The Case of the Gilded Fly

London: Bloomsbury Reader. Good. 2018. First Edition Thus. Trade Paperback. Definitions of several words in ink in beautiful calligraphy, one on inside cover the other two on pages 122 and 123 - useful. . Debut novel. Full number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 . 224 pages. A Gervase Fen Mystery, Book 1. It is October 1940 and at Oxford, the Full Term has just begun. Robert Warner, up and coming playwright known for his experimental approach, has chosen an Oxford repertory theater for the premiere of his latest play, Metromania. Together with his cast he comes to Oxford to rehearse a week before the opening, but Warner's troupe is a motley group of actors among whom is the beautiful but promiscuously dangerous Yseut Haskell. She causes quite a stir with her plots, intrigues and love triangles. When she is found shot dead in the college room of a young man who is infatuated with her, everyone is puzzled and worried; most of the actors have had a reason to get rid of the femme fatale and few have alibis. The police are at loss for answers and are ready to proclaim the incident as suicide, but Gervase Fen, an Oxford don and professor of literature, who thrives off solving mysteries, is ready to help .