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Murder in the Telephone Exchange

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( 192 ratings, 48 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Murder in the Telephone Exchange by June Wright, readers are thrust into a mysterious crime within a bustling Melbourne telephone exchange during the 1940s. The protagonist, an operator at the exchange, becomes an amateur sleuth as she seeks to uncover the identity of the murderer. As she navigates a web of secrets and deception, the novel combines suspense with an authentic portrayal of post-war Australian society.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're captivated by vintage crime mysteries featuring smart and determined female protagonists. Set in the bustling backdrop of a 1940s Melbourne telephone exchange, it combines clever plotting with a rich, atmospheric setting that will draw you into its intriguing world.

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A Rediscovered Queen of Australian Crime Melbourne-born June Wright made quite a splash with the publication of her debut novel, Murder in the Telephone Exchange, in 1948.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

First published in 1948, when it was the best-selling mystery of the year in the author's native Australia, Murder in the Telephone Exchange stars feisty young operator Maggie Byrnes.

When one of her more unpopular colleagues is murdered—her head bashed in with a 'buttinsky,' a piece of equipment used to listen in on phone calls—Maggie resolves to turn sleuth.

Narrated with verve and wit, this is a whodunit in the tradition of Dorothy L. Sayers and Daphne du Maurier. By turns entertaining and suspenseful, it builds to a gripping climax.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Murder in the Telephone Exchange is praised for its classic mystery style, likened to Georgette Heyer's works with its clever sleuth. It offers an engaging glimpse into the past through its detailed narrative, lively characters, and inventive plot.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781891241376

Publisher: Verse Chorus Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 August 2014

Country: United States

Imprint: Verse Chorus Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 134.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 370g

Pages: 330

About the Author

June Wright (19192012) was born in Melbourne, Australia, and in her lifetime published six mystery novels, beginning with Murder in the Telephone Exchange in 1948.

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  • Faculty of Murder
    Age range 12+ Faculty of Murder introduces Mother Paul, June Wright's beloved nun-detective, who returns to her sleuthing ways after taking up a new position as warden of a student hall of residence at the University of Melbourne. Upon her arrival on campus, Judith Mornane startles her fellow residents by announcing her intention to uncover the truth behind her sister's...
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  • Make-Up For Murder
    Mother Paul, the incomparable nun-detective, is faced with her most perplexing case when a former pupil at her convent school is murdered at their annual reunion. As a schoolgirl, Maisie Ryan was often bullied by her peers, but a decade later, she's a TV star, the glamorously renamed Rianne May. When she's invited to be the guest of honour at...
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  • So Bad a Death
    June Wright was mostly forgotten until the reissue last year of her 1948 bestseller Murder in the Telephone Exchange (also available from Turnaround), when a new generation of readers fell in love with her blend of intrigue, wit, and suspense – and her sharp-eyed, outspoken sleuth, Maggie Byrnes. In this sequel, So Bad a Death, Maggie is living in the...
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  • The Devil's Caress
    The fourth in Dark Passage's reissue series of crime mysteries by June Wright, The Devil's Caress, originally published in 1952, is a tense psychological thriller set on the wild southern coast of the Mornington Peninsula, outside Melbourne. Overworked young medico Marsh Mowbray has been invited to the country home of her revered mentor, Dr. Kate Waring, but it's far from...
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  • Duck Season Death
    A fresh twist on the classic country-house mystery that is also a brilliant sendup of the genre. When publisher Athol Sefton is shot at a remote hunting lodge, it turns out almost everyone, guests and staff, had good reason to murder him. Sefton's nephew Charles thinks he can solve the crime by applying the traditional 'rules of the game' he's...
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  • Reservation For Murder
    June Wright had already published three popular mysteries by the time she created her most memorable detective, the Reverend Mother Mary St Paul of the Cross. The kindly Mother Paul may seem vague and otherworldly, but little escapes her attention—she has a shrewd grasp of everything that's going on beneath the surface. In Reservation for Murder, the first of three...
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