The Mayor of the popular resort of Westcombe, Sir Gideon Ware, is no stranger to making enemies.

What was once a quaint little harbour is now miles of level, concrete promenade, and acres of pleasure-beach, embracing every kind of device for human entertainment and sensation. Sir Gideon Ware has put Westcombe on the map through bribes, intimidation and threats.

When Ware drops dead in the middle of his annual lunch, no one is surprised to hear that murder is suspected. But with so many enemies surrounding Ware, Inspector Littlejohn has his work cut out shifting through Ware’s past to find the likely killer. Especially with the Chief Constable so keen on covering up vital facts in the investigation.

Inspector Littlejohn is on the case...

"One of the subtlest and wittiest practitioners of the...British detective story" - The New York Times

"Sure-fire, that's Bellairs." - New York Herald Tribune

George Bellairs was the nom de plume of Harold Blundell (1902-1985), a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the popular detective Inspector Littlejohn.