Автор: Francis Durbridge

As detective Paul Temple turns his hand to playwright, his leading lady Iris Archer pulls out shortly before the play is due to open and declares that she is heading for France.However, shortly after her disappearance Paul Temple receives a guest at his Scottish holiday home – none other than that of Iris Archer.The mystery deepens as Temple is asked by a young man to act as postmaster in delivering a letter. Meanwhile someone acting under the codename of Z4 seems to have control of events. Could this be Doctor Steiner, and just who is he? It is all up to Temple . .…

In the dead of night, a watchman is brutally attacked and with his dying breath cries out, “The Green Finger!” It is the latest in a series of robberies to take place that have left Scotland Yard mystified, and with no other choice but to call upon the expertise of Detective Paul Temple.Aided by the beautiful journalist Louise Harvey – affectionately known as Steve – the duo discover that this is not the first victim to warn of the dangerous and elusive ‘Green Finger’… who or what is it? The pair must work together to solve the deepening…

Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving Carl Milbourne, the brother-in-law of wealthy financier Maurice Lonsdale. After the news that Carl has perished in a fatal car accident, rumours begin to stir that despite all odds, Carl is alive and well.When Maurice’s widowed Sister Margaret pleads for the crime-fighting duos help, Paul and Steve find themselves on a trail of deception stretching from London to Switzerland. Their lives are in grave danger as everything is done in an attempt to stall their search – anonymous gunmen, exploding cars, ransom demands, and a mysterious…

Paul and Steve plan to relax and take in some fresh sea air on board a luxurious trans-Atlantic liner … that is until they meet the elusive Sam Portland. After the innocent introduction, grave danger lies ahead for the couple.As events unfold, a concoction of murder, blackmail and terror ensues. Life on board the ship requires cruise control as Temple attempts to get to the bottom of the secret behind Sam’s lost years … And just who is…

Historian Alfred Kelby decides to publish the diaries of Margaret Spender, Lord Delamore’s secretary and secret lover. But these diaries go beyond historical records, they are pure scandal.Before the diary can be published, Kelby makes an unsettling disappearance.Someone is out to get their hands on these potentially explosive diaries no matter what and Temple is desperate to stop them. As he digs deeper into the dark political underworld, it is up to him to find out what really happened to Lord Delamore, the statesman whose death over ten years ago has been shrouded in…

An aeroplane crash sends billows of fire down the cliffs of Dulworth Bay and two boys from a public school go missing, what connects these two events? Paul Temple is called onto the scene and there’s one name that’s causing a stir, Curzon.The mysterious name appears etched on a cricket bat that belongs to one of the missing Baxter boys, but family members and village folk have never even heard of it. As another boy vanishes followed by a devastating murder, Paul has to act swiftly and determine the unknown identity of the killer to put an end to Curzon’s reign of…

When two young women are found murdered within a week of each other, Scotland Yard enlist the help of sleuthing crime writer Paul Temple to unravel the mystery.Working in tandem with his astute and elegant wife Steve, Temple takes up the scent and discovers a dark secret that places them both in mortal…

What could possibly connect expensive Margo ‘designer’ coats, an industrialist, a petrified celebrity, and a psychiatrist with a peculiar secretary?A potent murder plot is underway when a terrifying warning is received on the grounds of a funfair. It’s up to Paul to unravel a disturbing set of mysteries that turns this funhouse into a deadly death…

Two short stories featuring Francis Durbridge’s famous detective, Paul Temple.The perfect winter read, these two short stories follow Paul and Steve through a blustery Christmas and New Year’s Eve to solve two compelling crimes. Also featuring an introduction from Francis Durbridge on how he created his famous…

Republished for the first time since 1951, Beware of Johnny Washington is Francis Durbridge’s clever reworking of the very first Paul Temple radio serial using his new characters, the amiable Johnny Washington and newspaper columnist Verity Glyn. Includes as a bonus the first Paul Temple short story, ‘A Present for Paul’.When a gang of desperate criminals begins leaving calling cards inscribed ‘With the Compliments of Johnny Washington’, the real Johnny Washington is encouraged by an attractive newspaper columnist to throw in his lot with the police. Johnny, an American ‘gentleman…

