The Case of the Benevolent Bookie (Christopher Bush)

A titled racehorse owner hires Ludovic Travers to find his wife - and a small fortune in jewels.

The Case of the Fourth Detective (Christopher Bush)

The heir to a grocery chain is shot dead in his Regent’s Park flat.

The Case of the Happy Warrior (Christopher Bush)

Something's rotten in the state of Denmark.

The Case of the Green Felt Hat (Christopher Bush)

Christopher Bush's 20th novel: Crooked financiers and golf.

The Case of the Purloined Picture (Christopher Bush)

Small town politics, stolen paintings, antiques and bridge make one of Ludovic Travers's least exciting cases.

The Case of the Fighting Soldier (Bush)

By Christopher Bush First published: Cassell, 1942 ★★★ The third of Bush’s wartime detective stories, following TCOT Murdered Major (1941) and Kidnapped Colonel (1942). This one is set in a Home Guard training school. The ‘Fighting Soldier’ is Captain Mortar, a swaggering Pistol of a man, broad shouldered and bull necked. Although Travers likes him, …

The Case of the Three-Ring Puzzle (Christopher Bush)

By Christopher BushFirst published: UK: Macdonald, 1962; US: Macmillan, 1963 ★ Labelled "a Ludovic Travers Mystery Novel", this has no mystery, no puzzle plot, and no real reason to exist. Travers ties together three seemingly unrelated cases.  Prelude: A photographer thinks his aunt is being swindled.  Five years later, an American impostor hires Travers to …

The Case of the Leaning Man (Christopher Bush)

By Christopher Bush First published: UK, Cassell, 1938; US, Holt, 1938, as The Leaning Man ★★ This is the one in which Travers' wife, Bernice, is introduced. Otherwise, unfortunately, it's rather the mixture as before. The situation is good; after all, who can resist a murdered maharajah in a London hotel?  But it puts one in mind at …

The Case of the Hanging Rope (Christopher Bush)

By Christopher Bush First published: UK, Cassell, 1937; US, Holt, 1937, as The Wedding Night Murder ★★ It's not ropy, but it's far from silken smooth.  The situation is Carrian: dead woman in one room, her drugged newlywed husband in the next, an unconsummated marriage, a noose, skulduggery with glasses, and someone pretending to be a ghost.  …

The Case of the Kidnapped Colonel (Christopher Bush)

By Christopher Bush First published: UK, Cassell, 1942 ★★ Christopher Bush wrote four military mysteries, in which Ludovic Travers, in uniform, investigates a Murdered Major, a Kidnapped Colonel, a Fighting Soldier, and a Corporal's Leave.  These were strictly for Home Front consumption; they were well received in Britain, but never published in the US. (John …