Poison for One

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Poison for One
Poison for One.jpg
First edition (UK)
Author John Rhode
LanguageEnglish
Series Lancelot Priestley
GenreDetective
Publisher Collins Crime Club (UK)
Dodd Mead (US)
Publication date
1934
Publication place United Kingdom
Media typePrint
Preceded by The Robthorne Mystery  
Followed by Shot at Dawn  

Poison for One is a 1934 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. [1] It is the eighteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. [2] It combines elements of the locked room mystery and country house mystery.

Contents

Synopsis

The weekend guests of the financier Sir Gerald Uppingham at his country estate Bucklesbury Park break into his locked study and discover his corpse, dead of prussic acid. Inspector Hanslet of Scotland Yard is called in, but as usual, he is forced to turn to Priestley to fully solve the complex question of how and why Uppingham died and who killed him.

Reception

Reviewing the book in the Sunday Times leading crime writer Dorothy L. Sayers considered it "as usual, sound, pleasantly written, and entertaining" [3] although, she complained the book "was rather spoilt for me by the jacket, which deliberately gives away one-half of the solution." [4]

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<i>Hendons First Case</i> 1935 novel

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<i>Invisible Weapons</i> 1938 novel

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<i>The Corpse in the Car</i> 1935 novel

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<i>Shot at Dawn</i> 1934 novel

Shot at Dawn is a 1934 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the nineteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective.

<i>Death in Harley Street</i> 1946 novel

Death in Harley Street is a 1946 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty third in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Several sources consider it to be the author's masterpiece.

<i>Up the Garden Path</i> (novel) 1949 novel

Up the Garden Path is a 1949 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty ninth 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 The Fatal Garden. Reviewing the novel in The Observer, Maurice Richardson concluded "Mr. Rhode has lost very little of his grip."

<i>Blackthorn House</i> 1949 novel

Blackthorn House is a 1949 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty eighth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective.

<i>Death Invades the Meeting</i> 1944 novel

Death Invades the Meeting is a 1944 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty ninth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Reviewing the novel for the Times Literary Supplement Maurice Willson Disher noted "His ingenuity is becoming as delicate to handle as high explosive. His stories may become so difficult to review without saying too much that his triumph will come when they cannot, for discretion’s sake, be reviewed at all."

<i>Family Affairs</i> (novel) 1950 novel

Family Affairs is a 1950 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the fifty 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 The Last Suspect. It has been described as "probably the best post-war Rhode novel".

<i>The Secret of High Eldersham</i> 1930 novel

The Secret of High Eldersham is a 1930 detective novel by Miles Burton, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It was the first novel in a lengthy series featuring the detective Desmond Merrion. Street was one of the most prolific authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and had already enjoyed success with his Doctor Priestley series, written under the name of John Rhode. In 1931 it was published in the United States by the Mystery League under the altered title The Mystery of High Eldersham. Originally published in Britain by the Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2016 by British Library Publishing as part of a series of crime novels the Golden Age.

<i>The Lake House</i> (Rhode novel) 1946 novel

The Lake House is a 1946 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty second in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was his first novel after returning to his original publisher Geoffrey Bles after all his books between 1931 and 1945 had been published by Collins. His other series featuring Desmond Merrion continued to be released by Collins.

<i>The Claverton Mystery</i> 1933 novel

The Claverton Mystery is a 1933 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the fifteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in the United States by Dodd Mead with the altered title The Claverton Affair. The tone of the book has been described as much darker than the author's other novels.

<i>Dr. Priestleys Quest</i> 1926 novel

Dr. Priestley's Quest is a 1926 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It was the second appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It has been described as the first major detective novel by the author. In its relationship between Priestley and his secretary and future son-in-law Harold Merefield is shown the influence of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Similarly, Inspector Hanslet of Scotland Yard fulfils a similar role to that of Lestrade.

<i>The Ellerby Case</i> 1927 novel

The Ellerby Case is a 1927 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It marked the third appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The novel's success led to a contract with Dodd Mead to release it and subsequent novels in the United States, in what proved to be a lucrative arrangement for the author.

<i>The Motor Rally Mystery</i> 1933 novel

The Motor Rally Mystery is a 1933 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the fourteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in the United States by Dodd Mead under the alternative title Dr. Priestley Lays a Trap. It takes place against the backdrop of the real life RAC Motor Rally, which concluded at Torquay.

<i>The Robthorne Mystery</i> 1934 novel

The Robthorne Mystery is a 1934 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the seventeenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in the United States the same year by Dodd Mead.

<i>Peril at Cranbury Hall</i> 1930 novel

Peril at Cranbury Hall is a 1930 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It marked the eighth appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The use of the cipher inspired a similar one used in Dorothy L. Sayers's Have His Carcase

<i>The Venner Crime</i> 1933 novel

The Venner Crime is a 1933 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the sixteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. In Britain it was published by Odhams Press, the only one of his works be done so, while in the United States it was handled by his usual publisher Dodd Mead. It has been described as a sort of sequel to his previous book The Claverton Mystery. Writing in the New York Times Isaac Anderson considered "This is not one of the best of the Dr. Priestley yarns, but it is plenty good enough to pass an idle evening."

<i>Dead Men at the Folly</i> 1932 novel

Dead Men at the Folly is a 1932 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in the United States by Dodd Mead.

References

  1. Evans p.72
  2. Reilly p.1257
  3. Evans p.38
  4. Sayers, Dorothy (2017). Edwards, Martin (ed.). Taking Detective Stories Seriously.

Bibliography