The Nicholas Blake Treasury, Volume 2: A Question of Proof; There's Trouble Brewing; The Smiler with the Knife

Garden City, New York: Nelson Doubleday, Inc, 1939. Book Club (BCE/BOMC). Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 7x5x1. Book club edition. Jacket spine faded, jacket edges rubbed with a couple small tears. 1939 Hard Cover. 533 pp. Three titles in one volume: A Question of Proof; There's Trouble Brewing; The Smiler with the Knife. ABOUT A QUESTION OF PROOF: Nigel Strangeways is called in to find a murderer who is prowling the halls of Sudeley Hall, a boys preparatory school. ABOUT THERE'S TROUBLE BREWING: Private detective and poet Nigel Strangeways is invited to address the Maiden Astbury literary society. The picturesque Dorset town is home to Bunnett's Brewery, run by the much disliked, and feared, Eustace Bunnett and shortly before Nigel's visit, Bunnett's dog Truffles, was found dead in one of the brewery's vats. The culprit was never caught - although there was no shortage of suspects - but when a body is then found in the same vat, boiled down to its bones, Nigel is called into action to help capture the killer.The third book in the Nigel Strangeways series, this is a gloriously inventive, puzzling and witty investigation to delight all fans of classic crime. ABOUT THE SMILER WITH THE KNIFE: Detective Nigel Strangeways and his wife, Georgia, have moved to the countryside and settled into rural bliss. But when a letter arrives commanding the couple to tend their hedges, the most menial of domestic duties uncovers a secret that propels the couple out of their cozy life and into the peril of a power-hungry plot. With the help of Nigel's uncle, Sir John Strangeways, the couple learns of a treasonous conspiracy bigger than their small town. To expose the sinister schemers, Georgia must risk her life and infiltrate a group of fascist sympathisers before they succeed in their plan to overthrow the government.