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The Viaduct Murder
One of the seminal works of the genre, The Viaduct Murder was first published in 1925. It was selected by Howard Haycraft to be included in the ultimate mystery list: The Haycraft-Queen Definitive Library of Detective-Crime-Mystery Fiction, Two Centuries of Cornerstones 1748-1948.
Marryatt (the clergyman), Carmichael (the retired don), Reeves (the former member of the military intelligence), and Gordon (the vacationing golfer) are playing golf in Paston Oatvile when Reeves slices his drive from the third tee. In searching for the ball they come upon the dead body of Mr. Brotherhood below the railroad viaduct. When they find his hat 15 yards away from the body they suspect 'there's been dirty work.' The foursome set out to solve his murder.
Father Knox has provided us with a witty, clever, and thoroughly delightful, classic British mystery story.
Marryatt (the clergyman), Carmichael (the retired don), Reeves (the former member of the military intelligence), and Gordon (the vacationing golfer) are playing golf in Paston Oatvile when Reeves slices his drive from the third tee. In searching for the ball they come upon the dead body of Mr. Brotherhood below the railroad viaduct. When they find his hat 15 yards away from the body they suspect 'there's been dirty work.' The foursome set out to solve his murder.
Father Knox has provided us with a witty, clever, and thoroughly delightful, classic British mystery story.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
10 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
About the author
Ronald Knox
222 books112 followersMonsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, author of detective stories, as well as a writer and a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio.
Knox had attended Eton College and won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 upon his conversion to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by his religious superiors, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.
He died on 24 August 1957 and his body was brought to Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Craven celebrated the requiem mass, at which Father Martin D'Arcy, a Jesuit, preached the panegyric. Knox was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Mells.
Knox had attended Eton College and won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 upon his conversion to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by his religious superiors, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.
He died on 24 August 1957 and his body was brought to Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Craven celebrated the requiem mass, at which Father Martin D'Arcy, a Jesuit, preached the panegyric. Knox was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Mells.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 10, 2021
Before starting this book I read the back cover.
It sounded strangely like the game of Clue.
Mr. Brotherhood, below the railroad viaduct with his hat 15 yards away.
Father Ronald Knox wrote The Viaduct Murder. It was published in 1925, and was the first of his detective novels.
A clergyman, a retired don, a former member of the military intelligence and a vacationing friend were playing golf in a village outside of London when they happened upon a dead body while searching for a golf ball.
Not trusting the police, they decided to do their own investigation into the case.
Written with humor and interesting twists.
Favorite lines:
“Bravo!” said Gordon. “Have another injection of cocaine.”
“Oh, go throw an important light on your grandmother’s ducks.”
“Good Lord, said Reeves suddenly, “here it is! But I swear it wasn’t when I looked before. I say, Carmichael, have you been playing the funny ass with the thing?”
“I propose that two of us—preferably you and Gordon, because I am fond of my sleep—should sit up to-night and watch outside the door….”
….A dog somewhere at the back had a fit of loneliness, and howled; cats told their nighty tale of love and hate. Coals fell out of distant grates; the woodwork creaked uncannily at intervals. But at no moment was there a step in the passage…..
…..Their idea is that So-and-so does not murder his grandmother, but he does twiddle his thumbs. They will tell you, consequently, that twiddling your thumbs is a kind of compensation for not murdering your grandmother……
……He suddenly remembered that a detective ought to have a note-book, and write down facts in it. He had no note-book, so he said, “Excuse me,” and fetched a sheet of the club note-paper. On this he wrote down in pencil “Miss R.-S. = Mrs. B.”
It looked rather silly, somehow, when he had written it.
“But her feelings aren’t evidence. I’m willing enough to trust in what she knows about Davenant: but I’m not willing to trust in what she says she thinks she has persuaded herself to think she knows about Davenant. And that is about the correct description, I should say, for a woman’s intuition.”
What was that last part?
It sounded strangely like the game of Clue.
Mr. Brotherhood, below the railroad viaduct with his hat 15 yards away.
Father Ronald Knox wrote The Viaduct Murder. It was published in 1925, and was the first of his detective novels.
A clergyman, a retired don, a former member of the military intelligence and a vacationing friend were playing golf in a village outside of London when they happened upon a dead body while searching for a golf ball.
