Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery [Paperback]

Anthony Berkeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

A ROGER SHERINGHAM MYSTERY. When the Daily Courier sends Roger Sheringham to Hampshire, it's a job after his own heart. The body of a woman has been found at the bottom of the cliffs at Ludmouth Bay, and despite a verdict of accidental death, the local sighting of Inspector Moresby from Scotland Yard suggests otherwise. Unable to resist a little amateur sleuth work, Sheringham starts digging around. Events lead him down one blind alley after another as he attempts to rival Inspector Moresby and devise the correct theory about the tragic death of Mrs Vane.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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 an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus Ltd (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755102169
• ISBN-13: 978-0755102167
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,293,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable contest of detectives, July 11, 2011

By 

Paul Roberge (Exeter NH USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery (Kindle Edition)

Roger Sheringham is a writer who investigates the murder of woman fallen from a cliff on the coast of Hampshire, England. He's accompanied by his younger cousin, Anthony, in the role of "idiot friend." "Must have an idiot friend with me, you know," Sheringham tells him. "All the best sleuths do." The novel is characterized by this sort of bantering comic undertone--which adds to the enjoyment of it. The characters are lively and well-defined.

Anthony instantly falls in love with a prime suspect, and Sheringham runs into Inspector Moresby of Scotland Yard. The effort to solve the mystery becomes a contest between the two men, who develop competing theories about the murder. The plot is designed to keep the reader guessing, with surprises popping up just when you think you've figured the puzzle out. Clues turn up, found by either the amateur on professional detective, with each man interpreting the evidence in his own way: Sheringham guided by his imagination and Moresby by his years of experience as a policeman.

Whose approach wins out at the end? Never mind. I won't be a spoiler. Read "The Vane Mystery" to find out. It's an entertaining book that doesn't take itself too seriously, but that doesn't mean that the mystery plot is second-rate.