Death Goes On Skis by Nancy Spain

‘Her detective novels are hilarious – less about detecting than delighting, with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase . . . Nancy Spain was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal’ Sandi Toksvig

Miriam Birdseye is daring, brilliant – and a long way from The Ivy. Our dashing heroine, a famous revue artist, takes to the slopes with her coterie of admirers. Champagne flows and wherever Miriam goes she leaves a trail of gossip in her wake.

Fellow ski-resort guests include the celebrated Russian ex-ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina, whose beauty is matched only by her languor, Natasha’s burly husband, nightclub owner Johnny DuVivien, and the wealthy Flahertés, a family who have made their money importing scents: handsome playboy Barney, his wife Regan, their two obnoxious children and the governess, Rosalie. Unbeknownst to Regan, Barney’s mistress, a film star, is also there with her husband.

When secrets start to unravel, tensions rise, and soon amateur sleuths Miriam and Natasha have not one but two murders to solve. In the hands of Nancy Spain, for whom farce and humour are a lot more fun than a conventional detective novel, the result is a deliciously wild ride.
 
-----

‘An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain foreign: in her world an inspired craziness rules . . . Her wit, her zest, her outrageousness, and the colloquial stylishness of her writing are quite her own’ Elizabeth Bowen
 
Nancy Spain  (1917- 1964) was a novelist, broadcaster and journalist.  As a columnist for the Daily Express and She magazine, frequent guest on radio’s Woman’s Hour and panellist on the television programmes What’s My Line? and Juke Box Jury, she was one of the most recognisable (and controversial) media personalities of her era. Spain and her longtime partner, Joan Werner Laurie, were killed when the light aircraft carrying them to the Grand National in 1964 crashed close to the racecourse. Her friend Noel Coward wrote, ‘It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out when so many bores and horrors are left living.’