Treasure By Degrees

University College, Itchendever is short of funds - and up for grabs. The rival parties in the proposed takeover seem to be the American Funny Farms Foundation, run by the widow of a board-games mogul, and a calculating Arab prince. Banker sleuth Mark Treasure tries his hardest to adjudicate, but instead finds a baffling murder on his hands.And this isn't a mere case of finding the culprit - there are other knotty problems with a bearing on the case. Who sent the gory sheep's head to the eccentric American millionairess? Was the celebrated Dr Goldstein, senior tutor and TV personality, behind the bomb scare? And why have the Arabs kidnapped an English Literature lecturer?The second of David Williams' wonderfully witty murder mysteries, starring the urbane banker and classy detective Mark Treasure, Treasure by Degrees is sure to delight.

A perfectly classical detective puzzle . . . a highly promising replacement for Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, Witty, vibrant and beautifully written, Brings together another collection of eccentric, amusing, likeable characters

Stuart David Williams was a writer best known for his crime series featuring the banker Mark Treasure and police inspector DI Parry.After serving as a Naval officer in the Second World War, Williams completed a History degree at St John's College, Oxford, before embarking on a career in advertising. He became a full-time fiction writer in 1978. Williams wrote twenty-three novels, seventeen of which were part of the Mark Treasure series of whodunits, which began with Unholy Writ (1976). His experience in both the Anglican Church and the advertising world informed and inspired his work throughout his career.