"First published in Britain in 1949, Brand's exuberant novel is still regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the classic mystery genre for its fiendishly constructed puzzle, memorable setting, dumbfounding acts of misdirection and thrilling denouement. This edition includes an introduction by award-winning author Martin Edwards. "A very neat version of the 'sealed room' mystery... provides [Miss Brand] with excellent opportunities to indulge her sense of character and her pleasantly malicious wit, as well as her gift for posing an ingenious problem." -Times Literary Supplement, 1949 At Elysian Hall, a grand exhibition space in post-War London, a cast has been assembled for a medieval-themed pageant show replete with knights in colored armour, real horses, and a damsel in a rickety tower on high. With death threats discovered by members of the troupe before the show, the worst comes to pass when the leading lady is thrown from the tower before the eyes of the audience by an unknown assailant-with all doors backstage also under observation. Faced with a seemingly impossible case, the wizened Inspector Cockrill and the fresh-faced Inspector Charlesworth begrudgingly join forces to uncover the killer hiding in plain sight"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

"Laced with Brand's caustic wit, this one is a true puzzler with a harrowing, revelatory climax."—Booklist, Starred Review

At Elysian Hall, a grand exhibition space in post-War London, a cast has been assembled for a medieval-themed pageant show featuring knights in colored armor, real horses, and a damsel in a rickety tower on high. With death threats discovered by members of the troupe before the show, the worst comes to pass when the leading lady is thrown from the tower before the eyes of the audience by an unknown assailant—with all doors backstage also under observation.

Faced with a seemingly impossible case, the wizened Inspector Cockrill and the fresh-faced Inspector Charlesworth begrudgingly join forces to uncover the killer hiding in plain sight.

First published in Britain in 1949, Brand's exuberant novel is still regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the classic mystery genre for its fiendishly constructed puzzle, memorable setting, dumbfounding acts of misdirection and thrilling denouement. This edition includes an introduction by award-winning author Martin Edwards

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* First published in 1949, this newest addition to the British Library Crime Classics is an absolutely stunning "impossible crime" mystery: a murder is committed before thousands of spectators, but no one sees the perpetrator. The book—the fifth in Brand's Inspector Cockrill series—begins in 1940, when a young man commits suicide after discovering that his fiancée betrayed him. Seven years later, some of the deceased's friends take part in an elaborate, medieval pageant in London. Brand plays up the comic aspects of twelve amateur knights jostling each other backstage, and, also, the fact that their armor makes them completely unrecognizable. The theatrical logistics of the pageant are brilliantly rendered, especially the knights on horseback cantering in complicated formations through the arena. Then, a woman posing as a damsel in a wobbly tower falls to her death. But she was already dead when she fell and the door to the tower was locked from the inside. Inspector Cockrill is in the stands and, like the rest of the audience, he witnessed the whole thing but is completely baffled and soon begins receiving threats himself. Laced with Brand's caustic wit, this one is a true puzzler with a harrowing, revelatory climax. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.