''Footsteps Behind Me'' is a 1953

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson. It is the twenty seventh in her long-running series featuring the unscrupulous

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and detective Arthur Crook. Crook first appeared during the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was pre ...

, but the series ran for several decades. It was published in the United States under the alternative title ''Black Death''.Reilly p.660

Synopsis

blackmailer Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fam ...

targets four people he knows will pay over large sums rather than have their secrets exposed. To his surprise, however, at least one of the is prepared to murder him to keep his mouth shut.

References

Bibliography

* Magill, Frank Northen . ''Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction: Authors, Volume 2''. Salem Press, 1988. *Murphy, Bruce F. ''The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery''. Springer, 1999. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. 1953 British novels British mystery novels British thriller novels Novels by Anthony Gilbert Novels set in London British detective novels Collins Crime Club books {{1950s-mystery-novel-stub