Laurels are Poison

(Paperback)

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READ ALL AGATHA CHRISTIE TRY A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERYAn inexplicable disappeance...sinister practical jokes...a classic murder mystery from one of the queens of Golden Age crime fiction A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERYRediscover Gladys Mitchell - one of the 'Big Three' female crime fiction writers alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.The witchlike psychologist and detective Mrs Bradley takes up the position of warden at a girl's college in order to investigate the ominous disappearance of her predecessor. Her arrival coincides with a series of sinister practical jokes - a student's hair is hacked off, clothes are slashed, then the cook's body is discovered in a river near the college. With the help of her sub-warden and a trio of intrepid students, Mrs Bradley hunts down the culprit.Opinionated, unconventional, unafraid... If you like Poirot and Miss Marple, you'll love Mrs Bradley.

Reviews

Crime writings best-kept secret * Scotsman *
One of the "Big Three" female mystery novelists, judged the equal of Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie, but that's not quite accurate - she's more like a mad combination of both * Independent *
Mrs Bradley is easily one of the most memorable personalities * Next Read *

Author Bio

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.