The Murders in Praed Street

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The Murders in Praed Street
The Murders in Praed Street.jpg
First Edition (UK)
Author John Rhode
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series Lancelot Priestley
GenreDetective
Publisher Geoffrey Bles (UK)
Dodd Mead (US)
Publication date
1928
Media typePrint
Preceded by The Ellerby Case  
Followed byTragedy at the Unicorn 

The Murders in Praed Street is a 1928 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. [1] It features the fourth appearance of the armchair detective Lancelot Priestley, who figured in a long-running series of novels during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. [2]

Contents

Film adaptation

In 1936 it was adapted into the film Twelve Good Men produced by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers at Teddington Studios. Directed by Ralph Ince, it starred Henry Kendall, Nancy O'Neil and Joyce Kennedy. [3] It is the only one of the author's novels to be filmed. [4]

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

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<i>The Telephone Call</i> (novel) 1948 novel

The Telephone Call is a 1948 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty seventh 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 an Alibi. It is based on the real-life Wallace Case of 1931 in which William Herbert Wallace was convicted of murdering his wife Julia, a conviction which was later overturned on appeal.

<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>Beware Your Neighbour</i> 1951 novel

Beware Your Neighbour is a 1951 detective novel by the British writer Cecil Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It was part of a lengthy series of books featuring the detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. Unlike much of the series it takes place in suburban rather than rural England. Reviewing the novel in The Spectator Esther Howard wrote " I always find that Mr. Burton has nearly the most colourless detectives, prose-style and plots of anyone in the business, and Beware Your Neighbour, death in an exclusive thoroughfare, though mechanically adequate, is entirely devoid of excitement."

<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 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>Murder of a Chemist</i> 1936 novel

Murder of a Chemist is a 1936 detective novel by the British writer Cecil Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It is the fourteenth in a series of books featuring the Golden Age amateur detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard.

<i>Murder in Crown Passage</i> 1937 novel

Murder in Crown Passage is a 1937 detective novel by the British writer Cecil Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It is the sixteenth in a series of books featuring the amateur detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. Street was one of the most prolific authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in the United States by Doubleday the same year under the alternative title The Man with the Tattooed Face. As often in the series, the setting is in rural England.

<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>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>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.

References

  1. Evans p.62-63
  2. Reilly p.1257
  3. Goble p.388
  4. Evans p.66

Bibliography