Crime Story Collection

Level 4

Retold by John and Celia Turvey

Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter
 Pearson Education limited
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,
Essex CM20 2JE, England
and Associated Companies throughout the world.

ISBN 0 582 419190

This compilation first published in Longman Fiction 1998

This edition first published 1999

NEW EDITION

5 7 9 10 8 6

The story “Three is a Lucky Number” © Margery Allingham is reproduced by

permission of Curtis Brown, London on behalf of P. & M.Youngman Carter Ltd.
The story “Full Circle” by Sue Grafton is reprinted with the permission of Abner
Stein, London. The story “How’s Your Mother?” © Simon Brett 1980 is from A Box of
Tricks, published by Victor Gollancz Ltd. The story “At the Old Swimming Hole”
© 1986 Sara Paretsky was first published in Mean Streets: The Second Private Eye
Writers of America Anthology, edited by Robert J. Randisi, published by Mysterious
Press. All rights reserved. First published in the UK by Hamish Hamilton Limited.
The Patricia Highsmith story “Slowly, Slowly in the Wind” was first published in
Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine 1976. Copyright © 1993 Diogenes Verlag AG,
Zurich. The Patricia Highsmith story “Woodrow Wilsons Neck Tie” was first
published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine 1972. Copyright © 1993 Diogenes
Verlag AG, Zurich. The story “The Absence of Emily” by Jack Ritchie is reprinted
with kind permission of the Larry Sterring & Jack Byrne Literary Agency, Milwaukee,
United States of America. The story “The Inside Story” © 1993 Colin Dexter. This
abridgement and simplification © Addison Wesley Longman Limited 1997.

This edition copyright © Penguin Books Ltd 1999

Illustrations by Les Edwards
Cover design by Bender Richardson White

Set in 11/14pt Bembo

Printed in China
SWTC/05

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of the Publishers.

Published by Pearson Education Limited in association with

Penguin Books Ltd, both companies being subsidiaries of Pearson Plc

For a complete list of the titles available in the Penguin Readers series please write to your local
Pearson Education office or to: Penguin Readers Marketing Department.
Pearson Education. Edinburgh Gate. Harlow. Essex CM20 2JE.
 Contents

page

Introduction v
Three Is a Lucky Number Margery Allingham 1
Full Circle Sue Grafton 9
How's Your Mother? Simon Brett 21
At the Old Swimming Hole Sara Paretsky 32
Slowly, Slowly in the Wind Patricia Highsmith 42
Woodrow Wilson s Tie Patricia Highsmith 54
The Absence of Emily Jack Ritchie 65
The Inside Story Colin Dexter 74
Activities 93
 Introduction

This collection contains eight murder stories written by some of

the finest British and American mystery writers of the twentieth
century. Many, like Colin Dexter and Patricia Highsmith, are best
known for their full-length works while others, like Jack Ritchie,
specialize in the short story In some of these stories, like Sara
Paretsky’s ‘At the Old Swimming Hole’, we follow the action
through the eyes of the person who is trying to solve the crime.
Other stories are told from the point of view of the criminal; as
readers of Patricia Highsmith’s ‘Woodrow Wilson’s Tie’, we share
the murderer’s thoughts as well as his actions.
English mystery writer Margery Allingham (1904-66) was
born in London. She followed other members of her family into
a life of writing, producing her first mystery story in 1927. She
also wrote about social history. In ‘Three Is a Lucky Number’ we
meet Ronald Torbay, who is making careful preparations for his
third murder. But will he succeed?
Born in Kentucky in 1940, Sue Grafton, who now lives in
California, has won many prizes for her crime stories. Kinsey
Millhone, a strong, intelligent female private detective with a
good sense of humour, is the main character in her books and
short stories. ‘Full Circle’ takes place in the imaginary town of
Santa Teresa in California. It seems that there has been a terrible
car accident. But was it really an accident?
British crime writer Simon Brett was born in 1945. After
studying at Oxford University, he worked as a producer for BBC
radio and London Weekend Television. He has written a number
of radio and TV plays in addition to his books and short stories.
Humphrey Partridge, the main character in ‘How’s Your
Mother?’, lives alone with his sick mother. But nobody ever sees