The affair of the bloodstained egg cosy; The affair of the mutilated mink and The affair of the thirty-nine cufflinks - James Anderson

These three "golden age of crime" novels are great fun, and sadly there are no more, as Anderson died in 2007.  Don't let that put you off if you have never tried them, but do try to read them in order, as little snippets from earlier stories do get mentioned in the second and third.

Rather like Agatha Christie's crime novels, these are set in the 1930s, and all of them have the same address - Alderley, a large country pile in the southern counties of England, home to the Earl of Burford, his wife, and his sparky daughter Geraldine, who strives to solve crimes before the police, and sometimes gets in harms way because of that!  They are, despite the murders, lighthearted, and full of characters who may or may not have committed a crime, and the reader is always led a merry dance until Chief Inspector Wilkins solves the crime, announcing it in the same way as Ms Christie, by having all the suspects in the room at the same time whilst telling each character how he has deduced that they cannot have committed the crime before telling the criminal that he/she has committed it, and how.

Quick to read, short chapters and nothing to tax the brain (except trying to spot the criminal of course!), but great for a big read on a rainy day or to take on holiday.