Not trusting the police, they decided to do their own investigation into the case.
Written with humor and interesting twists.
Favorite lines:
“Bravo!” said Gordon. “Have another injection of cocaine.”
“Oh, go throw an important light on your grandmother’s ducks.”
“Good Lord, said Reeves suddenly, “here it is! But I swear it wasn’t when I looked before. I say, Carmichael, have you been playing the funny ass with the thing?”
“I propose that two of us—preferably you and Gordon, because I am fond of my sleep—should sit up to-night and watch outside the door….”
….A dog somewhere at the back had a fit of loneliness, and howled; cats told their nighty tale of love and hate. Coals fell out of distant grates; the woodwork creaked uncannily at intervals. But at no moment was there a step in the passage…..
…..Their idea is that So-and-so does not murder his grandmother, but he does twiddle his thumbs. They will tell you, consequently, that twiddling your thumbs is a kind of compensation for not murdering your grandmother……
……He suddenly remembered that a detective ought to have a note-book, and write down facts in it. He had no note-book, so he said, “Excuse me,” and fetched a sheet of the club note-paper. On this he wrote down in pencil “Miss R.-S. = Mrs. B.”
It looked rather silly, somehow, when he had written it.
“But her feelings aren’t evidence. I’m willing enough to trust in what she knows about Davenant: but I’m not willing to trust in what she says she thinks she has persuaded herself to think she knows about Davenant. And that is about the correct description, I should say, for a woman’s intuition.”
What was that last part?
December 5, 2023
It's been a few weeks since I read The Viaduct Murder but what I remember is the dry humor peppered throughout the novel. The mystery was good so I'll definitely read more books by this author from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
December 21, 2023
A little too ecclesiastical for me. Maybe if I'd read this before The Three Taps: A Detective Story Without a Moral.
October 13, 2024
Clever, but disappointing. The exact reason needs to be in spoiler tags, but, being as vague as possible: it frustrates the usual expectations of the genre. I think it's still worth reading, if you're interested in how genre books, and particularly mystery books, work (or potentially fail to work), but if you're wanting entertainment only, I don't recommend it.
Also, there's an intrusive omniscient narrator who has Opinions about how all of the characters are some sort of inadequate human being, about Society, and (at some length through the mouth of one of the characters, in a chapter that's marked as optional) about various issues of the day. These are the opinions of quite a conservative Catholic priest in 1925, so... be advised.
The amateur detective is a man who during World War I wasn't fit for active service, and instead got a minor clerical job in Military Intelligence, which he habitually overplays to imply he was some sort of operative. He conceived a contempt for the police, because they seldom followed up on the matters he passed on to them, so he thinks he can do better than the police at solving a murder that has occurred on the grounds of the golf club where he lives. He has no particular occupation; his friends are a vicar who thinks more about golf than faith (to the overt disapproval of the narrator, naturally), a retired professor who's an ever-flowing font of useless information and whom his friends mostly ignore, and a third man who's on a golfing holiday, is an old friend of the would-be detective's, and slips into the role of Watson.
The following really is a spoiler:
The process is the familiar process of a detective novel: gathering clues, forming theories, laying traps for the murderer. There's even a chase after a fleeing suspect. It has all of the machinery of a classic detective story, right up to the end, but then that machinery slips a gear and grinds to a disappointing halt. It reminds me of a science-fiction story I read in which the characters are working desperately throughout to avert a planetary disaster, and then they... don't.
Also, there's an intrusive omniscient narrator who has Opinions about how all of the characters are some sort of inadequate human being, about Society, and (at some length through the mouth of one of the characters, in a chapter that's marked as optional) about various issues of the day. These are the opinions of quite a conservative Catholic priest in 1925, so... be advised.
The amateur detective is a man who during World War I wasn't fit for active service, and instead got a minor clerical job in Military Intelligence, which he habitually overplays to imply he was some sort of operative. He conceived a contempt for the police, because they seldom followed up on the matters he passed on to them, so he thinks he can do better than the police at solving a murder that has occurred on the grounds of the golf club where he lives. He has no particular occupation; his friends are a vicar who thinks more about golf than faith (to the overt disapproval of the narrator, naturally), a retired professor who's an ever-flowing font of useless information and whom his friends mostly ignore, and a third man who's on a golfing holiday, is an old friend of the would-be detective's, and slips into the role of Watson.
