Francis Durbridge fut un dramaturge et auteur anglais prolifique, réputé pour ses contributions à la fiction policière et aux récits de détective. Il a acquis une reconnaissance considérable pour avoir créé le personnage durable de Paul Temple, un détective gentleman qui a captivé le public dans de nombreuses séries radiophoniques et télévisuelles, films et bandes dessinées. Au-delà de ses récits criminels populaires, Durbridge a également connu le succès en tant qu'auteur pour la scène et l'écran. Sa pièce 'Suddenly at Home' a connu une course célébrée dans le West End de Londres pendant plus d'un an, démontrant ses talents narratifs polyvalents.
The Temples meet the Fergusons when travelling home from New York, but are later told that the Fergusons' son Richard has been murdered at his university. The only leads are a postcard signed "Jonathan" and Richard's missing signet ring.
Major robberies with violence have been puzzling the police, until they receive information that implicates Harry Denver. So Harry, having retired to an idyllic lifestyle in rural Kent, has no option but to fight back and investigate for himself.
While serving his notice, Det. Supt. Sam Harvey is sent to Market Cross, to be faced with conflicting information about a body found in a wood. He finds that this is far from a one-off murder, but is part of a complex web of blackmail.
Tim Frazer's third and final assignment is to investigate the murder of a British agent near a guest house in Wales, and the link between this death and the disappearance of a German scientist.
American gang-buster Johnny Cordell helps Scotland Yard to smash a dope-smuggling ring, with one gangster biting the dust in each interlinked episode.
A baby and her baby-sitter have disappeared, and the only clue is a note reading "A Mr Vandyke telephoned. He left no message." In seeking to identify Vandyke, Temple must unravel the significance of a doll, the murder of a man impersonating a police officer, the safe return of the baby, and several other murders.
Francis Durbridge was the twentieth century's foremost writer of thrillers for radio and television creating, among many others, amateur sleuths Paul Temple and Tim Frrazer. But there was another side to Francis Durbridge's writing - a much lighter side which included musical comedies and sketches. This book publishes for the first time ever a selecdtion of these works. Titles included are: Stranger, Beware The House on the Corner Cocktails With Cupid We Were Strangers Mary Ann Worth Taking Excuses The Knave The Ace Paul Jones In Training The Customer Is Always Right Parents The Daily Dodge (6 episodes)
Toymaker David Walker gives a lift to a young woman, but he runs out of petrol and when he returns to the car she has disappeared. She is later found strangled, and Det. Insp. Martin Denson's investigation becomes even more complex when Walker himself appears to have committed suicide.
Wilfrid Stirling asks Paul Temple to investigate the murer of his daughter, for which her boyfriend Howard Gilbert has already been convicted and sentenced to hang. As Temple races against time there are more murders, but why has a shoe been taken from each victim?
On a boat trip from the fishing village of Downburgh, Paul and Steve Temple are shot at and later the boatman dies in a cliff-top fall. Back in London, the daughter of the head of M.I.5. has disappeared and it soon transpires there is a connection.