Francis, Gilbert, Michae – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk Henley-on-Thames Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:26:41 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-Bell-Background-Blue-32x32.png Francis, Gilbert, Michae – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk 32 32 Sky High https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/sky-high/ Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/sky-high/ The fourth Michael Gilbert novel to join the series, after the perennial success of Smallbone Deceased, Death in Captivity and Death Has Deep Roots. An intelligent village mystery with an impressive depth from 1955, blending parochial humour with skilfully interwoven WW2 intrigue. As a founding member of the CWA with novels of the highest calibre, Gilbert's contribution to the genre is comparable to Christie and Carr's.

]]> In the village of Brimberley, the worst thing on the horizon seems to be the chance of being outshone by the rival village choir of Bramshott. But that is until Brimberley’s lead tenor is blown up in his home by an explosion that rocks the whole community. As an amateur coalition of the motorcycling choir leader Liz, her ex-commando son and a retired general begins to piece together this strange crime, mystery upon mystery compounds in a case involving dark secrets buried in the turmoil of the Second World War, parochial grudges, a burglar whose reputation borders on the mythical, and a volatile killer poised to strike again.

First published in 1955, this classic village mystery with elements of WW2 spy fiction showcases Gilbert’s ingenious plotting and ability to blow the reader’s assumptions sky high.

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