David realised that he had tumbled in upon something that was not merely a mess… He had tumbled in upon a mystery.

Desperate for some time away from his rowdy peers, David Henchman heads out of Oxford for a hike across Dartmoor. Relishing the peace and quiet, the last thing David expects to find at the top of Knack Tor is a dead body.

Positioned with a gun in his hand and a bullet hole in his forehead, David assumes the shot was self-inflicted. But when somebody else ambles up the steep tor, David has second thoughts.

And when shots ring out, David finds himself fleeing for his life across the wild moors. Will Appleby be able to find David before it’s too late – or will he be the next victim in this deadly game of cat and mouse?

Death on a Quiet Day was first published as Appleby Plays Chicken in 1956.