The following really is a spoiler:
The process is the familiar process of a detective novel: gathering clues, forming theories, laying traps for the murderer. There's even a chase after a fleeing suspect. It has all of the machinery of a classic detective story, right up to the end, but then that machinery slips a gear and grinds to a disappointing halt. It reminds me of a science-fiction story I read in which the characters are working desperately throughout to avert a planetary disaster, and then they... don't.
August 3, 2021
In comparison to his last novel, Double Cross Purposes, which I have just read, this, Ronald Knox' first, seemed relatively short. I was tempted to say "and light" but that would be inaccurate.
It is wittily-written but on several counts could not be deemed easy reading.
Firstly, it comes across more as a dissertation on, and critique of, the detection process rather than a tale of detection. Secondly, it reeks to me of GK Chesterton whose detective stories I now find rather stodgy. Thirdly it really needs an explanatory apparatus.
I consider myself well-read, and am the product of a sound and classical Scottish education, but I was stumped a couple of times by allusions. Since there are potshots at non-Catholic theologians and at contemporary (1925) psychology as well as all the English literature quotations and odd bits of Latin, many modern readers will need to access the Internet in order to keep up.
This is a Haycraft/Queen Cornerstone Mystery, but the tale boils down to four golfers discovering a body and subsequently deciding the coroner's finding of suicide is wrong. It would have made a good short story or novella.
The solution is surprisingly unsurprising and more could, and should, have been done with the main female character.
Interesting for all sorts of reasons, but not a patch on some of the later works.
3.5 stars.
It is wittily-written but on several counts could not be deemed easy reading.
Firstly, it comes across more as a dissertation on, and critique of, the detection process rather than a tale of detection. Secondly, it reeks to me of GK Chesterton whose detective stories I now find rather stodgy. Thirdly it really needs an explanatory apparatus.
I consider myself well-read, and am the product of a sound and classical Scottish education, but I was stumped a couple of times by allusions. Since there are potshots at non-Catholic theologians and at contemporary (1925) psychology as well as all the English literature quotations and odd bits of Latin, many modern readers will need to access the Internet in order to keep up.
This is a Haycraft/Queen Cornerstone Mystery, but the tale boils down to four golfers discovering a body and subsequently deciding the coroner's finding of suicide is wrong. It would have made a good short story or novella.
The solution is surprisingly unsurprising and more could, and should, have been done with the main female character.
Interesting for all sorts of reasons, but not a patch on some of the later works.
3.5 stars.
September 7, 2022
I have read three of Knox's books so far: The Three Taps, Settled out of Court (British title), and The Viaduct Murder in that order. I consider The Three Taps easily the best of the three. I question why The Viaduct Murder is considered a masterpiece. The timetable of the trains is hard to understand. How the cipher is delivered and when is unclear. When did Brotherhood leave the book Immortality in the train? How could Brotherhood read the cipher Monday night or Tuesday on the train if he didn't have the book any longer? It's a tough read to wade through. Overall, I think Knox is overrated. His descriptions of detail are often hard to follow.
April 19, 2020
This is a 1925 book by Ronald Knox. Monsignor Ronald Knox was a Roman Catholic priest and a mystery writer and was probably most famous for his Ten Rules of Detective Fiction, which lay out 10 rules that he believes Golden Age detective fiction writers should follow. This is my first Ronald Knox mystery and I find his writing long winded and boring and his plot unnecessarily complicated. He tried too hard to create a technically correct and complex mystery and jammed way too many ideas into one book. Instead, he failed to give the readers a readable, smooth and artistic mystery. In classic Golden Age fashion, Knox even provided a map of the neighborhood and a railroad timetable.
The setting is in rural England in early 1920s in a village called Paston Oakvile. An old mansion and its grounds have been developed into an exclusive golf club. Other than the club house, there were a bunch of bungalows that golfers can rent for extended stays. Next to the gold course is a viaduct that trains pass over. One day, four friends (Marryatt, Gordon, Reeves and Carmichael) were playing a game of golf when they found the dead boy of one of their members, a Mr. Brotherhood, below the viaduct. It was obvious he fell down from the viaduct. However, was it murder or suicide? While the coroner ruled it a suicide, Reeves was not satisfied. He enlisted the help of Gordon and Carmichael to help him solve the mystery. Most of the book was taken up with Reeves’ detective work, how he collected a lot of clues (handkerchief on dead man body with name of a different person, a letter written in cipher, a suspicious train ticket, the dead man carrying two watches with different times, a walking stick, etc), analyze them, announcing various theories and setting traps for his suspects. Like an adventure book, Knox also threw in a secret tunnel built inside an old house as well as a high speed car chase. It turns out however, Reeves was wrong on both his theories and his suspects. At the end, in a very unsatisfactory way, Knox announced that a Mr. Davenant, who Reeves did not believe committed the crime, had actually confessed. Reeves had just read all the clues wrong. Davenant saw Brotherhood on the train that day and followed him. When they both got off the train, Brotherhood was drunk. They argued as they were walking over the viaduct. In a moment of rage, Davenant pushed Brotherhood down the viaduct and killed him. Most of the book was about how Reeves investigated but bungled in every possible way his detection. Only a small part of the book at the end was about how the clues work together. However, no detection or deduction was really involved there. Knox just pronounced at the end the police arrested Davenant and he confessed and Davenant explained what happened to the police.
The setting is in rural England in early 1920s in a village called Paston Oakvile. An old mansion and its grounds have been developed into an exclusive golf club. Other than the club house, there were a bunch of bungalows that golfers can rent for extended stays. Next to the gold course is a viaduct that trains pass over. One day, four friends (Marryatt, Gordon, Reeves and Carmichael) were playing a game of golf when they found the dead boy of one of their members, a Mr. Brotherhood, below the viaduct. It was obvious he fell down from the viaduct. However, was it murder or suicide? While the coroner ruled it a suicide, Reeves was not satisfied. He enlisted the help of Gordon and Carmichael to help him solve the mystery. Most of the book was taken up with Reeves’ detective work, how he collected a lot of clues (handkerchief on dead man body with name of a different person, a letter written in cipher, a suspicious train ticket, the dead man carrying two watches with different times, a walking stick, etc), analyze them, announcing various theories and setting traps for his suspects. Like an adventure book, Knox also threw in a secret tunnel built inside an old house as well as a high speed car chase. It turns out however, Reeves was wrong on both his theories and his suspects. At the end, in a very unsatisfactory way, Knox announced that a Mr. Davenant, who Reeves did not believe committed the crime, had actually confessed. Reeves had just read all the clues wrong. Davenant saw Brotherhood on the train that day and followed him. When they both got off the train, Brotherhood was drunk. They argued as they were walking over the viaduct. In a moment of rage, Davenant pushed Brotherhood down the viaduct and killed him. Most of the book was about how Reeves investigated but bungled in every possible way his detection. Only a small part of the book at the end was about how the clues work together. However, no detection or deduction was really involved there. Knox just pronounced at the end the police arrested Davenant and he confessed and Davenant explained what happened to the police.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2025
The Viaduct Murder is a nice, serviceable cozy mystery. It is amusing without overdoing it and pays homage to Holmes being insufferable about it. One gets the feeling that the protagonists are as much fans of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective as Father Knox was himself. There are red herrings enough to keep one interested and the amateur sleuths find to their chagrin that they are not always quite so clever (nor the police quite so stupid) as they believe to be the case.
At times, Father Knox wanders into the philosophic, causing the mind of a casual reader just wanting a relaxing detective story to wander as well. He does not seem like he is trying to be pretentious, but sometimes the things his characters want to say seem not quite in place in the story he is trying to tell. When this occurs, sometimes it can be hard to tell which character is speaking. Usually, Reeves, Gordon, and Carmichael’s different personalities are sufficiently represented to make their voices distinct from one another, but every once in a while, Gordon and Reeves’ voices become a bit difficult to differentiate.
These are not fatal flaws within this story, which is clever enough and amusing enough to make it a fun time. Carmichael is perhaps Father Knox’s most interesting character in the book, one that he thankfully did not waste and I feared he would when he seemed like he would be focusing on Gordon and Reeves alone among the four golfers who open the story together.
I believe this will probably be one of those mysteries that I will get more out of with a second or even third read. While Father Knox clearly had a fun time writing the adventures and misadventures of his three amateur detectives, he also clearly put a good deal of thought into crafting his plot as well and into setting up his mystery before the body is even discovered. I was a little disappointed that Carmichael’s random story about one time serving a translator for a Confession did not go anywhere, but perhaps that would have been a bit too coincidental. I like to think that perhaps that particular event will come back to haunt Carmichael and friends in the future, even if it had no place in the story Father Knox had to tell in this book.
I give The Viaduct Murder 3 stars out of five stars… maybe as many as 3.5 stars. If Father Knox could have been a little less philosophic in some areas, I could easily give this book 4 stars. It’s amusing and clever with some fun characters who are very human; if you have not yet read one of Father Knox’s mysteries, The Viaduct Murder is not a bad place to start.
At times, Father Knox wanders into the philosophic, causing the mind of a casual reader just wanting a relaxing detective story to wander as well. He does not seem like he is trying to be pretentious, but sometimes the things his characters want to say seem not quite in place in the story he is trying to tell. When this occurs, sometimes it can be hard to tell which character is speaking. Usually, Reeves, Gordon, and Carmichael’s different personalities are sufficiently represented to make their voices distinct from one another, but every once in a while, Gordon and Reeves’ voices become a bit difficult to differentiate.
These are not fatal flaws within this story, which is clever enough and amusing enough to make it a fun time. Carmichael is perhaps Father Knox’s most interesting character in the book, one that he thankfully did not waste and I feared he would when he seemed like he would be focusing on Gordon and Reeves alone among the four golfers who open the story together.
I believe this will probably be one of those mysteries that I will get more out of with a second or even third read. While Father Knox clearly had a fun time writing the adventures and misadventures of his three amateur detectives, he also clearly put a good deal of thought into crafting his plot as well and into setting up his mystery before the body is even discovered. I was a little disappointed that Carmichael’s random story about one time serving a translator for a Confession did not go anywhere, but perhaps that would have been a bit too coincidental. I like to think that perhaps that particular event will come back to haunt Carmichael and friends in the future, even if it had no place in the story Father Knox had to tell in this book.
I give The Viaduct Murder 3 stars out of five stars… maybe as many as 3.5 stars. If Father Knox could have been a little less philosophic in some areas, I could easily give this book 4 stars. It’s amusing and clever with some fun characters who are very human; if you have not yet read one of Father Knox’s mysteries, The Viaduct Murder is not a bad place to start.
June 21, 2025
This is an early example of the style of mystery where a number of alternative solutions are presented one by one only to be debunked, a structure later used to great effect by Anthony Berkeley (The Poisoned Chocolates Case) and frequently by Christianna Brand.
The problem in this book is that the final, supposedly correct solution is no more satisfying or plausible than any of the false explanations, and many of the most intriguing clues are ultimately dismissed as coincidences or simply left unexplained (e.g., , unless I missed it). This renders the conclusion very underwhelming.
It is made worse by being the occasion for a screed against modern thinking, with the incorrect solutions turned into a metaphor for the twin evils of Darwinism and historical criticism (while dismissing vaccination as a well-meaning mistake). The smug superiority with which these attacks are expressed is not made any more endearing by the fact that the subsequent century has conclusively shown the author to be wrong.
On the positive side, the writing is often witty, and while the characters are not very deep, their foibles are amusingly and convincingly caricatured. (Knox is clearly drawing on his own experiences: the group caught up in the case are a clergyman, an Oxford don, someone who served in military intelligence during WWI, and someone who occasionally writes for the newspapers – all of which describes the author.)
The problem in this book is that the final, supposedly correct solution is no more satisfying or plausible than any of the false explanations, and many of the most intriguing clues are ultimately dismissed as coincidences or simply left unexplained (e.g., , unless I missed it). This renders the conclusion very underwhelming.
It is made worse by being the occasion for a screed against modern thinking, with the incorrect solutions turned into a metaphor for the twin evils of Darwinism and historical criticism (while dismissing vaccination as a well-meaning mistake). The smug superiority with which these attacks are expressed is not made any more endearing by the fact that the subsequent century has conclusively shown the author to be wrong.
On the positive side, the writing is often witty, and while the characters are not very deep, their foibles are amusingly and convincingly caricatured. (Knox is clearly drawing on his own experiences: the group caught up in the case are a clergyman, an Oxford don, someone who served in military intelligence during WWI, and someone who occasionally writes for the newspapers – all of which describes the author.)
December 13, 2024
Something of a parody of the genre. Often making fun of the Sherlock Holmes Detective, and Agatha Christie plotting. These moments are at there best in both the beginning and end when he directly critiques the style of thinking and it's downfalls when applied to everyday life. The issue is that the story is a lot more than just this. The "action" parts of this story, when things are happening is good enough, the issue is there are just these long periods that the characters spend theorizing that just gets boring after a while. The point is to project just how idiotic their lines of reasoning are but its just tiresome most of the time, needing to be a lot funnier to work. The write was also hard to follow at times. A notable issue was Knox making it hard to understand who was present or talking at the beginning of scenes. Another example comes with a handkerchief early on in the book. We find out that a handkerchief of one man has been misplaced with that of another. This plot point is then glossed over and never talked about again. I don't know if this was done as a way to poke fun at the ideocracy of the genre or maybe I just missed the explanation of what happened but I was constantly waiting for some resolution yet it never came. Overall mediocre and nothing to write home about.
April 15, 2020
Since I'm quarantined, I thought I would start reading a mystery series. I chose a series by Ronald Knox because I heard praises of his work, both religious wise and secular.
I was disappointed. His style is not my cup of tea. In fact, I had to look back at when this book was first written because the style reminded me of Sherlock Holmes--nineteenth century.
I've always found Holmesian deduction not natural and improbable if not impossible.
The character of Rendall-Smith is a near waste. She's introduced but not necessary. The other characters bounce sleuthing theories around like a golf ball (pun intended). I just felt the characters too nineteenth-century English (I dare say).
Then to have the murderer caught in the beginning after suffering chapters of Holmesian deduction was just a bit much.
That being said, since I believe in second chances (and third and ...) I just might read another Ronald Knox mystery.
I was disappointed. His style is not my cup of tea. In fact, I had to look back at when this book was first written because the style reminded me of Sherlock Holmes--nineteenth century.
I've always found Holmesian deduction not natural and improbable if not impossible.
The character of Rendall-Smith is a near waste. She's introduced but not necessary. The other characters bounce sleuthing theories around like a golf ball (pun intended). I just felt the characters too nineteenth-century English (I dare say).
Then to have the murderer caught in the beginning after suffering chapters of Holmesian deduction was just a bit much.
That being said, since I believe in second chances (and third and ...) I just might read another Ronald Knox mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2019
Disappointing murder mystery
I was delighted to find this book to be available. From everything I knew about Mgr Ronald Knox, I had expected an intellectual treat. Instead, alas, I found myself reading a rather dull story. Four amateurs attempt to deduce the identity of a murderer in a case judged to be suicide at the inquest. They are right in so far as it is a murder (but then the title tells us as much.) In most other respects they are wrong. The police have also concluded that the deceased was murdered. Once a significant fact emerges, there are only two candidates for murderer. One confesses and is found guilty, and the amateurs return to playing golf, having done little of assistance. Not even the trains caught my interest - and I am very fond of trains. I cannot recommend the book.
I was delighted to find this book to be available. From everything I knew about Mgr Ronald Knox, I had expected an intellectual treat. Instead, alas, I found myself reading a rather dull story. Four amateurs attempt to deduce the identity of a murderer in a case judged to be suicide at the inquest. They are right in so far as it is a murder (but then the title tells us as much.) In most other respects they are wrong. The police have also concluded that the deceased was murdered. Once a significant fact emerges, there are only two candidates for murderer. One confesses and is found guilty, and the amateurs return to playing golf, having done little of assistance. Not even the trains caught my interest - and I am very fond of trains. I cannot recommend the book.
September 12, 2025
Considered a seminal work of the genre, so a must read for all those interested in detective fiction. Yet the book seems to want to convey the fact that detection is not a suitable job for the average man, and most would get the facts completely wrong. Here are a group of amateur sleuths that blunder around, getting everything wrong and creating outlandish fictions to explain all the facts. It does make you smile. There are also religious overtones that today would be considered out of place, but that's only to be expected as Knox was a priest. At one point, a character very mildly rails at the theory of evolution, which also made me smile.
