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Classic books all teens should own

The books we'll be giving this year. Image: Alicia Fernandes/Penguin

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Penguin.co.uk editors on the books they’ll be giving this year

The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop

READ ALL AGATHA CHRISTIE? TRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY. 
Provincial politics and butchery...blackmail and murder...a classic murder mystery from one of the queens of Golden Age crime fiction

Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell – or ‘The Great Gladys’ as Philip Larkin called her – was born in 1901, in Cowley in Oxfordshire. She graduated in history from University College London and in 1921 began her long career as a teacher. Her hobbies included architecture and writing poetry. She studied the works of Sigmund Freud and her interest in witchcraft was encouraged by her friend, the detective novelist Helen Simpson. 
 
 Her first novel, Speedy Death, was published in 1929 and introduced readers to Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, the detective heroine of a further sixty six crime novels. She wrote at least one novel a year throughout her career and was an early member of the Detection Club, alongside Agatha Christie, G.K Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers. In 1961 she retired from teaching and, from her home in Dorset, continued to write, receiving the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger in 1976. Gladys Mitchell died in 1983.

Rediscover Gladys Mitchell – one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. 
 
When Rupert Sethleigh's body is found one morning, laid out in the village butcher shop but minus its head, the inhabitants of Wandles Parva aren't particularly upset. Sethleigh was a blackmailing moneylender and when the peerless detective and renowned psycholanalyst Mrs Bradley begins her investigation she finds no shortage of suspects. It soon transpires that most of the village seem to have been wandering about Manor Woods, home of the mysterious druidic stone on which Sethleigh's blood is found splashed, on the night he was murdered, but can she eliminate the red herrings and catch the real killer? 
 
Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you’ll love Mrs Bradley.

A Cotswold Christmas Mystery

Murder in the Snow

First published in 1950 as Groaning Spinney, this classic crime treat is perfect for the Christmas season, and for fans of Mystery in White and Murder Under the Christmas Tree

This classic crime treat is the perfect Christmas gift for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. 
 
&lsquo;A delight&hellip; An amateur sleuth to rival Miss Marple&rsquo; Guardian 
 
Mrs Bradley, sharp-eyed detective and celebrated psychiatrist, has decided to spend Christmas with her nephew at his beautiful house in the Cotswolds. 
 
It isn&rsquo;t long before a mystery unfolds. There are strange events occurring in the nearby wood and local villagers are receiving anonymous threatening letters. Then the snow begins to fall &ndash; and a body is discovered. 
 
Mrs Bradley is on the case, but she&rsquo;ll have to hatch an ingenious plan to reveal the truth and find the culprit&hellip; 
 
First published in 1950 as Groaning Spinney.

One of the "Big Three" female mystery novelists, judged the equal of Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie

Take yourself back to a time in which ladies swoon, people say, “Dash it” and mixed-up telegrams land you in the wrong place at the wrong time. Murder in the Snow is a chocolate-box delight of a book… Just kick back and enjoy an era when even murder was sprinkled with mischievous innocence

If a relaxing diversion is of the essence for a good holiday, a Gladys Mitchell novel is a must

This classic crime treat is the perfect Christmas gift for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. 
 
First published in 1950 as Groaning Spinney. 
 
&lsquo;A delight&hellip; An amateur sleuth to rival Miss Marple&rsquo; Guardian 
 
Mrs Bradley, sharp-eyed detective and celebrated psychiatrist, has decided to spend Christmas with her nephew at his beautiful house in the Cotswolds. 
 
It isn&rsquo;t long before a mystery unfolds. There are strange events occurring in the nearby wood and local villagers are receiving anonymous threatening letters. Then the snow begins to fall &ndash; and a body is discovered. 
 
Mrs Bradley is on the case, but she&rsquo;ll have to hatch an ingenious plan to reveal the truth and find the culprit&hellip;

Watson's Choice

READ ALL AGATHA CHRISTIE? TRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY 
A young woman dies during a Sherlock Holmes themed party...a classic murder mystery from one of the queens of Golden Age crime fiction

This is one to be put aside for a relaxing Christmas read...the mark of a Mitchell mystery is to lead us into familiar territory there to shatter illusions of predictability...try guessing the culprit by all means but there are high odds against getting it right

Among the most revered names in British mystery fiction

Completely individual, instantly recognisable and highly enjoyable

Gladys Maude Winifred Mitchell – or ‘The Great Gladys’ as Philip Larkin called her – was born in 1901, in Cowley in Oxfordshire. She graduated in history from University College London and in 1921 began her long career as a teacher. Her hobbies included architecture and writing poetry. She studied the works of Sigmund Freud and her interest in witchcraft was encouraged by her friend, the detective novelist Helen Simpson. 
Her first novel, Speedy Death, was published in 1929 and introduced readers to Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, the detective heroine of a further sixty six crime novels. She wrote at least one novel a year throughout her career and was an early member of the Detection Club, alongside Agatha Christie, G.K Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers.In 1961 she retired from teaching and, from her home in Dorset, continued to write, receiving the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger in 1976. Gladys Mitchell died in 1983.

A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY 
Rediscover Gladys Mitchell – one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. 
 
One of Sir Bohun Chantrey's great passions in life is the stories of Sherlock Holmes. To celebrate the great man's anniversary, he throws a party at which the guests are instructed to come as characters from the detective stories. But several of the guests are more interested in Sir Bohun's money, and when he announces that he is to marry a poor governess, things take a turn for the worse, not least when the Hound of the Baskervilles turns up... 
 
Fortunately the incomparable detective Mrs Bradley and her secretary Laura are amongst the guests and ready to investigate the deepening mystery. 
 
Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you’ll love Mrs Bradley.

Death at the Opera

READ ALL AGATHA CHRISTIE? TRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY 
A school play ends in death in this classic murder mystery from one of the queens of Golden Age crime fiction

Rediscover Gladys Mitchell – one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. 
 
Hillmaston School has chosen The Mikado for their next school performance and, in recognition of her generous offer to finance the production, their meek and self-effacing arithmetic mistress is offered a key role. But when she disappears mid-way through the opening night performance and is later found dead, unconventional psychoanalyst and sleuth Mrs Bradley is called in to investigate. To her surprise she soon discovers that the hapless teacher had quite a number of enemies - all with a motive for murder... 
 
Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you’ll love Mrs Bradley.

Death and the Maiden

READ ALL AGATHA CHRISTIE? TRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY. 
A banana-grower, Winchester (and maybe naiads) all feature in a brilliantly witty murder mystery from one of the queens of Golden Age crime fiction.

A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY 
Rediscover Gladys Mitchell – one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. 
 
When former banana-grower Edris Tidson hears of the possible sighting of a water-naiad he insists that his wife, her aunt Prissie and Prissie's young ward Connie, travel with him to Winchester in search of the nymph. As tensions rise between Connie and Edris, Prissie invites the renowned psychoanalyst, and unrivalled detective, Mrs Bradley to join them and unofficially observe Edris and his growing obsession. Then two young boys are found drowned and speculation mounts that the naiad is luring them to her deaths. Can Mrs Bradley unravel the mysteries hidden within the river? 
 
Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you’ll love Mrs Bradley.

Classic Radio Crime

The Mrs Bradley Mysteries

Mary Wimbush stars as amateur sleuth Mrs Bradley in these two full-cast dramatisations of stories by Gladys Mitchell

Mary Wimbush stars as unconventional psychoanalyst sleuth Mrs Bradley in these two full-cast dramatisations of stories by Gladys Mitchell. Colourful, cynical, intimidating and extremely intelligent, Mrs Bradley is one of the most unorthodox detectives in the history of Golden Age crime fiction. The heroine of 66 novels by Gladys Mitchell, she has also appeared in several radio adaptations and a BBC TV series starring Diana Rigg. 
 
In these two dramas, she puts her extraordinary mind to work investigating cases of disguise, dismemberment, mayhem and murder. In Speedy Death, a country house in the 1920s is rocked by a murder which takes place in a room which is first locked, then later unlocked. A startling secret is uncovered, and as fingers point and the suspects begin to turn on each other, another death occurs… The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop sees Mrs Bradley probing some alarming events in the village of Wandles Parva, as Rupert Sethleigh goes missing and a headless body is found jointed in the butcher’s shop. 
 
These entertaining dramatisations, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990 and 1991, star Mary Wimbush as Mrs Bradley, with Leslie Phillips as Carstairs. 
 
Classic Radio Crime: presenting vintage detectives for your investigation!

Gladys Mitchell

A classic Christmas murder mystery

The perfect classic crime story to cosy up with this winter. Amateur sleuth Mrs Bradley investigates a puzzling Christmas mystery . . . 
 
First published in 1936 as Dead Men's Morris. 
 
'Mrs Bradley is an amateur sleuth to rival Miss Marple... A delight' Guardian 
 
It is December and Mrs Bradley has left London behind for a relaxing visit to the Oxfordshire countryside. 
 
Then, on Christmas Eve, a local solicitor is found dead by the river. Everyone believes that he suffered a heart attack - but Mrs Bradley is suspicious, and is soon investigating a series of disturbing clues. 
 
As the frost thaws and spring begins, the inimitable detective must work fast if she is to protect the people close to her from a resourceful killer... 
 
'The equal of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie' Independent

Gladys Mitchell

Death Comes at Christmas

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