Dead Man's Bluff

Daniel Knott was a bad farmer and a worse husband. When his charred remains are found among the burnt-out farm buildings, the police feel the solution to the tragedy will be close at hand.

That is, until another body is found ...

It may have been identified as an agricultural salesman who had dodgy business dealings with Knott, but local Inspector Clayton is far from convinced.

Against his superior's orders, Clayton digs deeper into the case.

What he discovers will tear initial suspicions, and the local community, into pieces ...

Dead Man's Bluff is an intriguing mystery with a cunning legal twist that will shock, surprise and delight readers in equal measure.

Praise for Roderic Jeffries

'A first-rate whodunit turning on the resourcefulness of a country gentleman who exploits the process of the law to delay its action. Author on the top of his legal and social form.' Francis Goff, Sunday Telegraph

'Tension builds up and there are two exciting court scenes. Roderic Jeffries established a very high reputation for himself in the field of the legal thriller with 'Exhibit No. Thirteen' and 'Dead Against the Lawyers'. Once again he has used a little known quirk of the law, and woven round it an enthralling story of immense intricacy.' Maurice Richardson, Observer

'The resulting legal intricacies make fascinating reading.' Hester Makeig, Spectator

'First-class, smoothly told, fine court scenes and sketches of lawyers entirely absorbing.' John Clarke, Evening Standard

'The most ingenious of Mr. Jeffries's exercises in legal trickery.' Julian Symons, Sunday Times

'Good court scenes; very competent.' Peter Dickinson, Punch

'...is for the mystery story connoisseur and particularly the man who can appreciate this ingenious exercise in legal trickery.' Police World

Roderic Jeffries was born in London in 1926 and went to sea in 1943. Six years later he left that trade to become a lawyer. He again changed profession to become a writer. Since 1951, he has written over one hundred and sixty novels under his own name and several other pseudonyms. He began his career by writing books featuring his father's character, Blackshirt, a popular detective whose adventures have appeared in print for many decades. In time Jeffries branched out and began to write a variety of mystery novels under his own name and several pen names, including Peter Alding and Jeffrey Ashford.