The Three Taps

Miles Bredon #1

by Ronald Knox

In a gas-lit inn in the countryside a man lies dead. The police, of course, investigate - and so do Miles Bredon and his wife, in the interests of the Indescribable Insurance Company, with which the deceased man, Mr Mottram, had been heavily insured.
The culprit is the three gas taps in Mr Mottram's room, and Miles hopes to prove that his death is suicide. Miles' old wartime colleague, Police Inspector Leyland, is convinced it's murder. And the conclusion is as ingenious as it is surprising.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, 20th Century

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Monsignor 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.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read "The Knox Brothers," by Penelope Fitzgerald and, as a lover of Golden Age detective fiction, I was keen to read something by Ronald Knox. Published in 1927, this is the first mystery featuring Miles Bredon and his wife, Angela. Miles is a detective at an insurance company and is called in to investigate the sudden death of a man who recently changed his will.

This is a light hearted mystery, with a lot of humour and it is good to see Angela, Miles wife, being very much a partner in the investigation. It is also interesting that the author, a cleric, includes a number of interesting themes and this is more involved than other mysteries of the period. Not really a whodunnit, but there is a real sense of whether the death was actually murder, or possibly suicide.

The police are represented by Police Inspector Leyland who, as so often in books from this period, knew Miles during the war. This enables them to work together and share information. Overall, a very intersting mystery and I look forward to reading more in the series.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Three Taps is a mystery that follows an insurance investigator, Miles Bredon, investigating a rich man's death in small town. If it's suicide like he suspects, the company won't have to pay on his large policy, but if it's murder like the lead police detective thinks, the company will have to make a huge payout. Overall, this "detective story without a moral" was a fun, twisty tangle to wrap my head around. I loved the Sherlock Holmes references and Bredon's relationship with Angela. I couldn't help having visions of Double Indemnity meets the old time radio show Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (10 points to Hufflepuff if you've ever heard that one)! I'm glad I picked this up at that yard sale last summer and decided to try this 90 year old novel for Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge. I really hope I can find the other books in Ronald Knox's Miles Bredon series.

[Susan in NC · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, an “okay plus” for me! I loved the humor of the first few pages, and the relationship between Miles Bredon and his wife. He’s a private investigator for a huge company, Indescribable Insurance, and she acts as his Watson. She’s funnier and apparently smarter.

I definitely appreciated the snark in the first few pages aimed at the insurance agency’s London office building, the description of the over-the-top, lavish business premises, and “the American mode” of conducting business. We learn right away that suicide invalidates a life insurance policy, and in a suspicious case, Miles investigates. A client with a big policy is found dead in a country inn, apparently from a gas leak, and Miles is dispatched to determine the circumstances. Coincidentally an old Army chum is the Scotland Yard investigator (Leyland), and the two decide to pool information.

I listened to the Audible as I read, which brought several of the characters to life for me, especially Miles’ wife and a rather pompous elderly schoolmaster who happens to be staying at the inn. The voice of Leyland, however, began to grate on me, and it seemed to drag on in the last half; I felt like the humor still popped up, but there wasn’t really any investigation going on - just the two men chatting, raking over their ideas, and even betting on the outcome of suicide vs. murder. No spoilers, but I skimmed the last quarter to get to the solution- it seemed all Miles’ surmise and theory, not necessarily facts. And we’re not really privy to how he figured all of this out, so I didn’t really consider it fair play or mystery. The promising humor and wit of the beginning just sort of fizzled out for me, and it became tedious.

Read for the Reading the Detectives Group “Detection Club Challenge” March read.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. Lighthearted. Amusing.

Miles Bredon is an insurance investigator. Takes his wife with him on the job. Investigating whether a death was suicide, accident or foul play. Meets his friend, police investigator Langley (?). They make a friendly wager on foul play vs. suicide. They discover fairly early on that someone is eavesdropping on them.

I was quite confused on the three taps - I think because I have never seen any taps for gas. So I wasn't too sure about it. But it was an interesting story.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I did find it entertaining. The mystery is a case of whether the death of a very wealthy man is a murder or suicide. If it is indeed a murder, then who is the murderer? A Mr Mottram, had taken out an insurance policy, on the understanding that if he died before reaching the age of 65, a hefty sum of money would be paid out to a designated person. He had named a nephew of his as the recipient of this money if it came to be paid, the nephew being his next of kin. However Mottram and his nephew have had disagreements, and therefore Mottram decides to make it clear that that the money due, is to be left to someone else. When we meet him he is at the insurance company explaining that he is rapidly nearing the age 65, but that he has been told by a medical specialist, that he has only a short time left to live. Inevitably, the next we hear of him is that he has been found dead in his bed, quite close to where the nephew lives. This is where we meet Miles Bredon and his wife Angela, as Bredon works for the insurance company in the role of deciding if a death is suicide or by some other means. Bredon and his wife immediately set off for the inn where the death has occurred. On arriving there they find that the police officer who has been called in the investigate is a man Bredon knows well and so the pair decide to cooperate in the investigation.
I quite liked Bredon, but I liked his wife more. They have a very good relationship, him supposedly having all the clever ideas, and her being the aid. I say supposedly, as she has some very clever ideas of her own, she is also the one who is able to talk to people more easily than him.
I will definitely look out for more books in this series, as this a light- hearted couple of sleuths who kept me entertained.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles Bredon is an investigator for an insurance company, and is asked to look into the sudden death of a client, Mr Mottram, who has recently changed his will. He had approached the company saying he was terminally ill and asking to buy out his policy, so suicide is suspected and that would invalidate the policy. Miles and his wife Angela head for the village inn where the body was found.

This was quite a complex puzzle, with some surprisingly light hearted dialogue as Angela works her charm on the suspects and Miles discusses the case with the police officer Leyland (an old friend from the War). Various theories are introduced, and then discarded as a flaw is found, until Miles finally puts everything together.

An enjoyable mystery with some excellent characters and Knox (himself a man of the cloth) introduces an amusing religious element to the story that helps complicate things further. 3.5* for me, it would have been 4* with a snappier conclusion.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is entirely appropriate that a man who was ordained priest twice, firstly as an Anglican and finally in the Roman Catholic Church, should have written the Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction.

Ronald Knox was famously witty, charming and urbane and this, the first of his Miles Bredon novels, is very nicely written and has, I believe, aged well, rather as Knox himself did.

Bredon is a detective sui generis. He is employed exclusively by the Indescribable Insurance Company to investigate dubious claims.

Here, a half-a-million pound payout, on a wonderfully-named Euthanasia policy, depends on whether or not Jephthah Mottram's death came about by suicide.

In tandem with his wife, Angela, and Inspector Leyland of Scotland Yard, Bredon works out the solution which centres on three gas taps!

Highly recommended,

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the wife of the detective, but otherwise too long and an odd ending.

[Bruce Beckham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyably quaint locked-room whodunit dating from 1927. It concerns the death at a provincial inn of a wealthy industrialist, and the friendly contest to solve the ‘crime’ between amateur sleuth and protagonist Miles Bredon and his old army acquaintance, now Inspector Leyland of Scotland Yard.

I discovered Ronald Knox whilst reading about Agatha Christie. It seems both were members of the Golden Age ‘Detection Club’, and Knox the author of its ‘ten commandments’ of detective fiction:

1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.
2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.
5. No Chinaman must figure in the story.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
7. The detective himself must not commit the crime.
8. The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.
9. The "sidekick" of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.
10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Anyone familiar with Agatha Christie’s novels will know she broke these rules liberally, and I can’t say that Knox exactly plays fair in The Three Taps. Indeed, like Christie, he employs what I think of as ‘improbable intricacies’ (aka ‘cheats’) when it comes to the unravelling of the mechanics of the mystery.

Nevertheless, it is a good period piece, pleasantly free of gratuitous anything, and I shall proceed in due course to the next in the series.

[Julie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

On one hand, this is a locked room mystery. I hate locked room mysteries.

On the other hand, this is filled with funny remarks, interesting characters, and Ronald Knox's own particular charm.

So I easily ignored the mystery and read for everything else. It was entertaining.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Father Knox is renowned for penning down the ten commandments of crime fiction. But his own writings, laced with wit and colour, had become hard to find. Thanks to this new line of yellowbacks reviving 'classic crime fiction', Knox's first novel featuring his investigator Miles Brendon, superceded by his wife Angela in all aspects, has become available.
It’s a locked-room mystery, with red-herrings and suspicious characters abounding the village-inn where death had occurred. But the mystery was less about 'who-done-it' or even 'how-done-it'. The question vexing our protagonists was~ was it a suicide, or murder?
Thus we had a novel, where characters are more colourful than the countryside, plot is simultaneously linear and labyrinthine, and language (especially of Angela) is more attractive than even the corpse or motive.
And the solution was staggeringly brilliant.
What are you waiting for, then? Go read the book and appreciate the humour of the author, while trying to solve the case before Miles.
Highly recommended.

[Flex and Herds from Death of the Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming in at 7th place for our 2019 rankings, this story is perhaps the most quietly comedic murder mystery novel I have ever read. Ronald Knox’s tongue in cheek approach to storytelling and the absurdism with which he approaches the tale really worked well for me, as murder mystery is often bogged down in the grittiness of the crime, but this is the sort of novel where you wouldn’t be surprised to find the crime committed with a gymnastics routine performed outside the third-storey-window with a fishing pole. Our older Detective Miles Bredon is thrust into the wild unknown with his lovely wife Angela, who definitively proves that the Watson can be more competent than the Sherlock. This relationship a little atypical and we see that not only is Angela a genuinely strong female character, a standout achievement for a novel written in the early 20th century, she plays opposite Miles in his efforts to solve the crime, with his book smarts complimented by her wisdom and her street smarts. After setting off to the middle of nowhere together to prove whether the death of one Jephthah Mottram was murder or suicide, much of the novel is spent exploring Angela and Miles’ dynamic, and the novel is all the better for it. With Miles’ employers expecting him to solve the crime and determine the direction of a massive insurance payout on Mottram’s behalf, the stage is set for a whimsical and gripping tale, on which the reader is asked to take a ride in the back of Bredon’s motor car to the British countryside.

Along for that ride with us in this novel is Knox’s ten commandments of crime fiction, rules for the genre he made in the same tongue-in-cheek tone as the novel, and I could tell while flipping through these pages that Knox wasn’t swaying from that mood. It starts on the very first page, with the description of the Indescribable, the insurance company which serves both to set the tone, and to frame the entire stakes of the story. It is said that the clients of the Indescribable would cry “thank god” when plunged into mortal danger, and would clutch a life preserver praying for more minutes to tick up before rescue and a juicy payout. The building itself is impossibly vast and compared directly to the magnificence of an Egyptian tomb, and its employees never seem to be doing any work. It’s never quite clear as to how the business functions, and it doesn’t need to. The physical space of the company excellently sets our expectations for just how ludicrous the role they serve is. Our victim, Mr Mottram has taken out the extraordinarily premium ‘Euthanasia policy’ with the Indescribable, but when Mottram is found deceased in his own room of the inn ‘The Load Of Mischief’, the company doubts the authenticity of his murder, setting the challenge to the reader and our detective Bredan to prove whether this was a suicide, and if his benefactors will get their share.

Veterans of the crime fiction fiction genre will be familiar with Knox’s Decalogue, the ten commandments of crime fiction, rules of the genre that Knox outlined in parody of the Christian Ten Commandments, ensuring no twist gets too twisty. A well-respected member of the Catholic Church, friend of the British Prime Minister and co-conspirator of many authors including C.S. Lewis and Agatha Christie, Knox’s influence on culture remains significant but quiet, but it was a pleasure getting to explore his hobby of writing Detective Novels. Beginning with The Viaduct Murder in 1925 and hitting his stride with the Three Taps, Knox was primarily concerned with the concept of fair play in his stories, and his ten commandments really shine in this novel. Knox made sure this is a story you can solve, and he lays out the clues regularly and helpfully in order to give you a chance to figure out who, how, and whydunnit. The church may have eventually banned him from writing crime fiction, as it was ‘unseemly’ for a priest to write about the grizzly act of murder, but what we did get is entertaining, clever, and The Three Taps is an excellent place to start.

With quite the selection of potential culprits here, all members of the cast are colourful, from the old fisherman Pultney who’s a bit of a charmer to Mr Brinkman, Mottram’s nervous secretary, to Bredon’s old friend and rival Officer Leyland, they all have their various parts to play. There is not a single page wasted here, and you can tell that Knox respects his readers time.

This novel serves as an excellent starting point into murder mysteries as something whimsical and light, and on the other side of the coin I think that readers already familiar with Knox’s rules would enjoy puzzling this one out using those guidelines, in particular seeing the origin of these rules and how Knox would put them into practice. The story also serves as a fantastic story to real along with a friend, as the competing egos of our investigators guide your mind from theory to theory until the last second.

This novel gets 3 out of 3 gas taps, for firstly hitting the funny bone, second delivering a fantastic cast of characters, and third for staying true to the ten commandments of Knox which you can check out on Death of the Reader!

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat different approach to the mystery genre, with a police detective pitted against an insurance investigator (albeit in a friendly, cooperative competition) to discover if a man was murdered or committed suicide. I enjoyed the characters, but the book felt a bit plodding, and the mystery was one the reader couldn't really figure out, as crucial facts were provided within the last few chapters. A so-so book.

[Carolien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very complicated plot with multiple suspects and motives and an interesting cast of characters. A man is found dead in a locked room due to a gas leak. But was it murder or suicide? This was my first read of the author and I will read others in the series as I enjoyed it overall.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald Knox has written some fun detective stories, including this one.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Three Taps is the first (of five) books to feature insurance investigator Miles Breedon and his wife Angela. The story begins with a wealthy businessman claiming that he has recently been diagnosed as being terminally ill and trying, unsuccessfully, to persuade the Indescribable Insurance company to cancel his 'euthanasia policy' and return half his premiums. This policy allows for a large payout if the holder dies before the age of sixty five or a substantial annuity for life if he lives beyond this birthday.

When the individual concerned is found dead in a country pub within weeks of this interview Miles Breedon is sent to investigate as a suicide would render the policy null and void and hence save the company a large sum of money. The lighting, as well as heating, is powered by acetylene (ethyne) gas and each room has multiple taps controlling the supply. As the gas is toxic, allowing it to flow without being ignited would have fatal consequences.

Miles and his wife arrive to find the police, in the shape of Inspector Leyland, an old associate of Breedon's, already on the scene and treating the case as one of murder. Ronald Knox plays with the conventions of the locked room mystery by providing us with evidence that it must have been suicide as the door to the room was locked from the inside and yet it also must have been murder as there is an unexplained fingerprint on the gas tap suggesting that a third party was present in the room.

With his characteristic wit and loquacity Knox provides an entertaining and thought provoking mystery which is only solved after a flash of inspiration by Breedon at the end even though the clues are all there for the reader to follow.

The story is made more entertaining as Breedon and Leyland have a bet on the outcome which is constantly being doubled as each man gains evidence which seem to favour his favourite theory.

Ronald Knox wrote widely on many subjects and, despite his being in the Detection Club, his crime novels form only a small part of his prolific output. The quality of his prose is a delight and he has produced a story here which is both unconventional and entertaining. His dialogue is beautifully written and he conjures up images of the people and places of the 1920s with ease. It is incredibly easy to picture the scene as Breedon and Leyland sneak off to discuss the latest developments or Mr and Mrs Breedon drive off to meet the bishop. Knox was ordained as a priest in first the Anglican Communion and later in the Roman Catholic Church and his ecclesiastical characters are always enormous fun, the bishop and his entourage in this story being particular favourites.

In short this is a novel to be savoured, it effortlessly transports the reader into its setting and lets us share Breedon and Leyland's thoughts as they solve the mystery of the Three Taps.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father Knox was a prominent figure among Golden Age writers, and this book does not disappoint, although the mechanisms are a little obscure in an age of all but universal electricity in the Western world. Miles Bredon, insurance company investigator, and his charming wife visit an obscure village where a wealthy man has died. If it was suicide, as Bredon firmly believes, the company does not have to pay on a large policy. If it was murder, as the policeman in charge believes, the policy will yield someone a lot of money. The problem is that the facts point to--and away from--both those possibilities.

[Klaus Mattes · Rating 2 out of 5]

1920-er Jahre in einem kleinen Ort in Mittelengland; Genre: Kriminalroman.

Inzwischen liegt da ziemlich Staub drauf, würde ich meinen. Klassischer englischer Kriminalroman, in dem es um die Frage geht, ob ein wegen einer Gasvergiftung in seinem Urlaub in einem Gasthof gestorbener sehr reicher Mann Opfer eines Unfalls war, ermordet wurde oder das Ganze selbst inszeniert hat.

Wenn sich die Umstände gegen Ende hin auch etwas verschieben und auflockern, haben wir es mit dem klassischen englischen Landhaus- und Closed-Room-Mystery zu tun. Der reiche Mann, Arbeitgeber und Wohltäter einer nicht weit entfernten Industriestadt, der kürzlich sein Testament geändert und von seiner Lebensversicherung eine Auflösung des Vertrags verlangt hatte, war in Begleitung seines Sekretärs für ein paar Tage zum Angeln gefahren und hatte für den nächsten Morgen den katholischen Bischof der Gegend herbeizitiert, um eine wichtige Eröffnung zu machen. Man kann sich fragen, wieso man mit dem Sekretär Urlaub macht, aber für die Beantwortung dieser Frage müsste man erst noch wissen, welche wichtige Eröffnung hier nicht mehr geschehen konnte, weil der Mann, nach Einnahme eines Schlafmittels, an Leuchtgas starb, welches er selbst offenbar auf, aber nicht mehr abgedreht hatte. Allerdings konnte der Bischof sowieso nicht mehr kommen, er war verhindert, wollte am anderen Morgen telegrafisch absagen.

Ermittelt wird von zwei Seiten. Polizeiinspektor Leyland will einen Mordfall erkennen, Versicherungsdetektiv Bredon würde der Suizid zusagen. Mottram, der Tote, hatte vor einigen Monaten der Versicherung eröffnet, er leide unter einer unheilbaren Krankheit, die unwahrscheinlich mache, dass er den 65. Geburtstag und die Auszahlung einer halben Million je noch selbst erleben könne. Mit seinem nächsten Verwandten, dem am Ort des Geschehens wirkenden Lebensmittelhändler, sei er zerstritten, der brauche das nicht zu erben. Der große Rest des Reichtums ginge sowieso in gute Werke ein. Er verlangte Vertragsauflösung sowie Rückerstattung der Hälfte sämtlicher Beiträge. Darauf ging Bredons Arbeitgeber nicht ein. Im Fall des Mords würde der Neffe erben, es sei denn, ihm kann der Mord nachgewiesen werden. Im Fall von Selbsttötung kann die Versicherung ihr Geld behalten.

Unabhängig davon sagt Bredons inneres Gefühl, Mottram hat da was manipuliert. So hat er sich schon am Abend seiner Ankunft ins Gästebuch eingeschrieben, das Abreisedatum dabei weggelassen.

Geschlossen ist der Schauplatz, weil die Leiche in einem zugeschlossenen Zimmer gefunden wird, aus dem Gas strömt. Nach Aufbrechen der Türe findet der Schlüssel sich an der Innenseite steckend. Aber der Mann ist tot und der Gashahn zugedreht. Das Fenster steht einen Spalt weit offen. Eine ziemlich abgeschlossene Gesellschaft sind die Verdächtigen. Unsympathisch und merkwürdig unausgeglichen wirkt der Sekretär, der, obwohl er immer noch könnte, den Schauplatz keineswegs verlassen will, aber zu tun hat er nichts mehr. Dann natürlich der Neffe mit seinem Laden, von dem unbekannt ist, ob er über die Entwicklungen in Sachen Legat informiert wurde oder nicht. Hingegen steht sicher fest, dass der junge Mann das Dienstmädchen des Gasthofs heiraten will, eine Person, die oft an Türen zu lauschen scheint. Dann wäre da noch die Frage, wer unter einem falschen Namen einen Leserbrief verschickt hat, in dem Mottram die Ausbeutung seiner Arbeiter und sein Paktieren mit der katholischen Kirche vorgeworfen wurden. Und noch ein Angler wäre da, ein pensionierter Lehrer, der sich als harmloser Witzbold geriert, an den entscheidenden Stellen allerdings oft einen kleinen Hinweis in petto hat.

Das Buch erinnert ein wenig an Josephine Teys „To Love and Be Wise“ (letzter deutscher Titel: „Wie ein Hauch im Wind“), wo sich die Großstädter auch an einem teilweise nicht ungefährlichen englischen Flüsschen versammeln und man längere Zeit nicht weiß, ob der Mord wirklich ein Mord war. Auch brachte Knox immerhin das Geschick ein, mit der Figur von Bredons Frau Angela, die gut aufgelegte Ironikerin ins Spiel zu bringen, die ihren trockenen, weitschweifigen Gatten auf den Arm nimmt, sich als „ahnungsloser Watson“ anbietend, dabei zu ihrer eigenen Überraschung für Geistesblitze sorgt.

Dennoch: Knox hat die Gefahr erkannt, sie aber nicht gemeistert. (Wie er dann Angela auch keinen substantiellen Anteil bei der Rätsellösung erlaubt.) Sein Roman folgt jener, zur Zeit des Entstehens alles andere als unüblichen Manier englischer Erzähler, fast keine Kapitelgrenzen einzuziehen, scheinbar endlos weiter „erklärend“ zu schreiben. Das bedeutet riesengroße Absätze ohne Aktion wie auch ohne Dialog. Wenn die Dialoge kommen, sind es fast immer diese zwei Herren, Bredon und Leyland, die ihre unterschiedlichen Hypothesen über den Ablauf der Ereignisse seitenlang ausbreiten. Beobachtungen, die der Leser vorher selbst hatte machen können.

Es ist jene Schule des Krimis, wo Autoren sich dabei gefallen, dass sie (nicht gerade lebensnahe) Plots so aufzäumen können, dass man, als Unbeteiligter und aus der Rückschau heraus, sie mal so, mal anders, dann noch mal anders zu Geschichten drehen kann. Als zum Schluss die wahre endlich erzählt wird, muss man Bredon einfach abnehmen, dass er sie innerhalb eines einzigen Augenblicks auf Grund eines kleinen Zufalls vor sich hat aufleuchten sehen. Was er erzählt, klingt in Nichts glaubhafter als alles davor, soll aber genau so gewesen sein.

Alles in allem kommt ein mühselig zu lesendes, langweiliges, nicht sonderlich aufregendes Buch heraus. Das Meiste wird zu breit ausgewalzt und zu oft rekapituliert von zwei Meistern, die im Übrigen immer gewagtere Wetten auf ihre Theorien abschließen. Schaut man sich in Goodreads unter den Reviews um, wird man finden, dass etliche User dasselbe sagen, dann jedoch drei oder vier Sterne vergeben. Ich finde, bei Unterhaltungsbüchern, die Jahrzehnte als „klassisch“ empfunden worden sind, muss man nicht aus Gründen des Respekts vor der klaren Vorabinformation zurückschrecken. Ich habe nur zwei Sterne übrig.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘[...] I say, we must be getting down to dinner; attract suspicion, what, if we’re found nosing round up here too long? All right, Leyland, I won’t spoil your sport. What about having a fiver on it–suicide or murder?’
‘I don’t mind if I do. What about telling one another how we get on?’
‘Let’s be quite free about that. But each side shall keep notes of the case from day to day, putting down his suspicions and his reasons for them, and we’ll compare notes afterwards. Ah, is that Mrs Davis? All right, we’re just coming.’
(Ronald Knox, The Three Taps, p.-- [ebook])

Warning for suicide, not because it’s necessarily the solution but because it’s explored a great deal.

First two chapter are incredibly wordy and tell you very little, but are a fine bit of set dressing and the rest of the book isn't nearly as verbose so don't let them put you off.

Both detective characters are good-nature and have delicious banter, and have wonderfully enjoyable chemistry between them, and the lead detective has a fun relationship with the policeman on the case. They've even got a fun set-up of an ongoing bet, where the detective suspects suicide and the cop is expecting a murder, and there are enough clues proving and – more importantly – disproving one or the other that you really wont have a clue who’s right until the very last chapter.

The wife also has a delightful sense of humor and she and her husband’s scenes are playful and filled with quick banter and teasing.

It also feels like the perfect kind of mystery to try and solve yourself, since both sides are being argued by the characters in such a way that it doesn’t feel like there are any concealed or ‘reader only’ clues.


CHARACTERS:
I had a great time with these characters. Not even just the detective, his wife, and the policeman, but the suspects as well.

SETTING/WORLD BUILDING:
What a great idea to have the story be told through the lens of an insurance detective. It’s not often I’ve seen a mystery kick off and the reader hasn’t been on the scene yet, even as a casual observer before any crime has been comitted. The set-up gives it a more clinical viewpoint since we don’t know the victim outside their brief meeting at the insurance agency right at the beginning.

PLOT/SOLUTION:
What a fantastic way to write a mystery. I adored how the writer would keep bringing the detective and policeman together to spell out how they each think the murder/suicide happened. It was such a great way to keep the readers updated with each point of view. And the plot in general is clever and the solution is a great twist.

THE VERDICT?
It’s a great story with fun, energetic characters and a very clever ending.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought the Three Taps referred to the three blows with a stick that began tragedies in the 17th century theatres. And I guess that's not far wrong, though it's not what the title refers to. Published in 1927, this novel contains all the Golden Age tropes you can think of: insurance policies, wills and their codicils, locked rooms in country inns, "was it murder or suicide?", fishing fanatics, train travel and dark and stormy nights!

Curiously enough the Great Detective is a married man, and his wife functions as foil and Watson. Their banter reminded me somewhat of Nick and Nora Charles without the cocktails. The story held my attention until the final third in which the obfuscation got to be a bit convoluted as everyone tells their own version of what they think may possibly have happened if something else didn't. The resolution was a bit...well, there it was. Knox mentions Martin Chuzzlewit toward the end and I think he might have been having a bit of sly fun at Dickens' expense.

I liked the characters even if I found the end less than satisfying.

[BBoulier · Rating 5 out of 5]

R.A. Knox’s “The Three Taps” (1927) features Miles Bredon, an investigator for the Indescribable Insurance Company. In this one, Bredon has to determine whether the death of a policyholder was suicide or murder. If murder, the company was liable for a substantial payment to the beneficiaries of the policyholder’s will. Bredon is assisted by his clever wife and a Scotland Yard detective who is an old friend from World War I days. This is a delightfully written book with a great deal of humor and a complicated and ingenious plot. Knox is an Anglican chaplain who converted to Catholicism and became a priest. He is well-known for his religious writings, a famous essay on “Ten Rules for Detective Fiction”, and a 1926 BBC radio prank that reported on a “simulated” revolution in London. This broadcast served as an inspiration for Orson Welle’s 1938“War of the Worlds” radio program. I recommend the book highly.

[Theunis Snyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald Knox was a brilliant scholar. He also wrote five detective stories, the ten commandments for writing detective stories as well as many Theological works. He had a way with words that is reflected in this book. The murder method is very ingenious. The book is a locked room mystery and very intellectual and I would have liked more emotional content. There are for example no women suspects in the story. The only woman that really figures in the story is the wife of one of the detectives. Was this perhaps because Knox was a priest in The Roman Catholic Church who was not married? Who knows?

Knox had a sistter who also wrote two detective stories. In her story “Arrest the Bishop” she has the right balance. There are several women in the story as well as some love relationships.

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Former cleric Miles Bredon and wife Angela is an insurance investigator and has been hired to look in to the strange death of a traveling salesman known as Mottram, who it is believe may have committed suicide. While at the scene of the crime he encounters is old friend Inspector Leyland and who join forces to solve the mystery. This is an entertaining and baffling in equal measure with so many different theories that even the final explanation leaves the reader none the wiser other than knowing it's the solution. It's easy to see why author Ronald Know was seconded to British military intelligence.

[Connor Hansford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Angela and Bredon sound so similar that it was sometimes hard to know who was talking; the central conceit of the taps is too old-fashioned to make much sense nowadays (to me, anyway), and I don't think he followed all his own rules at the end because many of the clues felt new, but I enjoyed it! A very plausible set-up and Angels especially was a stand-out. Want to read the rest. Grateful for cheap Kindle editions, though I wish British Library Crime Classics would republish them as pretty paperbacks!

[Franziska Self Fisken · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing, quirky crime story featuring an eccentric middle-aged happily married couple who are trying to solve the
seemingly insoluble mystery of how a man died. The plot is clever and the three taps refer to gas taps.
It's light amusing entertainment and gives a warm picture of what country life was like in 1920's England.
I defy anyone in our century to solve the crime!

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. This has all the elements that should make a good golden age murder mystery: isolated country inn, witty repartee, locked door murder (or was it suicide?), eccentric characters. Unfortunately it seemed that most of the book was taken up with the two detectives discussing theories of the crime based on what little evidence they had. Over and over and over again.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the banter among Bredon, his wife, and his friend from the Yard, including the ever-increasing wager. While, in my opinion, the planned scheme was too elaborate, the death and its aftermath were explained reasonably. Knox's profession as a Roman Catholic priest means the clergy were portrayed as real, live, well-rounded (and likeable) characters.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles Bredon, insurance investigator, arrives at the scene of a murder. Or is it a suicide? You’ll have to read it to find out. This is a fun mystery, and Knox clearly enjoyed writing it, but the finale was not that compelling. But I look forward to reading more Knox!

[Keith Astbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quaint, old fashioned mystery that features Bredon, an insurance company investigator trying to find out whether a death in a country hotel was murder or suicide. Probably more convoluted and longer than it strictly needed to be but nevertheless will probably appeal to Agatha Christie fans x

[Dan Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars. Good fun, and lots of witty conversation.