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The Charing Cross Mystery
When a retired police inspector suddenly drops dead in a train carriage arriving at Charing Cross station, young London barrister Hetherwick finds himself the key witness to the murder. Thrust into the centre of this terrifying mystery, Hetherwick must unveil the disturbing truths of the case and locate the nefarious culprit. Fans of 'Sherlock Holmes' will be enthralled by this 20th century crime classic, a gripping tale of mystery and suspense that will have them on the edge of their seats till the very end. -
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1923
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108 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Fletcher
543 books56 followersJoseph Smith Fletcher was an English journalist, writer, and fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He studied law before turning to journalism.
His literary career spanned approximately 200 books on a wide variety of subjects including fiction, non-fiction, histories, historical fiction, and mysteries. He was known as one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Golden Age .
His literary career spanned approximately 200 books on a wide variety of subjects including fiction, non-fiction, histories, historical fiction, and mysteries. He was known as one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Golden Age .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 9, 2023
I picked this up for .39 on Kindle and I have to say that this is the first experience I've had where a book cover does not at all correspond with anything happening in the story. The cover depicts a train exploding and propelling people away from it in all directions. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story. A murder happens on a train in this but that's all. I found the disconnect quite funny so that's why I went for this copy. It's as though a litany of broad story keywords were fed into MidJourney and this is what came back. Cover artists, you're still needed!
The mystery of how a man who seems to be healthy and hale one minute quickly expires the next while on a train was a very good setup. I liked how this began and it ticked on well for about a third of the way. There was a main character who withheld information from the police longer than I liked. He wanted to be the one to investigate on his own and then met the victim's granddaughter and fell for her so that added to his motivation. To the good, the information was shared with the police and a sort of collaboration was struck that I liked more.
The anti-semitism in this was definitely of its time for Golden Age crime fiction (and the period just before) and so detracted from the main of the story. When your protagonists solving the mystery are the ones with these character flaws there's no getting away from them in the story and it did affect my enjoyment overall. By the time all was solved in the end, I was glad to be leaving our characters where they were and honestly didn't give a damn about their love connection. This definitely could have been a better read. I would say the mystery itself was enjoyable so that's why three stars over two. This isn't my first read of J.S. Fletcher so I'm glad I've read this. It's by no means my favourite of his. I'd say read it if you're looking to get through all his books. If you miss it, you'll still have lived a full life.
For a few years now I've been reading old crime fiction and in addition to the British Library Classic Crime books, other publishers reissuing these forgotten books are Oleander Press, Spitfire Publishing Ltd (and if anyone has a listing of all they've put out so far, please let me know!) and I have been on a spree of collecting them faster than I can read them. So, I recommend all of that.
The mystery of how a man who seems to be healthy and hale one minute quickly expires the next while on a train was a very good setup. I liked how this began and it ticked on well for about a third of the way. There was a main character who withheld information from the police longer than I liked. He wanted to be the one to investigate on his own and then met the victim's granddaughter and fell for her so that added to his motivation. To the good, the information was shared with the police and a sort of collaboration was struck that I liked more.
The anti-semitism in this was definitely of its time for Golden Age crime fiction (and the period just before) and so detracted from the main of the story. When your protagonists solving the mystery are the ones with these character flaws there's no getting away from them in the story and it did affect my enjoyment overall. By the time all was solved in the end, I was glad to be leaving our characters where they were and honestly didn't give a damn about their love connection. This definitely could have been a better read. I would say the mystery itself was enjoyable so that's why three stars over two. This isn't my first read of J.S. Fletcher so I'm glad I've read this. It's by no means my favourite of his. I'd say read it if you're looking to get through all his books. If you miss it, you'll still have lived a full life.
For a few years now I've been reading old crime fiction and in addition to the British Library Classic Crime books, other publishers reissuing these forgotten books are Oleander Press, Spitfire Publishing Ltd (and if anyone has a listing of all they've put out so far, please let me know!) and I have been on a spree of collecting them faster than I can read them. So, I recommend all of that.
June 13, 2022
رواية بوليسية جميلة، الجريمة مختلفة، السرد و الحوار كان ممتع و سريع، كونها تحدث في بداية القرن العشرين جعل لها رونق خاص، فليست هناك كاميرات مراقبة و لا هواتف محمولة أو غيرها مما يساعد التحقيقات في الوقت الحالي، و هذا بالنسبة لي أكثر متعة.
كان من الممكن أن تكون نهايتها أكثر تشويقاً إن ظلت بعض الأمور أكثر غموضاً... في المجمل هي رواية لطيفة ممتعة، و كونها كتبت في العام 1923م فلابد من أنها كانت حينها مميزة جداً.
كان من الممكن أن تكون نهايتها أكثر تشويقاً إن ظلت بعض الأمور أكثر غموضاً... في المجمل هي رواية لطيفة ممتعة، و كونها كتبت في العام 1923م فلابد من أنها كانت حينها مميزة جداً.
May 10, 2025
While on the last train home one night, newly qualified lawyer Hetherwick (we never get to know his first name) is casually eavesdropping on the conversation of the only two other men in his carriage when suddenly one of the men gasps as if in shock and promptly dies. Hetherwick rushes to his aid while the other man, seeing the train has just stopped at a station, runs off, saying he’ll be back immediately with help. He does not return, however, and the police soon suspect the dead man was murdered, victim of a strange unnamed poison that leaves people perfectly well for hours after they’ve been given it and then suddenly kills them in an instant. Hmm. Anyway… Hetherwick (oddly) accompanies the police inspector to tell the victim’s relatives of his death and immediately falls in love with the victim’s granddaughter. So, partly out of curiosity and partly out of concern for the girl, he decides he’ll investigate the case alongside the police.
Have I given an indication that I perhaps didn’t fully buy into the credibility of this one? However, once past the lazy murder method and the predictable instalove, the case is actually reasonably interesting. It turns out the victim was Robert Hannaford, a retired police superintendent from up north in Yorkshire. This sheds light on the conversation that Hetherwick had overheard on the train, when Hannaford was telling the other man that he had come across a picture of a woman and recognised her as someone he had known ten years ago. The way he talked about her made it clear he had met her in an official capacity but she had slipped though his hands and had now resurfaced under another identity. Rhona, the granddaughter, is able to produce the picture, which Hannaford had clipped from a newspaper, but he hadn’t clipped the story connected to the picture.
Now, call me Sherlock, but it occurred to me that a quick phone round the offices of the newspapers in London and Yorkshire could have very quickly revealed who the lady was, and I kept waiting for either the police or our intrepid amateur to think of this. But they preferred to do it the complicated way, by going to Yorkshire and speaking to people who knew Hannaford ten years ago. So they soon find out who the woman was – a lady who had defrauded a local jeweller out of a valuable necklace and had then escaped from Hannaford’s clutches (he let her go through one door into her hotel bedroom to get a coat and she walked out the other door and disappeared. It’s tragic to think of how incompetent all the other Yorkshire policemen must have been if Hannaford was the one they picked to be Superintendent.) Anyway… have you spotted the issue? Now they know who she was claiming to be ten years ago, but still have no idea who she is claiming to be now! It will take a bit of luck before they get on her track. Meantime the police have failed completely in their search for the other man from the train.
I’m making it sound worse than it is, but it’s all a bit plodding and long-winded, and I felt that the author was deliberately avoiding doing obvious things that would have shed light more quickly in order to stretch the story out. However, it’s quite well written and Hetherwick is quite a likeable chap in a bland sort of way, so I was enjoying it well enough. Until, that is, about three-quarters of the way through, when it suddenly descended into some pretty racist stuff concerning a Jewish character – the caricatured physical description, taking about him being dirty and crafty, giving him a lisp, suggesting that, despite him being a Londoner, his race made him ‘foreign’. I’m used to making allowances for casual unthinking racism in vintage crime, but this was way beyond casual – it was ugly. Unusually for me (I’m not the sensitive type when it comes to old fiction), I couldn’t even bear to read all of it so, skipping the chapter the character appeared in, I then skipped all the way to the end where everything played out exactly as anticipated.
I’ve read another book by Fletcher, The Middle Temple Murder, which I enjoyed a whole lot more than this and that makes me willing to give him another try, though I’ll check the reviews in advance next time. But I honestly can’t recommend this one. Even without the anti-Semitic issue, it isn’t much better than mediocre – too much going over the same things repeatedly, too much time spent searching for people who’d gone missing, too much avoiding the obvious, too little confronting suspects and asking them questions. Rather a humdrum read. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
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Have I given an indication that I perhaps didn’t fully buy into the credibility of this one? However, once past the lazy murder method and the predictable instalove, the case is actually reasonably interesting. It turns out the victim was Robert Hannaford, a retired police superintendent from up north in Yorkshire. This sheds light on the conversation that Hetherwick had overheard on the train, when Hannaford was telling the other man that he had come across a picture of a woman and recognised her as someone he had known ten years ago. The way he talked about her made it clear he had met her in an official capacity but she had slipped though his hands and had now resurfaced under another identity. Rhona, the granddaughter, is able to produce the picture, which Hannaford had clipped from a newspaper, but he hadn’t clipped the story connected to the picture.
Now, call me Sherlock, but it occurred to me that a quick phone round the offices of the newspapers in London and Yorkshire could have very quickly revealed who the lady was, and I kept waiting for either the police or our intrepid amateur to think of this. But they preferred to do it the complicated way, by going to Yorkshire and speaking to people who knew Hannaford ten years ago. So they soon find out who the woman was – a lady who had defrauded a local jeweller out of a valuable necklace and had then escaped from Hannaford’s clutches (he let her go through one door into her hotel bedroom to get a coat and she walked out the other door and disappeared. It’s tragic to think of how incompetent all the other Yorkshire policemen must have been if Hannaford was the one they picked to be Superintendent.) Anyway… have you spotted the issue? Now they know who she was claiming to be ten years ago, but still have no idea who she is claiming to be now! It will take a bit of luck before they get on her track. Meantime the police have failed completely in their search for the other man from the train.
I’m making it sound worse than it is, but it’s all a bit plodding and long-winded, and I felt that the author was deliberately avoiding doing obvious things that would have shed light more quickly in order to stretch the story out. However, it’s quite well written and Hetherwick is quite a likeable chap in a bland sort of way, so I was enjoying it well enough. Until, that is, about three-quarters of the way through, when it suddenly descended into some pretty racist stuff concerning a Jewish character – the caricatured physical description, taking about him being dirty and crafty, giving him a lisp, suggesting that, despite him being a Londoner, his race made him ‘foreign’. I’m used to making allowances for casual unthinking racism in vintage crime, but this was way beyond casual – it was ugly. Unusually for me (I’m not the sensitive type when it comes to old fiction), I couldn’t even bear to read all of it so, skipping the chapter the character appeared in, I then skipped all the way to the end where everything played out exactly as anticipated.
I’ve read another book by Fletcher, The Middle Temple Murder, which I enjoyed a whole lot more than this and that makes me willing to give him another try, though I’ll check the reviews in advance next time. But I honestly can’t recommend this one. Even without the anti-Semitic issue, it isn’t much better than mediocre – too much going over the same things repeatedly, too much time spent searching for people who’d gone missing, too much avoiding the obvious, too little confronting suspects and asking them questions. Rather a humdrum read. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
May 19, 2023
It wasn't a bad story. I liked the investigation part of the story. I think the other books I've read by this author were better though.
September 20, 2016
Young London lawyer Hetherwick is on his way home on the Tube late one night when the elder of the two men who've been chatting opposite him suddenly ups and dies. The other leaps off at the next stop and, crying that he's off to fetch a doctor, vanishes. Hetherwick finds he's a significant witness in what soon proves to be a murder investigation. The dead man was Superintendent Robert Hannaford, a retired police detective and enthusiastic amateur chemist from Sellithwaite, Yorkshire. It seems he was in London to market his brand-new invention, the formula for an ink so superior to anything currently on the market that it should make him a fortune.
Hannaford had also, in the train on the way down from Yorkshire, discovered a newspaper photo which strongly interested him. The photo, although the person involved is identified by a different name, is that of a Mrs. Whittingham, who ten years ago seemingly scammed a Sellithwaite jeweler. Hannaford caught her, but then let her slip through his fingers. It seems that now she's living as the hugely wealthy widow and philanthropist Lady Riversreade. Hetherwick and the investigating cop, Inspector Matherfield of the Yard, explore both the fresh murder -- not to mention further murders -- and the old con trick simultaneously, aided indispensably by Hannaford's granddaughter Rhona, to whom the deceased was in effect a father . . .
I found this, to be honest, rather heavy going. Fletcher seems to have thought it essential to tell us everything two or three times to make sure we got it firmly nailed into our heads. Matters aren't quite as bad as
but sometimes they start getting to be that way. Fletcher tries to give his villains color, but they come across as mere caricatures; there's some pretty obnoxious stereotyping of a Jewish character who in fact helps the good guys out; those good guys are, by and large, all pretty anodyne. The only character I really liked a lot -- the only one who really rose off the page -- was the courageous and intelligent Rhona, supposedly just one of the support cast. The plotting overall seemed pretty clumsy, as if Fletcher might have been making large chunks of it up as he went along, while the writing itself is mostly if anything somewhat clumsier, with lots of dashes in -- unusual places.
On the evidence of The Charing Cross Mystery I'm not sure if I'll try Fletcher's detective fiction again. On the other hand, he's a well respected figure of mystery fiction's (pre-)Golden Age, so it may have been just that the novel caught me at the wrong moment.
Hannaford had also, in the train on the way down from Yorkshire, discovered a newspaper photo which strongly interested him. The photo, although the person involved is identified by a different name, is that of a Mrs. Whittingham, who ten years ago seemingly scammed a Sellithwaite jeweler. Hannaford caught her, but then let her slip through his fingers. It seems that now she's living as the hugely wealthy widow and philanthropist Lady Riversreade. Hetherwick and the investigating cop, Inspector Matherfield of the Yard, explore both the fresh murder -- not to mention further murders -- and the old con trick simultaneously, aided indispensably by Hannaford's granddaughter Rhona, to whom the deceased was in effect a father . . .
I found this, to be honest, rather heavy going. Fletcher seems to have thought it essential to tell us everything two or three times to make sure we got it firmly nailed into our heads. Matters aren't quite as bad as
"It's a red door, and it looks of considerable vintage, and it squeaks on its hinges."
"Red, did you say?"
"Aye, red indeed it is. Not in its first flush of youth. And that squeak you hear . . .?"
"Yes?"
"It's not a mouse."
"Oh!"
"It's the hinges."
"Of the door, would that be?"
"Yes."
"The red door?"
"It does most assuredly have that coloration."
"The elderly red door?"
"None other! You can tell it by the squea----"
but sometimes they start getting to be that way. Fletcher tries to give his villains color, but they come across as mere caricatures; there's some pretty obnoxious stereotyping of a Jewish character who in fact helps the good guys out; those good guys are, by and large, all pretty anodyne. The only character I really liked a lot -- the only one who really rose off the page -- was the courageous and intelligent Rhona, supposedly just one of the support cast. The plotting overall seemed pretty clumsy, as if Fletcher might have been making large chunks of it up as he went along, while the writing itself is mostly if anything somewhat clumsier, with lots of dashes in -- unusual places.
