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The Loudwater Mystery
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186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1920
56 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Jepson
184 books11 followersEdgar Alfred Jepson (1863 - 1938) was an English writer, principally of mainstream adventure and detective fiction, but also of some supernatural and fantasy stories that are better remembered. He used a pseudonym R. Edison Page for some of his many short stories, collaborating at times with John Gawsworth, Hugh Clevely and possibly Arthur Machen, long-term friends.
He was editor for a short period of Vanity Fair magazine, where he employed Richard Middleton, and did much to preserve the latter's memory. He was also a translator, notably of the Arsène Lupin stories of Maurice Leblanc.
He was a member of the Square Club (from 1908) of established Edwardian authors, and also one of the more senior of the New Bohemians drinking club.
As a literary dynasty: his son Selwyn Jepson was known as a crime writer; his daughter Margaret (married name Birkinshaw) published novels as Margaret Jepson (including Via Panama) and as Pearl Bellairs; and Margaret's daughter Franklin is the writer Fay Weldon. The Jepson domestic arrangements are commented on second-hand in Weldon's autobiographical writing.
Jepson was friends with the English mystery writer Hugh Clevely and even shared the same pseudonym "Tod Claymore." They co-wrote the novel "The Man With the Amber Eyes."
He was editor for a short period of Vanity Fair magazine, where he employed Richard Middleton, and did much to preserve the latter's memory. He was also a translator, notably of the Arsène Lupin stories of Maurice Leblanc.
He was a member of the Square Club (from 1908) of established Edwardian authors, and also one of the more senior of the New Bohemians drinking club.
As a literary dynasty: his son Selwyn Jepson was known as a crime writer; his daughter Margaret (married name Birkinshaw) published novels as Margaret Jepson (including Via Panama) and as Pearl Bellairs; and Margaret's daughter Franklin is the writer Fay Weldon. The Jepson domestic arrangements are commented on second-hand in Weldon's autobiographical writing.
Jepson was friends with the English mystery writer Hugh Clevely and even shared the same pseudonym "Tod Claymore." They co-wrote the novel "The Man With the Amber Eyes."
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 15, 2022
A very dated golden age detective story. I picked it up as it was free to download on Kindle.
The characters are very superficially drawn. There is the bullying husband, the smug secretary, the long-suffering wife and her lover amongst others. I found it fun to read apart from the ending which was most unsatisfactory.
The characters are very superficially drawn. There is the bullying husband, the smug secretary, the long-suffering wife and her lover amongst others. I found it fun to read apart from the ending which was most unsatisfactory.
September 10, 2010
A murder mystery -- almost anyone could have murdered Loudwater but discovering the actual killer took almost the entire story. For that fact, and that I liked all the "good guys" (and gals), I couldn't imagine any of them having done it. I don't like mysteries in which I can guess who committed the evil deed. This one kept me suspecting all and none.
August 5, 2016
Lord Loudwater isn't well-liked, so when he's found murdered it takes quite alot to figure out which one of the suspects could have committed the crime...
Loudwater is murdered pretty early in the tale so the rest of it really covers all the mysterious elements attached to finding the murderer... I won't mind recommending this to classic mystery lovers...
Loudwater is murdered pretty early in the tale so the rest of it really covers all the mysterious elements attached to finding the murderer... I won't mind recommending this to classic mystery lovers...
June 11, 2018
Quite a nice run-of-the-mill Golden Age, British Country House, detective story which is well reviewed here by others. Rather unsatisfactory ending, I thought. A pleasant and undemanding, shortish read though.
Free to download so one can't complain.
Free to download so one can't complain.
December 29, 2021
The Lord Loudwater is a big mouthed bully and absolutely no one at his estate or in the surrounding community, including his wife, escapes his harsh words and threats.
It has gotten so bad that his wife totally ignores most of what he says and has found solace in the friendship of a Col. Gray. He sacks his butler and treats his personal secretary badly. It is no surprise that one evening he is found killed, possibly by his own hand.
Nor is it surprising that everyone who has been recently treated badly by the Lord was marching through his home the night he died. It makes for a case with lots of suspects, loads of suspicion and little solid evidence to hang a case.
