Editions

A Hearse on May Day

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9780099584032

  • Length: 176  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 14mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 160g

  • RRP: £9.99

A Hearse on May Day

A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY
Rediscover Gladys Mitchell – one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Fenella, great-niece to the unorthodox psychoanalyst and sleuth Mrs Bradley, unwittingly stumbles upon a pagan ritual in the sleepy village of Seven Wells. When the village's pub landlord disappears, Fenella calls on her great aunt's expert advice to help her unravel the developing mysteries. Why was the squire of the village stabbed in the back? And what is the secret of the five skeletons in the crypt?

Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you’ll love Mrs Bradley.

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9780099584032

  • Length: 176  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 14mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 160g

  • RRP: £9.99

Reviews

  • She is one of the Big Three women detective writers

    Observer

  • Gladys Mitchell can always be relied upon for a packed and meaty novel, and an intelligent one too

    Guardian

  • Mrs Bradley is easily one of the most memorable personalities

    Next Read

  • The marvel is that although Miss Mitchell has been so prolific, she has also been so good

    Edmund Crispin

  • Miss Mitchell began her career in the golden age of detective fiction and maintained her highly individual talent through all the genre's vicissitudes

    P.D. James, Times Literary Supplement

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Gladys Mitchell

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.

Gladys Mitchell

Read more

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2020/december/Main-Christmas-Books-1800x1200.jpg

Features

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

From joyful illustrated classics to vital essay collections, these are the books our team of editors can't wait to put under the tree this year.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience. For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.