Gerald Verner Books in Order

Financier Milton Vaizey’s elaborate security fails to prevent his secretary’s murder, and Vaizey soon dies as well. Superintendent Bill Groom must discover how the killings connect to the threat posed by an elusive blackmailer known as the Ghost.

Sir Owen Langley believes he has deciphered an ancestral verse revealing hidden treasure, then disappears after a midnight departure. His daughter’s sighting of the family’s death-heralding specter deepens the mystery surrounding Langley Towers and its concealed fortune.

A body on the Embankment begins a series of murders marked by the removal of a canine tooth. Professor Barrington joins Scotland Yard’s investigation, searching for the link among the victims before the killer turns on him.

Two holidaymakers arrive at an isolated Somerset cottage to find warnings urging them away. They call in dramatist and criminologist Trevor Lowe, whose investigation becomes a murder inquiry when a missing estate agent is discovered behind a locked door.

Reporter Anthony Gale enters an abandoned house after spotting a light and stumbles over a freshly murdered man. The building’s owner was killed years earlier, setting the scene for a collection of four mysteries involving crime and macabre events.

Hollywood producer Elmer Myers stakes his remaining fortune on an ambitious film after years of costly accidents. When the editor is murdered and the completed negative stolen, Myers faces an enemy determined to destroy his business.

Two residents of Hill Green are found hanged within days, each carrying a card signed by the Hangman. With local police unable to explain the killings, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Shadgold to track the murderer.

A mysterious criminal demands money from wealthy targets, then kills a man who seeks police protection. As Scotland Yard investigates what resembles a Chicago extortion racket, an elusive woman called the Lady of Doom pursues the mastermind.

A body beneath fallen gravel appears to be the victim of an accident until Trevor Lowe notices cigarette ash on the dead man's shoes. His discovery exposes a murder and draws him into a succession of killings.

Dick Mason is arrested after being found over Sir James Maddox’s body with a poker. Crime reporter Peter Escott doubts the obvious explanation and works with Chief-Inspector Trimmer, while further killings make proving his suspicions increasingly urgent.

A suspected criminal whose activities include blackmail, burglary and murder receives a death threat from someone calling himself the White Friar. Scotland Yard faces a vigilante who promises to punish the man’s associates before reaching him.

Madame Bourchard is found dead and her valuable pearl stolen despite a police cordon around her hotel. Private detective Lionel Crane faces contradictory evidence, including signs of strangulation and the discovery that she died from arsenic poisoning.

A jewel thief kills Superintendent John Brent during a stakeout at a country house and escapes by boat. With only a thumbprint to follow, Brent’s policeman son vows to track down the murderer known as Queer Face.

Four police officers disappear while pursuing criminals around Hythe and Stonehurst. Criminologist Trevor Lowe follows an invitation to a roadside meeting, only to find his informant murdered, leaving him to unravel the danger threatening Scotland Yard.

Solicitor Larry Graham reaches his gravely ill client’s remote home to find him stabbed to death. Superintendent Budd then arrives with news of another body outside, turning an urgent legal visit into a tangled murder investigation.

A passenger is shot dead on a London bus, and the police arrest its conductor. The accused man’s fiancée hires private detective Paul Rivington, whose effort to prove his innocence becomes an increasingly dangerous investigation.

A hanged bank robber’s history becomes entangled with a peddler’s murder at Janet Lacey’s country cottage. A search of the house and a stanza from Omar Khayyam suggest hidden connections behind the deaths and the mystery surrounding them.

Superintendent Budd dismisses a threatening card sent to Hamilton Lorne as a practical joke. Lorne’s murder the following morning gives the grotesque drawing and its limerick a new significance as the Grim Joker claims further victims.

Millionaire Felix Dexon vanishes, yet apparently genuine instructions continue sending his money abroad. When his suspicious niece asks a newspaper to find him, its crime reporter uncovers a criminal operation linked to a series of murders.

A wave of theft and murder on the Thames leaves police unable to identify its organizers. After another investigating officer is killed, Inspector Terry Ward must confront a criminal network whose hidden leader keeps defeating the river police.

Before his murder, Norris Jordan hides evidence of a dangerous plot in a series of riddles. His friend Peter Clayton and the head of the Secret Service follow the clues while conspirators try to silence them.

Colonel Raynham's comfortable life changes when a mysterious man appears and a threatening note arrives through his window. After a journalist witnesses murder, Trevor Lowe investigates, knowing the unseen watcher may already be preparing another attack.

Paul Rivington accepts a request to protect Samuel Coyne, who claims someone is trying to kill him. A roadside corpse, an intruder’s unexpected recognition of Coyne and a young woman’s disappearance complicate the assignment.

Three prosperous strangers settle near a quiet village and attract a blackmailer who uncovers their secret. When members of the group are killed with glass arrows, the mystery turns toward an unseen archer and an unusual choice of weapon.

A mysterious avenger calling himself the Jockey threatens people he blames for corrupting horse racing. When blackmail gives way to murder, Superintendent Budd must identify him and determine who is responsible for the killings.

A guest at Stiltley Manor is found stabbed in its sunken garden, and police suspect a young man who quarrelled with him. Trevor Lowe believes the accused is innocent, but his refusal to explain his movements endangers him.

Four murder victims have been left with small silver bells, but Inspector Shadgold has no other useful lead. Trevor Lowe joins the inquiry, and a frightened actress reveals a secret connection to the first victim.

A missing crime novelist is found murdered, turning Trevor Lowe’s search into a hunt for a killer. Police suspect the dead man’s impoverished brother, but Lowe questions their theory as another death raises the stakes.

Superintendent Budd’s quiet holiday ends when a neighbor reports two burglaries in which nothing was stolen. The man’s subsequent murder and the discovery of a second dead criminal draw Budd into the mystery surrounding the apparently pointless break-ins.

Threatening letters drive impresario Montague Hammond to seek Trevor Lowe's help at his riverside home. When an actress staying there is strangled, the investigator must discover who stands behind the warnings before more lives are lost.

A horse-racing result sets in motion the activities of the Silver Horseshoe, bringing deaths and suspicion into several lives. Superintendent Budd confronts a criminal mastermind while a reporter and an anxious husband become caught in the affair.

Mr. Dench disappears while posting a letter and is found murdered a fortnight later. Superintendent Budd investigates a trail involving a fireman’s helmet, a poetic pickpocket and the mysterious Witches’ Moon as further deaths follow.

Angela Kesson makes her living robbing the disreputable men she seduces. When one victim is murdered, Inspector Holland suspects her, but Angela's stolen haul contains something the real killer wants, drawing them both into further danger.

Three football-pool winners disappear after receiving their cheques, leaving the money unclaimed. When three bodies are discovered, Budd investigates whether hostility to gambling, revenge or a scheme to steal the winnings connects the crimes.

A man is stabbed to death and a sinister painting disappears from his lodgings. Superintendent Budd encounters another dying victim and a second image of the same leering woman, linking an unusual work of art to murder.

A devoted reader of detective fiction, Augustus Whipple finds his hobby unexpectedly useful when two real murders occur nearby. His deductions surprise the police and become especially valuable when his Scotland Yard neighbor is arrested as a suspect.

A stabbed stranger leaves Superintendent Budd a scrap of paper naming a wealthy man’s home and the House of the Goat. A stolen mummy and the search for a mysterious ring deepen the puzzle behind the killing.

Burglaries, sightings of a legendary ghost and two murders unsettle the village of Chalebury. Superintendent Budd searches for connections, including a missing ruby ring discovered beneath the body of a police inspector investigating the strange events.

A sinister fortune-teller predicts that Robert Harcourt will attend a joyful gathering, hurt the woman he desires, and kill someone dear to her at midnight. Her detailed prophecy turns an apparently happy occasion into a prospect of terror.

A murdered seaman, a vanished Japanese ship, and a killing at a Welsh country house seem unrelated. Assigned to recover stolen diplomatic documents, secret service agent Dene must discover how these events connect before international disaster follows.

Amateur criminologist Conway Jackson receives a delayed and tampered letter warning that his uncle is in danger. Arriving too late to save him, Jackson confronts a strangling seemingly committed by an inhuman attacker who may strike again.

Repeated attacks on Penelope Hayes appear connected to her handbag, though she insists it contains nothing valuable. As a wave of organized robberies spreads through London, her renewed disappearance turns the baffling case into a murder investigation.

Murders among a group of eccentrics in a London suburb draw Robert Budd into an investigation. A secretary caught in the affair adds urgency as he works through the clues to identify the killer.

With the Normandy landings approaching, Michael Dene and the Reverend Colgate-Jones uncover German agents operating in Britain. A dying colleague’s cryptic reference to toothpaste offers their best chance of stopping a planned act of sabotage.

Novelist Peter Chard senses hostility beneath the pleasant surface of Bishop’s Thatcham. When a prominent churchwoman is found murdered in her pew, the village’s simmering envy and malice become central to a disturbing mystery.

A dying hit-and-run victim urgently summons Superintendent Budd and reveals that his injuries were no accident. Cryptic references to an abbot’s key, a fortune, and the Twelve Apostles launch an investigation into the mystery of the Silver Saints.

Delivering important papers to Professor Locksley, Jill Hartley enters a neglected house and discovers a murdered man at the foot of the stairs. Superintendent Budd investigates the violent death and the mysteries surrounding the address.

A series of killings terrifies Fendyke St Mary, culminating in four poisoned bodies inside a derelict cottage. Peter Chard investigates how the murderer escaped a locked building without leaving any tracks in the surrounding snow.

Superintendent Budd investigates the murder of John Brockwell, whose body is found pinned to a tree with a pitchfork. A playing card attached to his jacket raises questions about who hates the Brockwell family and why.

A caller identifying himself as the Tipster announces five planned murders to a newspaper. After the first named victim is shot dead, Superintendent Budd must trace the caller and stop the remaining threats from becoming reality.

Cinema cashier Paula Rivers receives a threatening note delivered by her sister at a stranger’s request. After Paula is shot dead in her ticket booth, Superintendent Budd investigates the warning and the mysterious woman who sent it.

Three former soldiers lease a reputedly haunted theatre to stage a show they planned during the war. A new murder and a rival producer’s sabotage threaten the venture, reviving fears tied to an actor killed there thirty years earlier.

With Margaret Hallam awaiting execution for her husband’s murder, Simon Gale sets out to prove her innocence. His investigation uncovers the dead man’s secret life and enemies, while another death threatens his chance of finding the truth.

Reporter Gordan Cross searches for Mr. Midnight, the suspected organizer of a series of robberies and murders. A nightclub tip leads him through riverside hideouts and country houses, while people connected to his inquiries begin turning up dead.

A light in an abandoned house’s window is said to predict a death in Ferncross. When an American visitor discovers its owner murdered, Simon Gale investigates the village’s secrets and their connection to an earlier killing.

At Lady Tressilian's seaside house, Neville Strange faces the tension between his former wife and his new partner. A brutal murder transforms the gathering into an investigation of jealousy, concealed motives, and the events leading to violence.

An unpopular wealthy woman is murdered in the village church, leaving Superintendent Hockley surrounded by plausible suspects. A missing withdrawal of five hundred pounds hints at blackmail, while local crime writer Peter Hunt begins investigating for himself.

A mysterious packet lands in the train compartment of performers travelling to a seaside engagement. Burglaries and searches follow, and the Crimson Ramblers discover that several people will resort to murder to obtain its unknown contents.

A corpse in a derelict village house is accompanied by a note quoting The House That Jack Built. When another victim appears with the same rhyme, Budd and Sergeant Leek must unravel the connection behind the killings.

Michael Wayland and his wife buy an attractive empty house despite its dark reputation and the previous owner’s execution for murder. Once they move in, strange events threaten their hopes for a peaceful home in the village.

A village clergyman who writes detective stories receives a key accompanied by a disturbing message. It leads to a murdered woman, and further keys threaten more deaths as he tries to understand the pattern before another victim falls.

Visiting Thatchford, Superintendent Budd is asked to help investigate a stabbing and threats against two business associates. Another murder occurs inside a guarded, locked room, leaving him to untangle a case built around apparently impossible circumstances.

Three solicitors are murdered with red tape, leading Superintendent Budd toward an earlier death connected to a compulsory property purchase. He must determine whether the killer is avenging a man driven to suicide by the council’s actions.

A recluse’s murder in Barnet becomes linked to the death of a typist. With help from Sergeant Leek and a newspaper crime reporter, Superintendent Budd assembles the scattered evidence while facing serious personal danger during the investigation.

Budd’s holiday with a retired reporter is interrupted by a series of murders in Little Ditchling. An unusual weapon and uncertainty over whether one person committed all the killings make their apparent connections difficult to explain.

A woman who uncovers the identity of a vast secret organization is murdered before she can report her discovery. Egerton Scott must expose the people behind Group X and discover their plans before the opportunity disappears with her.

Trevor Lowe's golfing holiday brings him into Inspector Shadgold's hunt for a diamond robber. The murder of a man Lowe intended to visit pulls him and his assistant into a case where theft and killing intersect.

Police suspect an unseen criminal mastermind called Mister Big of directing major crimes. Superintendent Budd investigates when kidnapping and murder escalate the threat, but a witness who recognizes the organizer is killed before revealing the name.

After a guest is murdered at Grandchester Manor, suspicion falls on the host’s son. Felix Heron and his wife Thelma join the household to investigate, but two further deaths threaten their efforts to clear the accused man.

Felix Heron and his wife Thelma question a hunting death officially ruled accidental. The victim’s missing fortune and the discovery of an informer’s hanged body complicate their inquiry, forcing them to look beyond the original verdict.

Superintendent Budd searches for a steel box containing something of extraordinary value. His inquiries lead to a reputedly haunted mill and a tramp’s suspicious death, drawing him into cases involving murder, disappearance, blackmail, and apparently supernatural activity.

Princess Yu-Malu threatens to reduce the world’s gold reserves to dust unless she receives a revolutionary rocket formula. Treasury agent Anthony Race and his assistant Katrina Evans must stop her and the secret society supporting her scheme.

An archaeologist threatened with death is guarded at his bedroom’s only door and window. Despite Budd and Sergeant Leek’s precautions, he is found fatally battered inside an empty room, leaving the detectives to explain an apparently impossible murder.

Stranded Christmas travelers seek shelter at an isolated pub, only to find murder waiting inside. This collection brings together five detective stories, including apparently inexplicable cases and a killing committed during a national radio broadcast.

William Baker’s mysterious disappearance becomes a murder investigation when his body is discovered. Simon Gale tackles the seemingly impossible case in a novel left unfinished by Gerald Verner and completed decades later by his son Chris.

A Thames policeman retrieves a mannequin stuffed with banknotes, and a body is discovered farther downriver. Superintendent Budd suspects a connection to counterfeit currency, drawing him and WPC Glenda Lane into a dangerous investigation in 1950s London.