The pursuit of fashion is a matter of life and death in the debut novel from Christianna Brand, one of the Queens of Golden Age crime fiction. Life in the West End dress shop Christophe et Cie is hard enough with all the pressures of delivering Frank Bevan's business vision and then comes murder, delivered by oxalic acid, transforming the boutique into a crime scene. Featuring a colourful cast of designers, models, shop floor assistants and the fresh-faced Inspector Charlesworth, this 1941 mystery brims with Brand's signature wit and ruthless twists.

“A bull’s-eye! Miss Brand has succeeded not only with the puzzle (which is uncommonly good), but even more with the atmosphere.” – Illustrated London News

“This new writer of mystery tales is welcome, for she has a cheerfully satiric manner… The reader is kept on tenterhooks until the end.” – Daily Telegraph

“Miss Brand has exhibited an ingenuity worthy of Agatha Christie in throwing us off the scent of the real criminal.” – J. D. Beresford

**Christianna Brand **(19071988) was born in British Malaya and was one of the most celebrated crime writers of the twentieth century. She is best known for her mystery novels featuring Inspector Cockrill along with the Nurse Matilda books for children, which were adapted for screen as Nanny McPhee. The Cockrill novels Green for Danger, Death of Jezebel and Suddenly at His Residence have been published as British Library Crime Classics.