If you’re a John Creasey fan, you will know the names: Baron, Toff, West and Palfrey, along with Department Z. What I didn’t know was Creasey wrote a series of four humorous mysteries about two brothers, Martin and Richard Fane, sons of the famous Mystery writer. Not surprisingly, the boys were based on Creasey’s two sons when they were 10 and 12. He wanted to imagine them as grown men. I’ve read the first one, Find a Body, and it’s a fun read with adventures in a touring car.
What attracted me to the series is that elusive questing beast supernatural appearing Mysteries. I had read somewhere that the third book was such. Clairvoyant Hilda Kennedy keeps seeing murders before they happen so I guess it counts. I will have to keep reading to get there. Creasey did write some borderline SF with his Palfrey and Department Z books, so I am intrigued.
Check’em out if you can find them.
1 Take a Body (1951)
2 The Lame Dog Murder (1952)
3 Murder in the Stars (1953)
4 Man on the Run (1953)
