An Oxford Master is slain on campus during Pentecost. A headmaster faces off in a deadly battle of wits with a disgruntled parent. A sixth-form public school prank courts a murderous consequence.

In this new anthology theft, blackmail, murder and mystery run amok through the hush of the university library, the cacophonies of school corridors and the simmering tensions of the staff room. Delving into the stacks and tomes of the British Library collections, Martin Edwards invites you to a course on the darker side of scholarly ambition with an essential reading list of fifteen masterful short stories. With a cohort of writers including Dorothy L. Sayers, Ethel Lina White, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin, this new anthology offers a selection of classics and rarities to provide a rewarding education in the beguiling art of mystery writing.