Ponson Case

Rating:
Summary: The butler, the boathouse, and the brandy before bedtime.
Review: Thanks to the English publishers, the House of Stratus, it is possible in 2001 to purchase the complete detective fiction works of Freeman Wills Crofts. I have already received twelve of the thirty-five volumes in the uniform series. After years of browsing in antiquarian books shops and searching in their catalogues, it is wonderful to have and to read some of these long out of print detective yarns.

This one, "The Ponson Case" was the author's second production, and dates from 1921. When you see that Chapter One is entitled "Mystery at Luce Manor" you expect that this will be a classic whodunit featuring the butler, the boathouse and the brandy before bedtime, and that the reading experience will be much like playing the board game "Cleudo". Well, there is plenty of the traditional whodunit fun to enjoy here. Mysteries are solved and dissolved, alibis are offered and tested, timetables are constructed and checked. The investigation is co-ordinated by a Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Tanner, although some amateur sleuthing also occurs.

Crofts' mastery of plot construction is evident here, the traditional narrative formulas receive a fresh handling, there are unexpected twists aplenty, and plodding detection work is made fascinating.

You will enjoy opening "The Ponson Case" and be sorry when it is closed.

Rating:
Summary: The butler, the boathouse, and the brandy before bedtime.
Review: Thanks to the English publishers, the House of Stratus, it is possible in 2001 to purchase the complete detective fiction works of Freeman Wills Crofts. I have already received twelve of the thirty-five volumes in the uniform series. After years of browsing in antiquarian books shops and searching in their catalogues, it is wonderful to have and to read some of these long out of print detective yarns.

This one, "The Ponson Case" was the author's second production, and dates from 1921. When you see that Chapter One is entitled "Mystery at Luce Manor" you expect that this will be a classic whodunit featuring the butler, the boathouse and the brandy before bedtime, and that the reading experience will be much like playing the board game "Cleudo". Well, there is plenty of the traditional whodunit fun to enjoy here. Mysteries are solved and dissolved, alibis are offered and tested, timetables are constructed and checked. The investigation is co-ordinated by a Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Tanner, although some amateur sleuthing also occurs.

Crofts' mastery of plot construction is evident here, the traditional narrative formulas receive a fresh handling, there are unexpected twists aplenty, and plodding detection work is made fascinating.

You will enjoy opening "The Ponson Case" and be sorry when it is closed.