The Garlic Murders

'The Garlic Murders' is the first in the series of 'Bernie Bisto Mysteries' and is set just after the First World War against the backdrop of the roaring twenties. Its larger than life characters provide a delicious mixture of fun, romance and serious intent. Detective Inspector Bernie Bisto, womaniser and calamitous colossus of crime, teams up with agent Hermoine Hush, codename 'Doublehaitch', to solve three unexplained murders at Gumshoe Hall deep in the English countryside. An author working on a report on chemical warfare has lost his head. Another guest at the hotel has engaged in a handbag duel and has lost and 'Missup' the hotel cat has been strangled. During the murder enquiry, Bisto finds himself attempting to save the inhabitants of Gumshoe Hall and the surrounding countryside from the potential hazard of a chemical weapons dump on their doorstep. His sense of adventure leads him to precipitous and dangerous deeds, spurred on by the smell of garlic, whilst his daredevil deeds stir in his assistant, Somers, a level of growing maturity and touching hero worship. Isabella Swage, the owner of the hotel, has lured Bisto into compromise in the hotel's linen cupboard and as a result, his position is compromised and his romantic attachment to agent 'Doublehaitch' is in danger of being severed. Isabella is ruthless in her manipulation both of him and the evidence in her determination to save Gumshoe Hall from ruin. However, 'Doublehaitch' is suspicious of her from the start while she struggles to come to terms with Bisto's infidelity. Nebulous and mercurial, she steps in to preserve national security but in the process reveals the dark and mysterious lengths to which those involved in espionage and counter espionage are prepared to go. She discloses more than she should in her effort to protect Bisto from himself and leaves him wanting more!However, memories of Isabella and the linen cupboard will continue to haunt him.