The detective novel ‘The Front Page Men’ is a resounding success, but its author Andrea Fortune keeps herself hidden from the public. When a series of robberies are committed, a calling card is left bearing the legend of ‘The Front Page Men’.Then the murders begin.Paul and his wife Steve assist Scotland Yard in finding the murderers, but Steve is in grave danger and the clock is…

When Paul Temple is asked to do a simple favour for his wife Steve, he has no idea of the brutal repercussions about to follow.Flying from Paris, Temple and Steve are bound for Tunis to deliver a package to David Foster … until the parcel’s sender is found dead in a dust bin. It is the prelude to a series of murders, leaving Temple and Steve desperate to stop the tide of escalating events – only they can get to the heart of the mystery and ensure that justice…

Paul and Steve are back to solve the latest hard-hitting case of robbery and murder. After a heist goes down at Harkdale bank, a gang of thieves flee and a car chase ensues.As police close in on them, the thieves come to a screeching dead end.All the police have to do is retrieve the money … but the only thing the thieves have on them is an Oxford Dictionary! And when Paul Temple returns home, he finds the dead body of one of the…

Actress Norma Rice is found dead on a train, and the letters REX are scrawled in red chalk on her compartment window. It is the third death to occur in a mysterious string of murders and Scotland Yard are compelled to send once again for Paul Temple.Temple, now acting as an investigator as well as a mystery novelist, is joined by his wife Steve as they are embroiled in this latest mystery. As they convene to discuss the case with the Yard’s Sir Graham Forbes at a nightclub, they witness one of the performers die in the middle of her act before they have a chance to speak to her. Can…

Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard often calls upon Paul Temple to help with his latest unfathomable case…In a small country lane, the well-known American, Myron Harwood, is found dead. The murder heralds the start of a spate of celebrity deaths – and each time the victim is found with a small white piece of cardboard, bearing the inscription ‘The Marquis’.When a woman is pulled from the river with the same note attached to her dress, Paul Temple sends a note to Sir Graham Forbes. His message reads: ‘is it true what they say about Rita?’ Rita Cartwright was a private detective…

This novelisation of the radio serial Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case also includes a bonus short story, ‘Paul Temple and the Nightingale’.It was an open-and-shut case: Lucy Staines was murdered by her hot-headed fiancé Harold Weldon. But something about it is troubling ex-Fleet Street crime reporter Mike Baxter – why was one of Lucy’s shoes missing from the crime scene? When an identical murder occurs while Weldon is safely behind bars, the whole case is re-opened – and everything revolves around another woman’s shoes…Another Woman’s Shoes is Francis Durbridge’s rewrite…

Never before published in paperback, and back in print for the first time since 1951, this long-lost novelisation reworks the nail-biting radio serial ‘Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair’ with new and original characters.The Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard visits retired Detective Lionel Wyatt with the chilling news that an old adversary they never caught has struck again, strangling an innocent girl. Wyatt is reluctant to return to police work, but then another body is found – this time at his own home, with a personal message: ‘With the compliments of Mr Rossiter’.In…

This novelisation of the radio serial Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery also includes a Paul Temple short story, ‘The Ventriloquist’s Doll’. Photographer and amateur detective Philip Holt is asked to investigate the unexplained murder of an American student at an English university. With a postcard signed ‘Christopher’ and the boy’s father’s missing signet ring as his only leads, Holt’s investigation soon snowballs into forgery, blackmail, smuggling … and more murder. Dead to the World is Francis Durbridge’s novelisation of his radio serial Paul Temple and the…

The first three books in the hugely popular Paul Temple series follows crime fighting duo Paul and his wife Steve.Send for Paul Temple:In the dead of night, a watchman is brutally attacked and with his dying breath cries out, “The Green Finger!” It is the latest in a series of robberies to take place that have left Scotland Yard mystified, and with no other choice but to call upon the expertise of Detective Paul Temple.Aided by the beautiful journalist Louise Harvey – affectionately known as Steve – the duo discover that this is not the first victim to warn of the dangerous and…

Never published in paperback, and back in print for the first time since 1950, Back Room Girl was the first original novel by Francis Durbridge.Retiring to No Man’s Cove in Cornwall to write his memoirs, crime reporter Roy Benton discovers that a disused tin mine has become a research station for a secret weapons project. Karen Silvers, in charge of operations, reluctantly accepts that Benton’s experience could help her fight a sinister organisation intent on stealing their plans.Having adapted five of his Paul Temple radio serials into successful novelisations, in 1950 Francis Durbridge…