John Rhode (1)

John Rhode is a pseudonym for John Cecil Street, who also wrote books using the names Miles Burton and Cecil Waye.

An intricate mystery involving a possibly haunted house, a small village, a country estate near a military camp, and military secrets being received by the German Minister in Ireland. As in another book from the Golden Age of British Mystery, someone who appears not quite right is worthy of more suspicion than he gets. There is also mention of a weird religious cult.

I liked the explanation of the name Cyprus Lodge, the house where mysterious deaths occur: Cypress trees surround the house, which in no way is anything like the definition of a lodge. [pp. 5-6] And I learned "the first armoured fighting vehicles [were] camouflaged as [water] tanks"! [p.127]

I read the book because I happened upon the website for the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA, which had an exhibit called "Murder He Wrote". The description lists some of Gorey's favorite murder mystery authors: Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Georgette Heyer, Josephine Tey, Michael Innes, Margery Allingham, Edmund Crispin, and Cecil Street. I would read another Street (aka John Rhode) if I saw one to give him a second change, but I wouldn't seek one out.… (meer)

Victor Harleston drops dead shortly after sitting down to breakfast; he was quite obviously poisoned. All clues point to his half-siblings Janet and Philip as the likely culprits; after all, they are the only ones who seem to benefit from his death. However, when Victor’s boss, Mr. Knott, mysteriously disappears just a few days after Victor’s death, the case becomes more complicated. Although all clues point to Gavin Slater as Mr. Knott’s murderer, no one can find a body. And it is just too much of a coincidence to suppose that the two murders aren’t connected in some way. Superintendent Hanslet is once more on the case, which seems like a boon for criminals everywhere; fortunately, Dr. Lancelot Priestley is in the background to keep things in perspective.

The narrative begins with Victor Harleston’s murder and the investigation into that crime. Then, after Mr. Knott’s disappearance, the focus switches to the investigation of that mystery. Although the two crimes are interrelated and eventually connected, the sudden switch in focus from one to the other makes the story disjointed.

As usual, Inspector Hanslet comes across as a mindless buffoon. He is highly susceptible to manipulation, and always seems ready to believe the most obvious suspect just has to be guilty and should be immediately arrested. He routinely goes to Dr. Priestley for advice, but rarely seems inclined to take it. One has to imagine that, in cases for which Dr. Priestley is not consulted, countless criminals are walking free and that numerous innocent people have been dragged to the gallows just because of Hanslet’s gross incompetence.

Of course, Dr. Priestley is an equally disagreeable character in his own way. He appears to know the solution to the crimes very early on, but refuses to say directly what is on his mind. He just sort of sits in his armchair giving vague suggestions to Hanslet and Waghorn without explanation or elaboration, while secretly laughing at them behind their backs. Consequently, he comes across as incredibly pompous and self-absorbed. And, because he enjoys toying with the police like they are his personal playthings, the solution of the crime takes about five times longer than it should.

This is an interesting mystery with a well-crafted solution. Unfortunately, it drags on way too long and I found myself skimming towards the end.… (meer)

Nahum Pershore drops dead at the annual motor show at Olympia for no apparent reason. As the police begin their investigations, they discover three separate attempts on Mr. Pershore’s life have recently been made. It seems likely his sudden demise is a definite case of murder, but—with no obvious cause of death—how will it be proven?

There are certainly a lot of obvious suspects with a lot of obvious motives, and even a few that are not so obvious. There’s the niece who stands to inherit a hefty sum on Mr. Pershore’s death. And the nephew who stands to inherit next to nothing. Then again, Mr. Pershore seems to have engaged in some violent quarrels with all of his closest friends lately. He doesn’t seem to treat his former childhood sweetheart, now his housekeeper, with any great amount of civility either. And what about Mr. Pershore’s estranged half-brother Micah who made his own fortune in the Argentine, but whose present whereabouts are unknown? Oddly enough, many of the prime suspects just happen to be in attendance at the car show at the precise moment Mr. Pershore makes his final exit…that couldn’t just be a coincidence, or could it?

There is plenty of action and misdirection on hand in this entertaining whodunit.

A number of people really want Nahum Pershore dead, and it is easy to believe that any one of the suspects is actually guilty of the crime. Superintendent Hanslet, who is the primary investigator handling the case, comes across as somewhat of a buffoon; at various points throughout the story he is utterly convinced that every one of the suspects is undoubtedly the murderer. Most of the viable suspects do have the motives, means, and opportunities to commit the murder, and it kind of seems like the author may have just picked one out of a hat to bring the book to a conclusion. It is rather unfair that the reader is unable to work out the actual cause of death until Doctor Overland accidentally stumbles across it in an obscure medical journal late in the narrative. However, that does not really detract from the enjoyment value of the story.

Although it gets off to a slow start with a detailed discussion of automobile transmissions, this is an entertaining mystery that makes for a fun, weekend read.… (meer)