Murder at the Ashmolean

The first in a series of mysteries set in museums in the 1950s, Murder at the Ashmolean features classicist sleuth Robert Spens and his assistant Henrietta Cave. Spens spent much of World War Two undercover in Greece, subsequently finishing his doctorate at Oxford. He is called to his alma mater by Professor Gilbert Lang, his former supervisor, who is trying to decipher Linear B writing on ancient clay tablets he recently obtained. He is worried that someone is following him. Tragedy ensues and Spens must use his university connections, his knowledge of the ancient world and his wartime experience to track down a ruthless killer.