Margins
The Dovebury Murders book cover
The Dovebury Murders
1954
First Published
3.20
Average Rating
224
Number of Pages

Part of Series

It begins with a seemingly insignificant robbery at a local printing company, but things really start to happen when Inspector Waghorn is sent to aid the local police in the investigation of the murder of a small-time local troublemaker, poisoned in the home of a parsimonious and rather secretive local man by wine tainted with Oxalic acid. The local force, having traced the history of the fatal drink, are quick to suspect the host, though the motive seems somewhat lacking. Waghorn is not so sure, but is unable to offer a better alternative solution. However, the case appears to be at an end when the chief suspect dies in what the police are satisfied is an accident.
Avg Rating
3.20
Number of Ratings
5
5 STARS
20%
4 STARS
0%
3 STARS
60%
2 STARS
20%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

John Rhode
John Rhode
Author · 54 books

AKA Miles Burton, Cecil Waye, Cecil J.C. Street, I.O., F.O.O.. Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels. He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold. Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street. -Wikipedia

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2026 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved