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The Elm Tree Murder book cover
The Elm Tree Murder
1939
First Published
4.14
Average Rating
221
Number of Pages

Part of Series

“One always embarks on a John Rhode book with a great sense of security. One knows that there will be a sound plot, well-knit process of reasoning, and a solidly satisfying solution with no loose ends or careless errors of fact.”—Dorothy Sayers"The Elm Tree Murder is up to the high standards that John Rhode has set for himself.”—Isaac Anderson, The New York TimesFrom the expert forger is worrying Scotland Yard, and Inspector Jimmy Waghorn’s investigations take him to a high-class residential hotel near London. Under an assumed name Inspector Waghorn mingles with the guests, yet he finds it difficult to believe that the criminal he seeks is among the hotel’s very respectable-looking visitors. But the situation soon worsens. In that peaceful atmosphere a murder is committed so baffling and ingenious that even so brilliant an investigator as Dr. Lancelot Priestley is for a time stymied in his efforts to solve it.
Avg Rating
4.14
Number of Ratings
56
5 STARS
39%
4 STARS
38%
3 STARS
21%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
0%
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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

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