This book has a unique cast of characters: the actual 1939 Arsenal football team. Strangely, though, I kept forgetting it was 1939. The story gave off more late 1960s / early 1970s vibes, but that could be because the 8th season of Endeavour features a football team in its first episode, and it’s set in 1971. I had forgotten about the person who ended up being the murderer, so it was something I didn’t guess, but it felt a bit left-field to me.

Slade feels a bit like the sort of solid, methodical police inspector you see in a lot of British Library Crime Classic mysteries, such as Inspector French or Shelley or Meredith. So if you like these sorts of solidly reliable police inspectors for your detecting needs, then you might like this book. ( )

This is a capable mystery with a unique setting --the actual real-life stadium at the time of the real Arsenal professional soccer club, at the time (1939) one of the top British professional soccer teams. The real manager and players are characters, though after the opening they play only minor roles. The opening is a soccer match between Arsenal and an imaginary top amateur soccer club, the Trojans, quite vividly and (as far as I can judge, not being a serious soccer fan), realistically described, and quite competitive until one of the best Trojan players, Doyce, suddenly collapses on the field and dies. His death turns out to be murder and is investigated by Gribble's usual series detective Inspector Slade. Investigation finds that Doyce (like many later athletic stars) , used his playing skills to seduce female admirers, often in a quite unscrupulous predatory way, which provides the motive for the murder. Doyce is such a nasty piece of work that the reader ends up quite sympathetic to the murderer, who certainly had serious provocation. ( )

When a soccer player collapses and dies at a London stadium, it is up to Inspector Slade to catch the killer. He always gets his man. With little cooperation from those most likely to know anything useful, it is challenging. The man was not popular, and motives or potential motives abound. Slade suspects the murder is connected to the death of a girl a few years ago. He just needs to make the puzzle pieces fit . . . and he finally does. I enjoyed this Golden Age mystery and would love to read more books with Inspector Slade. I received an advance electronic copy from the publisher through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review. ( )

An up-and-coming star soccer player collapses in front of several thousand fans during a match at the Arsenal Stadium in London. Scotland Yard is summoned when he later dies and Inspector Slade comes to the scene. Slade and his assistant Sergeant Clinton investigate the murder amidst the local colour of the soccer stadium, the teams and their routines. At the beginning of the story there's some running commentary about the on-field action, but intimate knowledge of the soccer game is not necessary to follow the story. Of course there's plenty of non-sports activity involving the players' personal lives and careers which leads to the introduction of several interesting characters.

As with many Golden Age mysteries, the murder victim here is not well liked by others, leaving the inspector a full slate of potential killers, both in the soccer world and the victim's personal life. The investigation narrative flows smoothly at a good pace to a dramatic reveal scene in which the killer is unmasked by Inspector Slade.
It's a solid police procedural murder mystery which I can recommend, particularly to fans of the Golden Age mysteries.
Martin Edwards's Introduction at the beginning of the book provides insight to both the story and the author. It's worth reading.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for providing an advance reading eBook of this novel. The views expressed are my own. ( )