Calamity at Harwood

The villagers adjacent to Harwood, the longtime mansion of the genteel poor Harwood family, claim that ghosts have always been seen at the stately home. But spectral activity intensifies once a wealthy London developer, Solomon Burt, buys the mansion and turns it into a collection of very pricey flats. When Burt falls down the stairs of his own building and dies, some say it was a mere accident, while others blame the ghosts. But Detective-Inspector Thomas Littlejohn believes that human, not paranormal, evil is to blame.

Littlejohn and his lugubrious sidekick, Sergeant Robert Cromwell, join forces with some able local police officers to crack a most interesting case. To tell you more would be to ruin the fun, as this is a mystery best show more approached cold. It’s no spoiler to tell you that George Bellairs’ seventh Littlejohn novel merits five stars. show less

Part crime story and part war-time spy novel, whatever you want to call it,it is a cracker of a story.
Littlejohn is initially called in to investigate the death of a property speculator who has fallen (been pushed) down a staircase at Harwood park. There has been a series of ghostly pranks over the last couple of weeks too,which complicates matters. Things soon turn much more serious and Cromwell is brought in to assist his chief.