The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery

In the 1970s, Bonfiglioli (1928–1985) made a splash with Don’t Point That Thing at Me and two other humorous mysteries featuring Charlie Mortdecai, a former art dealer who’s often on the wrong side of the law. Completed by British humorist Brown (Hello Goodbye Hello) and originally published in 1996, this first U.S. edition of the witty fourth and final Charlie Mortdecai mystery centers on the death of Bronwen Fellworthy—a fellow and tutor at Scone College, Oxford, Mortdecai’s alma mater—who perished instantly when her motorcar collided with an omnibus. Mortdecai, who considers Fellworthy “perhaps the only wholly unacceptable woman I have encountered in a long and varied experience,” gets involved in the investigation thanks to, among others, Det. Chief Insp. Albert H. Sermon, who makes him a “Special Detective Inspector with Detached Duties.” Fans of Jonathan Gash’s Lovejoy mysteries (The Judas Pair, etc.) will find a lot to like. (Nov.)