The Mystery of the Crooked Man Paperback by Tom Spencer

Product Details

• Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo (2025-04-29)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 320 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781805335122
• Item Weight: 289.17 grams
• Dimensions: 7.74 x 5.04 x 0.87 cm

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.

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.