Providence, they say, is good to drunkards and children. Maybe there’s a third category—the unorthodox detective.

A new case finds Ludovic Travers travelling to the respectable English Midlands town of Mainford. He is commissioned to investigate the death, under compromising circumstances, of Harry Landlace—a man of civic virtue. There is the suggestion of a smear and as Travers attempts to clear Landlace’s name, he uncovers something the dead man was on the verge of revealing. Is it to do with the undercover gambling syndicate Travers comes upon, or the youth club with which the deceased was closely involved? Travers is relentless in pursuit of the guilty party—or parties. But the case will not end before more than one person have met their deaths.

The Case of the Red Brunette was originally published in 1954. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“Mr. Bush has an urbane and intelligent way of dealing with mystery.” Leo Bruce