On the evidence of The Charing Cross Mystery I'm not sure if I'll try Fletcher's detective fiction again. On the other hand, he's a well respected figure of mystery fiction's (pre-)Golden Age, so it may have been just that the novel caught me at the wrong moment.
September 13, 2021
If you read one J. S. Fletcher book, you'll be hooked. This is a wonderful story about a retired police inspector on vacation who dies unexpectly on a train. There are lots of twists and turns. Some of the twists I saw coming, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment. The only problem I had with with this book was keeping track
of all the "detectives". At one point, four main people were looking into various aspects of the case - not including various informants. I had to keep flipping back and forth a few pages to keep clear in my mind which character was investigating. I loved the strong female characters in the book, especially the inspector's grandaughter who immediately volunteers to help work the case. Happy Reading!
of all the "detectives". At one point, four main people were looking into various aspects of the case - not including various informants. I had to keep flipping back and forth a few pages to keep clear in my mind which character was investigating. I loved the strong female characters in the book, especially the inspector's grandaughter who immediately volunteers to help work the case. Happy Reading!
January 25, 2025
The story line was all right, though, like Dickens, he must have been paid by the word. Unlike Dickens, he doesn’t write with brilliant flashes of insight into human character.
October 8, 2021
Young barrister, Hetherwick catches a train and moves to a compartment with two other men. Just as the train arrives in Charing Cross one of the two men doubles up in pain and the second one goes looking for help. By the end of the day both men are dead after their whisky was laced in poison. One of the men is a former policeman who was investigating a murderous conspiracy. Part of the issue with J.S. Fletcher's novel is why Hetherwick would pickup and run with the investigation which involves blackmail. Fletcher was obviously influenced by Sherlock Holmes and the investigation was the best part of the novel but the reveal leaves the reader somewhat baffled.
February 4, 2021
Fairly average bur very readable tale of with murders , secret formulae, blackmail, romance and just a little very slow detection.
Fletcher's leisurely narration does not allow too many surprises to be sprung, but once you get accustomed to the style and get beyond some customary-for-the time Jewish stereotyping, this is reasonable bedtime reading.
Fletcher's leisurely narration does not allow too many surprises to be sprung, but once you get accustomed to the style and get beyond some customary-for-the time Jewish stereotyping, this is reasonable bedtime reading.
June 26, 2022
رواية بوليسية كتبت فى بداية القرن العشرين العام ١٩٢٣ تدور حول جريمة قتل تحدث فى احدى القطارات بطريقة غامضة وأثناء البحث عن ملابسات وأسباب تلك الجريمة تقع مجموعة اخرى من الجرائم
الاسلوب مشوق وطريقة السرد ثلثة وممتعة الا أن النهاية لم تكن مشوقة بالقدر الملائم للأحداث
ولكن يظل للرواية رونق خاص يميزها وهو الفترة الزمنية التى تدور فيها أحداث الرواية .
الاسلوب مشوق وطريقة السرد ثلثة وممتعة الا أن النهاية لم تكن مشوقة بالقدر الملائم للأحداث
ولكن يظل للرواية رونق خاص يميزها وهو الفترة الزمنية التى تدور فيها أحداث الرواية .
June 18, 2018
When a retired police inspector dies suddenly on a train, it sets in motion a whole tangle of intrigue and mystery... I really enjoyed this one, and all its twists and turns.
January 10, 2021
Lots of running around because the detectives are terrible crime-solvers, plus anti-semetism.
March 31, 2021
3.5 stars. Another one of Fletcher's entertaining chase-down-the-evidence mysteries that focuses more on the tracing of complicated clues than on the personalities of the suspects.
July 6, 2021
Not one of his best but an ok listen to on LibriVox with Kirsten
September 19, 2021
For a short book this mystery seemed to drag at times. The characters were okay, but the tried-and-true plotline of there being twins is a bit frayed.
