Death on Swift Wings

Death on Swift Wings is the first book featuring Gertrude Harrington. An ongoing series of cosy mysteries set in the 1950s and 60s, the books will appeal to readers who enjoy Agatha Christie and other Golden Age Murder Mystery novels.At one time, Gertrude was head cook at Templemead Hall in Clyst St James, a sleepy English village in the county of Kingworthy. Following the death of her niece Mabel at the house under suspicious circumstances, Gertrude left her post, and using her severance pay she has purchased the village Tea Room, which she intends to run with another of her nieces, Juliet.In Death on Swift Wings, Gertrude is all set to meet Juliet's fiancé, Herbert. But Herbert has disappeared. The Earl of Castleford was invalided out of the Army during the war, and now rears pigeons. A number of his pigeons have been shot from the sky, and Lord Castleford is being blackmailed. He doesn't know why, but suspects any one of the household staff and villagers: he is not well liked by anyone except his wife.There has also been a spate of robberies nearby, but the thief has yet to be caught - he disappears into thin air as though on swift wings, earning him the nickname Pegasus. Gertrude discovers a pouch filled with diamonds, and at the same time Lord Castleford's crashed car is discovered with a dead body at the wheel.In his absence, Herbert becomes the chief subject for all the crimes, but Gertrude feels he is not guilty and so she sets out to prove his innocence.But then a second body is discovered...