A Crime is Afoot

The Murders in Praed Street, 1928 (Dr Priestley # 4) by Major John Street writting as John Rhode

Rare Treasure Editions, 2025. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 593 KB. Lenght: 282 pages. ASIN: B0CWLPBJLR. ISBN: 978-1773230931. Originally published in 1928 by Geoffrey Bles Ltd. UK, and by Dodd, Mead & Company US in the same year.

The Murders in Praed Street is a 1928 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Major John Street. It features the fourth appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who figured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

In 1936 it was adapted into the film Twelve Good Men produced by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers at Teddington Studios. Directed by Ralph Ince, it starred Henry Kendall, Nancy O’Neil and Joyce Kennedy. It is the only one of the author’s novels to be filmed. (Source: Wikipedia)

Book Description: The story revolves around the mysterious murder of Mr. James Tovey, a well-known greengrocer, followed by another death in the same area. The narrative introduces various characters, including Mr. Tovey’s daughter Ivy, and the herbalist Mr. Elmer Ludgrove, who may play significant roles in the unfolding mystery. At the start of the novel, the setting is introduced through the dreary and neglected Praed Street, which serves as a backdrop for the unfolding drama. Mr. Tovey is depicted as a hardworking fruit merchant who enjoys a quiet life with his family until his daughter Ivy’s friendship with young Ted Copperdock raises concerns. When Tovey is called to St. Martha’s Hospital to identify an accident victim, he tragically becomes a victim himself, found murdered under mysterious circumstances. The narrative quickly draws the reader into the investigation, exploring the interconnections between the characters and the motivations behind the crimes, hinting that the bustling street hides darker secrets waiting to be uncovered. (Source: Amazo.es)

My assessment: John Rhode was the primary penname of Cecil John Charles Street (1884-1964), a prolific British mystery writer who authored over 140 detective novels between 1924 and 1961. He was a key figure in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and was particularly known for his meticulous attention to scientific and technical details in his murder mysteries.

Rhode’s most famous character was Dr Priestley, a mathematician and amateur detective who appeared in more than 70 novels. His works were characterized by intricate plots involving unusual methods of murder, often incorporating detailed knowledge of chemistry, engineering, and other technical subjects derived from his military background.

Street also wrote under other pseudonyms, including Miles Burton and Cecil Waye, producing different series with distinct detective characters. His experience as an artillery officer in World War I influenced his technical knowledge and contributed to the analytical nature of his mystery plots.

The author was one of the founding members of the Detection Club, a prestigious organization of British crime writers that included Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Though his popularity has waned since his death, Rhode’s contributions to the development of the scientific detective novel remain significant in the history of crime fiction.

The critic and author Julian Symons classed him as a prominent member of the so-called “humdrum” school of detective fiction, observing that “Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.”

Curt Evans has written the only detailed account of Street’s life and works: “I wrote my new book, Masters of the “Humdrum” Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920–1961 (published by McFarland Press) in part to give a long overdue reappraisal of these purportedly “humdrum” detection writers as accomplished literary artists. Not only did they produce a goodly number of fine fair play puzzles, but their clever tales have more intrinsic interest as social documents and even sometimes as literary novels than they have been credited with having.” (Source: Wikipedia and others)

A series of seemingly senseless murders takes place in Praed Street, a desolate neighbourhood in London. The first victim is Jim Tovey, a fruit and vegetable vendor. One night, he receives a telephone call urging him to go to St Martha’s Hospital, where a man has reportedly been struck by a car and cannot be identified except for a piece of paper in his pocket bearing Tovey’s name and address. Upon arriving at the hospital, Tovey discovers that there has been no accident and that it may all have been a cruel joke. However, on his way home, he suddenly collapses. He has been stabbed to death.

The murders in Praed Street were thus peculiar in the annals of crime. In nearly every case of a crime being committed, there are others besides the criminal who know all the facts. The police know this, but their great difficulty is to secure evidence sufficiently convincing to lead to a convisction. There is a certain esprit de corps in the constant strife between the professionalcriminal an the police, an those who know are careful to keep their knowledge to themselves. But in this case, had there been any of the inhabitants of the district in the secret, Mr. Ludgrove would have obtained some hint of it. It seemed conclusive that the criminal was either working alone and independently, or came from some other district.

This crime is followed by others, all committed in the same area. They all appear to be random, with no apparent connection between the victims. Scotland Yard is struggling to find any leads.

The only characteristics which they had in common were that they had all receives counters numbered in the order of their deaths, that they were all males, and that their ages had all been over fifty.

However, it is not until the second half of the story that Dr Lancelot Priestley, a well-known “armchair detective” renowned for his logical, methodical, and scientific approach, appears after the police turn to him for help.

As the story unfolds, several suspicious figures emerge, including a mysterious herbalist and rumours of an enigmatic “Black Sailor”. It is then that Dr Priestley identifies subtle links between the victims and uncovers the hidden motive behind the crimes.

