One of the oddities of Golden Age fiction was its fixation on the occult and the generally weird-ancient gypsy curses, haunted burial grounds, etc. It's therefore something of a relief to settle in with the refreshingly literal Ms. Moyes: When a title refers to a third dog, we are not talking about some metaphysical barking: There were three dogs and now one is missing. Up in arms about this is Emmy Tibbett's sister Jane, a stalwart of the animal-rights...

Mr. and Mrs. Tibbetts pop into a pub for lunch but get served a murder case in this novel with "all the proper ingredients for a cozy whodunit" (The New York Times). What could be more delightful than a long-forgotten relative who dies and leaves you a tidbit in his will? How about if that tidbit is in fact a charming country pub, and that pub is now yours-lock, stock, and barrels of beer? Susan Gardiner is delighted, even when it becomes...

Inspector Henry Tibbett's better half, wife Emmy, takes center stage in a WWII mystery To date, Emmy Tibbett has been something of a secondary character-a placid, pleasantly plump presence who serves mostly to make her detective-husband Henry all the more likeable. With Johnny, however, Emmy at last gets a turn in the spotlight, as she and Henry head off for the 20th reunion of her Royal Air Force squad. It's a bittersweet trip for Emmy: She loved...

Amazingly enough, Henry Tibbett is at work. Crime tends to catch him when he's on vacation, but this time around Henry's at a coppers' conference, an international effort intended to stop drug-smuggling. The conference is in Switzerland (for a Scotland Yard detective, Henry does manage to get around.) and the always sensible Emmy has come along for the parties and the chocolate. It's a glittering whirl of attractive folks in their best early-1960s...

Fans of Emmy Tibbett, have we got the book for you! Vacationing with friends in the Caribbean, Emmy and Henry meet a sprightly and delightful spinster who spins a yarn about a young woman lost at sea and then (perhaps) found again. The yarn gets yet more fascinating when the spinster herself disappears, and Henry-wry, unflappable Henry Tibbett of Scotland Yard-responds in a most uncharacteristic fashion. It's up to Emmy to untangle the clues, contending...

Poor Inspector Tibbett! Once again, he is attempting to have a nice vacation. And once again, Crime has a different idea. This time, Tibbett and his cheerful wife, Emmy, are lazing on a friend's yacht, tacking from one little English sea-town to the next, and it should all be delicious indolence . . . except that Henry can't stop thinking about death. Well, one death in particular. The death of a local sailor. And he especially can't stop thinking...

Mavis Ironmonger is nobody's idea of a good diplomatic wife. She drinks too much, she's awfully friendly with the staff at the Washington embassy, and her music-hall roots have a way of bursting out at the most inappropriate moments. Indeed, it's at an embassy reception that Mavis manages to insult a visiting ambassador and get herself hauled off to sober up. With the party winding down, Mavis is due downstairs, to say the official goodbyes, but in...

A bit of a delicious throwback, in many senses of the word. For starters, we have a weekend house party, that hallmark of Golden Age crime-fiction, and apparently still going strong in 1970, when this book was first published. The party is in honor of a certain Lady Balaclava, herself something of a hallmark of the Golden Age, and still, yes, going strong. Well, at least until midway through the festivities, when she keels over, having apparently...

What would you do if a U.S. Senator was found murdered with a machete on the grounds of your exclusive golf club in the Caribbean? Maybe order another umbrella drink and work on your tan... or if you're John and Margaret Colville, the owners of a modest hotel on the island of St. Matthews, call your friends, Inspector Henry Tibbett and his wife Emmy, to investigate. Did the friendly young islander who tends bar for the Colvilles commit murder? The...