The Case of the Purple Calf: An Anthony Bathurst Mystery

Anthony Bathurst #16

by Brian Flynn

“This Great Kirby motor-car case. A particularly horrible and soul-shattering murder. And the fact that the Commissioner of Police himself calls it a clear case of suicide won’t alter the facts.”

Three women have died, each apparently the victim of a car accident. When Bathurst discovers the same travelling funfair had been operating in the vicinity of all three deaths, he chooses to investigate without the help of the police. Before long he makes the connection with the Purple Calf night-club and uncovers a criminal conspiracy. This is a classic whodunit ranking with Flynn’s best and most original novels.

The Case of the Purple Calf was first published in 1934. This new edition features an introduction by Steve Barge.

Genres: Mystery

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

"Brian Flynn, English author and an accountant in government service, a lecturer in elocution and speech, an amateur actor. He wrote about 50 novels, mostly for the library market. His serial character is Anthony Bathurst." - fantasticfiction.com

Also wrote under the pseudonym Charles Wogan.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 2.5

tbh didn't really enjoy this entry in the series, it might be the least liked of the first 16. if it wasn't such an easy read I might have dnf'ed it.
as I say the novel wasn't difficult to read, there were some good twists and turns in the plot, it had an unusual setting being partly based around a travelling fair (a rare location in a 1930's mystery) whilst also having a very common setting of nightclub/gambling den.
overall though this just didn't work for me. The methods of killing the ladies were too complicated and to my mind a tad ott, especially since one of the guilty parties had access to an aeroplane in which case the bodies could have been dumped out whilst passing over the country side and probably not found for months or even years.
also I am still not warming to the main character of Bathurst, although not a direct copy or imitation of other GAD detectives, he is still too reminiscent of other characters I enjoy more - obviously in a minority probably as the introductions for these books always acclaim their brilliance.

Only rated this a 3 since it was easy to finish as the last couple of chapters accelerated the plot to the denouement rather quickly.

So not sure if to continue with this series or not on my 1 per month reading plan, I have the titles up to number 20 (I think) so maybe have a month off and come back in June for no.17

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is certainly not one of Flynn's better efforts. It's also one of those where you feel unconvinced that the murders were necessary to further the perpetrator's ends.

True, it has plenty of oddly-assorted elements and characters for Bathurst to link, including a funfair, a dodgy nightclub, a dwarf and a series of car accidents.

Such a strange catalogue should have made for a twisty and interesting plot, but here it all came out a bit flat, and, despite the rather gruesome murder method, somewhat tame.

Bathurst takes too long to piece it all together, even though he has Scotland Yard's backing, and three or four amateur assistants in tow.

3.25 stars.

Intrepid GAD fans should spot a couple of interesting allusions. The father of two of the main characters is named Aubrey Fletcher. Aubrey-Fletcher is the real surname of the underrated GAD writer, Henry Wade. Their butler is named Herapath, as is the murdered man in The Herapath Property by J. S. Fletcher.