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Now reading: A Hovering of Vultures by Robert Barnard

A suspected con-man starts up a literary society to honour two little-known authors of the Edwardian era, but gets murdered. Among the suspects are a number of fans of the authors and some literary poseurs out to profit from their reputations.

Here the two main investigators are discussing the murder:

“Maybe,” said Mike Oddie, as they walked back to the car, “we shouldn’t be concentrating too much on the people at the Conference. Maybe we should be asking ’cui bono’?”
“And what does that mean?” asked Charlie.
“It means ‘Who gets his hands on the loot?’”
“I always heard that Latin was an economical language.”
“It is. Multum in parvo. ‘A lot in a little.’”
“It’s like being sidekick to Lord Peter Wimsey,” Charlie complained.
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