London: Collins, (1981) dj. Hardcover first edition - The first novel written in Barnard's tongue in cheek style, and introducing Scotland Yard Inspector Perry Trethowan, who thought he had left behind his eccentric clan - but when his father is found dead on a bizarre torture machine he is sent back to his ancestral home to investigate - and it quickly becomes obvious that it was murder, not an embarrassing accident. 186 pp. ISBN: 0-002318717.