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Sir Clinton Driffield #4
Il caso con nove soluzioni
In una nebbiosa serata d’inverno il dottor Ringwood è costretto a mettersi in macchina per andare a visitare una donna che si è sentita male. Quando arriva faticosamente a destinazione, una casa con giardino alla periferia della città, nessuno risponde al suono del campanello anche se all’interno le luci sono accese. Dato che la porta è aperta, decide di entrare e nel salottino trova, accasciato su un divano, un giovane in un lago di sangue. Questi riesce a sussurrargli qualche parola prima di morire. Il dottore, scoprendo che nell’abitazione non c’è telefono, si reca alla casa accanto per chiamare la polizia. Qui viene accolto dalla cuoca, che lo informa di essere stata lei a convocarlo perché la cameriera non sta bene e in casa non c’è nessun altro. Dopo aver telefonato a Sir Clinton Driffield, il capo della polizia, aver prestato le prime cure alla malata e aver raccolto qualche informazione, Ringwood torna sul luogo del delitto per attendere l’arrivo degli investigatori. Più tardi, prima di rincasare, decide di passare dalla paziente insieme a Sir Clinton, ma quando suona alla porta nessuno risponde. I due riescono a entrare e salgono al primo piano dove, davanti ai loro occhi… Così comincia il romanzo (1928), uno dei più intricati e intriganti mystery dell’epoca d’oro del giallo.
266 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 28, 2022
Very interesting.
A substitute doctor is called out on a foggy, foggy night. He's being called out and is unsure of the roads. An old friend happens to drop by and suggests he follow him to the avenue where the house is. The doctor accidentally goes to the wrong house and finds a dying man who manages to utter a few words. He tells the maid he'll be back after seeing to his actual patient. I was kind of confused as to which house he was in and which maid was killed.
Two people are killed. "Nine solutions" refers to every combination of murder, accident and suicide that could have caused the death of these two people. And this book shows the narrowing down of the solutions to not only what it could have been, but also as to what it must have been.
I just love Connington. IRL he was a chemistry professor at the University of Edinburgh. And in every book I have read so far it is obvious that he was either a mathematician or a scientist. If it isn't actual science that is involved (it is in this book) then it is some other form of logic or mathematics.
He has 18 books in this series and 6 others. I've read four so far so I have other books to look forward to.
A substitute doctor is called out on a foggy, foggy night. He's being called out and is unsure of the roads. An old friend happens to drop by and suggests he follow him to the avenue where the house is. The doctor accidentally goes to the wrong house and finds a dying man who manages to utter a few words. He tells the maid he'll be back after seeing to his actual patient. I was kind of confused as to which house he was in and which maid was killed.
Two people are killed. "Nine solutions" refers to every combination of murder, accident and suicide that could have caused the death of these two people. And this book shows the narrowing down of the solutions to not only what it could have been, but also as to what it must have been.
I just love Connington. IRL he was a chemistry professor at the University of Edinburgh. And in every book I have read so far it is obvious that he was either a mathematician or a scientist. If it isn't actual science that is involved (it is in this book) then it is some other form of logic or mathematics.
He has 18 books in this series and 6 others. I've read four so far so I have other books to look forward to.
June 6, 2017
This is an intriguing mystery with plenty of clues and some interesting characters. A locum doctor is called out on a very foggy night to a case of scarlet fever but in the dark and the reduced visibility he goes to the wrong house. There he finds a young man dying of gunshot wounds who manages to speak a few words before he dies.
Sir Clinton Driffield soon appears on the scene with a colleague and there follows a painstaking investigation which involves illicit affairs, messages in the person columns of the local paper, codes and yet more murders. In fact the murders have nine possible solutions as set out by Driffield himself.
This is a well written police procedural novel which has stood the test of time extremely well. In fact I had to keep reminding myself how long ago it was actually written while I was reading it. If you like conventional crime novels then do try this interesting and well written series. The books can be read in any order.
