Death of a Sardine — Joan Fleming

Brigadier Warrington thinks of himself as a well-moneyed playboy. His main wish is to please his son Tom, but his main desire is unsuitable women. This time it's Irma, a mysterious adventuress, unfortunately married to a certain militant Herr Gantzenhausen. When Tom arrives at his father's villa at Trigoso he takes an immediate dislike to Irma. Then there's the threatened appearance of her husband that hangs like thunder round the villa and reduces its inhabitants to a state of siege. The murder comes almost as a relief ...'One of the funniest moments of truth in recent fiction' Financial Times