Marta

Sir John Penlyon is planning to spend Christmas at his estate with his niece and his friend Danby, the closest thing he has to family since disowning his daughter years ago. (She eloped with the parson, who was, of course, penniless.) Danby suggests that at Christmastime the estate needs the presence of small children, and offers to find some - the “hirelings” - despite Sir John’s skepticism. Three children duly arrive, and the youngest, precocious four year-old Moppet, quickly endears herself to Sir John.

While enjoying a leisurely ocean cruise in the company of secretary Della Street, Perry Mason is approached by passenger who is worried about the wellbeing of her husband. Not long afterward, her husband is seen jumping off the ship, an apparent suicide - but when the body is recovered, it turns out that he was shot. Accused of murder, the wife puts her fate in the hands of Perry, who in the course of piecing things together unearths the fact that the husband had once accepted a huge bribe while serving on a jury.

It’s a wily killer who dares to strike on Nero Wolfe’s hallowed turf - and leave a corpse strangled with Wolfe’s own soup-stained tie. But no sooner does the gourmandizing sleuth clean up this first course of murder than he faces a gun-toting wife who serves up a confession of homicidal intent - only to become the sole suspect when the corpus delicti is found.

Investigating the disappearance of a vicar's daughter in London, the popular novelist and amateur detective Roger Sheringham is shocked to discover that the girl is already dead, found hanging from a screw by her own silk stocking. Reports of similar deaths across the capital strengthen his conviction that this is no suicide cult but the work of a homicidal maniac out for vengeance - a desperate situation requiring desperate measures.

Mrs. Bentley has been arrested for murder. The evidence is overwhelming: arsenic she extracted from fly papers was in her husband's medicine, his food and his lemonade, and her crimes are being plastered across the newspapers. Even her lawyers believe she is guilty. But Roger Sheringham, the brilliant but outspoken young novelist, is convinced that there is too much evidence against Mrs. Bentley and sets out to prove her innocence.

The hideous Walsingford Hall is home to an odd assortment of coves…The vile premises belong to Sir Buckstone, who is in a little financial difficulty. So for a little monetary help he puts a roof over the heads of people like (among others) Tubby Vanringham, the adoring slave of cold-hearted Miss Whittaker. His brother Joe has fallen head over heels for Sir Buck’s daughter, Jane. She, however, only has eyes for Adrian Peake, who has already formed a liaison with the terrifying - but superbly wealthy - Princess Dwornitzchek. Is there no end to the confusion?

Young Jerry West has a few problems. His uncle Crispin is broke and employs a butler who isn't all he seems. His other uncle, Willoughby, is rich but won't hand over any of his inheritance. And to cap it all, although already engaged, Jerry has just fallen in love with the wonderful Jane Hunnicut, whom he's just met on jury service. But she's an heiress, and that's a problem too - because even if he can extricate himself from his grasping fiancée, Jerry can't be seen to be a gold digger.

Mike is among Wodehouse's earliest adult novels, and reportedly remained the author's personal favorite. The story follows the adventures of cricketing prodigy Mike Jackson, first at the prestigious Wrykyn public school, where he strives to achieve the unprecedented feat of a place in the First Eleven in his freshman year, and later (when to his father's annoyance Mike's academic performance at Wrykyn fall rather short of his sporting achievements) at Sedleigh, a smaller school with little sporting reputation, where he first encounters the immaculate and unflappable Psmith....

When the news breaks that Madeline Bassett is engaged to Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bertie's relief is intense. But when Madeline attempts to turn Gussie vegetarian, Bertie's instinct for self-preservation sends him with the steadfast Jeeves on another uproariously funny mission to Sir Watkyn Bassett's residence, Totleigh Towers.

Bertie Wooster is one of nature's gentlemen, so when Gussie Fink-Nottle gets himself into a spot of bother with the law, Bertie helps out - by impersonating Gussie! The plan seems to be working, until Gussie turns up - impersonating Bertie!