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This collection of short stories featuring ‘Berry’ Pleydell and his chaotic entourage established Dornford Yates’ reputation as one of the best comic writers in a generation, and made him hugely popular. The German caricatures in the book carried such a sting that when France was invaded in 1939 Yates was put on the wanted list and had to flee.
Daphne is ‘well-born, elegant, beautiful, and not especially bright’. In this, Yates’ earliest collection of stories, we meet the Pleydell clan and encounter their high-spirited comic adventures. It is a world of Edwardian gentility and accomplished farce that brought the author instant fame when the stories appeared in ‘Windsor Magazine’.
Classic Yates, this novel featuring the suave Richard Chandos was warmly received by critics. Typically deft, pacey and amusing, it 'contains every crime in the calendar and a heart-rending finale' (A J Smithers). A companion novel to 'Blind Corner', 'Blood Royal', 'An Eye For A Tooth' and 'Fire Below'. Gripping stuff.
These are some of Yates’ early short stories featuring the comic Pleydell clan, and on publication proved just a successful and popular as Berry and Co had been. They describe the chaotic journey of the young, well-to-do heroes as they cavort across France, and helped to establish Yates’ reputation as a master of humorous fiction.
Set in France after the war amongst the beautiful landscapes of Biarritz, Pau and the Pyrenées, Yates’ favourite thriller hero Richard Chandos returns with Jonathan Mansel in a story of temptation, subterfuge, adventure and revenge. Regarded by many as Yates at the top of his form.
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These stories, written in response to huge popular demand, give us classic Berry Pleydell at the top of his form. The first story sees Berry capturing a German spy at a village cricket match in 1914, and things get more bizarre from then on. A self-consciously nostalgic work consisting of tense plotting and high farce of the best kind.
The first full-length novel featuring Yates’ finest comic creation, Bertram ‘Berry’ Pleydell. Written in response to public demand for Berry stories, it is regarded as one of Yates’ best books. Amongst the madcap escapades of the Pleydell clan the reader will find ‘crime, criminals, and some of the funniest writing in the English language’.