Unlike the traditional ‘Whodunnit’, the stories in this volume do not leave the reader guessing until the end when the detective discloses clues which only he or she had identified as significant and which enable him or her to solve a case which has had everyone else baffled.

 

The scenarios which lead to an unexplained death are described under the subheading, ‘the Event’. Before reading further, you, the reader, may wish to speculate on the means by which the death was effected and by whom but in the absence of evidence, this will be no more than guesswork..

 

The section following the event is sub-headed, ‘the Investigation’ and describes the systematic way the detectives set about unravelling the mystery. You, the reader, are kept informed of each step of the investigation and as you weigh each piece of evidence as it comes to light, you may even be ahead of the detectives in working out how the murder was committed and by whom.

 

A final subsection headed ‘the Evidence’ is included in each story which summarises the significance of the evidence which has been unearthed during the investigation and the conclusions which could be drawn from it.

 

I often find when reading detective stories, that if there are many individuals involved, I can quickly lose track of which character is which. I have therefore included at the beginning of each story a list of the main characters to which the reader can refer back, should the identity or role of any particular character be forgotten as the story unfolds.