Recommended, not simply for the historical perspective, but because Knox can create characters and settings and tell a story in an interesting way, even though I drifted in and out of this book at times and it did not completely hold my attention.
Recommended, not simply for the historical perspective, but because Knox can create characters and settings and tell a story in an interesting way, even though I drifted in and out of this book at times and it did not completely hold my attention.
June 16, 2022
An entertaining old-style mystery that I thought had too many flaws to be termed a masterpiece. For one, it seems needlessly complicated with ciphers and train schedules all playing a part. My biggest gripe is that it's one of those books where amateur detectives (this time four men who live and breathe golf) find and withhold clues and evidence from the police (who hardly appear in the story). The writing is sometimes very witty, which compensates for the murky plot details somewhat. Originally published in 1925. The Merion Press edition contains a map of the area and even a schedule for trains that stop at the stations on the map. Also includes a glossary of terms that may not be familiar to current readers.
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September 23, 2023I need to read this rather than listen to the audio so I can absorb some of the more complex ideas within. I liked the wit and subtle humor but wil have to wait for a printed copy and the time to read it to give a fair review. Right now I'm mostly listening to audio books so I can get something done besides continually reading.
November 23, 2019
From one of the creators of the detective story in the Golden Age of mysteries—here Knox has a golf foursome investigate the death of on of the club’s members. Murder or suicide? The “detectives” go back and forth as the clues are developed and clarified.
April 10, 2024
📙Published in 1925.
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🖍️ Un excellent conte mystérieux.
＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🖍️ Un excellent conte mystérieux.
＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊
July 21, 2019
This is one of the most astonishingly brilliant mysteries of the Golden Age by one of its masters.
December 18, 2019
Very clever!
June 19, 2020
good read, no porn, interesting plot
May 19, 2023
A bit of a odd one. A crime mystery very much of it's time. You almost imagine the main two amateur detectives as Hitchcock favourites Charters and Caldercott. Interesting without being outstanding.
July 19, 2025
A little preachy but quite enjoyable.
August 14, 2025
Clever bit of writing by this churchman. Some good humor, some interesting characters and a good golf club mystery.
February 4, 2016
This mystery set in 1920's rural England opens with four gents chatting in the clubhouse prior to starting their golf game. Chapter 2 captures the foursome experiencing an errant shot off the third tee, the golf ball landing somewhere in the shadow of a railroad trestle. A search of the rough brings a halt to the game with the discovery of a freshly dead body.... The novel shifts to the foursome's search for clues about the identify of the disfigured body, whether it was a suicidal fall from the towering railroad trestle or a murder, with a build-up about the foibles of amateur detectives. Instead of falling off its wheels because the amateurs' convoluted solution to the case, this novel turns literary and recovers brilliantly in the final two chapters, drawing an analogy of false reasoning among the general public. Author Reverend Knox writes during the era of Arthur Conan Doyle and sprinkles nods to Holmes throughout the novel. Reverend Know is best known for his 10 Commandments for good mystery writing. My quibble about this book that spans a week is the difficulty in following which day various scenes take place. For example, it's unclear that afternoon chat in the clubhouse (Chapter 1, with one of the foursome having arrived around 4PM -- that afternoon) dovetails into the same afternoon's golf game (of Chapter 2). Who knew that you could start a round of golf after 5 PM in a foggy October in England and still get a round of golf in? That said, the reader indeed has to work overly hard to discern the day's timeline among the chapters.
May 29, 2011
This is truely a vintage mystery written shortly after the end of WWI. A group of for golfing buddies find a dead body on the links. They decide that they would be smarter and better than the police when it comes to solving this crime. Of course their golfing play must not be neglected.
This was an interesting story with a nice sense of the times.
This was an interesting story with a nice sense of the times.
February 24, 2016
An old, but excellent read.
March 2, 2016
Interesting original mystery novel, with a quartet of amateur detectives that mess things up in a hilarious way.
November 7, 2021
Wonderful old mystery from the 1920's. I love the setting. I am sure I missed some things as idioms have changed, but it was well written and very entertaining. I must find more by Ronald Knox
Want to read
December 1, 2018Synopsis: four men are golfing when one of them slices his drive. They discover a body below a railroad viaduct and set out to solve the murder.
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