On this page

This page lists novels that feature policeman Inspector Thomas Brunt.

Rescue from the Rose

John Buxton Hilton

1976

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"."

Gamekeeper's Gallows

John Buxton Hilton

1976

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"When Brunt, in search of Amy, makes the long journey to the very remote hamlet of Piper’s Fold he finds that there has been something of a traffic in young girls in this tiny, enclosed community. .... Brunt’s investigation entangles him in an extraordinary web of legend, folklore, rustic customs and secret community loyalties. The story develops excitingly as Brunt picks his way through mysteries and lies, and ends with a pleasing denouement."

Dead-Nettle

John Buxton Hilton

1977

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"A newcomer to a Derbyshire village has been brutally murdered on the moors, and the obvious suspect is Lomas the miner who took her off to his remote Dead-Nettle mine workings. Brunt, however, does not trust the obvious. Sooner or later everybody tells him everything - or nearly everything. All he has to do is guess the rest and patiently await his moment. Hilton evokes a special mood as he paints the countryside, details traditional lead-mining lore, village custom and community loyalties, and scenes from the Boer War that illuminate the central character. In this way he portrays Edwardian England at its best, and sometimes worst, as the grisly plot unfolds."

Mr. Fred

John Buxton Hilton

1983

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"The setting of this powerful mystery is Edwardian Derbyshire. The story is told by Kathy in her old age, but the events she describes took place when she was still a child at school, living in abysmal poverty. Kathy secretly encounters the mysterious Mr Fred who is being hidden on her father's farm. But why? Who is Mr Fred? What is the truth behind the scandalous rumours about him? Surely it cannot be true that this kindly man is a pervert and a murderer? And why does her dull-witted brother finally murder him? If he did . . ."

The Quiet Stranger

John Buxton Hilton

1985

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"In the 1870s, the future Inspector Brunt is on his way home after a reprimand when he has a disturbing encounter with George Ludlam, an enigmatic, taciturn man, intent on reaching one of Derbyshire's more remote villages. Then news reaches HQ that this man's arrival has terrified some of the villagers. Who is he? Who used he to be? And why has he come back? Brunt is sent to carry out an investigation, thus distracting him from the pursuit of Amelia Pilkington, a confidence trickster who lives off the hydropathic society of the time, but the affair becomes public when a woman is murdered and George Ludlam is the obvious suspect."

Slickensides: A Derbyshire Mystery

John Buxton Hilton

1987

An Inspector Thomas Brunt novel.

"Inspector Brunt investigates a reported break-in at Slickensides farm. At the same time a private detective with distinctly Holmesean characteristics (they even include a Watson!) arrives at the local inn. He is there to investigate the alleged disappearance of Barnard Brittlebank, the squire's dissolute son. Before long he informs Squire Brittlebank that his son has left for Canada. So it is disconcerting when young Brittlebank's body is found in the Slickensides mine. A dense fog descends, cutting off all communication with the outside world, and Brunt is left to answer some tricky questions with no assistance beyond the evidence and that of his own sharp wits."