Mystery and Crime Adams, Herbert: The Judas Kiss. V1. 22 Feb 2011

[crutledge]

Herbert Adams (1874–1958) was an English writer of fifty 'cosy' mystery novels, mostly featuring the detective Roger Bennion, which were often set in or around golfing competitions. He also wrote short stories, humorous verse and two other mystery novels under the pseudonym Jonathan Gray.

Excerpt
They were a good-looking group of young people. Sitting each at one side of a small table, they had just finished their evening meal, though Jasper forked half a tinned peach from the heavily cut glass dish, and poured the last few drops of cream from a silver ewer over it. Garnet, the oldest of them, aged twenty-seven, had dark eyes and well-formed features. He looked earnest and his spare form suggested that he observed all the recognised fasts of the church and enjoyed doing it. Jasper, on his left, had similar dark eyes, but there was a twinkle of mischief in them. Emerald, who faced her elder brother and was next in age to him, would have been beautiful had it not been for a rather hard mouth and a look of discontent. Pearl, the baby of the family, just twenty-two, was definitely pretty, of the Greuze type. She had wide dark-blue eyes but there was more life and laughter in them than that artist generally showed in his charming maidens.