No Friendly Drop

Inspector Poole #3

by Henry Wade

At first it seems that Lord Henry Grayle has taken an overdose of sleeping medicine, but the autopsy reveals a tiny amount of scopolamine along with the draught—harmless in itself, but fatal when mixed ...A poisoner with apparently expert knowledge is at work in the great house at Tassart. But from what motive, and how? Before he can find an answer to these questions, Detective-Inspector John Poole is faced with a second, more horrible murder.

Genres: Mystery

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Henry Wade was a pen-name of Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet. Other authors on Goodreads are also named Henry Wade.

Reviews

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Lord Henry Grayle has been poisoned; the question is why and how. Before DI Poole can answer, there's another murder.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone agrees that Lord Grayle was a good man and a good master, in love with his devoted wife. True, like others of his class, he suffered financially in the Great Depression, and he was in severe pain from a long illness. So when he dies, it might just be suicide. The local police don't fancy telling the family that, so they call in the Yard, in the person of Inspector Poole. But the autopsy shows that Lord Grayle was poisoned. How, when and by whom become the main questions, but the search takes Poole afield to examine a variety of questions.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord Henry Grayle is a good man. His family love him and his servants respect him. So when he dies of an apparent overdose of a prescribed medication, it seems likely that it was either accidental or perhaps a suicide brought on by his increasing depression over a debilitating health condition. But then the autopsy reveals the presence of another drug in his system, one that had reacted fatally with his medicine, and Inspector John Poole is despatched from Scotland Yard to investigate. And then there’s a second murder…

These Inspector Poole books are very procedural, with the focus almost entirely on following Poole as he painstakingly assesses the evidence and interviews the suspects. But there’s enough depth in the characterisation to keep them interesting, and the puzzle aspect of this one – how the poison could have been administered to Lord Henry – is very good, and not too quirky. Poole is an ambitious man, but Wade manages this without making him insufferable. He intends to succeed by being good at what he does, not through arrogance. I had a good idea of whodunit, but was enjoyably baffled by the motivation, and when all was revealed, I found it satisfyingly plausible. I’ll read more of this series.

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[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector Poole investigates the death of Henry Grayle at his beautiful country house, Tassart.
The post-mortem reveals a rather complex case of poisoning and there is a further death before Poole reaches the solution.

Although the writing and characterisation are as good as always, I was not as taken by this novel as I have been with other Wade mysteries. I thought neither the culprit nor the motive was too difficult to work out although the usual Wade "twist" made things a little more interesting.

3.5 stars

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A police procedural murder mystery that very rarely gets out of first gear. When Lord Grayle has been with poisoned with scopolamine and di-dial, Inspector Poole is called in to investigate. The butler Moote has vanished and appears to be the main suspect. The book has the odd twist and turn but offers little new. Kudos to the author for the comment from Lord Grayle's daughter-in-law that Inspector Poole had done enough investigating for show and should now conclude it and leave. Like that never happened - know your place Poole.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

I quite agree with a previous reviewer, Eric, that this is not as good as some of the other Wade stories. I thought it very slow and ponderous for the first half or so but that it got better as it went along. The authors class consciousness is very obvious and transfers itself to Inspector Poole in some ways but not so much as to spoil the read. As usual there is an interesting and unusual plot, well drawn characters and a twist or two.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and engaging . The method of murder and motive is the crux of the problem not the who because there are really only two suspects . However, the characters are well drawn and the policemen are more human than most .The author is clearly much less puritanical than Croft’s .

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Poole is a great character. Determined but humble. The plot is ingenious and the clues are evident. Fun reading.