Design for Dying — Anne Morice

'I've got the details written down here for you. It's a little matter of a murderous assault, which took place in or near the Marshes' tea estate.'

When Christine Marsh returns to live in the Sussex town where she grew up, the only person to greet the news with enthusiasm is her nearly senile mother Dolly. Christine's put-upon cousin Martha Kershaw knows how selfish Christine is: Martha takes care of Dolly with little recompense and has now been asked to find a large, elegant house at an impossibly low price for the Marshes.

When Christine arrives, attended by both her current and former husbands, the temperature rises. Billy Jones, the architect supervising the conversion of her house, is a former flame she callously discarded. She accuses the workmen of stealing and cruelly tells the hopeful Dolly she won't be sharing the grand new house. Then Christine's husband, wealthy Derek Marsh, is found murdered. Detective Chief Superintendent Wiseman ('Old Tubby') suspects both Christine and her first husband, but they and the other suspects all have good alibis. Morice is her usual savagely witty self, and this solid mystery is social comedy as well.

Design for Dying was originally published in 1988. This new edition features an introduction and afterword by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

'A light hand, an engaging ease, and an inventive mind: all welcome qualities in the writing of crime novels.' Financial Times

'What makes her such good company . . . is not her deductive skill but her shrewd eye and quick tongue for people and situations.' Daily Telegraph