collections, I was taken aback at so foreign a title which I never knew to belong to the writer's list of fictions. Then as I gave a better look to the cover I found that it contains writing by G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers and certain other members of the Detection Club. Again this was a foreign name to be but my curiosity fired by intuition persuaded me to buy this which later proved to be a collector’s item. I was amazed to find that the novel was compiles by a dozen of the illustrated writers of the crime fiction. As I made a background research I found that this Club was set up in The whole perspective can be summarized from Sayer’s introduction that tells of the pattern devised to come up with a production of this kind.
Each of the authors was presented with the preceding chapters and was asked to write a chapter following certain conditions. Thees includd that each author must present a sealed solution with the plot that will explain all the events and will logically form a proposed conclusion. Excepting G.K. Chesterton’s prelude that was written last, the conditions were followed and we got a fascinating mix of mystery and adventure penned down one after the other by Canon Victor L. Whitechurch, G.D.H. and M. Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kenedy, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald A. Knox, Freeman Wills Croft, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane, Anthony Berkeley.
G.K. Chesterton, in his prelude, has given the much needed background that is best appreciated once you complete the whole story.
Canon Whitechurch, the clergyman, best known for his vegeterian railway detective Thorpe Hazel, has started the plot with the discovery of the knifed body of an admiral on a floating boat. Whitechurch stories had been admired by Ellery Queen and Sayers for their "immaculate plotting and factual accuracy: he was one of the first writers to submit his manuscripts to Scotland Yard for vetting as to police procedure". Truely the detailed plotting of the 1st chapter could not have been better narrated than that done by the Canon though he has not submitted any conclusion.
The next chapter is by the Cole brother-sister, Raymond (GDH) & Dame Margaret Isabele (a socialist politician) who had also taken the cue left by Canon and had woven the mystery further for the succeeding writers without presenting a sealed solution.
Henry Wade (psudonym of Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet, Major, CVO, DSO, Lord Lt. of Buckinghamshire for a certain period, one of the founding members, created detective Inspector John Poole) had given the first real direction as to the solution and his concepts of the tidal timings produces the first real clue to the whole mystery.
Agatha Chrisite ably takes up the threads and narrates in her own style keeping the suspense on throughout the chapter.
John Rhode (pseudonym of Cecil John Charles Street better known as John Street, English writer, had dual detective series, one featuring forensic Dr. Lancelot Priestley and the other featuring Desmond Merrions where the writer used penname of Miles Berton. He also used a 3rd penname of Cecil Waye for 4 of his novels. Dr. Priestly stories were only the 2nd after Sherlock Holmes to use scientific means in detection. But he is considered to be belonging to 'humdrum' school as his puzzles were milder than other fictions of the mystery class) follows Christie and gives way to Milward Kennedy for the next session.
Kennedy (full name, Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge) was an English writer who served once in the Britisih intel and speciallized in police mysteris but created a a professional private investigator in Sir Geroge Bull. He concludes with a nice twist to be followed up later by the other writers.
Now was the turn of Sayers, the famous mystery writer and creator of Lord Peter Wimsey and she also glides through her chapter with her own style and finishes it up with a grand twist.
I could not think of a better writer than Ronald Knox to follow up at this point as the scattered clues and queries were required to be serially listed which he efficiently did making it easier for the following authors to address them one by one. He also had given his own solution and also attempted chapterwise to predict solutions from the viewpoints of the preceding authors. It should be remembered that Ronal Knox was the person to invent the decalogue of 10 commandments to be followed by mystery writers. So his methods of writing and interpreting results follow the same line and hence sometimes his solutions for the other chapters deviates greatly from the proposed ones.
Next was the turn for Freeman Wills Croft, the Irish-English mystery author whose favourite creation was Inspector Joseph French. Croft was a railway engineer and several of his works use railway timetables as unbreakable alibi. Here too he has used the railways for tracing the perpatrators of crime though the narration seemed a bit too boring at times.
Edgar Jepson, the English writer of mainstream adventure, detective fiction, supernaturals, fantasies (used pseudonym R. Edison Page collaborating possibly with John Gawsworth & Arthur Machen for many short stories) is the next author and he also weaves the story in his own style.
Clemence Dane (pseudonym of Winifred Ashton, English novelist and playwright, who with another member Helen de Guerry Simpson wrote 3 detective novels featuring Sir John Saumarez) produces a late and baffling murder to add to the confusions and it was left to Anthony Berkeley to clear up the mess.
Anthony Berkeley Cox, English crimefiction writer used pennames of Anthony Berkeley, Francis Iles, A. Monmouth Platts and created two detectives, Roger Sheringham, an egotist whom he made as unpleasant as he could that contrasted with the other creation of the pleasant nice but dithery Mr. Chotterwick. He has given a neat solution to the mystery with a bit of adventure to wrap it up and no queries had been left unanswered by Inspector Rudge.
Though it was kind of boring in the middle but its sheer idea and twists in plot no doubt forms a good mystery. My personal favourites, in order of importance that I gave, were the chapters by Henry Wade reflecting on the tidal waves that form a critical part to the whole story, the nice conclusion by Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie’s charming pace and Clemence Dane’s mystery writer’s signature style of presenting a late murder and the twists presented by Milward Kennedy and Dorothy L. Sayers.
Canon Whitechurch, the clergyman, best known for his vegeterian railway detective Thorpe Hazel, has started the plot with the discovery of the knifed body of an admiral on a floating boat. Whitechurch stories had been admired by Ellery Queen and Sayers for their "immaculate plotting and factual accuracy: he was one of the first writers to submit his manuscripts to Scotland Yard for vetting as to police procedure". Truely the detailed plotting of the 1st chapter could not have been better narrated than that done by the Canon though he has not submitted any conclusion.
The next chapter is by the Cole brother-sister, Raymond (GDH) & Dame Margaret Isabele (a socialist politician) who had also taken the cue left by Canon and had woven the mystery further for the succeeding writers without presenting a sealed solution.
Henry Wade (psudonym of Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet, Major, CVO, DSO, Lord Lt. of Buckinghamshire for a certain period, one of the founding members, created detective Inspector John Poole) had given the first real direction as to the solution and his concepts of the tidal timings produces the first real clue to the whole mystery.
Agatha Chrisite ably takes up the threads and narrates in her own style keeping the suspense on throughout the chapter.
John Rhode (pseudonym of Cecil John Charles Street better known as John Street, English writer, had dual detective series, one featuring forensic Dr. Lancelot Priestley and the other featuring Desmond Merrions where the writer used penname of Miles Berton. He also used a 3rd penname of Cecil Waye for 4 of his novels. Dr. Priestly stories were only the 2nd after Sherlock Holmes to use scientific means in detection. But he is considered to be belonging to 'humdrum' school as his puzzles were milder than other fictions of the mystery class) follows Christie and gives way to Milward Kennedy for the next session.
Kennedy (full name, Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge) was an English writer who served once in the Britisih intel and speciallized in police mysteris but created a a professional private investigator in Sir Geroge Bull. He concludes with a nice twist to be followed up later by the other writers.
Now was the turn of Sayers, the famous mystery writer and creator of Lord Peter Wimsey and she also glides through her chapter with her own style and finishes it up with a grand twist.
I could not think of a better writer than Ronald Knox to follow up at this point as the scattered clues and queries were required to be serially listed which he efficiently did making it easier for the following authors to address them one by one. He also had given his own solution and also attempted chapterwise to predict solutions from the viewpoints of the preceding authors. It should be remembered that Ronal Knox was the person to invent the decalogue of 10 commandments to be followed by mystery writers. So his methods of writing and interpreting results follow the same line and hence sometimes his solutions for the other chapters deviates greatly from the proposed ones.
Next was the turn for Freeman Wills Croft, the Irish-English mystery author whose favourite creation was Inspector Joseph French. Croft was a railway engineer and several of his works use railway timetables as unbreakable alibi. Here too he has used the railways for tracing the perpatrators of crime though the narration seemed a bit too boring at times.
Edgar Jepson, the English writer of mainstream adventure, detective fiction, supernaturals, fantasies (used pseudonym R. Edison Page collaborating possibly with John Gawsworth & Arthur Machen for many short stories) is the next author and he also weaves the story in his own style.
Clemence Dane (pseudonym of Winifred Ashton, English novelist and playwright, who with another member Helen de Guerry Simpson wrote 3 detective novels featuring Sir John Saumarez) produces a late and baffling murder to add to the confusions and it was left to Anthony Berkeley to clear up the mess.
Anthony Berkeley Cox, English crimefiction writer used pennames of Anthony Berkeley, Francis Iles, A. Monmouth Platts and created two detectives, Roger Sheringham, an egotist whom he made as unpleasant as he could that contrasted with the other creation of the pleasant nice but dithery Mr. Chotterwick. He has given a neat solution to the mystery with a bit of adventure to wrap it up and no queries had been left unanswered by Inspector Rudge.
Though it was kind of boring in the middle but its sheer idea and twists in plot no doubt forms a good mystery. My personal favourites, in order of importance that I gave, were the chapters by Henry Wade reflecting on the tidal waves that form a critical part to the whole story, the nice conclusion by Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie’s charming pace and Clemence Dane’s mystery writer’s signature style of presenting a late murder and the twists presented by Milward Kennedy and Dorothy L. Sayers.
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