Francis Durbridge byl plodný anglický dramatik a autor, známý především svou tvorbou v oblasti kriminálních románů a detektivek. Jeho největším úspěchem bylo vytvoření oblíbené postavy Paula Templea, gentlemana detektiva, který se objevil v mnoha rozhlasových a televizních seriálech, filmech a komiksech, čímž si získal obrovskou popularitu. Kromě své práce na kriminálních příbězích se Durbridge také proslavil jako úspěšný dramatik a scenárista. Jeho hra „Náhle doma“ byla v londýnském West Endu uváděna s velkým úspěchem po dobu delší než rok, což podtrhuje jeho všestrannost jako vypravěče.
A plane crash on Dulworth Bay and the disappearance of two schoolboys are linked when Temple pursues the shadowy Curzon, whose name is inscribed on a cricket bat owned by one of the boys. "Francis Durbridge is one of the finest manufacturers of red herrings in the whodunnit business" News of the World
A series of eight murders, with in each case a card bearing the inscription "The Marquis", brings Temple into the hunt for a ruthless master criminal . Suspicion falls on an eminent Egyptologist, but there are other suspects and further murders before the Marquis is identified.
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Flying home from America, Temple is asked by Mike Langdon to persuade his employer's daughter Julia Kelburn to give up her boyfriend, pop singer Tony Wyman. Arriving to meet Temple at the airport, Steve is drugged and kidnapped - but released unharmed, she unaccountably finds herself in possession of a coat bearing the label "Margo".
Iris Archer agrees to appear in one of Paul Temple's plays, but then disappears until he sees her in a Scottish hotel when she is supposed to be in France. But how is this connected with a letter passed to Temple with a plea to deliver it to a Mr Richmond, and a network of spies with a shadowy leader called Z4?
The Temples meet the Fergusons when travelling home from New York, but are later told that the Fergusons' son Richard has been murdered at his university. The only leads are a postcard signed "Jonathan" and Richard's missing signet ring.
Dr Belasco is Scotland Yard's top target and the Temples go incognito to meet Belasco's right-hand man Ross Hunter on the Harwich boat train but circumstances overtake them and Temple is faced with the murder of a private detective, cigarette lighters with a distinctive acorn motif and more murders before Belasco is finally unmasked. Francis Durbridge is one of the finest manufacturers of red herrings in the whodunnit business. News of the World
The original scripts of the six part television serial by Francis Durbridge. Fay Collins is strangled in a farm tractor trailer, and suspicion falls on publisher Clifton Morris. As the evidence against Morris accumulates, Det. Insp. Yates does not favour the obvious solution and has several other suspects. "Francis Durbridge is one of the finest manufacturers of red herrings in the whodunnit business." News of the World
Major robberies with violence have been puzzling the police, until they receive information that implicates Harry Denver. So Harry, having retired to an idyllic lifestyle in rural Kent, has no option but to fight back and investigate for himself.
While serving his notice, Det. Supt. Sam Harvey is sent to Market Cross, to be faced with conflicting information about a body found in a wood. He finds that this is far from a one-off murder, but is part of a complex web of blackmail.