Run!: A Golden Age Mystery (Paperback or Softback)

“You told me a lot of things,” said James grimly. “Most of them weren’t true.”

James Elliott, lost in a fog, comes upon a lonely house in the English countryside. The house shows no lights but the front door is ajar. He enters in search of a telephone but instead finds a girl whose white face, eyes wide in a stare of horror and mouth open as if to scream. But instead of screaming, she yells ‘run!’ At that moment there is the sound of a shot and James feels the wind of a bullet as it goes past. Though he rescues the girl, she cannot – or will not – tell him quite where the danger lies…

Is the girl’s name Aspidistra Aspinall, as she originally claims? Or perhaps it’s Sally West, as she later styles herself, when revealing that bestselling author Ambrose Sylvester may have passed off a dead man’s work as his own. The girl’s fear is real enough, and for good reason – someone is playing for high stakes, and another corpse has been left to prove it. But will James himself turn out to be the intended victim?

Run! was originally published in 1938. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

“When I pick up a book by Patricia Wentworth I think, now to enjoy myself – and I always do.” Mary Dell, Daily Mirror

Patricia Wentworth was born Dora Amy Elles in India in 1877 (not 1878 as has sometimes been stated). She was first educated privately in India, and later at Blackheath School for Girls. Her first husband was George Dillon, with whom she had her only child, a daughter. She also had two stepsons from her first marriage, one of whom died in the Somme during World War I. Her first novel was published in 1910, but it wasn't until the 1920's that she embarked on her long career as a writer of mysteries. Her most famous creation was Miss Maud Silver, who appeared in 32 novels, though there were a further 33 full-length mysteries not featuring Miss Silver-the entire run of these is now reissued by Dean Street Press. Patricia Wentworth died in 1961. She is recognized today as one of the pre-eminent exponents of the classic British golden age mystery novel.