Shot at Dawn

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Shot at Dawn
Shot at Dawn.jpg
First edition (UK)
Author John Rhode
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series Lancelot Priestley
GenreDetective
Publisher Collins (UK)
Dodd Mead (US)
Publication date
1934
Media typePrint
Preceded by Poison for One  
Followed by The Corpse in the Car  

Shot at Dawn is a 1934 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. [1] It is the nineteenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

A motor boat Alandra arrives one evening in Riddinghithe and anchors in the harbour bay. In the morning a passing fisherman discovers a body lying on top of the cabin. The local police call in Scotland Yard and Inspector Hanslet arrives to investigate but is unable to discover anything more about the dead man other than his name and his interest in yachting. He is forced once again to turn to the assistance of Priestley.

Reception

Shot at Dawn was one of the best-received novels in the series. [3] In a review for the Sunday Times , the novelist and critic Dorothy L. Sayers wrote "Mr. John Rhode is one of those kind, thoughtful writers who patiently explain all the technical points of the narrative in words that a child could understand." [4]

Ralph Partridge in the New Statesman observed "Shot At Dawn is developed in that incalculable way which keeps one’s attention at the stretch, until the very last page—I actually got a thrill out of the verdict of the jury! The Crime Club has selected the book, and I certainly could not better their selection from the detective novels that have come my way in the last few months."[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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Mystery at Olympia is a 1935 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the twenty second in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, an armchair detective who was able to solve mysteries without visiting the scene of the crime. It was published in the United States under the alternative title Murder at the Motor Show.

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

The Corpse in the Car is a 1935 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the twentieth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. A review by Ralph Partridge in the New Statesman commented "Mr. Rhode has written a humdrum, workaday book in The Corpse in the Car. He belongs to the English school of Freeman Wills Crofts, with which it is impossible to find technical fault." In The Spectator Rupert Hart-Davis considered that "The Corpse in the Car is greatly inferior to his last book, Shot at Dawn."

<i>Poison for One</i> 1934 novel

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

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<i>The Two Graphs</i> 1950 novel

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."

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

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<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>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 House on Tollard Ridge</i> 1929 novel

The House on Tollard Ridge is a 1929 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It marked the sixth appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The plot was partly inspired by Rudyard Kipling's short story Wireless, which Rhode mentions in the novel.

<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>Men Die at Cyprus Lodge</i> 1943 novel

Men Die at Cyprus Lodge is a 1943 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty eighth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Reviewing it for the San Francisco Chronicle, Anthony Boucher wrote "at his best, nobody can touch Rhode for ingenious murder gadgets and very few can top him for meticulous unravelling; he's very close his best in this one".

<i>Dead on the Track</i> 1943 novel

Dead on the Track is a 1943 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty seventh in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Like a number of mystery novels of the era, it has a railway setting. In theme and plot it is very similar to the author's earlier 1931 work Tragedy on the Line. It is the first entry in the series since Hendon's First Case (1935) in which Priestley's old associate Hanslet is the lead investigator. The other recurring police officer in the series Inspector Jimmy Waghorn is now working with military intelligence.

<i>Tragedy on the Line</i> 1931 novel

Tragedy on the Line is a 1931 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the tenth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective who works alongside the less sharp-witted Superintendent Hanslet of Scotland Yard. It was published in the United States the same year by Dodd Mead.

<i>The Davidson Case</i> 1929 novel

The Davidson Case is a 1929 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It was the seventh appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who featured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

<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 eight appearances 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>Death at the Helm</i> 1941 novel

Death at the Helm is a 1941 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty fourth in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It makes reference to earlier stories in the series as the lawyer had defended in court the murderers Priestley had exposed in The Corpse in the Car and Death on the Boat Train. The characters in it were arguably more complexly drawn than in other books by the author.

<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.81
  2. Reilly p.1257
  3. Evans p.81
  4. Sayers, Dorothy (2017). Edwards, Martin (ed.). Taking Detective Stories Seriously.

Bibliography