Cirrus@Austlit

'While in hospital recovering from a bout of low blood pressure Hodgkiss takes a more-than-usual interest in the cottage next door. From a few observations made from his bedroom window he pieces together an elaborate murder plot designed to appear as suicide.

'Sitting in the audience during the recording of a popular quiz programme Hodgkiss notices some very odd happenings. Then when the big cash prize goes off he decides to look further into the matter and very soon discovers how the winning contestant managed to cheat with some very cunning help from a friend in the audience.

'The dying motorist is desperate to leave his wife a clue about where he hid her jewels for safe-keeping. But the Good Samaritan he gave the vital information to only wants to help himself. Hodgkiss, a friend of the dying man, pieces scraps of information together to thwart the greedy thief.

'The Mayor of Kanundda and his wife have gone on a mountain climbing junket to Venezuela. The mayoress disappears in mysterious circumstances and soon turns up dead. Hodgkiss develops an elaborate scientific theory deigned to shoot holes in the the mayor's story about the circumstances of his wife's disappearance. But this time it is Hodgkiss who has his facts wrong ... although it makes no difference to the mayor's fate.' (Publication summary)