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Desmond Merrion #52
Death in a Duffle Coat
Two old ladies, Miss Price and Miss Marsland, lived together in the Lodge Cottage. Old Miss Price’s death looked like a tragic she must have slipped and fallen in the icy yard of the cottage when, wearing a duffle coat against the cold, she went to fetch a bucket of coal. But it transpired that Miss Price had been murdered. Indeed, the cottage was empty, for Miss Marsland too had mysteriously disappeared, though in her case no body was found. Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold soon find themselves involved in a case of great complexity. There are more murders and some strange discoveries, inexplicable and macabre. Merrion slowly moves towards a solution, impeded and baffled, as we believe the reader will be too, by the prevalent fashion for wearing duffle coats. Miles Burton has excelled himself in this most ingenious and exciting detective story.
- GenresMystery
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1956
About the author
Miles Burton
96 books26 followersAKA John Rhode, Cecil Waye, Cecil J.C. Street, I.O., F.O.O..
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 17, 2025
The plot of this 1950s crime novels is very convoluted. Who would have thought that every person who was a possible suspect owned and frequently wore a duffle coat! I can't be certain but I suspect there were a few howlers in terms of the description of police procedure in the book. Leaving the bodies of murder victims unguarded in an empty cottage rather than removing them to the safety of a morgue is the most obvious example but there were several others.
Not one of the best in the Merrion series.
Not one of the best in the Merrion series.
May 27, 2022
"Death in a Duffle Coat" made a promising and interesting start but it tailed off somewhat as Desmond Merrion attempted to tie up the loose ends. Not one of Miles Burton finest efforts.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews