The Mystery of the Crooked Man - Pushkin Vertigo by Tom Spencer Paperback

About the Book

"Meet Agatha Dorn, cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green, the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist. She becomes an overnight sensation, basking in the limelight of literary stardom. But Agatha's newfound fame takes a nosedive when the 'rediscovered' novel is exposed as a hoax. And when her ex-lover turns up dead, with a scrap of the manuscript by her side, Agatha suspects foul play. Cancelled, ostracised and severely ticked off, Agatha turns detective to uncover the sinister truth that connects the murder and the fraudulent manuscript. But can she stay sober long enough to catch the murderer, or will Agatha become a whodunit herself?"--

Book Synopsis

Fraudulent cozy mystery expert Agatha Dorn is cancelled -- and severely ticked off! -- in this quirky homage to Golden Age detectives, lost manuscripts, and famous authors

"Oh how I enjoyed this thoroughly delightful and nasty mystery" - Alice Bell, author of Grave Expectations

Meet Agatha Dorn, cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green, the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist. She becomes an overnight sensation, basking in the limelight of literary stardom.

But Agatha's newfound fame takes a nosedive when the 'rediscovered' novel is exposed as a hoax. And when her ex-lover turns up dead, with a scrap of the manuscript by her side, Agatha suspects foul play.

Cancelled, ostracised and severely ticked off, Agatha turns detective to uncover the sinister truth that connects the murder and the fraudulent manuscript. But can she stay sober long enough to catch the murderer, or will Agatha become a whodunit herself?

Don't miss this distinctive, delightfully quirky, English cozy murder mystery featuring an unforgettably spiky protagonist - perfect for fans of The Twyford Code, Magpie Murders, and Yellowface.

Review Quotes

"Sometimes you know immediately that a book is going to get under your skin and stay there. I felt that way only a few pages into Spencer's tart debut"
--Sarah Weinman, New York Times

"Cosy crime fiction does not come much cleverer or more angry than Tom Spencer's first novel... Neatly plotted [and] funny" -- Literary Review

"Raises a gin to the golden age of classic mysteries. A cosy caper with a waspish sting" -- The Sun

"Christie fans'll love meeting Agatha Dorn, in a crime yarn as cool, crisp, and heady as the gin cantankerous library archivist Agatha loves" -- Peterborough Telegraph

"Witty and unique" -- Woman's Own

"Written with charm and wit, not to mention a distinctly barbed turn of phrase, it is a delight from first page to last" -- Irish Daily Mail

"A thoroughly enjoyable tribute to crime fiction's golden age" -- Mail on Sunday

"This fast-paced mystery is lightened by an irresistible dry humour" -- Daily Mail

"Tom Spencer's hilarious mystery about a contrary, gin-soaked, slightly oblivious archivist at a private library whose discovery of a lost work by a Golden Age author blows up in her face is a real find...Agatha is like a P. G. Wodehouse character dipped in acid, a confirmed misanthrope who can't get out of her own way. I hope Spencer will revisit her soonest."
--Airmail

About the Author

Tom Spencer is an expat Londoner currently living and working in Montgomery, Alabama. He has published creative work in various journals, including a story nominated for a Pushcart Prize and another shortlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Prize. Under his real name, Tom Perrin, he has published an academic book on twentieth-century fiction, as well as having written for the New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and elsewhere.