 | |
| Author | Ronald Knox |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Detective |
| Publisher | Methuen |
Publication date | 1925 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
The Viaduct Murder is a 1925 mystery detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. [1] [2] [3] A stand-alone novel, it was a precursor to his series of five books featured the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, all published during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in London by Methuen and in New York by Simon and Schuster. [4]
A body is discovered on the course of a residential golf club on the site of a former country house. It has clearly fallen off the nearby railway viaduct. Convinced that it has been thrown off a passing train, and that police are not taking the matter seriously following the coroner's inquest, several of the golfing residents led by Mordaunt Reeves investigate what they believing to be a case of murder. Reeves, who held a minor role in military intelligence during the First World War, takes on the role of detective and begins to form a variety of solutions to the case, most of which ultimately prove to be false.
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Kogoro Akechi, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
A whodunit 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.
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, often a murder. Most crime drama focuses on criminal investigation and does not feature the courtroom. Suspense and mystery are key elements that are nearly ubiquitous to the genre.
Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox was ordained as a priest of the Church of England in 1912. He was a fellow and chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford until he resigned from those positions following his conversion to Catholicism in 1917. Knox became a Catholic priest in 1918, continuing in that capacity his scholarly and literary work.
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. The Golden Age proper is in practice usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was predominant in the 1920s and 1930s but had been written since at least 1911 and is still being written today.
The Verdict of You All is a 1926 mystery detective novel by the British writer Henry Wade, his debut novel. Both this and his following novel The Missing Partners revolve around potential miscarriages of justice. It was published in the United States by Payson and Clarke in 1927. A success it launched his career as one of the prominent writers during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The title refers to the traditional question asked in court by a judge of the jury to establish whether they have reached a unanimous verdict.
The Clock in the Hatbox is a 1939 mystery detective novel by Anthony Gilbert, the pen name of British writer Lucy Beatrice Malleson. It is the fifth in her long-running series featuring the shady London lawyer and detective Arthur Crook. It was published during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Reviewing it for the Times Literary Supplement, Maurice Percy Ashley noted "The tale is very fairly told. Mr. Gilbert, whose work has not perhaps always been sufficiently appreciated in the past, has written a thoroughly entertaining story".
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.
Checkmate to Murder is a 1944 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It was the twenty fifth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2020 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Crook O'Lune is a 1953 detective novel by E. C. R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirty eighth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more orthodox detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of Shepherd's Crook.
Death Before Dinner is a 1948 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirtieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of A Screen for Murder.
Murder on a Monument is a 1958 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the forty-fifth in her long-running series featuring Superintendent MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more conventional detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Along with Murder in Vienna, it was one of the rare ventures abroad for the series, which generally took place in London and rural England. It was the penultimate novel featuring MacDonald to be published during Lorac's lifetime.
Crime Counter Crime is a 1936 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the ninth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. It was her first novel published by Collins Crime Club after switching from Sampson Low, partly on the success of the previous entry in the series The Organ Speaks. Collins then published the remainder the series.
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.
Sir Clinton Driffield is a fictional police detective created by the British author J.J. Connington. He was one of numerous detectives created during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, making his first appearance in Murder in the Maze in 1927. He appeared in four subsequent novels by 1929 when Connington apparently wished to write him out following Nemesis at Raynham Parva. However, his replacement Superintendent Ross failed to gain the same level of popularity over two novels and Sir Clinton returned in the 1931 mystery The Boathouse Riddle. He went on to appear in a further eleven novels. The last entry Common Sense Is All You Need was published the year of Connington's death in 1947 and is set in wartime Britain.
The Footsteps at the Lock is a 1928 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. Written during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction it is one of five books featuring his insurance investigator Miles Bredon. The author was very familiar with the area of western Oxfordshire, where much of the novel takes place.
Still Dead is a 1934 mystery detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. It is the fourth in a series of five novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, one of the many detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in London by Hodder and Stoughton and in New York by Dutton.
The Body in the Silo is a 1933 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. It is the third in a series of five novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, one of the many detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It is a country house mystery taking place in Herefordshire close to the Welsh border. It was published in the United States by Dutton under the alternative title Settled Out of Court.
The Three Taps is a 1927 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. Written during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, it is the first in a series of five novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon. It is has been suggested that Knox's portrayal of Miles Bredon and his wife Angela as a crime-solving couple may have influenced Nick and Nora Charles's creation of The Thin Man. It was published in London by Methuen and in New York by Simon and Schuster. In 1930 the author was one of the founders of the Detection Club.
Double Cross Purposes is a 1937 mystery detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. It is the fifth and last in his series of novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, one of the Golden Age Detectives. Live the previous novel it takes place in Scotland. It features several characters who appeared in earlier novels, including the schoolmaster Edward Pulteney whose skills at fishing come in useful to Bredon. While Knox continued to write prolifically for many years, this remained his last novel in the detective genre.
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