Author Description

‘Quite charming… devotees of mystery yarns will enjoy this story’ New York Times ‘A quintessentially English country-house mystery with a touch of the exotic’ Martin Edwards ‘A model of the detective story… the solution has the neatness of a bold mate at chess’ Glasgow Herald Selected by Martin Edward as one of his 100 Classic Crime novels in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books This 2024 Spitfire Publishers ebook and paperback edition includes a complete bibliography of Victor Whitechurch’s crime novels The Pleasaunce was a fine country house nestling below the hills which flanked the picturesque village of Coppleswick, deep in southern England. Today, its new owner, mysterious ex-diplomat Felix Nayland is playing host to the county worthies. The lavish summer garden party laid on to introduce Felix and his sister Alice to the community is in full swing. The Green Albanian Band and Western Glee Singers are entertaining Nayland’s guests including young local vicar, Harry Westerham and Major Challow, the Chief Constable of Downshire. Leaving the party the Vicar and Major take a shortcut through the estate’s water garden and make a horrifying discovery – a man lying face down dead in an ornamental pool. A knife embedded deep in his back. The shrewd and observant Vicar turns amateur sleuth ably assisting the industrious Detective Sergeant Ringwood. About the Author Victor Lorenzo Whitechurch was a Church of England clergyman and noted English crime novelist. He was born in Norham, Northumberland in 1868 and trained to be a vicar at Chichester Theological College and Durham University. Relatively late in life Victor became rather infatuated with the detective novel and between 1912 and 1932 wrote eight, many centred around the fictional South Downs cathedral and university city of Frattenbury, and often featuring members of the clergy. He was one of the founding members of the Detection Club and contributed to the Club’s collaborative novel The