The Bells at Old Bailey - Paperback

by Dorothy Bowers (Author)

It was not until the fifth death in Long Greeting that Miss Tidy made up her mind to go to the police.

It was not a sense of civic duty that compelled her, but the arrival of two letters that made it clear her life was in danger. The local villagers had been agitated for months over whether the seemingly unconnected deaths were the suicides they appeared to be. Better to say nothing of her intentions though, not even to her immediate circle: the staff of the Minerva hat shop who worked for her, or Léonie, her old Breton maid. Nor would she mention the letters to her interested neighbours or the rector, who had buried four of the victims, or even to Owen Greatorex, the novelist of international reputation, who seemed disarmingly gentle. For who was to be trusted?

Scotland Yard is soon on the scene but more deaths occur before Detective-Inspector Raikes puts the pieces together.

Dorothy Bowers (1902-48) was a champion of "fair play" mysteries, in which all the clues are cunningly displayed within the story. The Bells at Old Bailey (1947) was her fifth and last novel. Bowers died in 1948 from tuberculosis, having been inducted the prestigious Detection Club a few months earlier.

Back Jacket

It was not until the fifth death in Long Greeting that Miss Tidy made up her mind to go to the police.

It was not a sense of civic duty that compelled her, but the arrival of two letters that made it clear her life was in danger. Better to say nothing of her intentions though--to anybody, not even her immediate circle: the staff of the Minerva hatshop, who worked for her; Léonie, her old Breton maid; neighbour Kate Beaton, a crime fiction writer; Mrs. Weaver, the kind old antiquarian bookseller next door; the rector, who had buried four of the victims, or Owen Greatorex, the novelist of international reputation, inscrutable and disarmingly gentle. For who was to be trusted?

DOROTHY BOWERS (1902-48) was a champion of "fair play" mysteries, in which all the clues are cunningly displayed within the story. The daughter of a bakery owner, she attended Oxford University, and later became a History teacher, supplementing her income by compiling crossword puzzles. A member of the Detection Club, Bowers wrote five crime thrillers before her early death from tuberculosis: Postscript to Poison (1938), Shadows
Before (1939), A Deed Without a Name (1940), Fear for Miss Betony (1941) and The Bells at Old Bailey (1947).

Author Biography

DOROTHY BOWERS (1902-1948) was a champion of "fair play" mysteries in which all the clues are cunningly displayed within the story. The daughter of a bakery owner, she attended Oxford university, and later became a History teacher, supplementing her income by compiling crossword puzzles. A member of the Detection Club, Bowers wrote five crime thrillers before her early death from tuberculosis.