A Fairly Dangerous Thing
Reginald Hill
Best known for his Dalziel and Pascoe novels, which were adapted into a hit BBC series, Reginald Hill proves himself to be a "master of form and style . . . grace and wit" in his stand-alone novels as well—now available as ebooks (The New York Times).
Joseph Askern, English teacher in a village day school has three preoccupations: his fantasies about women that are quite unbecoming for such a proper gentleman; a hopelessly delinquent student; and a near obsessive fascination with the history of the noble estate of Averingerett. Unluckily for Joseph, they are all about to collide. The filching father of the troubled pupil has engaged a call girl for her services in blackmail. The scheme: Joseph must aide in the master heist of the stately home (since he knows the place so well) or his immodest, career-ending...