Death in the Dusk: A Golden Age Country House Murder Mystery

By Virgil Markham

Book Overview

'A first-rate tale of mystery' New York Times 'An extraordinary plot with lashings of Gothic atmosphere' Martin Edwards, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books 'An orgy of murder... fine writing and effective characterisation' The Guardian Includes all the original illustrations and maps, critical to the plot A classic country house mystery set amongst the Welsh mountains, together with a motley array of aristocratic guests and a disapproving butler... Golden Age of Crime writer Virgil Markham's first-ever crime novel, republished here for the first time in almost a century This Spitfire Publishers edition includes a full bibliography of Virgil Markham's crime novels October 1925, a wedding party gathers to celebrate the betrothal of Sean Cosgrove and American Paula Lebetwood. The venue, Highglen House, is an ancient mansion in the wild and isolated Welsh valley below the Great Rhos and Black Mixen mountains. Lost in the fog, antiquarian Alfred Bannerlee stumbles across the country house gathering and is invited in to rest and regain his bearings. A series of strange events overtake the celebrations and the chance guest. Each one is followed by the appearance of a note signed 'Parson Lolly' - a mythical character who in local legend holds a grudge against the original owner of Highglen. And then, most shocking of all, the murders begin... ABOUT THE AUTHOR Virgil Markham was born in 1899, the only son of the popular and renowned American poet, Edwin Markham. Virgil travelled throughout Europe in 1925, his experiences providing the colourful settings for many of his detective novels, including his 1928 debut, Death in the Dusk . Although some of the place names have been changed, Death in the Dusk is set in Radnorshire, central Wales, and specifically among the mountains of Great Rhos and Black Mixen in Radnor Forest. Markham was a highly original and sophisticated writer who eschewed the common tropes and conventions in his eight detective novels published between 1928 and 1936, many of which were published by the prestigious Collins Crime Club. He taught at a number of Californian universities in the 1920s and in 1929 launched his first university course on mystery literature, titled 'The Development and Techniques of the Mystery Story'. He died in 1973. PRAISE FOR VIRGIL MARKHAM Shock! The Mystery of the Fate of Sir Anthony Veryan's Heirs 'A really first-class mystery yarn' New York Times 'Is not one of those ordinary mystery tales, it is one in which you can lose yourself wholly and completely' Boston Transcript The Devil Drives 'Virgil Markham has scored again' New York Times The Scamp 'A glowing and finely wrought piece of narrative prose... charming' New York Times Snatch 'A bright, lively style... ingenious' The Guardian The Dead Are Prowling 'A clever mystery story' Times Literary Supplement

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B0CRLDHFLB
• ISBN13: 9798874001520
• Release Date: January 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 396 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"