The Rasp (Annotated): An English Manor House Mystery

Colonel Gethryn #1

by Philip MacDonald, Sara E. Rosett (Introduction)

Philip MacDonald introduces one of the most engaging characters among all fictional detectives. Anthony Gethryn is an amateur and, of course, British. The story is set in the bucolic English countryside near London. The case concerns a cabinet minister who has been killed with a most unlikely implement. To discover the murderer, Gethryn must play the role of a villain, an initially effective ploy that becomes complicated when he discovers that the young woman of romantic interest may actually be implicated in the crime.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Crime, Mystery Thriller, British Literature, Thriller

253 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Philip 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.

Reviews

[She's So Novel! ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who (like me) is carpentry-challenged here is a picture of a rasp.

Should have looked that up before reading the book as I'm having to adjust my vision of the murder.

Colonel Gethyn is called in to help solve the murder of the popular and talented British Cabinet Minister. In the hands of MacDonald, Gethyn suffers a lot from Women Want Him, Men Want to be Him Syndrome, which can grate at time (or maybe I should say rasp!)

The story moves along reasonably well at first with good dialogue and I enjoyed the romances. Where the book falls down for me (& this is unfortunately common in Golden Age mysteries) is all the exposition at the end about whodunnit how Superman Gethyn solved it. I did notice at 85% on my kindle that this was getting rather long. Completely dragged the story down & it took me two days to read this part.

Still a good tale that I am happy to have read.

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[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this novella was one of the most popular of the early British golden age mystery writers whose character, Colonel Anthony Gethryn, was the main character of a series of books. This novella is the first in that series. It was written in 1924 and, as one would expect, it shows its age. Having read several of the later Gethryn stories, the main character changes substantially from the arrogant, upper-class, rather unlikable detective presented here to a much more tolerable personality. I use the term "detective" loosely since he seems to be connected with the government in some manner which is never made clear.

The plot is very complex............a wealthy Baronet, with whom Gethryn is acquainted, is beaten to death in his study and there is not a clue in sight. Or at least that is how it seems until Gethryn appears and begins to use his logical methods to put together a multitude of issues which will lead to the murderer. It is pretty far-fetched but I still found it interesting and kept turning pages. Granted, it is dated but still rather compelling.

BTW, the title refers to the murder weapon which is a tool used by woodworkers/carpenters.

[K.J. Charles]

Gleefully implausible 1920s detective story with the full banana ridiculously elaborate tropical-fish crime. Starts off brilliantly with a ruthless newspaper editor, his superefficient Girl Friday, and a sensitve arty yet war hero upper class tec. Sadly the hero devolves into a silly ass type (he goes around talking whimsically and riffing on nursery rhymes to people who are *trying to solve the goddamn murder*, mate, bit busy to listen to you ramble on) and suffers from Lord Peter Wimsey disease, ie every second thing out of his mouth is a quotation. Still, good fun.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

In order to extract a confession from the murderer, amateur sleuth Colonel Gethryn fabricates a story of how the murder was committed involving doppelgängers, a bastard brother, and a body switcharoo. If only that had been true. It was so much more interesting than what happened.

None of the characters, including Colonel Gethryn, were likable or even interesting. Gethryn unappealingly falls madly in love with one of the murder suspects right off the bat and they each spend the novel swooning, although it takes her much longer to figure out why she's doing so.

Our attention is repeatedly drawn to how white the women are, especially Lucia, Gethryn's paramour. Her hands, her face, her skin, her throat, are so white. Gethryn's friend Spencer Hastings is falling in love with his secretary, and thinks of her as "that little white darling."

Lucia, who is 30, is called "middle-aged." (This was common in fiction of the time - 1924).

The anti-Semitism is undisguised: "I always knew she kept a pretty Jewish fist on the purse-ropes, though," says someone about a gentile. A private eye is referred to as "a little, dapper, sly-eyed Jew" who lisps and reveals how greedy Jews are by demanding an extra two hundred pounds after he's already been paid fifty.

I learned a few new words: "fan-tods" are a very bad mood or a feeling of extreme upset or anxiety. A "tonneau" is a barrel-shaped open rear passenger compartment of a car. A "doss-house" is a cheap rooming house (flophouse).

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that introduces MacDonald's series sleuth Anthony Gethryn is a middling affair. The setup is good, a classic country house murder of a VIP where everybody seems to have an alibi.

On the one hand MacDonald writes well, sketches in most of the characters deftly and it's never a chore to read. On the other hand, Gethryn can be a tad annoying - I've found he got better as the series progressed and MacDonald whittled away at some of his more irritating traits. Actually, he's even improved by the end of this story as we witness him falling in love, and it has to be said the ending is both warm and sweet.

What's more damaging though is the fact the book suffers from having an incredibly easy to spot culprit. I knew who it was right away, and I don't think the clues dropped are all that well concealed either. This wouldn't have been such a problem if MacDonald hadn't decided to wrap the whole thing up with a 40 page chapter (after the obvious murderer has been apprehended) explaining in painstaking and wholly unnecessary detail exactly how he arrived at the conclusion.

So, a mixed bag for me overall.

[Sam Reaves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Philip MacDonald was a British "Golden Age" mystery writer best known for The List of Adrian Messenger, which was made into a movie. I read a number of his books as a teenager and liked them a lot; recently I discovered this one, which I had somehow missed. While it failed to enthrall me as much as those I read years ago, it's worth reading for all the reasons we love classic British mystery: the evocation of a highly civilized society where only cads and bounders get murdered, the intricate logical edifice of crime and detection, the eccentric genius amateur sleuth who orchestrates the whole business. A cabinet minister is beaten to death in his study with the title tool; evidence points to a suspect who is duly arrested. Colonel Anthony Gethryn, who ticks all the boxes for fictional sleuths (excellent war record in the secret service, independently wealthy, accomplished in many fields but terminally bored) undertakes to investigate the crime for a newspaper editor pal (and falls in love along the way). There is nothing to particularly distinguish the plot or the characters and the book is marred by an astonishing thirty-plus pages of explication after the murderer is revealed (i.e. long after we care) but nonetheless it will be appreciated by connoisseurs of the genre.

[John Bunyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good first of a series - mostly holds up after 100 years.
Anthony Gethryn reminds me of Ellery Queen (or probably Queen reminds me of Gethryn, Queen debuted a few years later). Queen, however does not hold up as well, partly because of blatant racism (British racism being more obvious in their colonies and offscreen in these books. Queen is also more annoying than Gethryn. Gethryn annoys mostly by referencing Who Killed Cock Robin throughout.
Plot is typical of the era, cChristie-esque.
3 stars only because Gethryn’s explanation of the crime and his solution takes over 40 pages, 15% of the book. Also Gethryn’s method of getting a confession is far fetched, as well as the killer’s response to being found out.
The only mystery I can recall where the solution rested partly on the use of the Latin dative case.

[France-Andrée · Rating 2 out of 5]

A English cabinet minister is killed in his study. Anthony Gethryn, a wealthy man, a former war spy and associated with a newspaper, investigates.

I thought the start of the mystery was interesting though I had a pretty good idea who was the culprit early on, but then Anthony starts having conversations with different witnesses that are not in the book. I always think that an author should not do the behind the scenes thing and yet tell the reader about it, I love the Inspector Alleyn's books by Ngaio Marsh but she tends to have her inspector explains things to his sergeant in his ear and that's annoys me so here Mr. McDonald does it too. The way the crime was committed is very ingenious (I didn't guess that), but the exposition is put in a very long chapter in the form of a report Anthony makes to the police... its just long and makes an interesting and clever murder become an academic paper! And, yes another thing that didn't work for me, there's a romance for Anthony of love at first sight.

In the end, I was pretty disappointed in this story, I think there's a good base, it's just poorly executed.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A country house murder, what else from 1924. Our hero is practically perfect in every way, capable of doing without sleep for days on end while driving madly about the English countryside. There is good deal of histrionic and awkward romances (or maybe that's just my stone heart -- two of the three were reasonably engaging). The mystery is both fairly obvious and fairly impossible, but what's worse is explained at the end in never-ending, tedious detail -- and still seems impossible. Yet despite all that a pleasant and appealing entertainment with some charming moments -- my favorite being the overly efficient and perfect assistant, who is a participant in one of the romances. The first Anthony Gethryn novel.

[Ptaylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1924, The Rasp seems typical of the period. There are stereotypes of women and Jews which are offensive today, and made the reading harder. Agatha Christie used the same stereotypes in her early mysteries, and didn't change them until after World War II when the Holocaust became public knowledge.

Colonel Gethryn reminds me of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, the gentleman detective, in his speech and manner, another stereotype. MacDonald doesn't really play fair as Christie and Sayers did in leaving clues for the reader, so it should be impossible to spot the real murderer. I wasn't surprised by the killer when Gethryn tricks the person into revealing his crime. Not because I'm brilliant enough to follow the trail but because I like mysteries during this period and have read enough of them to know the criminal is the one least likely to have done it.

MacDonald is best known for writing The List of Adrian Messenger which was later made into a movie starring George C. Scott.

[alexander hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Superior Classics Mystery

A well plotted 1920s British mystery executed with superior characterization and lively style and intertwined with an engaging love story.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stop the presses and call Col. Anthony Gethryn! That's the charge from Spencer Hastings, editor of The Owl, when he learns that Cabinet Minister John Hoode has been killed.

Gethryn is a former British secret service agent and an occasional special correspondent for The Owl. When he arrives at the Hoode's country house, he discovers that Hoode has been battered to death with a wood rasp and to Gethryn it looks like an inside job. As he is an acquaintance of a member of the household, as well as the CID Superintendent Boyd, Gethryn is quickly in the thick of things.

Considering that this was originally written in 1924, Gethryn is a strong example of an amateur detective (and reminds me very much of the old American television character Columbo who often appears to come out of left field when he comes up with the murderer). The story itself also is an interesting example of a near "locked room" murder: while one window was open, there are no footprints in the flower bed underneath the window and all the suspects seem to have nearly solid alibis with multiple sightings by others.

I enjoyed the story, liked the character of Gethryn — although he seems a bit too frivolous about the case — and thought the mystery itself was very creative if a bit unrealistic. Beyond the slight unreality of the solution, I do have a a criticism: rather than offer clues throughout the story, MacDonald lays out the case after the reveal of the murderer. It gives the reader no chance to solve the mystery on their own and seems to almost drag out the story ending. While I disliked this aspect, I enjoyed it enough that I would like to try another story with good old Col. Gethryn.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent mystery, though an overlong ending. Full review at https://murderatthemanse.substack.com...

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

For many readers the interest here may well lie in Anthony Gethryn meeting his beloved Lucia, since the investigation into the murder of a government minister is overly prolonged, overly plodding and over-explained.

It is fairly clear early on who-must-have-dunnit, since it could not possibly have been the strapping, hearty and thoroughly loveable private secretary who is fingered by the police, and the other possibilities are just too few and too unlikely.

It all comes down to timings and seemingly watertight alibis and, while the resolution is achieved by a tricked confession, it is done rather more cleverly than usual.

An easy, untaxing read.

3.5 stars.

[Raili · Rating 4 out of 5]

My childhood favourite! I must have read it at least ten times, because I loved the mystery and twisty ending :D
I should probably try to read it as an adult, too... But I think I don't want to spoil the good memories.. So I guess I'll let it be.

[Leslie Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally published in 1924, I think. Nicely old-fashioned, detective a sort of Fen or Whimsey prototype, but overall hokey.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: the debut of celebrated detective, Colonel Anthony Gethryn. A Cabinet Minister has been found murdered with a wooden rasp.

[Lise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started off very much disliking this book and the detective. He’s annoyingly’perfect’, skilled at everything, with brilliant, rich parents, etc., etc. He grew on me, or perhaps I just let myself ‘go with it’ after a while. Still, he was an arrogant prick who was much more interested in everything else by solving the murder.

The mystery is engaging. I picked up on many, if not all, of the clues MacDonald shared. The police were (naturally) idiots who couldn’t see clues. Our detective deliberately ignored evidence when it was inconvenient or went against his instincts. Naturally, he was correct.

There were not one, but three romantic couples (four, if you count the victims romance). Each had a different dynamic. Each ended in a wedding.

A weird but enjoyable read.

[Roger King · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are hundreds, thousands detective novels published every year, sometimes it is good going back a hundred years and read some of the work of our “forebears”. Same issues as now, but now with a historical novel feel. Seems like some snowflakes can’t handle the mores of the times, but they can’t read Huckleberry Finn either. Philip MacDonald introduces Colonel Anthony Gethryn solving difficult cases as a freelancer for Scotland Yard. He mellows out a bit by The List of Adrian Messanger, but doesn’t lose his taste for tall women.

MacDonald was a popular English mystery writer in the ‘30s, I think Adrian Messenger was Gethryn #15, morphing into a Hollywood screenwriter.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly entertaining whodunnit but not a proper fair play one...
I mean the detective picked up a small object and smiles but you don't know what it is kind...
However,before he sends his 40 page explanation the reader has all the data he has except the one that shows the motive.So..It's quite ok.
The detective is in the traditional great gentleman detective of the omniscient,ambivalent variety but very likable all the same.The prose is fine but a little wordy as the book is of a time when 45 mph could be described as terrific speed.
So for a laid back afternoon read this was pleasant enough ...Plus the hardcover edition was a joy to (be)hold .

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting puzzle of a mystery written by one the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" authors. Our hero has a sense of humor, but is trained as a spy by the British government during WWI. He is working on the murder as a respected amateur, at the request of a journalist friend.

The weakest part, for me, is the budding romance. But it is indicative of many romances written during the 1920s. Readers need to remember that the book was written and takes place near a hundred years ago. It's a different time...

I did enjoy the gradual building of Gethryn's case. Since we had just finished binge-watching Columbo, I could see Columbo working on this case in a similar manner...

[thearcher89 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand why this book appears in many of the top mystery fan's lists. This is kinda the book an author wishes he had written -- very small list of suspects, very tight alibis with slight openings, Colonel Gethryn's fake solution involving twins, footprints and fingerprint clues (the latter on the rasp quite clever), Gethryn picking up clues in a book he sees in a suspect's house (which was very cleverly clued).

Yet, the writing is very aged, Gethryn insufferable, romances bog down the book. The solution also hinges on an impossible athletism (maybe second only to Death of a Lady's icicle trick)

[Samuel E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, but too many words, especially at the end.

This book, I believe, introduces Anthony Gethryn. Gethryn then appears in several books. I liked Warrant for X, and still have the hard bound book that was printed in 1938. Then there’s The List of Adrian Messenger; a very good read. As far as The Rasp goes, I enjoyed it but it’s too wordy. And, strangely, he tells us who the murderer was long before the end of the book. The rest is a long long explanation of how he figured it out. And then, I should at least mention the triple love story.

[Dawn Tyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars rounded up because of the language and likeable characters. Well-plotted and well paced, although not all the summed up evidence is clear to the reader ahead of the final report. Despite all the predictable romances this is enjoyable enough. There is also a couple of instances of casual racial prejudice which is jarring but not wholly uncommon for the time in which it was written.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a century=old gem of detective fiction. I can't believe it took me lo! these many decades to discover it. Colonel Anthony Gethryn, an ex-secret service officer, is asked by a journalist friend to use his reputation to get in on the investigation of the murder of a cabinet minister, and a very knotty problem it turns out to be.

[James Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a fun read, if you like this sort of light-hearted amateur sleuthing. Which I do. An easy read, but would benefit from trim, especially in the last part of the book. On the plus side, you are left in doubt about whodunnit, why and how. That is rather hammered into the ground. But it beats being mystified by a mystery. That said, I probably won’t read another, and will go back to Campion.

[Sarah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent enough mystery with some likeable characters. However, far far too much swoony romantic nonsense and a fair bit too much of the detective speaking in quotes from who knows what (including in Latin). An additional minus for the hackneyed denouement - the brilliant murderer is provoked into confession then instantly and permanently loses all their marbles. Ugh. (Read as part of Shedunnit Green Penguin read)

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

great fun.

Perfectly silly and ridiculous. But I do like these old fashioned gentlemen detectives. Philo Vance etc. but they beat the bloody, alcoholic, unfaithful detectives of today.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent example of golden age crime fiction. Odd that he has been forgotten.

[Nick Baam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you would expect and want in an English manor murder mystery. Including cabinet minister and footprints in the flowerbed. You should get a handle on it early.