Sir Clinton Driffield soon appears on the scene with a colleague and there follows a painstaking investigation which involves illicit affairs, messages in the person columns of the local paper, codes and yet more murders. In fact the murders have nine possible solutions as set out by Driffield himself.
This is a well written police procedural novel which has stood the test of time extremely well. In fact I had to keep reminding myself how long ago it was actually written while I was reading it. If you like conventional crime novels then do try this interesting and well written series. The books can be read in any order.
August 4, 2018
Indeed, Sir Clinton does propose nine solutions for the deaths in this surprisingly modern police procedural. However, most of them are easily dismissible especially when the third death is decidedly murder.
The setting in a scientific community, with illicit affairs and secret relationships is well-done.
I thought it was not difficult to spot the perpetrator but the working out of the solution and the interaction between the Chief Constable and his subordinates are ever interesting.
The setting in a scientific community, with illicit affairs and secret relationships is well-done.
I thought it was not difficult to spot the perpetrator but the working out of the solution and the interaction between the Chief Constable and his subordinates are ever interesting.
December 9, 2022
Mi sono lasciato un po’ fuorviare dal titolo, mi aspettavo una storia alla Cioccolatini avvelenati con otto false piste smontate per fare posto alla soluzione finale, il titolo ha un significato diverso e che vi lascio scoprire.
Tutto sommato un giallo abbastanza gradevole, ambientazione inglesissima in una immaginaria cittadina di provincia, dove in una notte di nebbia un medico che dovrebbe visitare una domestica con la scarlattina sbaglia cancello e trova un uomo morente, ferito da colpi di arma da fuoco. È solo il primo di una serie di omicidi dove si alternano veleni, strangolamenti e proiettili. Che vivremo con gli occhi di due poliziotti, il capo della stazione locale e un semplice agente, con una narrazione quindi molto orientata al procedural, che ho gradito ma mi rendo conto non tutti possano apprezzare rispetto ad altri modi di presentare la storia gialla.
Lo stile è molto anni 20, il periodo in cui fu effettivamente composto il romanzo. Si legge volentieri, c’è un tema abbastanza attuale nella dinamica principale che me lo ha fatto apprezzare, le azioni dei personaggi sono sensate e verosimili, ci sono parecchi indizi ma non li colgo tutti e mi lascio fuorviare per cui, quando verso la fine sono indeciso fra due sospettati, scelgo quello sbagliato. Il principale punto debole è per me la lunga spiegazione finale, che non amo particolarmente nei gialli. Comunque merita la sufficienza.
Tutto sommato un giallo abbastanza gradevole, ambientazione inglesissima in una immaginaria cittadina di provincia, dove in una notte di nebbia un medico che dovrebbe visitare una domestica con la scarlattina sbaglia cancello e trova un uomo morente, ferito da colpi di arma da fuoco. È solo il primo di una serie di omicidi dove si alternano veleni, strangolamenti e proiettili. Che vivremo con gli occhi di due poliziotti, il capo della stazione locale e un semplice agente, con una narrazione quindi molto orientata al procedural, che ho gradito ma mi rendo conto non tutti possano apprezzare rispetto ad altri modi di presentare la storia gialla.
Lo stile è molto anni 20, il periodo in cui fu effettivamente composto il romanzo. Si legge volentieri, c’è un tema abbastanza attuale nella dinamica principale che me lo ha fatto apprezzare, le azioni dei personaggi sono sensate e verosimili, ci sono parecchi indizi ma non li colgo tutti e mi lascio fuorviare per cui, quando verso la fine sono indeciso fra due sospettati, scelgo quello sbagliato. Il principale punto debole è per me la lunga spiegazione finale, che non amo particolarmente nei gialli. Comunque merita la sufficienza.
