The Pied Piper of Death (The Lyon and Bea Wentworth Mysteries)

Charming husband-and-wife sleuthing team Lyon and Bea Wentworth visit the estate of a power-mad manufacturer in this classic manor-house mystery. Children’s book author and occasional sleuth Lyon Wentworth arrives at the Piper estate prepared to come face to face with death. The leading manufacturer of landmines, the Piper Corporation is no stranger to casualties, but the estate is being besieged by protestors and the pressure is getting to them. Head of the family Peyton Piper has always exerted firm control over his kin, but as he prepares for a Senate bid, he’s pulling the leash even tighter. Family historian Markham Swan fears one of the Pipers’ lives is in danger—but Markham himself will catch the first two bullets. The slugs that kill him are tiny little things, antique bullets that date back to the Civil War. Lyon will deploy every ounce of his considerable charm in trying to unravel the mystery, but that may not be enough. When the Piper family turns on itself, the results will be explosive. Written in the style of a classic English murder mystery, The Pied Piper of Death will charm fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy B. Sayers. Staged with Richard Forrest’s trademark wit, it’s an undeniable classic. The Pied Piper of Death is the 8th book in the Lyon and Bea Wentworth Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. Cricket Odyssey is a skilfully executed, lovingly constructed, book: a literary celebration of over a century-and-a-half of cricket. It has narrative and character study blended in a dexterously refined, yet readable form. It not only manages to pervade the essential of the essentials of some of cricket's greatest players — from Dr W G Grace to Steve Waugh; from Sir Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar to Rahul Dravid; from Sir Learie Constantine and Sir Gary Sobers to Jacques Kallis; from Ray Lindwall to Wasim Akram; and, from Clarrie Grimmett to Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan — but, it also brings to life a classy and effulgent cricketing collage. More than a lively, encapsulated grandeur of individual brilliance, or cricketing chemistry, of each player epitomised in its canvas, Cricket Odyssey explores not only the many-resplendent delights of cricket, but it also delineates a deftly woven work of art — of the game's scientific foundation, art and grammar, and its players' phenomenal exploits, acts of courage, grandeur, and 'shortfall.' A journey through nostalgia, and a living monument to a living philosophy, it is, in sum, a 'must-read' and 'must-keep' book for all avid cricket fans across the globe.