Blue-blooded Murder

The literary sequel to the classic British crime black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets.

In the brilliant black comedy film Kind Hearts and Coronets, Louis Mazzini, the distant heir of a dukedom, is slighted by the d'Ascoyne family. For revenge, he murders six of them to inherit the coronet and become the Duke of Chalfont. However, the film tantalisingly leaves him with one future murder in mind: whether to kill his new wife or his beloved mistress, Sibella.

Blue-blooded Murder takes up the story at this point and recounts how the resourceful, intelligent, sophisticated and witty Mazzini - surely the most amiable serial killer ever created - goes about the prosecution of this final 'perfect murder'. It contains sex, violence, theft, blackmail, sudden death and an execution. There is a love story, a high-court drama and a murder investigation by Scotland Yard. The plotting is meticulous, and the narrative is fast-paced and highly readable. It faithfully reproduces the film's superficial lightness and humour while dealing with the underlying darkest of deeds.