Francis Duncan is the pseudonym for William Underhill, who was born in 1918. He lived virtually all his life in Bristol and was a ‘scholarship boy’ boarder at Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital school. Due to family circumstances he was unable to go to university and started work in the Housing Department of Bristol City Council. Writing was always important to him and very early on he published articles in newspapers and magazines. His first detective story was published in 1936.
In 1938 he married Sylvia Henly. Although a conscientious objector, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World W ar II, landing in France shortly after D-Day. After the war he trained as a teacher and spent the rest of his life in education, first as a primary school teacher and then as a lecturer in a college of further education. In the 1950s he studied for an external economics degree from London University. No mean feat with a family to support; his daughter, Kathryn, was born in 1943 and his son, Derek, in 1949.
Throughout much of this time he continued to write detective fiction from ‘sheer inner necessity’, but also to supplement a modest income. He enjoyed foreign travel, particularly to France, and took up golf on retirement. He died of a heart attack shortly after celebrating his fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1988.
发表于2024-11-23
Murder for Christmas 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书
Mordecai Tremaine在犯罪学领域已经小有名气了,这次他受Benedict Grame邀请参加在其乡下古宅举行的圣诞之夜。与Grame仅有一面之缘的Tremaine原本想婉言相拒,但邀请函的最后管家写的附言却引起他极大兴趣:会有什么奇怪的事情发生么? Tremaine驱车前往,一路上遇到...
评分Mordecai Tremaine在犯罪学领域已经小有名气了,这次他受Benedict Grame邀请参加在其乡下古宅举行的圣诞之夜。与Grame仅有一面之缘的Tremaine原本想婉言相拒,但邀请函的最后管家写的附言却引起他极大兴趣:会有什么奇怪的事情发生么? Tremaine驱车前往,一路上遇到...
评分Mordecai Tremaine在犯罪学领域已经小有名气了,这次他受Benedict Grame邀请参加在其乡下古宅举行的圣诞之夜。与Grame仅有一面之缘的Tremaine原本想婉言相拒,但邀请函的最后管家写的附言却引起他极大兴趣:会有什么奇怪的事情发生么? Tremaine驱车前往,一路上遇到...
评分Mordecai Tremaine在犯罪学领域已经小有名气了,这次他受Benedict Grame邀请参加在其乡下古宅举行的圣诞之夜。与Grame仅有一面之缘的Tremaine原本想婉言相拒,但邀请函的最后管家写的附言却引起他极大兴趣:会有什么奇怪的事情发生么? Tremaine驱车前往,一路上遇到...
评分Mordecai Tremaine在犯罪学领域已经小有名气了,这次他受Benedict Grame邀请参加在其乡下古宅举行的圣诞之夜。与Grame仅有一面之缘的Tremaine原本想婉言相拒,但邀请函的最后管家写的附言却引起他极大兴趣:会有什么奇怪的事情发生么? Tremaine驱车前往,一路上遇到...
图书标签: 推理 FrancisDuncan 英文原版 欧美推理 欧美原版 侦探小说 Francis·Duncan
A classic mystery for the festive season: mulled wine, mince pies...and murder.
Mordecai Tremaine, former tobacconist and perennial lover of romance novels, has been invited to spend Christmas in the sleepy village of Sherbroome at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame.
Arriving on Christmas Eve, he finds that the revelries are in full flow - but so too are tensions amongst the assortment of guests.
Midnight strikes and the party-goers discover that it's not just presents nestling under the tree...there's a dead body too. A dead body that bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas.
With the snow falling and the suspicions flying, it's up to Mordecai to sniff out the culprit - and prevent someone else from getting murder for Christmas.
'Kept guessing to the end, I am left wondering why it has taken so long to discover Francis Duncan… With some 20 crime novels to his credit, a relaunch seems long overdue'
Daily Mail
'Who can resist a seasonal whodunnit? This is a bah-humbug’s ideal read'
Lady
'The book nods towards Agatha Christie but retains a crackling atmosphere of dread and horror that will chill the heart however warm your fireside'
Metro
'A wonderfully cosy read and a great way to while away a winter’s evening'
Nudge
'This is a golden age murder mystery that’ll certainly appeal to lovers of Agatha Christie – or anyone who enjoys a good, old-fashioned whodunit… This is a book that could be read at any time of year but would certainly make perfect festive reading. It has humour, excellent characterisation and a gentle tone that would sit well following the after-Queen’s Speech nap'
crimefictionlover
前几章节奏较慢,过程波澜不惊。是有点像《Thou Shell of Death》那样在一片平静祥和之中突然引出一起谋杀案的感觉。节奏也很像阿婆。整体三星半吧,主要我还是更喜欢那种有爆点的。简介【https://www.douban.com/note/642778203/】
评分真凶也没多意外,毕竟怀疑了一圈都没提到他…逗呢 不过总体算近期看的不错的了
评分很精彩的古典本格推理。经典黄金时期设定:古老宅邸,圣诞节,聚集到一起的奇怪人们,各自心怀鬼胎等等(参照Thou Shell of Death),前面稍微有点啰嗦,Plot很精彩很复杂,红鲱鱼和伏线到处都是,最后全都收回来了,解答过瘾,动机设置很赞,缺点是解答完了嘎然而止,也没有简单交代一下人物结局。很适合圣诞节看
评分近期少见的古典佳作,动机是一大亮点。结尾的真相揭露非常精彩,先是逐条排除红鲱鱼,再揭露意外凶手。推荐。
评分真凶也没多意外,毕竟怀疑了一圈都没提到他…逗呢 不过总体算近期看的不错的了
Murder for Christmas 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书