I enjoyed this story, thought that the ending was clever, and wasn't surprised at some of the behavior of the characters, considering that is was originally published in 1920. I do feel that the story dragged a bit but all in all The Loudwater Mystery was pretty entertaining.
It has gotten so bad that his wife totally ignores most of what he says and has found solace in the friendship of a Col. Gray. He sacks his butler and treats his personal secretary badly. It is no surprise that one evening he is found killed, possibly by his own hand.
Nor is it surprising that everyone who has been recently treated badly by the Lord was marching through his home the night he died. It makes for a case with lots of suspects, loads of suspicion and little solid evidence to hang a case.
I enjoyed this story, thought that the ending was clever, and wasn't surprised at some of the behavior of the characters, considering that is was originally published in 1920. I do feel that the story dragged a bit but all in all The Loudwater Mystery was pretty entertaining.
May 29, 2023
The Loudwater Mystery is crime novel by the British writer Edgar Jepson which was first published in 1920. Jepson largely wrote mainstream adventure and detective fiction, but also supernatural and fantasy stories. He sometimes used the pseudonym R. Edison Page. I never heard of him by either name. In some works he collaborated with such authors as John Gawsworth, Arthur Machen and Hugh Clevely. Jepson was also a translator, notably of the Arsène Lupin stories of Maurice Leblanc. He was a member of the Square Club (from 1908) of established Edwardian authors, and one of the more senior members of the New Bohemians drinking club. He was a good friend of the author Ford Madox Ford.
Jepson edited Vanity Fair magazine for a short period, during which he employed Richard Barham Middleton. Jepson did much to preserve Middleton's memory after his death. He didn't preserve his memory to me, I have no idea who he is, I'll have to look him up.
Two of Jepson's children became writers. His son Selwyn Jepson was a crime writer, while his daughter, Margaret (married name Birkinshaw), published novels as Margaret Jepson, including Via Panama (1934). Margaret's younger daughter is the novelist Fay Weldon.
In his book The Loudwater Mystery which is also the only one of his books I ever heard of, we have a mystery of course. The mystery is who killed Lord Loudwater. It would be more of a mystery trying to find the one person who doesn't want to kill Lord Loudwater. Our poor, dead Lord was not a popular guy. His wife hated him, her lover hated him. His secretary hated him, his butler hated him, in fact all the servants I can think of hated him. Here is what his wife thought of him:
She came to the further conclusion that she detested him. She had far too good a brow not to be able to see a fact clearly. She wished more heartily than ever that she had never married him. It had been a grievous mistake; and it seemed likely to last a life-time—her life-time. The last five ancestors of her husband had lived to be eighty. His father would doubtless have lived to be eighty too, had he not broken his neck in the hunting-field at the age of fifty-four. On the other hand, none of the Quaintons, her own family, had reached the age of sixty. Lord Loudwater was thirty-five; she was twenty-two; he would therefore survive her by at least seven years. She would certainly be bowed down all her life under this grievous burden.
His secretary, Mr. Manley thought this:
Mr. Manley gazed at his scowling face and wondered idly whether he would ever light on another human being whom he would detest so heartily as he detested his employer. He thought it indeed unlikely.
From Helena Truslove (a near neighbor and someone who almost married the guy):
"You can imagine how furious I was. And I wasn't going to stand it—not from Loudwater, at any rate. I had learnt a good deal more about him in the eleven weeks we were engaged, and, naturally, I wasn't pleased with what I had learnt. I set out to make myself very disagreeable. I saw him and did make myself very disagreeable. I told him a good many unpleasant things about himself which made him much more furious than I was myself."
Colonel Grey doesn't like him either, of course, Colonel Grey is in love with the Lord's wife so that is a good reason he is so against our poor Lord Loudwater. Grey says:
"I tell you what it is: I've had enough of your manners," said Grey.
"What you want is a lesson. And if I hear that you've been bullying Lady
Loudwater about this simple matter of my having had tea with her, I'll
give it you—with a horsewhip."
"You'll give me a lesson? You?" whispered Lord Loudwater, and he danced a little frantically.
"Yes. I'll give you the soundest thrashing any man hereabouts has had for the last twenty years, if I have to begin by knocking your ugly head off your shoulders," said Grey, raising his clear voice, so that for the first time Mrs. Turnbull, trembling, but thrilled, on the landing, heard what was being said.