The Professor [Dr Priestley] had never shirked danger throughout the whole course of his career. And in this case, as he reflected, he already stood in such imminent danger that his present action could hardly increase it. If his theory were correct, a determined and unknown assassin held in his hand already the weapon which was aimed against his life. Why had he not struck, months ago, when the Professor was in blissful ignorance that his life was threatened? This was one of the aspects of a case which, in spite of the perils which it held for himself, thrilled him as no case had ever thrilled him before.

The story concludes with a final explanation revealing that the murders were not random, but rather part of a carefully orchestrated pattern driven by revenge and long-hidden connections.

The Praed Street Murders is notable for introducing, perhaps for the first time, a serial killer — a completely original idea at the time.

As one would expect from John Rhode, the mystery is constructed with great meticulousness and attention to detail, incorporating red herrings and hidden connections to create an intricate puzzle.

Nevertheless, unlike more iconic detectives such as Poirot or Holmes, Dr Priestley remains a somewhat distant figure and does not become prominent until quite late in the narrative. As a result, the novel may feel less character-driven than some readers might expect.

Furthermore, some readers and critics have noted that the identity of the killer is fairly obvious since the very beginning, which may diminish the sense of suspense. It should also be noted that Dr Priestley does not discover the identity of the true killer through his logical, methodical, and scientific deduction, the reason why it might not appeal to some readers.

In summary, although some critics regard The Praed Street Murders as a solid example of the Golden Age detective novel, in my view it is not one of John Rhode’s best works, due to the lack of substantial detective work leading to the solution, as well as the presence of an all-too-obvious culprit.

The Murders in Praed Street has been reviewed, among others, by Jim Noy at “The Invisible Event”, Steven Barge at “In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel”, TomCat at “Beneath the Stains of Time”, Nick Fuller at “The Grandest Game in the World”, and by Martin Edwards at “Do You Write Under Your Own Name?”.

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(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets)

Dr Priestley Book Series:

1 The Paddington Mystery (1925)

2 Dr Priestley’s Quest (1926)

3 The Ellerby Case (1927)

4 The Murders in Praed Street (1928)

5 Tragedy At the Unicorn (1928)

6 The Davidson Case (1929) aka Murder at Bratton Grange

7 The House on Tollard Ridge (1929)

8 Dr Priestley Investigates (1930) aka Pinehurst

9 Peril At Cranbury Hall (1930)

10 The Hanging Woman (1931)

11 Tragedy On the Line (1931)

12 Dead Men At the Folly (1932)

13 Mystery At Greycombe Farm (1932) aka The Fire At Greycombe Farm

14 The Claverton Mystery (1933) aka The Claverton Affair

15 The Motor Rally Mystery (1933) aka Dr Priestley Lays a Trap

16 The Venner Crime (1933)

17 Poison for One (1934)

18 The Robthorne Mystery (1934)

19 The Corpse in the Car (1935)

20 Hendon’s First Case (1935)

21 Mystery At Olympia (1935) aka Murder At the Motor Show

22 Shot At Dawn (1935)

23 Death At Breakfast (1936)

24 In Face of the Verdict (1936)

25 The Harvest Murder (1937) aka Death in the Hop Fields

26 Death on the Board (1937) aka Death Sits On the Board

27 Body Unidentified (1937) aka Proceed with Caution

28 Invisible Weapons (1938)

29 The Bloody Tower (1938) aka The Tower of Evil

30 Death Pays a Dividend (1939)

31 The Elm Tree Murder (1939) aka Death on Sunday

32 Death on the Boat Train (1940)

33 Murder At Lilac Cottage (1940)

34 Death at the Helm (1941)

35 They Watched by Night (1941) aka Signal for Death

36 The Fourth Bomb (1942)

37 Dead On the Track (1943)

38 Death Invades the Meeting (1944)

39 Men Die At Cyprus Lodge (1944)

40 Vegetable Duck (1944)

41 Bricklayer’s Arms (1945) aka Shadow of a Crime

42 Death in Harley Street (1945)

43 The Lake House (1946) aka Secret of the Lake House

44 Death of an Author (1947)

45 Nothing But the Truth (1947)

46 The Paper Bag (1948)

47 The Telephone Call (1948)

48 Blackthorn House (1949)

49 The Fatal Garden (1949) aka Up the Garden Path

50 Two Graphs (1950) aka Double Identities

51 Family Affairs (1950)

52 Dr Goodwood’s Locum (1951) aka Affair of the Substitute Doctor

53 The Secret Meeting (1951)

54 Death in Wellington Road (1952)

55 Death At the Dance (1952)

56 The Mysterious Suspect (1952) aka By Registered Post

57 Death At the Inn (1953) aka The Case of the Forty Thieves

58 Death On the Lawn (1954)

59 The Dovebury Murders (1954)

60 Delayed Payment (1955) aka Death of a Godmother

61 The Domestic Agency (1955) aka Grave Matters

62 An Artist Dies (1956) aka Death of an Artist

63 Open Verdict (1956)

64 Robbery with Violence (1957)

65 Death of a Bridegroom (1958)

66 Murder At Derivale (1958)

67 Death Takes a Partner (1959)

68 Licensed for Murder (1959)

69 Three Cousins Die (1960)

70 Twice Dead (1960)

71 The Fatal Pool (1960)

72 The Vanishing Diary (1961)

Most of John Rhode’s mystery novels are hard to find, but Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, to my knowledge, has so far published: The Paddington Mystery (1925); Dr Priestley Investigates (1930); Peril At Cranbury Hall (1930); Tragedy On the Line (1931); The Claverton Affair (1933); The Venner Crime (1933); Death in Harley Street (1945) and Blackthorn House (1949).

The Life and Times of John Street, aka John Rhode, aka Vintage Mystery’s Master of Murder Means by Curtis Evans

The Eventful Life of Cecil John Charles Street

John Rhode page at Gadetection

John Rhode and Miles Burton by Mike Grost

Further reading: Masters of the “Humdrum” Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961 by Curtis Evans, McFarland, 2014.

Death At Low Tide, 1938 (Desmond Merrion # 17) by Major John Street writting as Miles Burton

Rare Treasure Editions, 2025. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 618 KB. Lenght: 271 pages. ASIN: B0DZ6XGJWW. ISBN: 9788087830253. Originally published in 1938 by Collins Crime Club, London.

Death at Low Tide is a 1938 detective novel by the British writer Major John Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It is the seventeenth in a series featuring the Golden Age amateur detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. A review in The Times Literary Supplement declared “this is probably the best work of an author who has already had many brilliant successes”. However, The Observer noted that “Miles Burton still remains faithful to the Crofts school in his austere refusal to develop a style.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Book Description: The old ferryman had caught many strange fish in his time, but none so strange as the body he fished out of the harbour one summer evening as the tide was turning. To his horror, he immediately recognised Captain Stanlake, the local harbour master. In the few months since his appointmente at Brenthithe, Stanlake had made himself a confounded nuisance to almost everyone. This was perhaps not entirely his fault, but rather the result of his determination to turn Brenthithe into an industrial port instead of a seaside resort. He had made many enemies in the course of this local dispute –but would anyone go so far as murder? For murder it certainly was. Death at Low Tide is an engrossing mystery with an appealing setting and a compelling plot. (Source: Amazon.es)

My assessment: Cecil John Charles Street (3 May 1884 – 8 December 1964), better known as John Street, was a major in the British Army and a prolific writer of detective fiction. Street began his military career as an artillery officer and during World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7. During the Irish War of Independence, he worked as an Information Officer at Dublin Castle dividing his time between Dublin and London and collaborating closely with the British official Lionel Curtis. He later made his living as a highly productive author, writting under several pseudonyms including John Rhode, Miles Burton, and Cecil Waye.

Street wrote three princnipal detective series: under the name of John Rhode, featuring the mathematics professor Dr Lancelot Priestley; another under the name of Miles Burton, featuring the retired naval officer Desmond Merrion; and under the name Cecil Waye, featuring “London’s most famous private eye”, Christopher Perrin.

In 1930 Street became one of the founding members of the Detection Club, remaining active in the organisation for two decades. The critic and author Julian Symons classed him as a prominent member of the so-called “humdrum” school of detective fiction, observing that “Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.”

Death at Low Tide, first published in 1938, features the amateur detective Desmond Merrion, who frequently collaborates with Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. The story opens when a boatman discovers a body at low tide in a small English seaside town. The deceased is Captain Stanlake, the unpopular harbour master.

Stanlake had aroused strong opposition within the community owing to his plans to modernise the harbour and transform the quiet seaside resort into a commercial port. This divided the inhabitants: some supported the prospect of economic development, while others feared it would destroy the town’s appeal to visitors.

It soon becomes clear that Stanlake was murdered, having been shot before being thrown into the water. As the investigation unfolds, Merrion and Arnold discover that many of the locals had motives, making the case a classic mystery with multiple suspects and conflicting alibis. In fact, every plausible suspect has a satisfactory alibi for the time of the murder.

But Captain Stanlake was a bird of a very different feather. Far from letting things take their own course, he was determined to seize them by the scruff of the neck and make them follow his. His professed ambition was to convert the antiquated and sleepy little harbour into a great commercial port. Ever since his appointment as Harbour Master he had bombarded the Commissioners with schemes designed to this end. And so forceful was his personality that he had almost converted a majority of the Commissioners to his own views.

Step back to 1938 with Death at Low Tide, a tightly plotted whodunit where every clue counts and no detail is accidental. With a cast of suspects carefully drawn and a coastal town brimming with tension between tourism and industry, the novel invites you to follow the investigation step by step—and maybe even solve the mystery before the detectives do. Logical, methodical, and fair to the reader, it’s a treat for anyone who loves piecing together a classic puzzle.

Death at Low Tide features a tightly knit circle of suspects, carefully placed clues, and a strong focus on logical deduction. It values structure and reasoning over spectacle, delivering a methodical investigation set against a vividly realised coastal backdrop. The novel is fair to the reader, making it especially satisfying for anyone who enjoys solving the mystery themselves.

The story also explores a tense conflict within a fictional town, pitting those who favour tourism against advocates of industrial development. The prose is understated, perfectly suited to the novel’s logical approach, though the resolution may feel predictable to some, and, in my view, the method of murder, though ingenious, is somewhat far-fetched.

All things considered, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a clever and intelligent Golden Age mystery that prioritises intricate construction over emotional depth, yet still delivers a fair and satisfying puzzle and stands as a fine example of a classic British detective novel. Highly recommended.

Death at Low Tide has been reviewed, among others, by R E Faust at “Witness To The Crime” and by dfordoom at “Vintage Pop Fictions”.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets)

Desmond Merrion Book Series:

1 The Secret of High Eldersham(1930) aka The Mystery of High Eldersham
2 Menace on the Downs (1931)
3 The Three Crimes (1931)
4 Death of Mr Gantley (1932)
5 Fate at the Fair (1933)
6 Tragedy at the Thirteenth Hole (1933)
7 Death at the Crossroads (1933)
8 To Catch A Thief (1934)
9 The Charabanc Mystery (1934)
10 The Devereux Court Mystery (1935)
11 The Milk-Churn Murder (1935) aka The Clue of the Silver Brush
12 Where is Barbara Prentice? (1936) aka The Clue of the Silver Cellar
13 Death in the Tunnel (1936) aka Dark Is The Tunnel
14 Murder of a Chemist (1936)
15 Death at the Club (1937) aka The Clue of the Fourteen Keys
16 Murder in Crown Passage (1937) aka The Man with the Tattooed Face
17 Death at Low Tide (1938)
18 The Platinum Cat (1938)
19 Mr Babbacombe Dies (1939)
20 Death Leaves No Card (1939)
21 Mr Westerby Missing (1940)
22 Written in Dust (1940) aka Murder in the Coalhole
23 Death Takes a Flat (1941) aka Vacancy with Corpse
24 Up the Garden Path (1941) aka Death Visits Downspring
25 Death of Two Brothers (1941)
26 This Undesirable Residence (1942) aka Death at Ash House
27 Dead Stop (1943)
28 Murder, M.D. (1943) aka Who Killed the Doctor?
29 Four-Ply Yarn (1944) aka The Shadow on the Cliff
30 The Three Corpse Trick (1944)
31 Early Morning Murder (1945) aka Accidents Do Happen
32 Not a Leg to Stand On (1945)
33 The Cat Jumps (1946)
34 Situation Vacant (1946)
35 Heir to Lucifer (1947)
36 A Will in the Way (1947)
37 Devil’s Reckoning (1948)
38 Death in Shallow Water (1948)
39 Death Takes the Living (1949) aka The Disappearing Parson
40 Look Alive (1949)
41 Ground for Suspicion (1950)
42 A Village Afraid (1951)
43 Beware Your Neighbour (1951)
44 Murder Out of School (1951)
45 Murder On Duty (1952)
46 Heir to Murder (1953)
47 Something to Hide (1953)
48 Murder in Absence (1954)
49 Unwanted Corpse (1954)
50 A Crime in Time (1955)
51 Murder Unrecognised (1955)
52 Death in a Duffle Coat (1956)
53 Found Drowned (1956)
54 The Chinese Puzzle (1957)
55 The Moth-Watch Murder (1957)
56 Bones in the Brickfield (1958)
57 Death Takes a Detour (1958)
58 Return from the Dead (1959)
59 A Smell of Smoke (1959)
60 Death Paints a Picture (1960)
61 Legacy of Death (1960)

Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, most of these novels are difficult to obtain. The British Library Crime Classics series has, however, recently reissued The Secret of High Eldersham and Death in the Tunnel. A number of other titles of interest and are available in electronic format. The strongest entries in the series are generally those published in the 1930s and 1940s.

John Rhode page at Gadetection

Further reading: Masters of the “Humdrum” Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the British Detective Novel, 1920-1961 by Curtis Evans, McFarland, 2014.

The Red Widow Murders, 1935 (Sir Henry Merrivale # 3) by John Dickson Carr, writing as Carter Dickson

American Mystery Classics, 2023. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 2.4 MB. Print Length: 287 pages. ASIN: B0B8LBFZ45. eISBN: 978-1-61316-396-2. With an introduction by Tom Mead. Originally published in the UK by William Heinemann in 1935, and by William Morrow in the US in 1935.

Overview: In this baffling whodunnit from the master of the locked-room mystery, a man falls dead in a guarded room, and Sir Henry Merrivale searches for a devilishly-clever killer.

They say that Lord Mantling’s mansion is haunted — at least, one room of it is. Known as the Red Widow’s Chamber, the now-sealed quarters once housed the wife of a guillotine operator in the French Revolution, and, since her passing, have been host to a century of unsolved horrors, including the death of a man in 1802, the death of a child in 1895, and a number of mysterious mortalities in the years in between.

Now, in 1935, eight men and women join at the manor for a sinister experiment to determine the truth behind the haunting once and for all: they each draw a card, and whoever pulls the Ace of Spades must spend a night in that terrifying room. But the challenge turns fatal when the man selected for the task is found poisoned the next morning when the doors are opened. The locked room was guarded all night, so nobody could have entered or escaped; what’s more, the deadly toxin could only have entered through a break in the skin, but no wounds were discovered on the body.

Is this evidence, at last, of a nefarious spirit at work, or of a diabolical and ingenious killer? Only Sir Henry Merrivale, called in to take note of the night’s proceedings, will be able to examine the clues and deduce the truth.

My Take: The story begins when Sir George Anstruther, Director of the British Museum, bluntly asks Professor Tairline, distinguished holder of the Lyman Mannot Chair of English Literature at Harvard:“Do you believe a room can kill?”

“To be more precise, do you believe in a room with such lethal characteristics that anyone who enters it alone, and remains there for more than two hours, will die?”

To which Tairline replies: “If you have a story to tell, tell it.”

Sir George responds that he intends to do better than that—he will let him see for himself. He therefore gives Tairline the following instructions:

“This evenig, as near eight o’clock as you can manage, you will take a bus down Piccadilly, and get off at Clarges Street. You will be wearing evening kit. You will walk up Clarges Street to Curzon Street….at any subsequent time you see me, you are not to drop any hint that I put you up to this. You will merely strolling casually along; got it? … if somebody approaches you with no matter what sort of odd remark, you are to agree with it. Oh, and be sure not to have dinner before you come out. Is that clear?”

As the story unfolds, Tairline arrives at the decaying Mantling House. Lord Mantling has gathered a small group of guests there, among them Sir Henry Merrivale, for an experiment involving the estate’s notorious Widow’s Room.

The room was sealed sixty years ago after a series of unexplained nineteenth-century deaths. Each victim was found with a blackened face. No trap, poison, or mechanism was ever discovered.

With the house about to be demolished, Lord Mantling decides to test the room one last time. The group will pick a volunteer by drawing cards from a new deck. Whoever draws the “death card” must spend two hours locked inside, while the others watch the only entrance.

The volunteer enters. The door closes. The group keeps watch from the dining room, knocking now and then and hearing brief replies—until the replies stop. When they finally open the door, the volunteer is dead, exactly like the others.

The room stayed in full view. No one went in or out. No device or trick is found. Yet someone died inside.

Only Sir Henry Merrivale can explain how a murder was carried out in a room that should be harmless—and why a place sealed for decades has taken another life.

The Red Widow Murders occupies a fascinating place within John Dickson Carr’s oeuvre, signalling a subtle yet decisive shift in his craft. Unlike his earlier gothic-tinged novels featuring Henri Bencolin, the action here is confined to a single sealed room and a death that appears utterly inexplicable.

Carr pares back the elaborate settings of his earlier Merrivale tales, relying on timing, perception, and psychological misdirection rather than mechanical contrivances. In contrast to the early Dr. Gideon Fell novels, which are more akin to the impossible crime, The Red Widow Murders places more emphasis on the impossible crime than on purely psychological or realistic detective fiction—an evolution that also begins with The Hollow Man (apa The Three Coffins), also published in 1935.

Sir Henry Merrivale himself is transformed: once boisterous and comic, he is here serious, intuitive, and sharply focused—a more mature and commanding presence.

All in all, The Red Widow Murders is compelling for the way it bridges his early gothic thrillers and the more refined, enigmatic mysteries that would follow. Perhaps that is precisely why I would recommend it so warmly.

The Red Widow Murders has been reviewed, among others, by Jim Noy at “The Invisible Event”, Ben at “The Green Capsule”, Kate Jackson at “Cross-Examining Crime”, Brad Friedman at “Ah Sweet Mystery!”, Nick Fuller at “The Grandest Game in the World”, TomCat at “Beneath the Stains of Time”, Steve Barge at “In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel”

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC. Heinemann (UK), 1935)

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC. Morrow Mystery (USA), 1935)

About the Author: John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn.

He lived in England for a number of years, and is often grouped among “British-style” mystery writers. Most (though not all) of his novels had English settings, especially country villages and estates, and English characters. His two best-known fictional detectives (Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale) were both English.

Carr is generally regarded as one of the greatest writers of so-called “Golden Age” mysteries; complex, plot-driven stories in which the puzzle is paramount. He was influenced in this regard by the works of Gaston Leroux and by the Father Brown stories of G. K. Chesterton. He was a master of the so-called locked room mystery, in which a detective solves apparently impossible crimes. The Dr. Fell mystery The Hollow Man (1935), usually considered Carr’s masterpiece, was selected in 1981 as the best locked-room mystery of all time by a panel of 17 mystery authors and reviewers. He also wrote a number of historical mysteries.

The son of Wooda Nicholas Carr, a U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania, Carr graduated from The Hill School in Pottstown in 1925 and Haverford College in 1929. During the early 1930s, he moved to England, where he married Clarice Cleaves, an Englishwoman. He began his mystery-writing career there, returning to the United States as an internationally known author in 1948.

In 1950, his biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle earned Carr the first of his two Special Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America; the second was awarded in 1970, in recognition of his 40-year career as a mystery writer. He was also presented the MWA’s Grand Master award in 1963. Carr was one of ~~only two~~ [the few] Americans ever admitted to the British Detection Club.

In early spring 1963, while living in Mamaroneck, New York, Carr suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his left side. He continued to write using one hand, and for several years contributed a regular column of mystery and detective book reviews, “The Jury Box”, to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Carr eventually relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, and died there of lung cancer on February 28, 1977.

About Tom Mead: Tom Mead is a Derbyshire mystery writer and aficionado of Golden Age crime fiction. His debut novel, Death and the Conjuror, was an international bestseller, nominated for several awards, and named one of the best mysteries of the year by The Guardian and Publishers Weekly. Its sequel, The Murder Wheel, was described as “pure nostalgic pleasure” by the Wall Street Journal and “a delight” by the Daily Mail. It was also named one of the Best Traditional Mysteries of 2023 by CrimeReads. His third novel, Cabaret Macabre, was published in 2024 and his fourth one, The House at Devil’s Neck, was published this year.

Here you can find a complete list of John Dickson Carr’s books.

Sir Henry Merrivale series:

The Plague Court Murders (1934), The White Priory Murders (1934), The Red Widow Murders (1935), The Unicorn Murders (1935), The Punch and Judy Murders aka The Magic Lantern Murders (1936), The Peacock Feather Murders aka The Ten Teacups (1937), The Judas Window aka The Crossbow Murder (1938), Death in Five Boxes (1938), The Reader Is Warned (1939), And So to Murder (1940), Murder in the Submarine Zone aka Nine—And Death Makes Ten (1940), The Departments of Queer Complains (a collection of short stories by Carter Dickson featuring Sir Henry Merrivale in several tales, along with a few other standalone mysteries, 1940), Seeing is Believing aka Cross of Murder (1941), The Gilded Man (1942), She Died a Lady (1943), He Wouldn’t Kill Patience (1944), The Curse of the Bronze Lamp aka Lord of the Sorcerers (1945), My Late Wives (1946), The Skeleton in the Clock (1948), A Graveyard to Let (1949), Night at the Mocking Widow (1950), Behind the Crimson Blind (1952), The Cavalier’s Cup (1953) and a collection of short stories Merrivale, March and Murder, 1991 (edited with an introduction by Douglas G. Greene).

Penzler Publishers publicity page

John Dickson Carr page at Gadetection

Further Reading:

Douglas G. Greene, John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles Otto Penzler Books/ Simon & Schuster, 1995. Biography & critical study of his works.

John Dickson Carr – by Michael E. Grost

John Dickson Carr page at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

The Locked-Room Lectures : John Dickson Carr Vs Clayton Rawson

A Room with a Clue: John Dickson Carr’s Locked-Room Lecture Revisited by John Pugmire (pdf) The Reader Is Warned: this entire article is a gigantic SPOILER, with the solutions given to many pre-1935 locked room mysteries.

Ranking the First Ten Henry Merrivale Novels (1934-40) by Carter Dickson, by Jim Noy

The October Man (1947) British film directed by Roy Ward Baker

UK / BW-35 mm / Two Cities Films / Dir: Roy Ward Baker. Pro: Eric Ambler. Screen: Eric Ambler. Cine: Erwin Hillier. Edi: Alan L. Jaggs. Mus: William Alwyn. Art: Alex Vetchinsky . Cast: John Mills (Jim Ackland); Joan Greenwood (Jenny Carden); Edward Chapman (Mr Peachy); Kay Walsh (Molly Newman); Joyce Carey (Mrs Vinton); Catherine Lacey (Miss Selby). Cast Notes: John Mills’s daughter, Juliet Mills, plays the part of the young child who is killed in the bus accident at the beginning of the film. She was five years old at the time, and it was her third film appearance. Production: Director Roy Ward Baker was an assistant director for Alfred Hitchcock on The Lady Vanishes (1938), while cinematographer Erwin Hillier had photographed Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going (1945).The film was made at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, and location shooting was done at Paddington Station in London. The film’s sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. Eric Ambler’s screenplay is sometimes stated to be from a novel by Ambler, but there is no such novel. IMDb Rating: 7/10. Release date: UK 28 August 1947.

Summary: Roy Ward Baker’s film The October Man, written and produced by the novelist Eric Ambler, opens with a striking, completely silent sequence in which a bus full of passengers travels along a winding country road at night in the rain. Jim Ackland (John Mills) is seated beside a young girl, whom he entertains by fashioning a rabbit out of his handkerchief. The scene then cuts to an axle beneath the bus, where a bolt has worked loose. The driver attempts to react when he senses something amiss, but he is unable to prevent the impending accident.

Ackland, an industrial chemist, sustains several injuries and significant brain damage. The little girl who had been sitting next to him dies in the crash. Wracked with guilt, Ackland blames himself for her death and even attempts suicide during his convalescence.

As time passes, he gradually manages to rebuild his life. He moves into a boarding house, finds a job, and meets a pleasant young woman, Jenny Carden (Joan Greenwood), with whom he begins to spend time.

However, his life takes an unexpected and troubling turn when another resident of the boarding house, a woman named Molly Newman (Kay Walsh), is murdered—and suspicion immediately falls upon him. Ackland himself is uncertain, as he still suffers from bouts of memory loss.

I must begin by admitting that I was unaware of the film’s existence, which is, incidentally, freely available online as it is now in the public domain. I discovered it thanks to my friend of more than sixty-five years, Juan Caso, who recommended it to me.

The film is a blend of psychological drama set within an atmosphere that could best be described as British noir, strongly reminiscent of Hitchcock’s early work during his British years. The tension builds steadily towards its final resolution, and John Mills’ performance is simply outstanding, conveying with great subtlety the inner conflict his character endures.

Although the film is impeccably crafted and features a strong cast, I can understand why it is not particularly well known and has slipped into relative obscurity. The murder-mystery element, in my view, is not especially well handled; the culprit is fairly easy to spot from the outset, and the ending proves somewhat disappointing.

All in all, it is more of a psychological thriller than a suspense mystery.

The October Man at Wikipedia

The October Man at IMDb

Film review at Variety

Death Comes as the End (1944) by Agatha Christie

HarperCollins Masterpiece Ed., 2010. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 1,9 MB. Print Length: 273 pages. ASIN: B0046H95SQ. ISBN: 9780007422265. First published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October 1944 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the following year.

As Agatha Christie states in her Author’s Note at the beginning of the novel, the characters and plot of her book are inspired by the Hekanakht papyri, a set of letters written sometime during the XI Dynasty (2.150 – 2.055 BC) on papyrus. These letters were discovered in a tomb near Luxor in the 1920s. They were (partly) translated by Battiscombe Gunn and published in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin in 1922. In the letters, a priest named Hekanakht writes concerning various issues relating to his family including a complaint about the way his family behaved and treated his concubine.

In her An Autobiography, Christie describes in detail the role of the eminent Egyptologist and family family friend Stephen Glanville in the creation of the novel. She records that Glanville literally thrust upon her the idea of a detective novel set in Ancient Egypt. “One day Stephen Glanville attacked me. ‘I’ve got a project I’ve thought out for you'” she writes, adding later: “There is no doubt that I was bullied into it by Stephen”. Glanville leant her severals books on Egypt as source material. He also answered her many and frequent questions on everyday life in Ancient Egypt, details such as what they ate, did men and women eat together, what sort of rooms they slept in. Christie thought Glanville must have been sorry he started her on the project. At one point he noted that what took Christie three minutes to ask, he would have to look through eight different books to find.

Later, Glanville would influence her on the ending of the book. In An Autobiography, Christie recounts that Glanville argued a great deal with her on one point of her denouement and that she gave in to him in the end against her better judgment, something she would later regret. “Up to then, on the whole, though I have given in to people on every subject under the sun, I have never given in to anyone over what I write. ” Years later whenever she re-read the book, she still felt that she would like to rewrite the ending, “which shows that you should stick to your guns in the first place, or you will be dissatisfied with yourself.” This alternative ending has not been published nor is it even clear if it was ever written. John Curran is his work on the Agatha Christie notebooks speculates what the alternative ending/s might be, based on what Christie had sketched in her notes.

Overview: A novel of anger, jealousy, betrayal and murder in 2000 BC.
It is Egypt, 2000 BC, where death gives meaning to life. At the foot of a cliff lies the broken, twisted body of Nofret, concubine to a Ka-priest. Young, beautiful and venomous, most agree that she deserved to die like a snake.
Yet Renisenb, the priest’s daughter, believes that the woman’s death was not fate, but murder. Increasingly, she becomes convinced that the source of evil lurks within her own father’s household.
As the wife of an eminent archaeologist, Agatha Christie took part in several expeditions to the Middle East. Drawing upon this experience and exhaustive research, she wrote this serial killer mystery laid in Egypt 4000 years ago.

More About This Story: Written at the request of her friend, Egyptologist, Stephen Glanville, here Agatha Christie combines her knowledge of archaeology with her knowledge of psychology, revealing the past lives and dramas of people in 2000 BC.
The premise for the story was derived from real Egyptian letters, from a man named Heqanakhte to his family discussing their behaviour and unwelcome response to his concubine. Christie actually changed the ending of the novel on the insistence of Glanville and her publishers and always regretted the decision, certain that her original ending would have been more effective.
The novel is yet to be adapted.

My Take: I must confess that while I’m about to finish reading all of Agatha Christie’s detective novels, there are some in her canon that I hadn’t planned to read. Aside from Destination Unknown and Passenger to Frankfurt, I’m not quite sure why I had also included this one. However, thanks to my recent trip to Egypt, I finally decided to read it – and I don’t regret it.

The story recounts the vicissitudes of a prosperous Egyptian family living on the west bank of the Nile in 2000 BC. Domestic order is paramount in this household until the head of the family brings home a concubine. Her arrival shatters the fragile family harmony, unleashing jealousy, suspicion and resentment that had long been suppressed. Finally, the death of one of its members precipitates the collapse of the household.

Even though the story unfolds over 4,000 years ago, Christie’s vision of human nature feels surprisingly modern. Love, envy, pride and fear are the timeless emotions that drive the characters, making their struggles as relevant today as they would have been in ancient Egypt. Beneath their costumes and rituals, one can imagine this novel as a Christie mystery set in an English country house – albeit transported to a different time and world.

Christie’s penchant for archaeological detail adds authenticity to the novel. Daily life, religious customs, and the seasons marked by the Nile’s floods are seamlessly woven into the narrative, enriching the story without overshadowing the mystery.

Unlike some of her lighter crime novels, Death Comes as the End carries a somber and tragic tone. It emphasises the slow disintegration of a family under pressure, rather than the trhill of clever deduction. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Renisenb, we experience not just a puzzle to be solved, but also a reflection on human fragilities such as jealousy, ambition and violence.

Ultimately, it is a hidden gem. Its rich history, finely drawn characters, and ever-increasing suspense create a story that lingers long after the final page. It may not be a detective novel in the strictest sense—in fact, there is no investigation whatsoever—but Christie manages to immerse us in a world that, while far removed from our own, reminds us that the most dangerous forces are eternal: love, envy, pride, and fear.

All in all, it is a tremendously evocative and masterfully written novel that confirms Agatha Christie’s genius, and for that reason, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Death Comes As the End has been reviewed, among others, by Aidan Brack at “Mysteries Ahoy!”, Kate Jackson at “Cross-examining Crime”, Brad at “Ah Sweet Mytery”, Ben at “The Green Capsule”, Steve Barge at “In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel”, Moira at “Clothes in Books”, at “Countdown John’s Christie Journal”, Nick Fuller at “The Greatest Game in the World” and Kerrie Smith at “Mysteries in Paradise”.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC)

About the author: Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976) is recognised around the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language,outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Ms. Christie is the author of eighty crime novels and short story collections, nineteen plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott. Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written towards the end of World War I (during which she served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment, VAD). In it she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian investigator who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime novels since Sherlock Holmes. After having been rejected by various publishers, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was eventually published by The Bodley Head in 1920. In 1926, now averaging a book a year, Agatha Christie wrote her masterpiece. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the first of her books to be published by William Collins and marked the beginning of an author-publisher relationship that lasted for fifty years and produced over seventy books. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was also the first of Agatha Christie’s works to be dramatized – as Alibi – and to have a successful run in London’s West End. The Mousetrap, her most famous play, opened in 1952 and still runs nowadays; it is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1971. She died in 1976, since then a number of her books have been published: the bestselling novel Sleeping Murder appeared in 1976, followed by An Autobiography and the short story collections Miss Marple’s Final Cases; Problem at Pollensa Bay; and While the Light Lasts. In 1998, Black Coffee was the first of her plays to be novelized by Charles Osborne, Ms. Christie’s biographer.

If I’m right, it is widely accepted Agatha Christie wrote ~~twenty~~ nineteen standalone novels, of which six were romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. The rest, among which we may find some of her best novels, are: The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) (Colonel Race, #1); The Sittaford Mystery apa The Murder at Hazelmoor (1931); Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1934); And Then There Were None apa Ten Little Indians (1939); Death Comes as the End (1944); Sparkling Cyanide (1945) (Colonel Race, #4); Crooked House (1949); They Came to Baghdad (1951); Destination Unknown (1954); Ordeal by Innocence (1958); The Pale Horse (1961) (Ariadne Oliver, #5); Endless Night (1967) and Passenger to Frankfurt (1970).

Colonel Race and Ariadne Oliver often show up in other Christie’s book series, but I don’t considered them a “series character” by their own merits. However, even if Superintendent Battle join forces with Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, and Col. Race in Cards on the Table, he has enough entity in his other four books The Secret of Chimneys, The Seven Dials Mystery, Murder Is Easy and Towards Zero to be considered a “series character”.

Harper Collins Publishers UK publicity page

Harper Collins Publishers US publicity page

The Home of Agatha Christie

Notes On Death Comes as the End

Agatha Christie at A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection

Agatha Christie page at Golden Age of Detection Wiki