January 8, 2020
B+: I guessed it again! But this time, I enjoyed the scientific deconstruction of the methods and motives of the murder, as well as the analysis of the different permeations of how it was done, more than guessing the murderer themselves. In this way, the pure science of it is more like The Sweepstake Murders (a masterpiece!) than the Driffield entries prior to this one. Either way, Connington is surely one of the greats of this genre.
August 29, 2025
Channeling the Continental Op....
This reminds me of Dashiell Hammett's short story "The Bodies Piled Up." In that one, all the bodies were found in one room, but here they're spread out. It's still a lot of stiffs to show up on one foggy English night in 1928. The local GP has an emergency operation and calls on his old friend Dr Ringwood to take care of his patients while he's out of commission. Poor Ringwood is a specialist and not used to the 24/7 rigors of general practice, not to mention the flu epidemic that hits while he's in charge. It's all a bit much for a man who's getting on up in the paint chips.
The quiet evening he hoped for goes south when he gets a call from a servant saying the other family maid is very ill. Luckily, a local friend is there and he leads Dr Ringwood to the house. Unluckily, it's the wrong house, where he finds a young man dying from a bullet wound. The victim gasps out a few words, then croaks. The doctor goes next door to telephone and THAT'S the house with the sick maid (who has scarlet fever.)
Ringwood doesn't need a murder case on top of everything else, but he remembers meeting Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield. He figures he'll go straight to the top and avoid involvement. Driffield arrives with local CID Inspector Flamborough. Like Inspector Armadale in two earlier books, Flamborough is bright and hard-working, but lacks experience. He's puzzled by Sir Clinton's odd approach to division of labor, but either he was warned in advance or he's more easy-going than Armadale. He takes Driffield's quirks in stride, with good humor.
A scientist himself, Ringwood is impressed with the policemen's measured, meticulous investigation. No bursts of genius for this duo, just attention to detail and fact-gathering BEFORE they start making assumptions or forming theories. They'll need lots of efficiency on this case. While Ringwood is answering their questions, the maid who called him is murdered.
THEN, the body of a young woman is found in the nearby summer home of the family of the first corpse. There'll be two more before the case is solved, but three's plenty for one night.
Inspector Flamborough has theories about serial killers and who died first. Driffield (irritatingly, IMHO) produces a chart showing that the young man and woman could have been murdered, killed by accident, or committed suicide, or a combination. So there are nine possibilities and Driffield wants to consider them all. The tolerant Inspector eliminates a couple of the "solutions" as too absurd to consider, but admits that death from poison and bullet could be accidental, suicide, or murder.
Thank God the maid was garrotted with a clever arrangement of strings and sticks, so that's a definite murder.If SHE had been a possible suicide or accident, there would have been twenty-seven possible solutions and even Inspector Flamborough's good nature wouldn't have prevented him from strangling his supervisor. This author was a scientist and revered the scientific method of investigation, but anything can be carried too far.
There's a local research facility and many of the people involved work there or are married to those who do. There's a beautiful, flirtatious young wife who's bored with her stodgy older husband. She prefers to go dancing every night with a young man-about-town and it's creating a scandal. Her husband has something on the side, too, but divorce was frowned on then and could mean lost jobs. Also, charming young men-about-town may not have the income to support expensive wives. Love makes the world go 'round, but it doesn't put food on the table.
Connington's fan club (and he has one) think this is one of his best. I agree it's good and maybe even better than the previous two books (both of which I enjoyed.) I'd give it four-and-a-half stars if GR would let me. I was hoping that Driffield would continue to work with Inspector Armadale and was interested to see how their relationship developed.
And there was a little too much Holmesian crowing over evidence that lesser humans have seen, but not realized the value of. Driffield has been a fairly modest, genial boss up to now and I want him to stay that way.
However, there are enough twists to keep the reader from dozing off and the solution is complicated, but believable. This is really a very good series of mysteries and I'm glad it's now available in Kindle editions.
As a bonus, I'm a bit smarter than before. I now know what an "aposiopesis" is AND how to pronounce it. It may be hard to work into a conversation, but I'll figure out something.
