Inspector Felse Novels


Ellis Peters - Fallen into the Pit
First published 1951

All the school boys of Comerford look up to Chad Wedderburn, a classics master who was a hero of the Resistance in World War II. But they are puzzled by his unwavering stand against all violence. And when he is blamed for the brutal murder of a former German prisoner of war who settled in this remote Shropshire town, none of them believe he did it.
 Policeman George Felse is also deeply troubled by this killing. His son Dominic discovered the body, and now the boy is doggedly pursuing clues in the isolated countryside to clear his teacher. As young Felse digs deeper, his father feels a mounting pressure. For Inspector Felse knows all too well that Dominic is playing with fire, and that he must close the case quickly-before the killer teaches them both a lesson in murder...


Ellis Peters - Death and the Joyful Woman
First published 1961

Just sixteen, Dominic Felse begins to feel the painful, exquisite stirrings of first love. He's in heaven when the object of his adoration, heiress Kitty Norris, offers him a lift in her red sports car. Then a few days later his own father, Inspector George Felse of the Comerford Police, charges her with murder. An arrogant millionaire has been killed with a magnum bottle of champagne at a pub once called The Joyful Woman-and the person with motive, means, and opportunity is Kitty. Although she is obviously lying, Inspector Felse listens intently as Dominic insists on her innocence. But he doesn't see his son's desperation to find the real killer-or the dangerous deceptions a tormented heart can weave...


Ellis Peters - Flight of a Witch
First published 1964

Annet Beck's beauty is of the second order and it worries her parents so much that they guard her as closely as a prisoner... until the rainy Thursday in October when she disappears.
Annet is last seen vanishing over the crest of Hallowmount, a hill in the remote Welsh Country believed to be the domain of witches. Five days later she mysteriously reappears, claiming that she was gone for only two hours. Detective Inspector George Felse doesn't believe in witchcraft, but he does believe in love and he never underestimates its power, especially when it may have led to murder...


Ellis Peters - A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs
First published 1965

“More Blessed and Comforted than I." So read the epitaph composed by Morwenna Treverra centuries ago as she followed her beloved husband, Jan, into death. The couple have been together ever since, models of pious content, in the little seaside Saxon church near the village of Maymouth. But when curious scholars arrange to open Jan Treverra's tomb, it yields not one boy but two...and neither of them is Jan Treverra.
Detective Inspector George Felse happens to be on holiday nearby; indeed, he helped to open the crypt and reveal its all too modern contents. Now from an ancient gave, a mystery unfolds; a trail of violence in Maymouth's history that casts shadows centuries long ...


Ellis Peters - The Piper on the Mountain
First published 1966

The death of unpopular Herbert Terrell seems accidental-although this expert mountain climber plunged off a mere hill in Czechoslovakia. The saddest part of the tragedy is that no one cares, not his ex-wife, his step daughter Tossa at Oxford, or his colleagues at a British scientific institute...until Tossa is shocked into emotion by a mysterious note suggesting Terrell was murdered.
Now Tossa's long-planned European holiday with college friends, including Dominic Felse, becomes a hunt for a killer. Crossing into an Eastern Europe of dark intrigue and sinister strangers, the high-spirited group is unwittingly on a road to danger. But Dominic, who learned the art of detection from his policeman father, Inspector George Felse, realizes someone else may die unless he finds the truth about a Czech piper, a mountain hideaway, and Terrell's final fall.


Ellis Peters - Black is the Colour of my True-Love’s Heart
First published 1967

The brilliantly talented singer Liri Palmer is obviously sending a message to someone in the audience. Various musicians and students are gathered for a folk music seminar at the fantastic neo-Gothic country mansion called Follymead. Most come only to sing or to listen, but one or two have non musical scores to settle. Passions run high; there is trouble brewing at Follymead.
Among the music students are Tossa Barber and her boyfriend, Dominic Felse. When tragedy strikes, Dominic privately enlists the aid of his father, Detective Inspector George Felse, to piece together a broken tune of murder.


Ellis Peters - The Grass Widow's Tale
First published 1968


Ellis Peters - The House of Green Turf
First published 1969


Ellis Peters - Mourning Raga
First published 1969


Ellis Peters - The Knocker on Death´s Door
First published 1970

The knocker hung on a very special door-oak, heavy, with a late-Gothic arch, and apparently a late-Gothic curse. Then the door was moved from an old house, once an abbey, to the village church. Legend held that sinners who seized the knocker had their hands burned by the cold iron. But Gerry Bracewell didn't die of burns, neither did a second victim. Had they knocked on death's door, or was a more down-to-earth killer at large?
Detective Chief Inspector George Felse, returning from a weekend in Wales, had passed through the village of Mottisham and watched the ceremony enacted to rededicate the door. Little did Inspector Felse know that soon he would be called back to investigate murder...


Ellis Peters - Death to the Landlords
First published 1972


Ellis Peters - The City of Gold and Shadows
First published 1973


Ellis Peters - Rainbow’s End
First published 1978

In a whirlwind of activity, wealthy newcomer Arthur Rainbow extravagantly refurbished the Manor House, joins the Golf Club, angling Society and Arts Council--and, in a ruthless coup, dislodges the old church organist to take over the position himself. Rainbow was becoming a veritable curse on the sleepy village of Middlehope--until someone pushed him off St. Eata's church tower.
The news causes very little surprise or sorrow to the villagers--but much speculation as to who the murderer could be. After all, there are so many candidates--from his young, beautiful, flirtatious wife to the usurped organist and his mutinous choir. It falls upon Superintendent George Felse, newly promoted head of the Midshire CID, to follow the twisted path to Rainbow's end.


Other Novels

Ellis Peters - Death Mask
First published 1959


Ellis Peters - The Will and the Deed
First published 1960

When legendary diva Antonia Byrne's will is read, it contains some unpleasant surprises for her nearest and dearest - none of them get quite what they were expecting. When the mourners become snowbound in the tiny mountain village, one of their number has lethally sinister intentions.


Ellis Peters - The Funeral of Figaro
First published 1962

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