"You know that you're a wretched bully and cad," said Colonel
Grey, with just a little more warmth in his tone.
A day after he fires his butler, flies into a rage because according to him his wine has been "corked" whatever that means, threatened to destroy Colonel Grey's career and divorce his wife this happens:
At a few minutes past eight the next morning he was roused from the deep dreamless sleep which follows good food and good wine well digested, by a loud knocking on his door. It was not the loud, steady and prolonged knocking which the third housemaid found necessary to wake him. It was more vigorous and more staccato and jerkier. Also, a voice was calling loudly:
"Mr. Manley, sir! Mr. Manley! Mr. Manley!"
For all the noise and insistence of the calling Mr. Manley did not awake quickly. It took him a good minute to realize that he was Herbert Manley and in bed, and half a minute longer to gather that the knocking and calling were unusual and uncommonly urgent. He sat up in bed and yawned terrifically.
Then he slipped out of bed—the knocking and calling still continued—unlocked the door, and found Holloway, the second footman, on the threshold looking scared and horror-stricken.
"Please, sir, his lordship's dead!" he cried. "He's bin murdered! Stabbed through the 'eart!"
So now the police arrive and during their investigation they find that Hutchings, the fired valet had been in the house the night of the murder about eleven o'clock in the evening. A lady, no one knows who, had been with his lordship in the smoking-room also around eleven. Colonel Grey had been seen entering the house about half past ten in the evening. And Lady Loudwater came outside and walked in the garden sometime after eleven o'clock. So there you have it. All you need to find the murderer. Have fun, I did.
Jepson edited Vanity Fair magazine for a short period, during which he employed Richard Barham Middleton. Jepson did much to preserve Middleton's memory after his death. He didn't preserve his memory to me, I have no idea who he is, I'll have to look him up.
Two of Jepson's children became writers. His son Selwyn Jepson was a crime writer, while his daughter, Margaret (married name Birkinshaw), published novels as Margaret Jepson, including Via Panama (1934). Margaret's younger daughter is the novelist Fay Weldon.
In his book The Loudwater Mystery which is also the only one of his books I ever heard of, we have a mystery of course. The mystery is who killed Lord Loudwater. It would be more of a mystery trying to find the one person who doesn't want to kill Lord Loudwater. Our poor, dead Lord was not a popular guy. His wife hated him, her lover hated him. His secretary hated him, his butler hated him, in fact all the servants I can think of hated him. Here is what his wife thought of him:
She came to the further conclusion that she detested him. She had far too good a brow not to be able to see a fact clearly. She wished more heartily than ever that she had never married him. It had been a grievous mistake; and it seemed likely to last a life-time—her life-time. The last five ancestors of her husband had lived to be eighty. His father would doubtless have lived to be eighty too, had he not broken his neck in the hunting-field at the age of fifty-four. On the other hand, none of the Quaintons, her own family, had reached the age of sixty. Lord Loudwater was thirty-five; she was twenty-two; he would therefore survive her by at least seven years. She would certainly be bowed down all her life under this grievous burden.
His secretary, Mr. Manley thought this:
Mr. Manley gazed at his scowling face and wondered idly whether he would ever light on another human being whom he would detest so heartily as he detested his employer. He thought it indeed unlikely.
From Helena Truslove (a near neighbor and someone who almost married the guy):
"You can imagine how furious I was. And I wasn't going to stand it—not from Loudwater, at any rate. I had learnt a good deal more about him in the eleven weeks we were engaged, and, naturally, I wasn't pleased with what I had learnt. I set out to make myself very disagreeable. I saw him and did make myself very disagreeable. I told him a good many unpleasant things about himself which made him much more furious than I was myself."
Colonel Grey doesn't like him either, of course, Colonel Grey is in love with the Lord's wife so that is a good reason he is so against our poor Lord Loudwater. Grey says:
"I tell you what it is: I've had enough of your manners," said Grey.
"What you want is a lesson. And if I hear that you've been bullying Lady
Loudwater about this simple matter of my having had tea with her, I'll
give it you—with a horsewhip."
"You'll give me a lesson? You?" whispered Lord Loudwater, and he danced a little frantically.
"Yes. I'll give you the soundest thrashing any man hereabouts has had for the last twenty years, if I have to begin by knocking your ugly head off your shoulders," said Grey, raising his clear voice, so that for the first time Mrs. Turnbull, trembling, but thrilled, on the landing, heard what was being said.
"You know that you're a wretched bully and cad," said Colonel
Grey, with just a little more warmth in his tone.
A day after he fires his butler, flies into a rage because according to him his wine has been "corked" whatever that means, threatened to destroy Colonel Grey's career and divorce his wife this happens:
At a few minutes past eight the next morning he was roused from the deep dreamless sleep which follows good food and good wine well digested, by a loud knocking on his door. It was not the loud, steady and prolonged knocking which the third housemaid found necessary to wake him. It was more vigorous and more staccato and jerkier. Also, a voice was calling loudly:
"Mr. Manley, sir! Mr. Manley! Mr. Manley!"
For all the noise and insistence of the calling Mr. Manley did not awake quickly. It took him a good minute to realize that he was Herbert Manley and in bed, and half a minute longer to gather that the knocking and calling were unusual and uncommonly urgent. He sat up in bed and yawned terrifically.
Then he slipped out of bed—the knocking and calling still continued—unlocked the door, and found Holloway, the second footman, on the threshold looking scared and horror-stricken.
"Please, sir, his lordship's dead!" he cried. "He's bin murdered! Stabbed through the 'eart!"
So now the police arrive and during their investigation they find that Hutchings, the fired valet had been in the house the night of the murder about eleven o'clock in the evening. A lady, no one knows who, had been with his lordship in the smoking-room also around eleven. Colonel Grey had been seen entering the house about half past ten in the evening. And Lady Loudwater came outside and walked in the garden sometime after eleven o'clock. So there you have it. All you need to find the murderer. Have fun, I did.
May 28, 2014
This book was originally published in 1920. It is well-written and entertaining. Some of the word choice may be antiquated for today's reader, but I did not find that this was prevalent.
I thought that this book had quite the surprise ending, as good murder mysteries should. I am rarely surprised by the reveal in a mystery, I've usually got it figured out by the time the author reveals it. If I haven't got it completely sussed, I at least have strong suspicion. That was not the case with this novel. I was quite pleased to be surprised.
I thought that this book had quite the surprise ending, as good murder mysteries should. I am rarely surprised by the reveal in a mystery, I've usually got it figured out by the time the author reveals it. If I haven't got it completely sussed, I at least have strong suspicion. That was not the case with this novel. I was quite pleased to be surprised.
November 14, 2015
This mystery is in the public domain, and for free, it's not a bad read. Actually it was a pretty enjoyable read even though there were so many problems with the characterizations and plotting (a police inspector doing his best to make sure that the pretty young widow isn't accused of the crime!!). I did figure out whodunit, and the entire set up is even more completely implausible than usual. But for free, it was kind of fun in spite of itself.
July 6, 2013
There was nothing original in the story. I enjoyed the characters, but the murderer is so easy to guess it takes away all the fun of it. .
September 13, 2019
I found this book not very mysterious at all, I knew who the killer would be long before the final chapter. A few dull chapters made me take a break from reading this novel and it took some effort on my part to get to the end.
April 10, 2019
Wonderful story.
Intriguing til the last word. Never a letdown the entire time . As good as any of Agatha Christie mysteries.
Intriguing til the last word. Never a letdown the entire time . As good as any of Agatha Christie mysteries.
May 14, 2020
Who done it
Kept me guessing until the last chapter. I liked the characters. I guess Karma does work. Easy reading. Who recommend this book.
Kept me guessing until the last chapter. I liked the characters. I guess Karma does work. Easy reading. Who recommend this book.
August 19, 2020
I won't be rushing to search out anything else by this author. It was OK, but twice as long as it need have been.
Read
June 6, 2021Good prose, good characterization, good world building, good story, no theme. It was a country house murder and a good deal of fun.
