Book #1 of 10 in the Roger Sheringham mystery series.

A wealthy host found dead. A library locked from within. A suicide note that may conceal the perfect murder.
Novelist and enthusiastic amateur detective Roger Sheringham arrives at Layton Court expecting a convivial English country-house party filled with cocktails, conversation, and romantic intrigue. Instead, the gathering is shattered when their genial host is discovered dead, shot inside his library. The door and windows are locked from within, the gun remains clutched in his hand, and a farewell letter lies on the desk. To the police, every piece of evidence points conclusively to suicide. Sheringham is not convinced.

Assisted by his skeptical friend Alec Grierson, the confident and quick-witted sleuth launches an unofficial investigation into the houseguests, servants, and secret relationships surrounding the victim. As suspicious behavior, conflicting accounts, secret liasons, and hidden motives emerge, Sheringham must determine how a murderer could have escaped an apparently sealed room—and whether his celebrated powers of deduction are quite as foolproof as he believes.

The Layton Court Mystery introduced Roger Sheringham, Anthony Berkeley’s unconventional and enjoyably fallible detective. Combining an ingenious locked-room puzzle with sparkling dialogue, eccentric suspects, dry British humor, and the elegant atmosphere of a summer estate, this classic Golden Age whodunit established Berkeley as one of the most inventive voices in traditional detective fiction. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, John Dickson Carr, and E. C. R. Lorac, as well as readers who enjoy English country-house mysteries, impossible crimes, amateur sleuths, aristocratic period dramas, and fair-play puzzles. Ideal for libraries, book clubs, and collectors of vintage crime novels.