A detective story in the classical form, with a high degree of humour and ingenuity, is hard to come by these days. Here is a superb example.

The young actress Tessa Crichton first appeared in Death in the Grand Manor. In that book she married Detective Inspector Robin Price of the C.I.D., and their next investigation was called Murder in Married Life.

This time Tessa is in dazzling form when Robin suggests that they go visiting in a Sussex village, where there have been a number of thefts of pictures from local houses. Robin has a theory about the art thieves, but when a murder takes place at a party where the Prices are guests a more urgent problem arises.

As ever, Tessa is a mixture of extreme shrewdness, indiscretion, self-composure and recklessness. In effect she chooses privately to run an investigation parallel with her husband's. She does not always tell him the whole truth. Although she is, on this occasion, roughly speaking right, there are bizarre and dangerous consequences.

Strange and brilliant characters, odd birds of paradise, are among the suspects in this cleverly- plotted whodunnit. Here are character, action, humour and a very high likelihood of being deceived (despite fair clues) about the real identity of the murderer.