April 3, 2022
Everyone despises Lord Loudwater, and so when he is found murdered in his smoking room, acting Chief Constable George Flexen doesn't want for suspects: there is his lordship's young bride, Olivia Loudwater and her admirer, Colonel Grey; Loudwater's secretary and aspiring playwright, Herbert Manley; Loudwater's jilted fiancee, Helena Truslove, to whom he pays an allowance in order to avoid a suit for breach; the butler he abruptly fires, the butler's sweetheart who is Lady Loudwater's maid.
A reasonably clever how- and whydunit, that is maybe a 3.5, since the "who" is fairly easy to figure out, particularly since the overlong midsection of the book that involves the investigation points the reader toward the obvious. An extra half point for the neat twist at the end, though getting to the end could have been paced better. Still, an entertaining introduction to prolific Victorian author Edgar Jepson (grandfather of author Fay Weldon) who wrote in several genres including mystery, fantasy and adventure.
A reasonably clever how- and whydunit, that is maybe a 3.5, since the "who" is fairly easy to figure out, particularly since the overlong midsection of the book that involves the investigation points the reader toward the obvious. An extra half point for the neat twist at the end, though getting to the end could have been paced better. Still, an entertaining introduction to prolific Victorian author Edgar Jepson (grandfather of author Fay Weldon) who wrote in several genres including mystery, fantasy and adventure.
November 29, 2023
A murder mystery that starts out promising in that the murderer murders the murdered shortly after the novel begins.
But there's literally half a page, in total, describing any clues. The rest is one long yawn... mostly emotional dribblings about what a jerk the murdered person was, and how the murderer aught to be clapped on the back instead of hung from a rope.
The ending has all the satisfaction of a 4th grade book report started the night before it's due.
Rushed it, and took the easy way out.
But there's literally half a page, in total, describing any clues. The rest is one long yawn... mostly emotional dribblings about what a jerk the murdered person was, and how the murderer aught to be clapped on the back instead of hung from a rope.
The ending has all the satisfaction of a 4th grade book report started the night before it's due.
Rushed it, and took the easy way out.
April 23, 2022
Excellent storyline right to the end
Wonderful writing. Funny, cutting , Dickensian and Wodehousian. Bad guy deserves all he gets and egos abound until the last paragraph. What a shame there are no more! Thank you to the people/volunteers who prepared it for republication. A most enjoyable couple of hours with excellent comeuppance.
Wonderful writing. Funny, cutting , Dickensian and Wodehousian. Bad guy deserves all he gets and egos abound until the last paragraph. What a shame there are no more! Thank you to the people/volunteers who prepared it for republication. A most enjoyable couple of hours with excellent comeuppance.
November 24, 2023
Frustrating ending!
January 15, 2013
It is not a question of winning or losing but ultimately how you play the game. This is a typically British attitude of fair play. A luckless kiss and thunderous snore form the basis for this early 20th Century murder mystery. Lord Loudwater was loved by none, feared by many and hated by all. When he is inexplicably found fatality stabbed with a letter opener, the list of suspects seems endless. Love and romantic intrigues only add to the ambiguities of the case. This spoof was published in 1920 and could easily serve as a blueprint for countless murder mysteries that began popular in the ‘30s and ‘40s. I think that this is a unique work and Edgar Jepson succeeded is his surprise ending. Many would enjoy this story; I am one of them.
February 1, 2023
I was agreeably surprised by this murder mystery dating from 1920 and free to download.
In some respects it is standard fare in which a brutal aristocrat with lovely younger wife is stabbed after dinner in his country house. There is a plethora of suspects, from the wife's gallant admirer, through a discarded fiancée, to a dismissed butler. There is also a heavy dollop of romance
All the standard classist attitudes of England at this time are displayed, but the solution has a lack of moral substance which is unexpected.
Although my nose twitched at a heavily placed early clue, the author did manage to mislead me a little.
Quite short, but worth reading.
In some respects it is standard fare in which a brutal aristocrat with lovely younger wife is stabbed after dinner in his country house. There is a plethora of suspects, from the wife's gallant admirer, through a discarded fiancée, to a dismissed butler. There is also a heavy dollop of romance
All the standard classist attitudes of England at this time are displayed, but the solution has a lack of moral substance which is unexpected.
Although my nose twitched at a heavily placed early clue, the author did manage to mislead me a little.
Quite short, but worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews