E. C. Bentley

Philip Trent returns! And this time the erudite investigator and confidant of Scotland Yard finds himself in a most novel situation — under suspicion for murder. Trent is amused by the clumsy attempt to frame him but events take a shocking turn when his closest friend suddenly confesses....

"The Scoop" first appeared as a serial in the Listener in 1931. "Behind the Screen" first appeared as a serial in the Listener in 1930. The two serials were first published in book form in the UK by Victor Gollancz Ltd in 1983 and in the US by Harper & Row in 1984. It was another foggy night in London when the members of the world-renowned Detection Club gathered to repeat the success of their jointly authored book, The Floating Admiral. Each writer worked on the mysteries without knowing the solutions the others had planned. When the creators of Miss Marple, Lord Peter Wimsey and other sleuths get together, you can be sure the mysteries will be monumental, the detection delightful, and the results exciting!

Philip Trent is an artist, a journalist, and an urbane unraveller of highly problematical crimes. He comes to his avocation naturally, for he is a "man of tropically luxuriant mental gifts" who is "clever at getting at the truth about things other people don't understand." In fact, his wide knowledge of arcane bits of information stands him in good stead while pursuing the criminals in this collection of ingenious stories. Here the unshakable sleuth appears in twelve tales of misadventure, where he is called upon to bring to bear his knowledge of antiques and heraldry, gold, medicine, law, the theater, geography, languages, literature, the book world, the underworld, and the world of wine. The crimes that he investigates range from fraud and embezzlement to criminal assault and murder, yet they all succumb to his adept methods even if the criminal sometimes escapes. Several of the stories may be termed classics.

Trent investigates the death of an industrialist. He solves the case three times, each time getting closer to the truth.

When fed up and thoroughly peeved Chuny causes the train to crash, little does she know that her rage has sparked off a staggering chain of events involving an amnesiac who, in his quest to find a wanted criminal in order to resolve a case of mistaken identity, meets the formidable General de la Costa, learns a great deal about diamonds and becomes embroiled in an extraordinary affair involving the Bishop of Glasminster's mitre.

[Adventure of the Speckled Band]( / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The little mystery / E.C. Bentley The adventure of the Egyptian tomb / Agatha Christie Emil and the detectives (an extract) / Erich Kästner The inspiration of Mr. Budd / Dorothy L. Sayers From the files of Inspector Craig / Raymond Smullyan Butch minds the baby / Damon Runyon Murder at St. Oswald's / Michael Underwood The cross of Lorraine / Isaac Asimov The Newdick helicopter / Leslie Charteris Cold money / Ellery Queen More from the files of Inspector Craig / Raymond Smullyan The one-handed murderer / Italo Calvino (an Italian folktale) Fingerprinting a ghost / Tony Fletcher (from Memories of murder) It's a hard world / Andrew Vachss Maddened by mystery / Stephen Leacock