Flaxborough Chronicles Books in Order

What looks like an odd electrocution after a respectable funeral draws Purbright into the private dealings of Flaxborough's leading citizens. The case opens out into secret connections, civic hypocrisy, and a town that is much less tidy than it seems.

A run of late-night explosions starts as a nuisance in Chalmsbury and grows far more serious when someone dies. Called in from Flaxborough, Purbright picks through civic politics, bullying, and hidden motives in a town already on edge.

A quiet house in Beatrice Avenue yields one of Watson's strangest openings, a missing pair of men and a bathtub with an acid problem. Purbright and Love follow the trail into gossip, deception, and a touch of spy-story absurdity.

Two middle-aged women disappear, and the trail leads straight to Handclasp House, a lonely-hearts bureau with more than matchmaking on its mind. Purbright and Love probe the scheme while Lucilla Teatime makes herself both useful and hard to ignore.

After several prominent men receive letters from a woman who says murder may be her reward for loyalty, a tireless charity worker turns up dead in her pond. Purbright, Lucilla Teatime, and an unreliable private eye untangle the performance from the truth.

When an elderly prowler starts harassing women around Flaxborough, the whole business seems ridiculous at first. Purbright soon finds something darker underneath, as recurring bad behavior, local gossip, and a secretive doctor point toward real danger.

A folklore society revel, a missing young woman, and talk of black magic give Flaxborough a very strange week. Purbright has to sort superstition from calculation as publicity stunts, desecrations, and genuine danger begin to overlap.

A bitter feud between two powerful Flaxborough businessmen escalates from vandalism and humiliation to murder. Purbright and Love dig through clubland snobbery, murky loyalties, and hints of outside criminal influence to see who is really pulling strings.

Charming fixer Mortimer Rothermere is hired to shield a pet food company near Flaxborough from scandal, but the job turns lethal. Dog food, blackmail, and corporate nastiness make this one of the series' more unusual and darkly funny cases.

Rumors of a scandalous film draw hard-driving reporters to Flaxborough and throw the town into panic. Before a public showdown can happen, Purbright is dealing with a death, wounded pride, and people desperate to keep their names out of print.

A battered plaster cottage at an antiques auction sells for an absurd price, then triggers theft, old secrets, and murder. Purbright and Sergeant Love trace the trinket back through a decaying family history to find out why it matters so much.

When a solicitor in Flaxborough's posh neighboring village dies, Purbright starts asking awkward questions about his remarkable art collection and the people around him. Blackmail, a doubtful suicide, and plenty of local snobbery turn the case into a sly final mystery.