Jumping Jenny (Black Dagger Crimes) [Hardcover]

Anthony Berkeley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Black Dagger Crimes | Publication Date: January 1997

When a murder is committed at a party given in honour of a famous writer-detective, the guests impersona te famous murderers and the victim is found hanging from a f ake gallows erected as a joke. '

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Anthony Berkeley is the supreme master not of the "twist" but of the "double-twist".’ - The Sunday Times

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Born in 1893, Anthony Berkeley (Anthony Berkeley Cox) was a British crime writer and a leading member of the genre's Golden Age. Educated at Sherborne School and University College London, Berkeley served in the British army during WWI before becoming a journalist. His first novel, The Layton Court Murders, was published anonymously in 1925. It introduced Roger Sheringham, the amateur detective who features in many of the author's novels including the classic Poisoned Chocolates Case. In 1930, Berkeley founded the legendary Detection Club in London along with Agatha Christie, Freeman Wills Crofts and other established mystery writers. It was in 1938, under the pseudonym Francis Iles (which Berkeley also used for novels) that he took up work as a book reviewer for John O'London's Weekly and The Daily Telegraph. He later wrote for The Sunday Times in the mid 1940s, and then for The Guardian from the mid 1950s until 1970. A key figure in the development of crime fiction, he died in 1971. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Black Dagger Crime (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745187013
• ISBN-13: 978-0745187013
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,794,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An old-fashioned mystery, March 11, 2004

By 

CMBohn "cmb" (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jumping Jenny (Black Dagger Crimes) (Hardcover)

Roger Sheringham goes to a house party with his friend, Robert Stratton. Both men are interested in criminology, and Robert has the idea of making the big party a "murder party" with everyone coming dressed as a murderer or a victim. He even imports a gallows, complete with three hanging figures, two men and one woman, a "Jumping Jenny" from the title. But the party is ruined when the overexcited, hysterical, vindictive wife of Robert's brother, David, is found hanging in place of one of the dummies. And she's really dead.

This one had me guessing. It must be part of an old series, and I felt a slight disadvantage at not knowing more about these characters. Roger is the main detective (private, not police) but I don't really know about him.

The book was written in the 1930's and reflects some of the attitudes of the day. The author, Anthony Berkeley, is one of the founding members of the Detection Club in London, along with Dorothy L. Sayers and others. For some reason, his books have faded from circulation while hers are still fashionable. But if you like "Golden Age" books, you would probably enjoy this one, even if it is a little dated.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Redeeming, September 10, 2005

By 

rs "RaviSankrit" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jumping Jenny (A Roger Sheringham case) (Paperback)

This book is not only dated, but cloddish in its treatment of the characters, and with an awful plot to boot. Chesterton somewhere remarked that the common person may prefer detective stories to high literature but is intelligent enough to know the good detective story from the bad. Dorothy Sayers survives, and Berkeley is (hopefully) forgotten.