Bertie: The Complete Prince of Wales Mysteries collects all three of Peter Lovesey’s charming and thrilling Bertie adventures in a single volume for the first time.

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales – Bertie, as he’s known – is the eldest son of Queen Victoria, and future King Edward VII. Bertie is a pleasure seeker, always searching out the best meals, the most beautiful women, and the most lavish parties.

As Prince Regent, Bertie is expected to behave like a proper royal and avoid scandal. Instead, his love of excitement leads him to a decidedly unprincely hobby: sleuthing. Bertie is not the best detective, but that does not stop him from trying to solve every case that crosses his path, including the feverish suicide of the greatest jockey of the century, the mysterious death of a member of the royal hunting party, and the murder of the son-in-law of an old friend.

US Publisher: Soho Crime, 2019 ISBN: 1-64129-049-8

Praise for the Prince of Wales mysteries

“Delightfully humorous . . . No one is more fun than Bertie.”
— Associated Press

“An utterly charming series . . . What a delight!”
— The New York Times

“Lovesey proved himself the world’s foremost concocter of latter-day Victoriana in his series of mysteries built around Sergeant Cribb . . . The rueful, candid voice he gives to the fleshy prince rings true, the details of the horse-racing and music-hall worlds are vivid, and much of the tale is sweetly funny.”
— Time

“An engaging conundrum in the tradition of Agatha Christie.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer

“Seamlessly plotted, populated with a dynamic cast, and often howlingly funny.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer

A Bertie, Prince of Wales, mystery

Listed in the Hatchards Top 100 Crime Novels

It is 1886 and the greatest of all jockeys, Fed Archer, has put his gun to his head and shot himself. An inquest is arranged with indecent haste. His mind was unhinged by typhoid, say the jury, despite conflicting evidence.

The Prince is suspicious. He admired Archer. He knows the Turf better than anyone on that jury and he has personal experience of typhoid. When he learns that Archer’s last words were, “Are they coming?”
he decides on action. He will turn his unique talents to solving the mystery and tell us in his inimitable fashion how he does it.

UK Publisher: The Bodley Head, 1987 ISBN 0-370-31113-2
US Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1988 ISBN 0-89296-196-1
UK Paperback: Arrow, 1988 ISBN 0-09-956500-5
US Paperback: Mysterious Press, 1988

“Hugely entertaining … It’s Dick Francis by gaslight.”
Peter Grosvenor, Daily Express

“Thank heavens for Peter Lovesey, who has produced another accomplished novel.”
Joan Smith, London Evening Standard

“Lovesey proved himself the world’s foremost concocter of latter-day Victoriana in his series of mysteries built around Sergeant Cribb … The rueful, candid voice he gives to the fleshy prince rings true, the details of the horse-racing and music-hall worlds are vivid, and much of the tale is sweetly funny.”
William A Henry III, Time

“One doesn’t wish to put that nice Sergeant Cribb out of a job: but we can’t wait to go out on another case with dear Bertie.”
Marilyn Stasio, Philadelphia Inquirer

A Bertie, Prince of Wales, mystery

In 1890 twelve guests gather at Desborough Hall for a week’s shooting party hosted by the beautiful Lady Amelia Hammond. Months of planning have left nothing to chance, for the main guests are the Prince and Princess of Wales. But events take a sinister turn when the vivacious Queenie Chimes collapses face down in the chef’s lovingly created bombe-glacée. More deaths follow and clues planted on the bodies point shockingly to a final tally of seven, one for each day of the week. Bertie is impelled to investigate.

Written in the tradition of the “golden age” detective story, the book was intended as a homage to Agatha Christie in the year of her centenary.

UK Publisher: Century, 1990 ISBN 0-7126-3471-1
US Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1990 ISBN 0-89296-399-9
UK Paperback: Arrow, 1991 ISBN 0-09-969620-7
US Paperback: Mysterious Press, 1991 ISBN 0-445-40858-8
Felony & Mayhem 2006 ISBN 1-933397-36-5

“This is a delightful and amusing period piece, particularly in the interplay between the libidinous Bertie and his rather more intelligent wife, Alexandra, who stoically endures his inclination to dally with anything in skirts.”
Jay Iliff, Sunday Express

“High-class Victorian entertainment written with wit.”
Marcel Berlins, The Times

“Seamlessly plotted, populated with a dynamic cast, and often howlingly funny.”
Les Roberts, Cleveland Plain Dealer

A Bertie, Prince of Wales, mystery

“1891, the year I saved the Sûreté from obloquy.”

Bertie is in Paris, a city which holds many attractions for him, not least the actress Sarah Bernhardt. It is the divine Sarah who informs him of a recent murder on the dance floor of the Moulin Rouge as the cabaret reached its climax. Bertie can never resist demonstrating his sleuthing skills and he rashly co-opts Bernhardt as his assistant.

When the French police make an arrest, Bertie is on the point of quitting paris and abandoning the case. Prompted by Sarah, he discovers new clues and saves an innocent man from the guillotine.

UK Publisher: Little, Brown, 1993 ISBN: 0-316-90685-9
US Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1995 ISBN: 0-89296-550-9
UK Paperback: Warner Futura, 1994 ISBN: 0-7515-0943-4
US Paperback: Mysterious Press, 1995 ISBN: 0-446-40368-7

“Lovesey regally blends the beastly and the blithe in a crafty period delight.”
John Coleman, The Sunday Times

“A lively evocation of fin de siècle Paris, a lightly ironic tone and some tidy plotting add up to another easy-to-take confection from this reliable British author.”
Publishers Weekly

“The incorrigible Bertie teams up with the divine Sarah Bernhardt for this high-spirited adventure, which takes place in the risqué society of bohemian Paris during the 1890s … What a delight to share in his education.”
Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review