This reminds me of Dashiell Hammett's short story "The Bodies Piled Up." In that one, all the bodies were found in one room, but here they're spread out. It's still a lot of stiffs to show up on one foggy English night in 1928. The local GP has an emergency operation and calls on his old friend Dr Ringwood to take care of his patients while he's out of commission. Poor Ringwood is a specialist and not used to the 24/7 rigors of general practice, not to mention the flu epidemic that hits while he's in charge. It's all a bit much for a man who's getting on up in the paint chips.
The quiet evening he hoped for goes south when he gets a call from a servant saying the other family maid is very ill. Luckily, a local friend is there and he leads Dr Ringwood to the house. Unluckily, it's the wrong house, where he finds a young man dying from a bullet wound. The victim gasps out a few words, then croaks. The doctor goes next door to telephone and THAT'S the house with the sick maid (who has scarlet fever.)
Ringwood doesn't need a murder case on top of everything else, but he remembers meeting Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield. He figures he'll go straight to the top and avoid involvement. Driffield arrives with local CID Inspector Flamborough. Like Inspector Armadale in two earlier books, Flamborough is bright and hard-working, but lacks experience. He's puzzled by Sir Clinton's odd approach to division of labor, but either he was warned in advance or he's more easy-going than Armadale. He takes Driffield's quirks in stride, with good humor.
A scientist himself, Ringwood is impressed with the policemen's measured, meticulous investigation. No bursts of genius for this duo, just attention to detail and fact-gathering BEFORE they start making assumptions or forming theories. They'll need lots of efficiency on this case. While Ringwood is answering their questions, the maid who called him is murdered.
THEN, the body of a young woman is found in the nearby summer home of the family of the first corpse. There'll be two more before the case is solved, but three's plenty for one night.
Inspector Flamborough has theories about serial killers and who died first. Driffield (irritatingly, IMHO) produces a chart showing that the young man and woman could have been murdered, killed by accident, or committed suicide, or a combination. So there are nine possibilities and Driffield wants to consider them all. The tolerant Inspector eliminates a couple of the "solutions" as too absurd to consider, but admits that death from poison and bullet could be accidental, suicide, or murder.
Thank God the maid was garrotted with a clever arrangement of strings and sticks, so that's a definite murder.If SHE had been a possible suicide or accident, there would have been twenty-seven possible solutions and even Inspector Flamborough's good nature wouldn't have prevented him from strangling his supervisor. This author was a scientist and revered the scientific method of investigation, but anything can be carried too far.
There's a local research facility and many of the people involved work there or are married to those who do. There's a beautiful, flirtatious young wife who's bored with her stodgy older husband. She prefers to go dancing every night with a young man-about-town and it's creating a scandal. Her husband has something on the side, too, but divorce was frowned on then and could mean lost jobs. Also, charming young men-about-town may not have the income to support expensive wives. Love makes the world go 'round, but it doesn't put food on the table.
Connington's fan club (and he has one) think this is one of his best. I agree it's good and maybe even better than the previous two books (both of which I enjoyed.) I'd give it four-and-a-half stars if GR would let me. I was hoping that Driffield would continue to work with Inspector Armadale and was interested to see how their relationship developed.
And there was a little too much Holmesian crowing over evidence that lesser humans have seen, but not realized the value of. Driffield has been a fairly modest, genial boss up to now and I want him to stay that way.
However, there are enough twists to keep the reader from dozing off and the solution is complicated, but believable. This is really a very good series of mysteries and I'm glad it's now available in Kindle editions.
As a bonus, I'm a bit smarter than before. I now know what an "aposiopesis" is AND how to pronounce it. It may be hard to work into a conversation, but I'll figure out something.
July 22, 2025
A twisty piece of writing, in which once again Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield keeps proving that he's smarter than his slightly Watsonesque inspector, and, eventually, that he's smarter than the criminal.
