Customer Reviews

Jumping Jenny (A Roger Sheringham case)

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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.

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.