A Case for Solomon

Theodore I. Terhune #6

by Bruce Graeme

"Frank Hugh Smallwood was first murdered on the 15 th of April, 1927" Bookseller Theodore Terhune investigates an old homicide case after he stumbles on the freshly murdered corpse of seaman Frank Smallwood, a man thought to have been murdered nearly twenty years previously during a houseboat party on the Thames. Smallwood's alleged killer Charles Cockburn was convicted and served a lengthy prison sentence before being killed in the war. So who wanted Smallwood dead now? And what actually happened between Smallwood and Cockburn all those years ago? A book of poetry found lying near the body puts Terhune on the trail of an unlikely murderer. An entertaining blend of detective story and courtroom drama.
BRUCE GRAEME (1900-1982) was a pseudonym of Graham Montague Jeffries, an author of more than 100 crime novels and a founding member of the Crime Writer's Association. He created six series sleuths, including bookseller and accidental detective Theodore Terhune, whose eight adventures-Seven Clues in Search of a Crime (1941); House with Crooked Walls (1942); A Case for Solomon (1943); Work for the Hangman (1944); Ten Trails to Tyburn (1944); A Case of Books (1946) and And a Bottle of Rum (1949)- are republished by Moonstone Press.

Genres: Mystery

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Graham Montague Jeffries aka David Graeme, Peter Bourne, Roderic Hastings, Fielding Hope, and Jeffrey Montague father of Roderic Jeffries

He is the creator of:
1. ‘Blackshirt (Richard Verrell)’, a gentleman crook.
2. ‘Auguste Jantry’, an Inspector in 19th century Paris.
3. ‘Robert Mather’, a Detective Sergeant.
4. ‘William Stevens and Pierre Allain’, a Detective Superintendent and an Inspector.
5. ‘Theodore I. Terhune’, a bookseller and amateur sleuth.
6. ‘Lord Blackshirt (Anthony Verrell)’, a gentleman crook and son of Richard Verrell.
In 1952 his son Roderic Jeffries started writing Blackshirt stories under the pseudonym ‘Roderic Graeme’.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can 2021 get any better as a year for GAD fiction reprints?

This third outing for Theodore Ichabod Terhune has the cleverest plot I have come across.

In addition, it is a genuine bibliomystery. The amateur detective is both a bookseller and an author of detective novels. Solving the murder involves reading the transcript of a murder trial and tracing the ownership of a book found near the crime scene.

It opens as a traditional detective novel, with the finding of a body in a wood, then moves to courtroom drama, back to detection based around the copy of Swinburne's Rosamund, and, finally, to the courtroom for an unexpected and dramatic finale.

Here, as in House with Crooked Walls, as well as playing with genres, Graeme plays around with the reader's perception of time. The book was first published in 1943, but the murder takes place on October 8th 1946.

To say more would spoil the plot. However, mention must be made of John Norris' exemplary Introduction which begins with a discussion of the book in the context of bibliomysteries, and continues with a brief biography of the author which is common to all of the reissues.

A highly-recommended must-read.

4.75 stars.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tommy Terhune, bookseller, mystery novelist, and sometime amateur detective, stumbles across a dead man in the woods. The only clue to the murderer is a volume of Swinburne's poetry found nearby, a book that Tommy recognizes as having come from his own bookshop. If only his amiable but forgetful assistant could remember who she sold this particular volume to ! In the meantime, the dead man's fingerprints serve up a shocking surprise that pushes the investigation in a totally different direction. A second surprise follows when Tommy can finally track down how the volume of poetry had traveled from reader to reader in his small community. The result is a well-done twist in the story, served up in the courtroom scenes with a lot of lawyerly eloquence.

One thing I've noticed about the Tommy Terhune mysteries that I've read so far, is that WWII is not mentioned only in the most indirect ways. This book was published in 1943, and yet it reads in many ways like a pre-war novel. Young and old men go about their business, there is no mention of rationing... and yet both the victim and the murderer are mentioned as having served in WWII... I don't quite understand it.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golden age

I did guess at the solution to this mystery. Not sure British courts could really been so tedious as portrayed. Enjoyed the amateur detective and the other reoccurring characters as ever!

[Todayiamadaisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting by the current re-publications, this is the third outing for bookseller/novelist/amateur detective Theodore Terhune. Switching between a traditional detective story and a courtroom drama, this is an enjoyable romp through a Golden Age mystery, featuring village life, hidden identities and an absurd brawl at a post box.

One mystery remains though (unless I missed it): whose leg was it?

[Joke Geelhoed-Oosterhuis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wat een duf boek is dit! Geen enkele vaart, bordkartonnen personages, de vrouwen zeer stereotiep. De belangrijkste gebeurtenissen zijn puur toevallig. Je ziet de ontknoping van mijlenver aankomen; het grootste raadsel van het verhaal wordt echter niet opgelost, de schrijver komt er zelfs niet meer op terug!

Ik begrijp dat Bruce Graeme meer dan honderd detectives heeft geschreven - ik ga er niet één meer van lezen.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...