There are no fewer than four deaths, three of them on the same night. The "nine solutions" refers to Driffield's table of possibilities for two of the deaths: all possible combinations of accident, suicide, and murder, which gets the inspector thinking.
The setup involves a complex set of relationships among workers at a scientific research institute, centering around a married couple whose marriage is not in good shape. There are three men and three women involved in a complicated relationship diagram; to say more would be a spoiler.
I didn't spot the criminal until very late, when even the inspector had worked it out. The reconstruction of the crime is typically clever. And yet, the ending - though involving a literally explosive climax - ended up being a letdown for me, as we're led to think something and then it turns out differently.
It's an odd mixture, in that the plot is obviously driven by powerful emotions, but the investigation is very matter-of-fact, and so is the attitude of the criminal when eventually confronted. Perhaps this is why I felt something was a bit off about it, and I enjoyed it less than I might have.
There are no fewer than four deaths, three of them on the same night. The "nine solutions" refers to Driffield's table of possibilities for two of the deaths: all possible combinations of accident, suicide, and murder, which gets the inspector thinking.
The setup involves a complex set of relationships among workers at a scientific research institute, centering around a married couple whose marriage is not in good shape. There are three men and three women involved in a complicated relationship diagram; to say more would be a spoiler.
I didn't spot the criminal until very late, when even the inspector had worked it out. The reconstruction of the crime is typically clever. And yet, the ending - though involving a literally explosive climax - ended up being a letdown for me, as we're led to think something and then it turns out differently.
It's an odd mixture, in that the plot is obviously driven by powerful emotions, but the investigation is very matter-of-fact, and so is the attitude of the criminal when eventually confronted. Perhaps this is why I felt something was a bit off about it, and I enjoyed it less than I might have.
December 31, 2022
My second taste of Clinton Driffield, this time investigating a mystery that draws on the author's background as a research chemist. In an atmospheric opening, a doctor is called out on a foggy night, but the poor visibility means he ends up at the wrong house - namely, one in which someone has been murdered. Driffield is soon called in, and the investigation takes him to several locations, including a scientific research institute.
Everything moves at a nice pace (despite the superfluous mentions of fog in the opening chapter), and there is a good tangle of relationships and motives that Driffield has to unweave. The title is slightly misleading - I was expecting a Berkeley-style exploration of multiple possible solutions, when actually the "nine solutions" are actually just nine theoretical permutations, most of which are dismissed fairly quickly. In any case, I definitely look forward to reading more Connington.
Everything moves at a nice pace (despite the superfluous mentions of fog in the opening chapter), and there is a good tangle of relationships and motives that Driffield has to unweave. The title is slightly misleading - I was expecting a Berkeley-style exploration of multiple possible solutions, when actually the "nine solutions" are actually just nine theoretical permutations, most of which are dismissed fairly quickly. In any case, I definitely look forward to reading more Connington.
August 17, 2023
I read a different edition: the Great Yellowbacks newly released by Hachette India, which feature several classics from the Golden Age.
This one was definitely a classic. All the ingredients that I love in a murder mystery were present, and the deductions and denouement were satisfying. It didn't insult the intelligence, the writing kept the pages turning, and the characters hooked me in.
I am very partial to Golden Age mysteries. Though I've read several newer murder mystery authors and liked many of them, the Golden Age is my comfort read, if I can call it that. So, finding a Golden Age author I hadn't read before gave me an altogether different high.
This one was definitely a classic. All the ingredients that I love in a murder mystery were present, and the deductions and denouement were satisfying. It didn't insult the intelligence, the writing kept the pages turning, and the characters hooked me in.
I am very partial to Golden Age mysteries. Though I've read several newer murder mystery authors and liked many of them, the Golden Age is my comfort read, if I can call it that. So, finding a Golden Age author I hadn't read before gave me an altogether different high.
September 8, 2024
Excellent stuff. Good solid mystery , enough red herrings, solid detection and good scientific deduction.
There is lots of discussion between DRIFFIELD and Framborough ..but it’s always interesting and never drags like it does in a Lorac book for example. It’s much more fruitful and Driffield is very quick to discard obvious impossibilities while Loracs detectives go in circular way without advancing an inch .It’s curious that Connington and Wade remains mostly unavailable in paperbacks while books full of pseudo- psychological tripe gets republished by the dozen .
There is lots of discussion between DRIFFIELD and Framborough ..but it’s always interesting and never drags like it does in a Lorac book for example. It’s much more fruitful and Driffield is very quick to discard obvious impossibilities while Loracs detectives go in circular way without advancing an inch .It’s curious that Connington and Wade remains mostly unavailable in paperbacks while books full of pseudo- psychological tripe gets republished by the dozen .
March 6, 2021
Classico giallo all'inglese, con gli indizi che vengono svelati nel corso della narrazione e spingono il lettore a trovare la soluzione prima che ci riesca il detective. Molto "inglesi" anche i personaggi, soprattutto il protagonista principale, e il simpatico ispettore che fa da spalla al suo capo che è sempre un passo avanti a lui. Non conoscevo l'autore ma sicuramente è stata una bella scoperta ed una lettura gradevolissima
September 30, 2021
There are two distinct Golden Age Mystery - the creative writer or the writer who turns the problem to a math problem. J.J. Connington falls in to the latter category providing not only a confession but a number of notes apparently written during the case by Clinton Driffield. The book started strongly with a doctor lost in a thick fog, going to the wrong house and finding a dead body. With the body count numbering four bodies there nine complex solutions. The killer is not particularly difficult to guess but the final motive will be difficult to spot for even the keenest amateur sleuth.
August 18, 2018
Un giallo classico all'inglese, piena di interessanti deduzioni ed un sviluppo lineare non privo di interessanti capovolgimenti inaspettati. Certo, per uno scafato come me, arrivare al colpevole riesce più o meno facilmente a circa metà del libro. Tuttavia questo non toglie importanza al romanzo, che coinvolge e garantisce una lettura avvincente e piacevole.
Want to read
December 24, 2019Synopsis: a doctor is called one night and mistakes one house for another; he discovers a man lying in blood. Driffield gets the next call.
Want to read
January 25, 2022Recommended by FB GAD group.
August 23, 2022
Un libro un po’ scialbo, quasi vuoto, con un mistero solo vagamente interessante e dei detective noiosi e quasi antipatici.
Il setting è comunque interessante e la lettura è piacevole e veloce.
Il setting è comunque interessante e la lettura è piacevole e veloce.
January 28, 2023
Un giallo classico ma con un intreccio narrativo molto interessante.
July 23, 2024
This is a very unique mystery. The solution ends up being quite surprising and the novel's closure is both interesting and informative.
April 3, 2025
3.5 stars
November 9, 2025
I expected more from the title.
May 24, 2016
Insomma, pensavo meglio. Il titolo mi allettava parecchio. Giallo classico con il detective che indaga, intuisce e ti fornisce anche abbastanza indizi per tentare di indovinare l'assassino. Peccato che Sir Clinton Driffield come detective non mi sia affatto simpatico. Bel finale! Come voto sarebbero ero indecisa tra due e tre stelle :)
October 20, 2017
Quando inizialmente avevo letto il titolo, pensavo a qualcosa di diverso per le "nove soluzioni". Comunque la trama è intricatissima e i duetti Sir Clinton-ispettore Flamborough gustosissimi.
RILETTURA: confermo le prime impressioni e aggiungo un ulteriore apprezzamento per il capitolo finale che chiarisce i processi mentali di Sir Clifford.
RILETTURA: confermo le prime impressioni e aggiungo un ulteriore apprezzamento per il capitolo finale che chiarisce i processi mentali di Sir Clifford.
October 27, 2024
mi è piaciuto molto, secondo me è scritto piuttosto bene. l'ho letto in poche ore.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews