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Dr. R.V. Davie #4
No Case for the Police
An aging man with a restless young wife. An antique dealer with a sinister new acquisition. A married couple with part-time lovers. There was definitely more than meets the eye in the tranquil town of Tidwell St Peters.
Originally Published in 1970
Originally Published in 1970
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1970
60 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Clinton-Baddeley
29 books6 followersV(ictor Vaughan Reynolds Geraint) C(linton) Clinton-Baddeley was born in Devon, England. He received an M.A. in history from Jesus College, Cambridge. For a time he was editor of the modern history section of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but soon turned to theatre and acting and then to radio, where he worked with W. B. Yeats as his poetry reader. His previous writings include works of literary and theatre research, pantomimes, operettas, and plays.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 11, 2016
Dr R V Davie is appointed literary executor to a friend whom he had known since childhood. Going through the voluminous papers after the funeral he finds a few pages written in a notebook which relates to the mysterious death of a neighbour - Adam Merrick.
The police believed it to be an accident but Robert thought there was something odd about it and had written down some thoughts about it. His widow, Irene, wants Davie to destroy the notebook but Davie not unnaturally is curious. It seems he isn't the only one as there is a student from his own college living in the area and he approaches Davie about the case.
I found this entertaining reading. It is well written and well plotted and I like the way Davie sets about his investigations - piecing together tiny bits of information to build up the whole picture. This series can be read in any order and it has the flavour of the many of the Golden Age mysteries even though it was written many years later.
The police believed it to be an accident but Robert thought there was something odd about it and had written down some thoughts about it. His widow, Irene, wants Davie to destroy the notebook but Davie not unnaturally is curious. It seems he isn't the only one as there is a student from his own college living in the area and he approaches Davie about the case.
I found this entertaining reading. It is well written and well plotted and I like the way Davie sets about his investigations - piecing together tiny bits of information to build up the whole picture. This series can be read in any order and it has the flavour of the many of the Golden Age mysteries even though it was written many years later.
July 12, 2009
Dr. Davie is named literary executor for his oldest friend, Sir Robert Cassillis, an eminent man with a much younger wife. He finds among Robert's papers some puzzled notes on the recent death of a neighbor. Davie is irresistibly drawn to the mystery, even though the police have written the death off as an accident. But there are many people who had motivies to kill the neighbor, including Robert's wife.
December 11, 2022
This is the weakest of the four Dr RV Davie reissues I have read.
The plot is too slight for a novel of this length, and so there is rather a lot of padding consisting of Davie's reminiscences of childhood in the Devon village where the case is situated. There are a few good ideas, and some bits of misdirection, but the whole would have been tighter and better as an extended short story.
For me, the perpetrator was quite clearly indicated at an early stage and my interest waned rather.
For those who wonder, the detective novel referred to in the final chapter is C S Forester's "Payment Deferred".
The plot is too slight for a novel of this length, and so there is rather a lot of padding consisting of Davie's reminiscences of childhood in the Devon village where the case is situated. There are a few good ideas, and some bits of misdirection, but the whole would have been tighter and better as an extended short story.
For me, the perpetrator was quite clearly indicated at an early stage and my interest waned rather.
For those who wonder, the detective novel referred to in the final chapter is C S Forester's "Payment Deferred".
June 10, 2019
Very much enjoyed this from my late father’s detective story collection. Not heard of the author before but I understand he wrote more . Lots of clues and red herrings before the likeable amateur detective solves the mystery.
November 15, 2020
Rich in detail of the English countryside, but in the end a rater pedestrian mystery.
February 10, 2023
1970 Tidwell St Peter's. Dr. RV Davie is the literary executor to old friend Sir Robert Cassilis's estate. On arrival he is approached by Giles Gifford and the mystery of the accidental drowning of Adam Merrick. Can he determine the cause and motive for the death.
An entertaining cozy modern mystery.
Originally published in 1970
An entertaining cozy modern mystery.
Originally published in 1970
March 11, 2023
I like this series by V.C. Clinton-Baddeley because it is well written in excellent classical English. Mercifully, no one in the novel 'was sat' anywhere. How did the people of the UK lose the past progressive tense and substitute this inelegant phrase which conjures up visions of overstuffed dumplings. fried food and inactivity? The absence of cell phones, video games and thousands of television channels, explicit sex and is also a relief.
The book is worth reading because of lively, well observed characterisation. The erudite yet humble amateur sleuth, Dr. R.V. Davie, goes about his crime solving in an orderly manner. The book reads like a police procedural without the police, as the title implies. "No Case for the Police" takes Dr. Davie out of the precincts of Cambridge to the town where he grew up. There is plenty of charm in this author's skilful descriptions. The book is morally nuanced and psychologically balanced. Worth a read.
The book is worth reading because of lively, well observed characterisation. The erudite yet humble amateur sleuth, Dr. R.V. Davie, goes about his crime solving in an orderly manner. The book reads like a police procedural without the police, as the title implies. "No Case for the Police" takes Dr. Davie out of the precincts of Cambridge to the town where he grew up. There is plenty of charm in this author's skilful descriptions. The book is morally nuanced and psychologically balanced. Worth a read.
August 14, 2011
No Case for the Police by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley is an almost-vintage mystery. First published in 1970, it doesn't quite make my arbitrarily-chosen 1960 cut-off for the genre. But the feel of the mystery is very Golden Age. We have an older amateur sleuth--one Dr. Davie, an Oxford academic with a penchant for solving puzzles. In this particular outing, Dr. Davie is headed back to the village of his youth to attend the funeral of one of his oldest friends. So, there we have the standard British cozy set in the small country village. It's a set-up straight out of Agatha Christie.
Dr. Davie has been appointed literary executor for his friend Sir Robert Cassillis and while he is sorting through Sir Robert's papers and biographical manuscripts he finds an odd little notebook. Odd, because only four pages have any writing on them and because those notations reflect Sir Robert's disquiet over the "accidental death" verdict advocated by the local police and solemnized by the coroner's jury for his late neighbor Adam Merrick. Merrick took a fatal fall over the side of a local quarry. As Davie spends more time in the village and hears bits and pieces of the story from various residents, it becomes plain that it was rather strange for Merrick to have taken that particular route so late at night. What brought him to the path near the quarry? And if the fall really were accidental what could possibly have induced him to peer over the edge at a time when there was no chance of seeing anything? As the questions multiply, so do the motives...there are affairs to be covered up and blackmail to be stopped. There are antiques concealing mysterious little packets. And the number of people who were actually out and about at the same time Merrick met his death does seem just a bit....coincidental.
This is a fun, light British mystery. Dr. Davie is a very engaging character--I know him well from two previous outings. He knows his limits and often has to rest a bit and have a quiet "think" (read nap). No super-human genius here, just an nice, amiable academic mind that loves to get to the bottom of things. Davie has a way of getting people to talk to him and often leaves them wondering just why they did. Clinton-Baddeley sticks very close to the fair-play rules of the Golden Age and observant readers should be able to guess the solution right along with Davie. Very nice read--three and a half stars.
Dr. Davie has been appointed literary executor for his friend Sir Robert Cassillis and while he is sorting through Sir Robert's papers and biographical manuscripts he finds an odd little notebook. Odd, because only four pages have any writing on them and because those notations reflect Sir Robert's disquiet over the "accidental death" verdict advocated by the local police and solemnized by the coroner's jury for his late neighbor Adam Merrick. Merrick took a fatal fall over the side of a local quarry. As Davie spends more time in the village and hears bits and pieces of the story from various residents, it becomes plain that it was rather strange for Merrick to have taken that particular route so late at night. What brought him to the path near the quarry? And if the fall really were accidental what could possibly have induced him to peer over the edge at a time when there was no chance of seeing anything? As the questions multiply, so do the motives...there are affairs to be covered up and blackmail to be stopped. There are antiques concealing mysterious little packets. And the number of people who were actually out and about at the same time Merrick met his death does seem just a bit....coincidental.
This is a fun, light British mystery. Dr. Davie is a very engaging character--I know him well from two previous outings. He knows his limits and often has to rest a bit and have a quiet "think" (read nap). No super-human genius here, just an nice, amiable academic mind that loves to get to the bottom of things. Davie has a way of getting people to talk to him and often leaves them wondering just why they did. Clinton-Baddeley sticks very close to the fair-play rules of the Golden Age and observant readers should be able to guess the solution right along with Davie. Very nice read--three and a half stars.
October 28, 2010
A pleasant enough mystery in the classic British style.
January 1, 2015
A good read, perhaps not many unexpected twists but at least not endless repetition of clues.
March 13, 2016
Aging man with young wife, antique collector with new aquisition, married couple with part-time lovers, tranquil town, more than meets the eye.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews