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Superintendent William Meredith #7
Death Knows No Calendar
A shooting in a locked artist's studio. Four suspects; at least two of whom are engaged in an affair. Major Boddy, an exuberant and energetic retired army officer, investigates.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1942
7 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
John Bude
56 books78 followersJohn Bude was a pseudonym used by Ernest Carpenter Elmore who was a British born writer.
He was born in 1901 and, as a boarder, he attended Mill Hill School, leaving in 1919 and moving on to Cheltenham where he attended a secretarial college and where he learned to type. After that he spent several years as games master at St Christopher School in Letchworth where he also led the school's dramatic activities.
This keen interest in the theatre led him to join the Lena Ashwell Players as stage manager and he took their productions around the country. He also acted in plays produced at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he lived for a time. He honed his writing skills, whenever he had a moment to spare, in the various dressing rooms that he found himself in.
He eventually returned to Maidstone, the town of his birth, and during the Second World War he ran his local Home Guard unit as he had been deemed unfit to serve in the forces.
He later lived in Loose, Kent, and after that near Rye, East Sussex, and enjoyed golf and painting but never learned to drive although that did not stop him apparently offering advice to his wife when she was driving! He had met his wife, Betty, when producing plays back in Maidstone and they married in 1933.
After becoming a full-time writer, he wrote some 30 crime fiction novels, many featuring his two main series characters Superintendent Meredith and Inspector Sherwood. He began with 'The Cornish Coast Murder' in 1935 and his final two crime novels, 'A Twist of the Rope' and 'The Night the Fog Came Down' were published posthumously in 1958.
He was a founder member of the Norfolk-based Crime Writers Association (CWA) in 1953 and was a co-organiser of the Crime Book Exhibition that was one of the CWA's early publicity initiatives. He was a popular and hard-working member of the CWA's committee from its inception through to May 1957.
Under his own name he also wrote a number of fantasy novels, the most well-known of which is 'The Lumpton Gobbelings' (1954). In addition he wrote a children's book, 'The Snuffly Snorty Dog' (1946).
He was admitted to hospital in Hastings on 6 November 1957, having just delivered his what turned out to be his final manuscript to his publisher, for a routine operation but he died two days later.
Fellow British crime writer Martin Edwards comments, "Bude writes both readably and entertainingly. His work may not have been stunning enough to belong with the greats, but there is a smoothness and accomplishment about even his first mystery, 'The Cornish Coast Murder', which you don't find in many début mysteries."
Interestingly he was the dedicatee of 'The Case of the Running Mouse' (1944) by his friend Christopher Bush. The dedication stated, 'May his stature, and his circulation, increase.'
NB: He was not born on 1 January but the system does not allow a date of birth without a month and date so it defaults to 1 January.
He was born in 1901 and, as a boarder, he attended Mill Hill School, leaving in 1919 and moving on to Cheltenham where he attended a secretarial college and where he learned to type. After that he spent several years as games master at St Christopher School in Letchworth where he also led the school's dramatic activities.
This keen interest in the theatre led him to join the Lena Ashwell Players as stage manager and he took their productions around the country. He also acted in plays produced at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, where he lived for a time. He honed his writing skills, whenever he had a moment to spare, in the various dressing rooms that he found himself in.
He eventually returned to Maidstone, the town of his birth, and during the Second World War he ran his local Home Guard unit as he had been deemed unfit to serve in the forces.
He later lived in Loose, Kent, and after that near Rye, East Sussex, and enjoyed golf and painting but never learned to drive although that did not stop him apparently offering advice to his wife when she was driving! He had met his wife, Betty, when producing plays back in Maidstone and they married in 1933.
After becoming a full-time writer, he wrote some 30 crime fiction novels, many featuring his two main series characters Superintendent Meredith and Inspector Sherwood. He began with 'The Cornish Coast Murder' in 1935 and his final two crime novels, 'A Twist of the Rope' and 'The Night the Fog Came Down' were published posthumously in 1958.
He was a founder member of the Norfolk-based Crime Writers Association (CWA) in 1953 and was a co-organiser of the Crime Book Exhibition that was one of the CWA's early publicity initiatives. He was a popular and hard-working member of the CWA's committee from its inception through to May 1957.
Under his own name he also wrote a number of fantasy novels, the most well-known of which is 'The Lumpton Gobbelings' (1954). In addition he wrote a children's book, 'The Snuffly Snorty Dog' (1946).
He was admitted to hospital in Hastings on 6 November 1957, having just delivered his what turned out to be his final manuscript to his publisher, for a routine operation but he died two days later.
Fellow British crime writer Martin Edwards comments, "Bude writes both readably and entertainingly. His work may not have been stunning enough to belong with the greats, but there is a smoothness and accomplishment about even his first mystery, 'The Cornish Coast Murder', which you don't find in many début mysteries."
Interestingly he was the dedicatee of 'The Case of the Running Mouse' (1944) by his friend Christopher Bush. The dedication stated, 'May his stature, and his circulation, increase.'
NB: He was not born on 1 January but the system does not allow a date of birth without a month and date so it defaults to 1 January.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 23, 2023
When the body of a prominent artist is found in a locked room, and several residents of her village are the obvious suspects, Major Boddy decides it’s time to see if his love of reading detective stories can turn into actual detecting…
Major Boddy, the retired officer who is usually a stereotyped nuisance in Golden Age detective stories, here steals the spotlight - yes, he is a stereotypical retired officer, but his dogged quest for the truth, ably assisted by his batman-turned-valet Syd Gammon, is a nice mix of decent detecting, lucky breaks, and learning as he does it, motivated by a genuine desire not to let the innocent suffer. As he realises the how and the who and closes in on the murderer the book becomes increasingly gripping. This is a detective story where one detects along with the lead, rather than being surprised by a denouement, and I like that the murderer in some ways behaves like an actual real life murderer as seen in some famous cases of the time, and not like a machiavellian genius of crime. Bude is also great at evoking place, from country fields to seedy London streets, and after starting with some rather shallow caricatures in a superficial village ends by creating some sympathetic portrayals and a genuinely creepy atmosphere.
Major Boddy, the retired officer who is usually a stereotyped nuisance in Golden Age detective stories, here steals the spotlight - yes, he is a stereotypical retired officer, but his dogged quest for the truth, ably assisted by his batman-turned-valet Syd Gammon, is a nice mix of decent detecting, lucky breaks, and learning as he does it, motivated by a genuine desire not to let the innocent suffer. As he realises the how and the who and closes in on the murderer the book becomes increasingly gripping. This is a detective story where one detects along with the lead, rather than being surprised by a denouement, and I like that the murderer in some ways behaves like an actual real life murderer as seen in some famous cases of the time, and not like a machiavellian genius of crime. Bude is also great at evoking place, from country fields to seedy London streets, and after starting with some rather shallow caricatures in a superficial village ends by creating some sympathetic portrayals and a genuinely creepy atmosphere.
March 2, 2023
Honestly, as a mystery story it's pretty underwhelming. The character threads resolve quickly and no one has ulterior motives to twist things up, the amateur detective is horrifically blase about police procedure (even for stories of the time), and the sexism is outright comedic. But that's also what saved the story for me because the sexist reasoning at the inquest was so absurdly unbelievable, that I assumed it was supposed to be a joke, and read the rest of the book through the lens of it being a parody.
I mean, the death is decreed a suicide despite the woman being shot in the back of the head from a foot away, and after having dropped her wet paintbrush to the floor - the reasoning being that she suddenly stopped painting and was overcome with the desire to kill herself (in the most physically awkward way she could think of). Her motive (to both the suicide and manner of)? Who knows why women do these things! There's no understanding how their minds work!
And the jury accepts all this as solid proof of suicide without a second glance. I mean... how else was I supposed to take it going forward except as a parody of Golden Age mysteries?
I mean, the death is decreed a suicide despite the woman being shot in the back of the head from a foot away, and after having dropped her wet paintbrush to the floor - the reasoning being that she suddenly stopped painting and was overcome with the desire to kill herself (in the most physically awkward way she could think of). Her motive (to both the suicide and manner of)? Who knows why women do these things! There's no understanding how their minds work!
And the jury accepts all this as solid proof of suicide without a second glance. I mean... how else was I supposed to take it going forward except as a parody of Golden Age mysteries?
October 15, 2021
A classic locked room mystery, a missing car mystery, and a fiendishly clever murderer. The 'who' of the whodunnit is not in much doubt, but the 'how' is quite ingenious and will have you scratching your head until very near the end. One of the fun points of these classic mysteries from the golden age of British detection is that one often approves of the murder in the sense that it's someone that you don't mind seeing taken out, so to speak, because they are a blot on the landscape. Bude is a master at this kind of mystery fiction.
September 20, 2020
2 1/2 stars. There was something about the flow that bothered me a little bit but I can't exactly say what. I also wish that the culprit wasn't quite so obvious but it is clever. Perhaps more of a howdunit instead of whodunit.
January 6, 2025
‘Death Knows No Calendar’ (1942) is very tongue-in-cheek throughout. The victim is a bitchy but talented and successful artist, who has half the men in Sussex (at least, half the men in Beckford, a little Sussex village) at her feet, hating or adoring her and all too often both at the same time. In counterpoint to her femme fatale act, is a little ingenue, a regular Madeline Basset with a lisp. Add a mixed cast of village regulars. Finally throw in a retired Empire builder and his batman. A batman who combines in himself the superb qualities of Jeeves, Bunter, cracksman and tracker, and who can obey orders without question.
So, a locked room, and a dead woman inside. As any reader of detective fiction knows, that ain't a suicide, it's murder. So whodunit? The police are on the job at once, but given the forensics of the day in a small country village, have to rely on sketches and witness statements to submit to the coroner at the inquest. These are no bumbling Mr Plods. From the Chief Constable down to the level-headed constable, they are intelligent and observant. At the inquest, however, all their hard work seems to be doomed, for the jury brings in an uncompromising verdict of suicide, after which the cops cease to matter.
It is now the turn of Major Boddy the Empire builder and his batman to worry and work out the truth. The most baffling part of the affair is the mystery of a room locked on the inside, with no second key, no exit other than a skylight which is inaccessible. Solve that, and everything else would fall in place. Ah but complications of solving that. By today's standards (and laws), many things the Major attempts or does would be deemed downright illegal. Holding the axiom that the ends justify the means to be morally correct, and with a string of coincidences to further the cause of justice, the murderer is caught. The methods are truly ingenious, and as in all Bude novels, the how is more interesting than the who, in every way.
So, a locked room, and a dead woman inside. As any reader of detective fiction knows, that ain't a suicide, it's murder. So whodunit? The police are on the job at once, but given the forensics of the day in a small country village, have to rely on sketches and witness statements to submit to the coroner at the inquest. These are no bumbling Mr Plods. From the Chief Constable down to the level-headed constable, they are intelligent and observant. At the inquest, however, all their hard work seems to be doomed, for the jury brings in an uncompromising verdict of suicide, after which the cops cease to matter.
It is now the turn of Major Boddy the Empire builder and his batman to worry and work out the truth. The most baffling part of the affair is the mystery of a room locked on the inside, with no second key, no exit other than a skylight which is inaccessible. Solve that, and everything else would fall in place. Ah but complications of solving that. By today's standards (and laws), many things the Major attempts or does would be deemed downright illegal. Holding the axiom that the ends justify the means to be morally correct, and with a string of coincidences to further the cause of justice, the murderer is caught. The methods are truly ingenious, and as in all Bude novels, the how is more interesting than the who, in every way.
June 1, 2020
A Locked Room Scenario. John and Lydia Arundel have organised a party to their official opening of their licensed premises, The Little Bottel, in Beckwood. One of the invited is Major Tom Boddy an amateur sleuth. Later Lydia is found dead and the police believe it to be a suicide. Boddy with his sidekick Syd Gannon investigate. Over time they eliminate their suspects, determine who the guilty party is, and discover the clues that show motive and method.
A enjoyed this interesting story but what I didn't care for was for me the overise of the vernacular, and the lisp speech.
A enjoyed this interesting story but what I didn't care for was for me the overise of the vernacular, and the lisp speech.
September 13, 2024
Major Boddy investigates the death of his artist friend and neighbour, after the coroner's court brings back a ruling of suicide. Both he and the police are not entirely convinced of the verdict, and so he looks into the lives of the village community to find those who may have reason to kill.
A whodunnit that turns into a how-to-prove-it two thirds of the way through when the killer is revealed. I especially liked the relationship between the Major and his loyal batman, making a fun pairing.
A whodunnit that turns into a how-to-prove-it two thirds of the way through when the killer is revealed. I especially liked the relationship between the Major and his loyal batman, making a fun pairing.
November 1, 2024
I thought this was rather jolly in a Wallace and Grommit kind of way - horse faced ladies, mad rectors and a pretty girl with a lisp. Lots of stereotypes and a lead amateur sleuth finding his way with the reader shouldn’t work, but the author’s descriptions and scene setting helps it along.
March 17, 2021
Very clever.
July 23, 2023
Vastly entertaining and satisfying
August 19, 2025
A locked room mystery.Convoluted modus operandi. Some wonderful period language/turns of phrase.
January 24, 2026
Complicated ways to murder, but a fun ride.
February 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews