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Colonel Gethryn #11
Warrant For X
1938, hardcover bookclub edition, Doubleday, NY. 318 pages. Crime novel, featuring Colonel Anthony Gethryn.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
2 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Philip MacDonald
147 books17 followersPhilip MacDonald (who some give as 1896 or 1899 as his date of birth) was the grandson of the writer George MacDonald and son of the author Ronald MacDonald and the actress Constance Robertson.
During World War I he served with the British cavalry in Mesopotamia, later trained horses for the army, and was a show jumper. He also raised Great Danes. After marrying the writer F. Ruth Howard, he moved to Hollywood in 1931. He was one of the most popular mystery writers of the 1930s, and between 1931 and 1963 wrote many screenplays along with a few radio and television scripts.
His detective novels, particularly those featuring his series detective Anthony Gethryn, are primarily "whodunnits" with the occasional locked room mystery. His first detective novel was 'The Rasp' (1924), in which he introduced his character Anthony Gethryn.
In later years MacDonald wrote television scripts for Alfred Hitchcock Presents ('Malice Domestic', 1957) and Perry Mason ('The Case of the Terrified Typist', 1958).
He twice received an Edgar Award for Best Short Story: in 1953, for 'Something to Hide', and in 1956, for 'Dream No More'. Indeed many critics felt that his short story writing was superior to his novels and they did win five second prizes in the annual contests held by 'Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'.
He also wrote under the pseudonyms Oliver Fleming, Anthony Lawless, Martin Porlock, W.J. Stuart and Warren Stuart.
During World War I he served with the British cavalry in Mesopotamia, later trained horses for the army, and was a show jumper. He also raised Great Danes. After marrying the writer F. Ruth Howard, he moved to Hollywood in 1931. He was one of the most popular mystery writers of the 1930s, and between 1931 and 1963 wrote many screenplays along with a few radio and television scripts.
His detective novels, particularly those featuring his series detective Anthony Gethryn, are primarily "whodunnits" with the occasional locked room mystery. His first detective novel was 'The Rasp' (1924), in which he introduced his character Anthony Gethryn.
In later years MacDonald wrote television scripts for Alfred Hitchcock Presents ('Malice Domestic', 1957) and Perry Mason ('The Case of the Terrified Typist', 1958).
He twice received an Edgar Award for Best Short Story: in 1953, for 'Something to Hide', and in 1956, for 'Dream No More'. Indeed many critics felt that his short story writing was superior to his novels and they did win five second prizes in the annual contests held by 'Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'.
He also wrote under the pseudonyms Oliver Fleming, Anthony Lawless, Martin Porlock, W.J. Stuart and Warren Stuart.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 31, 2018
I saw the movie 23 Paces To Baker Street “Famed American playwright Phillip Hannon is in London making revisions to his play currently running in the West End. He is doing this mundane work rather than write a new play since he has retreated from life following the recent and permanent loss of his sight. That retreat from life includes breaking off his engagement to his former secretary, Jean Lennox, who still loves him. One evening at his local pub, he overhears a conversation between a man and a woman that he knows involves criminal activity, what he surmises to be the kidnapping plot of a child in exactly one week's time. The local police patronizingly dismiss his report as the overactive imagination of a blind writer. With Jean and his faithful manservant Bob Matthews by his side - the former with some reluctance on Phil's part - Phil goes on a search to uncover the plot using what little pieces of information he has at hand, which includes the man's name being Evans, the woman, who is involved under duress, working as a nanny for a family whose head is formally a lady, that lady having attended a concert that evening, the family living along a certain bus route, and the nanny herself wearing an expensive perfume well beyond her means. His physical disability is an obvious disadvantage. But what may be working to Phil's advantage is his keen sense of dialogue and its subtext in deciphering the conversation, using his other senses which people with sight take for granted, and people, including the criminals, underestimating him because he's blind.” realizing it was Warrant for X I dug up the book and found it to be a really good read. an American playwright in London sitting in a tea shop half overhearing a conversation that could mean drastic consequences for those involved is off to get the police to solve it before it happens. Neither party sees the other, and he has to figure out a way to track them down and stop the crime. Scotland Yard is not interested in him, until he tells his story to Anthony Gethryn, who has long felt that the police should be more concerned with pre¬venting than with solving crimes. Can they prevent this crime, when there's virtually nothing to go on? When the criminals get wise and turn the tables they realize that whenever they get a lead, a cruel and resourceful opponent breaks it off. protagonist gets attacked, sleuth Gethryn tells him to calm down, he rushes off...put on and gets attacked in other attempts to solve the crime.
The movie was probably better in this case because it really got to the natty gritty and made the story more like an Alfred Hitchcock movie but the book was more then enjoyable!
The movie was probably better in this case because it really got to the natty gritty and made the story more like an Alfred Hitchcock movie but the book was more then enjoyable!
December 31, 2007
How to go wrong with your mystery novel--start w/a great idea for a plot (a man overhears two women plotting a crime in a tea shop, but neither party sees the other, and he has to figure out a way to track them down and stop the crime), have your protagonist get ahead of the villains (a thrilling feeling for the reader, as we and the protagonist are one step of the criminals, and they don't know it!) and then ruin everything by running out of plot. Aargh! This book was ripping, until MacDonald boxes himself into a corner (although much later in the novel than one would expect). When the criminals get wise and turn the tables, the story gets stuck until rushing headlong into an improbable conclusion (that frankly should have happened much earlier if it was to happen at all--the kidnapping comes at page 300?!?). And what is up with the writing? Sometimes it's fantastic--sly and underwritten with the reader left to figure out the characters' relationships. At other times it's more leaden than a Dean Koontz novel (along the same lines, what is the idea with repeatedly ending sections with the time?--e.g. "The time was 11:36." Was this a novel idea at the time? Now it reads as tacky and inconsistent. Why some sections and not others?) Anyways, the recipe gets worse--add a dash of a tedious love interest (the unfortunately-named Avis Bellingham) who does nothing but dither, heap spoonfuls of stock reactions (protagonist gets attacked, sleuth Gethryn tells him to calm down, he rushes off...put on repeat) and you've got one fantastic mess. And a very annoying mess, because things started so well. The bottom line--skip this one (if one can find it) and go for The Rasp, or, if one likes improbable mysteries about characters getting backed into a corner as they try to solve a mystery, try a Patricia Carlon novel.
January 26, 2014
An American in London hears what he believes is a plot to kidnap a child. All he has to show for this is his gut feeling, a glove, and a list. After being dismissed from various places up to Scotland Yard a friend brings him to Gethryn! And Gethyrn listens.
The mystery here is how to prevent a crime. And following the path of each tiny tiny shred of evidence provides a hair-raising and many times frustrating search for the criminals and the victim that he is targeting.
The beginning of the books feels a bit long winded but stay with the story. As soon as Gethyrn is involved things start to happen. The extreme attention to examining and following leads is amazing and feels very real,... considering when this book was written and how today we follow clues with more gadgets- it shows that one regardless must look at everything with an astute mind.
There is also a bit of a romance in this story as well.
The mystery here is how to prevent a crime. And following the path of each tiny tiny shred of evidence provides a hair-raising and many times frustrating search for the criminals and the victim that he is targeting.
The beginning of the books feels a bit long winded but stay with the story. As soon as Gethyrn is involved things start to happen. The extreme attention to examining and following leads is amazing and feels very real,... considering when this book was written and how today we follow clues with more gadgets- it shows that one regardless must look at everything with an astute mind.
There is also a bit of a romance in this story as well.
January 18, 2015
This thriller is filled with glints and sidelights redolent of a writer whose world view is clearly informed by that of his grandfather, George MacDonald. I assume he is very much like his hero, Colonel Gethryn -- witty and humane. In this tale he pursues a potential kidnapper on the slenderest of clues. Often riveting, if a bit verbose, and with too much persiflage in the denouement.
January 11, 2020
A 3.5 star book really, it plods on for a long time and I really had to keep at it to get to the conclusion.
Clever ideas and very well written but could have been a whole lot more savy and concise to be honest I got bored!
A fine read but not a great read!
Clever ideas and very well written but could have been a whole lot more savy and concise to be honest I got bored!
A fine read but not a great read!
February 11, 2019
3 1/2 stars.
January 11, 2021
An American is sitting in a dim tea shop in London, when he overhears two women in the booth next to him. A woman with a rough voice is trying to convince a woman with a young voice to do something... or else "Evans" will be displeased. It seems that this involves a child and a man, and our hero doesn't like the sound of it. His efforts to follow the two women miscarries, and Scotland Yard is not interested in his tale of a potential crime-to-be. But Colonel Gethryn, suave supersleuth with many connections, believes there is something to it. With the help of a glove, a bus ticket and a shopping list, left behind in the tea-shop, Anthony Gethryn and his friends painstakingly identify one of the women... the day after she seems to have vanished from her job and her home. One clue leads to another, but unfortunately also to several murders, as the mysterious "Evans" seems to be eliminating all his accomplices one by one. What child is the target of his nefarious plans?
A good-paced thriller that has aged reasonably well.
A good-paced thriller that has aged reasonably well.
July 27, 2010
I've been hearing about Philip (not be confused with John D.) MacDonald for years, but this is the first one of his mysteries I've stumbled across. And, may I say. . .halleluiah.
It's not just the great twist on the genre---a murder hasn't BEEN committed, but if super-sleuth Anthony Gethryn doesn't get his butt in gear it's GOING TO BE---and it's not just the great characterizations---everyone from hapless protagonist to the perpetrators themselves are drawn sharply, intelligently, and uniquely.
It's that fact that wild horses couldn't drag me away from a mystery that starts on a conversation about a book, overheard in a bathroom.
Oh, yeah. And the protagonist's love interest is named after the town where I went to high school.
Or vice versa.
It's not just the great twist on the genre---a murder hasn't BEEN committed, but if super-sleuth Anthony Gethryn doesn't get his butt in gear it's GOING TO BE---and it's not just the great characterizations---everyone from hapless protagonist to the perpetrators themselves are drawn sharply, intelligently, and uniquely.
It's that fact that wild horses couldn't drag me away from a mystery that starts on a conversation about a book, overheard in a bathroom.
Oh, yeah. And the protagonist's love interest is named after the town where I went to high school.
Or vice versa.
Read
September 29, 2020starting in and its descriptions of the long and somewhat arbitrary string of events which lead to an inciting incident is hypnotic in prose, driving along as incessantly as fate or change or whatever you may have.
look this is an exercise in excessive descriptions of simple events. Dickens wishes he could come up with this many words to describe a man springing into action, a woman sitting and staring at a clock. but the prose is amusing, evocative, and not until the halfway point or so - when you're invested in the methodology - does the repetitive nature kick in.
look this is an exercise in excessive descriptions of simple events. Dickens wishes he could come up with this many words to describe a man springing into action, a woman sitting and staring at a clock. but the prose is amusing, evocative, and not until the halfway point or so - when you're invested in the methodology - does the repetitive nature kick in.
February 22, 2018
Philip MacDonald was a British writer of popular fiction. He wrote a series of mysteries about a sleuth named Anthony Gethryn. Warrant for X, published in 1938, was the eleventh book in the series. This is the first one that I have read.
Gethryn was an amateur detective, with strong connections to the London police. The first book in the series, The Rasp, was published in 1924; Warrant for X was the next to last one. In 1959, MacDonald published the twelfth and last book of the series, The List of Adrian Messenger.
The title Warrant for X is a reference to the fact that Gethryn and the police have almost no clues to the identities of the people involved in what they believe is the upcoming kidnapping of a child. An American playwright, in London for the launch of his new play, overhears two women talking and believes that they were discussing that impending crime. However, he only sees them from the back.
When the police dismiss the playwright's suspicions, he turns to Gethryn for help. The rest of the book is about the difficult task of ascertaining who is to be kidnapped and who the plotters are.
This is quite well written and certainly held my interest. The book is now almost eighty years old and some of the references may be obscure. For example:
[The playwright is speaking first.]
"It doesn't necessarily mean a thing."
Anthony grinned, "Because it ain't got that swing."
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills.
I have always found it annoying when non-official characters in a mystery decide that they need to solve the case themselves. There is often no good reason given to explain why they do this. In Warrant for X, the playwright has an excellent and believable reason for wanting to be actively involved.
There is a rather silly subplot about a romance between the playwright and another character. That can pretty much just be ignored.
I need to add that I didn't read this book in any of the editions listed, but rather as a part of a Philip MacDonald omnibus volume, Triple Jeopardy.
Gethryn was an amateur detective, with strong connections to the London police. The first book in the series, The Rasp, was published in 1924; Warrant for X was the next to last one. In 1959, MacDonald published the twelfth and last book of the series, The List of Adrian Messenger.
The title Warrant for X is a reference to the fact that Gethryn and the police have almost no clues to the identities of the people involved in what they believe is the upcoming kidnapping of a child. An American playwright, in London for the launch of his new play, overhears two women talking and believes that they were discussing that impending crime. However, he only sees them from the back.
When the police dismiss the playwright's suspicions, he turns to Gethryn for help. The rest of the book is about the difficult task of ascertaining who is to be kidnapped and who the plotters are.
This is quite well written and certainly held my interest. The book is now almost eighty years old and some of the references may be obscure. For example:
[The playwright is speaking first.]
"It doesn't necessarily mean a thing."
Anthony grinned, "Because it ain't got that swing."
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills.
I have always found it annoying when non-official characters in a mystery decide that they need to solve the case themselves. There is often no good reason given to explain why they do this. In Warrant for X, the playwright has an excellent and believable reason for wanting to be actively involved.
There is a rather silly subplot about a romance between the playwright and another character. That can pretty much just be ignored.
I need to add that I didn't read this book in any of the editions listed, but rather as a part of a Philip MacDonald omnibus volume, Triple Jeopardy.
January 29, 2018
Bizarre "Gethryn" novel redolent with plot twists, chases, attempted murder in all sorts of circumstances. Breathless in its celebration of cutting edge technology and tradecraft in the mid 1930's, MacDonald reads as wonderful historical fiction. His handling of Scotland Yard is completely unbelievable, but his characters are insouciant and brisk. A good read when your attention is divided.
May 19, 2020
I read this novel based on a Top 10 article. While I can't remember the title of the article, I'm happy to have followed the suggestion.
My only complaint is it is rough keeping all of the characters straight, especially in action scenes.
My only complaint is it is rough keeping all of the characters straight, especially in action scenes.
watched-not-read
August 26, 202223 Paces to Baker Street (1956)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048919/...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048919/...
Want to read
September 10, 202223 Paces to Baker Street (1956)
October 26, 2023
My first MacDonald. More here: https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpr...
November 4, 2021
I had a hard time getting past the labored, archaic writing style. I didn't care much about the characters or the mystery.
October 5, 2023
The butler did it!
In Philip MacDonald's world, the butler just may have done it. I was watching the movie "23 Paces to Baker Street" (1956), about a blind man (Van Johnson) overhearing a kidnap and murder plot. The film credits said that this film was based on a story by Philip MacDonald. The story turns out to be “Warrant for X.” Originally named “The Nursemaid Who Disappeared.”
With a few differences, the story was paralleling the film. Then I recognized the name of Anthony Gethryn. It turns out that this book is part of a series that includes Colonel Gethryn. I have even seen another movie with Colonel Gethryn in it that was different from 23 Paces to Baker Street but matched the book to a tee. “The List of Adrian Messenger” (1963) where George C. Scott plays Anthony Gethryn.
Naturally, the book is more complex than the movie. And just in case you come in the middle of the series as I did; there are sufficient references to earlier novels to keep you from getting lost. The mystery will keep you and the edge of your seat and just as you think they have a handle on "the who, what, and why," they are off and running again.
In Philip MacDonald's world, the butler just may have done it. I was watching the movie "23 Paces to Baker Street" (1956), about a blind man (Van Johnson) overhearing a kidnap and murder plot. The film credits said that this film was based on a story by Philip MacDonald. The story turns out to be “Warrant for X.” Originally named “The Nursemaid Who Disappeared.”
With a few differences, the story was paralleling the film. Then I recognized the name of Anthony Gethryn. It turns out that this book is part of a series that includes Colonel Gethryn. I have even seen another movie with Colonel Gethryn in it that was different from 23 Paces to Baker Street but matched the book to a tee. “The List of Adrian Messenger” (1963) where George C. Scott plays Anthony Gethryn.
Naturally, the book is more complex than the movie. And just in case you come in the middle of the series as I did; there are sufficient references to earlier novels to keep you from getting lost. The mystery will keep you and the edge of your seat and just as you think they have a handle on "the who, what, and why," they are off and running again.
March 16, 2016
Visiting American Sheldon Garrett is passing a dull Sunday afternoon in a teashop when he overhears a sinister conversation between two women. He can tell they're contemplating a crime, but not who the victims are to be. Nor has he caught a glimpse of their faces. Scotland Yard is not interested in him, until he tells his story to Anthony Gethryn, who has long felt that the police should be more concerned with preventing than with solving crimes. But can they prevent this crime, when there's virtually nothing to go on? Soon they realize that whenever they get a lead, a brutal and efficient enemy snaps it off.
January 30, 2017
A beautifully written mystery about an American playwright in 1930s London who over hears two women plotting a crime but never sees their faces. He is driven to stop the crime and discover who these women are.
March 17, 2013
Great cinematic, melodramatic, classic mystery novel. Not a whodunit--a who's-gonna-do-what?
November 17, 2018
read some time in 1984
June 2, 2019
Fast-paced charm.
August 22, 2019
What a badly written novel. The poor German translation makes it even worse.
Want to read
January 8, 2019Synopsis: an American tourist in London overhears a kidnapping plot but the police aren't interested. Colonel Gethryn is. A Hitchcock movie.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews