A THRILLER writer has turned into a real-life detective to track down burglars who broke into her Oxford home.

Burglars raided award-winning author Joan Brady's house in Walton Well Road, Oxford, and escaped with hundreds of pounds worth of electrical goods and personal items including rare 80-year-old letters.

But when a mystery man knocked on her door to return a handbag after he had found it in bushes Dr Brady became like one of the characters from her novels and started to piece together the crime.

Using seed pods caught in the purse the mother-of-one tracked down where the handbag had been dumped and with the aid of her son Alexander Masters discovered some of the stolen property dumped by the canal.

The pods, believed to be from willow trees, pointed to bushes near Port Meadow where addressed envelopes and a magazine stolen from her house were discovered.

But three rare letters written to American poet Edgar Lee Masters concerning journalist HL Mencken remain lost and she is now setting up a fail-safe 'drop' straight out of fiction novels to get them back.

Dr Brady said: "I'm so sure whoever has them won't know what the letters are, some of them are purely sentimental value, but its such a pity to lose them.

"There is a certain element of a game in all this, but its a serious game. I would love to get the letters back but if you are going to get burgled you might as well have some fun out of it."

Widow Dr Brady was the first woman to win the Whitbread Prize in 1993, for Theory of War, and has recently published her first thriller crime story, Bleedout.

Burglars broke into her home on June 6 stealing a computer monitor, DVD recorder, a rain jacket, her late husband's distinctive dressing gown and £20 in money, as well as personal items.

A week later the unknown man came to her door with the handbag and the search for the lost items began.

After tracing seeds in the purse Dr Brady and her son found the stranger who is not believed to be a burglar.

She said: "He was charming, and pointed out where the purse had been found.

"My son searched all around and managed to recover two other items that had also been stolen, but I'm heartbroken the letters are still missing.

"The thief also took a long white woollen dressing gown, with a distinctive grey silky lining. It was my husband's and one of the few things I have left to remind me of him. I miss it enormously."

Her late husband, Dexter Masters, died 15 years ago.

Dr Brady said: "All I want is the letters to be returned."

Anyone who can help should ring Dr Brady's son, Alexander Masters, on 0207 2290219.