The Scarlet Button

The Scarlet Button is a 1944 mystery thriller novel by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson.^[1] It is the fourteenth in her series featuring the London solicitor Arthur Crook, one of the more unscrupulous detectives of the Golden Age.^[2] It was published in the United States, initially under the same name and later with the alternative title Murder is Cheap.

The Scarlet Button

First Edition (US)
Author	Anthony Gilbert
Language	English
Series	Arthur Crook
Genre	Mystery thriller
Publisher	Collins Crime Club (UK) Smith and Durrell (US)
Publication date	1944
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Preceded by	He Came by Night
Followed by	Don't Open the Door

Synopsis

James Chigwell a prolific blackmailer is discovered bludgeoned to death. The murderer may be any one of his large number of victims.