Irascible Lord Darracott rules his barony with a firm hand. The tragic accident that killed his eldest son by drowning has done nothing to improve his temper. For now, he must send for the next heir apparent--the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family is never permitted to mention. He also summons his bickering descendants to the rundown family estate. Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver's brat and heir apparent...

    And she was beautiful, except for her long, long nose which turned up at the end and gave her a slightly comic expression. Everyone loved her, even the animals and the birds (who sometimes perched on her prominent feature). But her father really doted on her.When he brought up the subject of her marrying the prince of a neighboring kingdom Felicity was not pleased. But the king said, "Cheer up, old girl. If he's anything like his father's description you'll fall in love with him immediately, get married, live happily ever after and that sort of rot."But though he was handsome and elegantly dressed, Prince Fustian turned out to be bad-tempered and rude; and even worse, he was openly contemptuous of Felicity's nose and would have none of her.The king was so wroth he ordered Fustian to leave within the hour and never to set foot in his kingdom again, on pain of instant death.Months later, when she was betrothed to another prince, the princess discovers for herself that the course of true love seldom does run smooth. But since this is a fairy tale, all ends happily, to everybody's astonishment and complete satisfaction—especially the reader's!

    His horse had dropped from a jog to a walk as he neared the fence. His eyes could be seen now. They were summing up what he saw in front of him."He doesn't look the kind that takes orders easily," Gerry said. "What do you say, Bill? Do we offer him a job?"Something about the man stirred her. There was a personal magnetism that was hard to define. Perhaps it was his eyes. They were hard, clear and compelling."We'll offer him the courtesy of billy tea," Bill said quietly. "Then we'll see how he makes out."Looking at the stranger, Gerry had a queer feeling that it would be he who saw who was making out.

    She had been sitting quietly in a crowded Athens cafe writing to her friend Elizabeth in England, "Nothing ever happens to me..."Then, without warning, a stranger approached, thrust a set of car keys at her and pointed to a huge black touring car parked at the curb. "The car for Delphi, mademoiselle... A matter of life and death," he whispered and disappeared.From that moment Camilla's life suddenly begins to take off when she sets out on a mysterious car journey to Delphi in the company of a charming but quietly determined Englishman named Simon Lester. Simon told Camilla he had come to the ancient Greek ruins to "appease the shade” of his brother Michael, killed some fourteen years earlier on Parnassus. From a curious letter Michael had written, Simon believed his brother had stumbled upon something of great importance hidden in the craggy reaches of the mountainside. And then Simon and Camilla learned that they were not alone in their search...The ride was Camilla's first mistake... or perhaps she had unintentionally invoked the gods. She finds herself in the midst of an exciting, intriguing, yet dangerous adventure. An extraordinary train of events turned on a nightmare of intrigue and terror beyond her wildest daydreams.

     Published earlier by Avon as part of their "Murder Mystery Monthly" series. Collects "Blackmailers Don’t Shoot," "Goldfish," "Guns at Cyrano’s" "Nevada Gas" and "Spanish Blood," five mystery stories first published in BLACK MASK.