Skelton's Guide to Blazing Corpses

Allison & Busby has a very strong reputation in historical crime, from Edward Marston to Jacqueline Winspear. David Stafford looks set to carry on this success. David Stafford is a well known author and writer for Radio 4. He captures the period detail beautifully, with historical inspiration from barrister, politician and preacher, Norman Birkett QC, an infamous lawyer between the wars. Imagine if Jeeves and Wooster decided to play detective. Perfect for fans of Sophie Hannah and Anthony Horowitz, with a hint of Miss Marple. It is November 5th, Guy Fawkes Night, 1930. Bonfires are blazing, rockets burst. In a country lane, revellers discover a car that has been set on fire. At first they assume that this is the work of vandals taking the Guy Fawkes spirit a little too far, then they notice, sitting at the wheel, a body, charred beyond recognition. The initial assumption is that the owner of the car, Mr William Hodge, a successful travelling vacuum cleaner salesman has taken his own life by flooding the car with petrol and lighting a match. The post mortem, however, reveals that Mr Hodge was either unconscious or dead before the fire was lit. When Tommy Blamire, a local criminal, is charged with the murder, barrister Arthur Skelton believes him to be innocent, so sets out to prove as much and ensure justice is served. The third title in Skelton's Casebook's, Skelton's Guide to Blazing Corpses draws you into the world of Arthur Skelton, esteemed barrister of the 1920s and 1930s.