the Affair of Mutilated Mink: A delightfully quirky murder mystery in great tradition Agatha Christie: 2

For whodunit fans who prefer their villains to be nice, refined people, the sort who quote Shakespeare and knock off their nearest and dearest between rubbers of bridge, The Affair of the Mutiliated Mink is a delectable treat. The Earl of Burford cannot believe his luck. Rex Ransom, his favourite film star, and a hot-shot producer want to film their next feature at Alderley, the family's seventeenth-century country estate. Somewhat less enthusiastic are the Countess and poor Merryweather, the family's butler, who suddenly find themselves hosting the incoming Hollywood crowd. And that's before there's a murder in the dead of night. Paying homage to Golden Age crime fiction in which even the red herrings are impeccably turned out, The Affair of the Mutilated Mink is a must-read for armchair sleuths.