combining breeding, selling and training horses with riding lessons. When Simon turns 21, he will inherit Latchetts and a large trust fund left by his mother.Simon had a twin brother, Patrick, who was older than him by a few minutes, but soon after Bill and Nora died, Patrick had disappeared and left what was taken to be a suicide note.The title character, Brat Farrar, is a young man recently returned to England from America. He was a foundling. At the age of 13, the orphanage placed him in an office job but he ran away instead. He ended up in the western US, where he worked at ranches and stables for several years and became an expert horseman, until a fall injured his leg, leaving him with a limp... (lib)

On sick leave from Scotland Yard, Inspector Alan Grant is planning a quiet holiday with an old school chum to recover from overwork and mental fatigue. Traveling on the night train to Scotland, however, Grant stumbles upon a dead man and a cryptic poem about ¿the stones that walk¿ and ¿the singing sand,¿ which send him off on a fascinating search into the verse¿s meaning and the identity of the deceased. Grant needs just this sort of casual inquiry to quiet his jangling nerves, despite his doctor¿s orders. But what begins as a leisurely pastime eventually turns into a full-blown investigation that leads Grant to discover not only the key to the poem but the truth about a most diabolical murder. (lib)