The Nicholas Blake Treasury: Thou Shell of Death; The Beast Must Die; The Corpse in the Snowman

499 pp. Three titles in one volume: Thou Shell of Death; The Beast Must Die; The Corpse in the Snowman. ABOUT THOU SHELL OF DEATH: That will give you over three weeks to settle your affairs, say your prayers, and eat a hearty Christmas dinner. I shall kill you, most probably, on Boxing Day. In the lead up to Christmas, Fergus O'Brien, World War One flying ace turned introspective recluse, suspects someone is out for his blood. Having received three threatening letters promising his death, O'Brien takes his fate into his own hands. Inviting all the prime suspects to a Christmas party at his grand country home, O'Brien enlists private investigator Nigel Strangeways to help suss out the culprit. But amid the falling snow and cutting wind, a murderer lurks in Dower House. Nigel must work quickly to uncover the secrets of O'Brien's past to catch the criminal before it's too late... ABOUT THE BEAST MUST DIE: What do you do when you plan a murder and then, inexplicably, your victim turns up dead, and not by your hand? Respected crime writer Frank Cairns is plotting the perfect murder of George Rattery, the hit-and-run driver who killed his young son, but when his intended victim is found dead and Cairns becomes the prime suspect, the author insists he has been framed. Pleading his innocence, an old friend calls in private detective Nigel Strangeways to help prove that Cairns has been framed. Strangeways must unravel a fiendishly plotted mystery if he is to discover what really happened to George Rattery. ABOUT THE CORPSE IN THE SNOWMAN: In middle of a cold snap, with snow swirling round the imposing Easterham Manor, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways enter the warmth of the Victorian estate. But upon their arrival, the couple quickly learn that all is not as cozy as it seems. The whole house is pervaded by a sense of foreboding: a room is haunted, the cat is possessed, and the specter of the enigmatic Elizabeth Restorick looms. Confounded by the guests' strange reactions to the very mention of Elizabeth's name, Nigel never gets the chance to form his own opinion of the young woman. The next morning, Elizabeth Restorick is found hanged and naked in her room, a hint of a smile playing on her painted lips. Could her apparent suicide be more than just that? Would this beautiful girl, sensuous, compassionate, full of vitality, have taken her own life? Or did someone take it from her? With too many loose ends to count, planted evidence, and motives mounting, Nigel must delve into Miss Restorick's colourful past to solve this tragic mystery.