In this brilliantly unconventional British mystery, a buried body and a novelist's manuscript intertwine, turning fiction into fatal fact. Literary clues and eccentric suspects collide in a tale perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and British Library Crime Classics.

When a young couple uncovers a corpse beneath their new London home, Scotland Yard is stumped. Enter Roger Sheringham: novelist, amateur sleuth, and reluctant schoolteacher. While posing as a teacher for research, Sheringham pens a biting satire about his colleagues. But as Inspector Moresby digs deeper, one question emerges: did Sheringham unwittingly describe the victim—and their killer?

A genre-defying gem from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, Murder in the Basement delivers a mystery as thought-provoking as it is entertaining; with sharp wit, period charm, and a daring narrative twist.

Praise for Murder in the Basement: 

"[Anthony Berkeley's] tale of petty rivalries, affairs, and revenge plots is so deliciously entertaining. [Murder in the Basement is] a pioneering example of the "whowasdunin" that, like that corpse in the basement, richly deserves exhumation." — Kirkus Reviews