Enter Certain Murderers is available now

Enter Certain Murderers by Sara Woods (Dean Street Press £10.99, 209pp)

Those familiar with the Antony Maitland mysteries might expect another gripping courtroom drama. But for this episode in the career of a multi-talented advocate, Maitland is more the man of action as he sets out to solve the murder of a notorious blackmailer.

The story opens with an appeal from an actress friend whose lover is the chief suspect. Maitland is keen to help but as his interrogations begin to bear fruit, he is caught up in a criminal conspiracy that puts his own life at risk.

After a slow start, the story builds to a thrilling climax with a touch of James Bond including a cold-hearted villain you will love to hate.

The Hymn Tune Mystery is available now

The Hymn Tune Mystery by George A. Birmingham (Oleander Press £10.95, 237pp)

Shades of Anthony Trollope hover over this mystery set in a cathedral close. The enfeebled dean, his officious daughter, an autocratic archdeacon and John Dennis, an impetuous young canon, might all have sprung from the Barchester Chronicles.

But more than church politics disrupts their placid lives. When the cathedral organist, a gifted but hard-drinking musician, is found with his head crushed, the clerical establishment closes ranks to declare an accident.

It has second thoughts when a scrap of paper found in the organ loft is believed to contain a vital clue as to the whereabouts of the loot from a jewel robbery. With no help from his superiors, Canon Dennis determines to crack the code.

Himself a clergyman, Birmingham had a sharp eye for the absurdities of a cloistered life while testing our wits over a knotty puzzle.

Why Did She Die is available now

Why Did She Die by Joan Coggin (Galileo £10.99, 224pp)

Everybody in the village pays tribute to the saintly nature of Penelope Stevenson. But there is another side to her. Selfish and vindictive when thwarted, she threatens the relationship between her doting brother and his pregnant wife. A rejected lover also sees through her veneer of self-pitying sacrifice.

But who would want her dead? This is the question when her body is found, a revolver clean of fingerprints by her side.

Fortunately, the dotty but sharp-minded Lady Lupin is on hand to steer the police away from false trails.

An inventive writer, author of the Lady Lupin mysteries, Coggin deserves her place in the Golden Age hall of fame.