A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues to the case, from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professional detective.
Anthony Berkeley Cox was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts.
Sydney Horler was a prolific British novelist specialising in thrillers. He was born in Leytonstone, Essex, and educated at Redcliffe School and Colston School in Bristol.
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s.
Murder by Experts is a 1936 mystery thriller novel by the British writer Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of Lucy Beatrice Malleson. It launched her long-running series featuring the shady London lawyer and detective Arthur Crook. Although she had been writing since 1926 this was her first major popular success. The plot revolves around collectors of Chinese antiques.
The Duke of York's Steps is a 1929 mystery detective novel by the British writer Henry Wade. It was the first in a series of seven novels featuring the character of Chief Inspector Poole, published during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The title refers to the steps that connect the Duke of York Column to The Mall in Central London. It is notable for its portrayal of a German Jewish character, a banker who seeks revenge for his mistreatment by murdering a fellow banker. It was well-received by critics and sold well. In The Observer the reviewer Gerald Gould wrote "It would be difficult to overpraise it".
Last Train Out is a 1940 thriller novel by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. A prolific and popular writer since the Victorian era, it was one of his final works and takes place in the build-up to and early stages of the Second World War. It was notable for its sympathetic portrayal of all the Jewish characters, from an author who had in the past sometimes relied on more negative Jewish stereotypes.
The Piccadilly Murder is a 1929 mystery detective novel by the British writer Anthony Berkeley. Berkley was a prominent writer during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, known for his private detective Roger Sheringham series and his development of the inverted detective story. Although not part of the Sheringham series it featured the character of Chief Inspector Moresby of Scotland Yard who also appeared several times with Sheringham. Moresby reappeared with the chief protagonist Chitterwick in a sequel Trial and Error in 1937.
Trial and Error is a 1937 mystery detective novel by the British writer Anthony Berkeley. It was a loose sequel to the 1929 novel The Piccadilly Murder, featuring two of the characters from the earlier work the unprepossessing but shrewd Ambrose Chitterwick and Chief Inspector Moresby of Scotland Yard. Berkeley was a prominent author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, known for his inverted detective stories.
The Man Who Wasn't There is a 1937 mystery detective novel by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson. It is the second in her long-running series featuring the unscrupulous London solicitor and detective Arthur Crook.
The Musical Comedy Crime is a 1933 mystery detective novel by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson. It is the seventh entry of the series featuring Scott Egerton, her principal character before her better known creation Arthur Crook appeared three years later. A traditional whodunnit, it was published during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Colonel Gore’s Second Case is a 1925 detective novel by the Irish writer Lynn Brock. It was the second in his series of seven novels featuring the character of Colonel Wyckham Gore. Gore enjoyed popularity during the early stages of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. After solving his first case Gore now establishes his own detective agency.
Death in the House is a 1939 detective novel by the British writer Anthony Berkeley. It was one of a number of stand-alone novels he wrote alongside his series featuring the private detective Roger Sheringham. It was his penultimate novel, and his final whodunnit. In later years he continued writing reviews of other crime novels, but no longer wrote his own.
Cicely Disappears is a 1927 mystery novel by the British writer Anthony Cox, written under the pen name of A. Monmouth Platts. Berkley used a variety of pseudonyms during his career, in this case based on two properties he was associated with in Watford. Cox had enjoyed success with novels featuring his private detective Roger Sheringham, at first published anonymously, and also wrote a number of stand-alone novels such as this one.
As for the Woman is a 1939 novel by the British writer Anthony Berkeley, written under the pen name of Francis Iles. It was the final novel of Berkeley, a key writer of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, as he concentrated on reviewing after this point. He later told fellow writer John Dickson Carr that he produced the book during a period of great emotional strain and that its poor commercial and critical reception affected him badly. Thereafter he turned down all offers to write further novels. Although two further novels under the Iles novels were announced by the publisher, neither of them were ever released.
Sir John Magill’s Last Journey is a 1930 detective novel by the Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the sixth in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a prominent figure of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Much of the novel takes place in Northern Ireland, particularly around Belfast, where Crofts had spent a great deal of his younger years before moving to England. As with many of his puzzle mysteries its solution revolves around railway timetables as well as the possible distance a boat could cover in a certain time.
The Double Florin is a 1924 thriller novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. Like H.C. McNeile's Bulldog Drummond and Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary the plot revolves around a Bolshevik conspiracy to destroy capitalism and western democracy. The title refers to the Double florin coin.
Death at Breakfast is a 1936 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the twenty third in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It received a negative review from Cecil Day-Lewis, writing as Nicholas Blake in The Spectator noting "Some attempt is made to establish the character of the victim, but the remaining dramatis personae are stuffed men".
The Two Graphs is a 1950 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the fiftieth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in America by Dodd Mead under the alternative title Double Identities. Writing in The Observer Maurice Richardson noted a "slight slackening of tension towards the finish but an excellent specimen of Rhode’s later period."
Bricklayer's Arms is a 1945 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty first in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in America by Dodd Mead under the alternative title Shadow of a Crime. It was particularly notable for the lesser role played by Priestley, with the case being solved largely by Inspector Waghorn of Scotland Yard alone.
