Death of a commuter

"Five men occupied their usual places in a first-class carriage, but the sixth place was empty..." It is most unusual for the sixth man, Mr Parador, to be late. The five commuters are wondering what happened to him, when a strange-looking man enters the compartment, dressed all in black and wearing dark glasses. No one knows who he is, but when he is told that the sixth seat is taken, he replies, in a deep sepulchral voice, "He won't be coming."

He is right. Parador does not come, and in fact his companions never see him alive again. And if Carolus Deene had not taken an interest in the case, the coroner's verdict of suicide would not have been questioned. This is the twelfth mystery in the delightful Carolus Deene series. It is set in the bedroom community of Brenstead, where Carolus meets the usual complement of English eccentrics, including Mr Hopelady, the vicar who loves practical jokes, and the sex-obsessed gardener, Boggett. The denouement is, as always, a clever solution to a macabre and dangerous puzzle.