num_pages: 186
description: Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year: The murder of the leader of a pygmy tribe introduces us to James Pibble, the Scotland Yard superintendent with a knack for solving the most extraordinary of crimes  Oddball cases are James Pibble’s specialty. But the brutal bludgeoning of the revered elder of a New Guinea tribesman may be his strangest yet. The corpse, in striped pajamas, lies in the middle of a room completely absent of furniture. Seven women squat on the floorboards. One knits. Another sits cross-legged at his feet. They all chant incantations in a strange language. The murder weapon, a wooden balustrade ornament in the shape of an owl, could have been wielded by any of the myriad suspects Pibble meets at Flagg Terrace, the London residence where the Ku family currently lives. And the only clue seems to be an Edwardian penny. So who killed bearded, four-foot-tall Aaron Ku? Everyone seems to have an alibi, including a local real estate agent, a professional escort, and an anthropologist whose marriage into the tribe was forbidden. In a house where men and women live in separate quarters, Pibble must follow a hierarchy of primitive rituals and gender-role reversals to unmask a surprising killer.
language: English
title: The Glass Sided Ants Nest
titlecomplete: The Glass Sided Ants Nest
characters: Dr. Eve Ku, Paul Ku, Bob Caine, Leah Ku, Ned Rickard, Superintendent Graham, Rod Green, Robin Ku, Susan Caine, Constable Fernham, Detective Superintendent Jimmy Pibble, Sergeant Mike Crewe, Nancy Hermitage, Mrs. Pibble, Mr. Evans-Evans, Billy Youbegood, Superintendent Sandy Graham, Reverend Dr. John Mackenzie, Sergeant Pauncefort, Sergeant Burnaby, Jack Tinker, Aaron Ku
genres: Crime, Detective, Thriller, Fiction, British Literature, Mystery, Mystery Thriller
ratings_count: 271
places: England
series: Jimmy Pibble
awards: awardedAt: -31507200000
name: Edgar Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: -63129600000
name: CWA Gold Dagger
publisher: Intl Polygonics Ltd