In the Mayor's Parlour

A Golden Age mystery set in the picture-perfect English town of Hathelsborough, where the newly elected Mayor is found murdered in his private parlour mere days after taking office. The discovery is made by his cousin, Richard Brent, who arrives at the Moot Hall to find John Wallingford dead in a room that seemed securely locked. The killing appears impossible, yet someone in this sleepy town of ancient traditions and hidden resentments wanted the new Mayor dead. Brent is drawn into the dark heart of Hathelsborough, where political ambitions fester beneath a surface of old-world charm. The town's respectable citizens guard their secrets jealously, and every friendly face might conceal a killer. As Brent digs deeper, he discovers the Mayor's election was tainted by blackmail and bribery, and old grudges that stretch back generations. The question isn't just who killed John Wallingford, but whether the town's silent complicity runs deeper than anyone dares to admit. For fans of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie, this is interwar detection at its most atmospheric, a puzzle wrapped in the particular cruelty of a community that would rather let an innocent man hang than expose its own corruption.