February 28, 2025
[Herbert Jenkins Limited] (ND*). HB. Seventh Printing. 312 Pages. Purchased from Melvyn Barnes. (*1/1 (1923) per COPAC).
Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) penned in excess of 100 novels in this genre.
It’s an entertaining, intricately plotted, London-based murder mystery. Marred, to a degree, by shallow characterisation and a touch of vague soppiness right at the close.
The *** grade may be slightly over-egged… I took a break from reading Robert A. Heinlein’s abysmal “The Menace From Earth” (1959); the relief was quite intoxicating.
Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) penned in excess of 100 novels in this genre.
It’s an entertaining, intricately plotted, London-based murder mystery. Marred, to a degree, by shallow characterisation and a touch of vague soppiness right at the close.
The *** grade may be slightly over-egged… I took a break from reading Robert A. Heinlein’s abysmal “The Menace From Earth” (1959); the relief was quite intoxicating.
November 20, 2025
I write reviews for 2 reasons: to give the author feedback and to share my opinion for those searching for a good read. Obviously, the first does not apply in the case of J S Fletcher who was a most prolific and respected writer of murder mysteries during the "Golden Era." Unfortunately, and for what it is worth, I do not share this opinion. I think Fletcher's books are a mediocre example of the genre. Some are mildly decent; some are painfully bad. This was one of the worst. I give it 2 stars rather than 1 only because he is so talented as a writer. It is what he chooses to write and how he constructs his stories that keep me from being a fan.
February 1, 2022
Go for it. Mais uma história da época de ouro do crime na ficção britânica, que só seria possível, mesmo em termos de ficção, naquela época. Um crime em um trem, que é testemunhado por um advogado, que a partir daí se mete na investigação e até faz sua investigação paralela. Com um toque de romance, um panorama de aspectos da cidade de Londres que já ñ existem mais (no caso, isso é bom), voltas e reviravoltas, até o fim. Bom entretenimento.
July 30, 2024
One of the bedt by this Golden Age British mystery author. The crimes are somewhat believable, there is suspense, the detectives (a young barrister and a police detective) are competent but not godlike, and there are a variety of settings. Of course, the dialogue is Fletcher's standard of fragments and ellipsis, and one of the motifs which became a mystery "standsrd" does appe a r.
July 7, 2021
Not Bad
I only gave this book 3 stars although the 3 previous books I had read from this author I had given 4 stars. This one was interesting but I didn’t feel it lived up to the earlier ones I had read.
I only gave this book 3 stars although the 3 previous books I had read from this author I had given 4 stars. This one was interesting but I didn’t feel it lived up to the earlier ones I had read.
August 9, 2021
Great read
The British know how to write mysteries!!
This is well written, can be read in an evening! The story line starts out slowly then broadens into murder, kidnapping,
and clues abound! Good read!
The British know how to write mysteries!!
This is well written, can be read in an evening! The story line starts out slowly then broadens into murder, kidnapping,
and clues abound! Good read!
April 4, 2022
Not a bad mystery, for the early genre, but just not riveting. Some unpleasant Jewish stereotyping and a few too many "Just so" replies. Still, everything works out in tbe end. The solo Librivox reader did an admirable job.
July 28, 2025
If you're looking for a mystery concerning fountain pens, secret ink formulas and stationery paper, you've found it. It's a mediocre mystery, however. It's more of a police procedural than a brain-teasing who-dun-it. However, it's entertaining and the subject matter holds, if a bit long.
February 20, 2020
I've got to start DNFing more books. This was so repetitive. It felt like ceaseless conversations of the characters going over the clues they found and very little action or reflection.
July 2, 2021
Strangers on the train
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing all the time and the twin sisters really added to the plot. A must read mystery.
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing all the time and the twin sisters really added to the plot. A must read mystery.
March 20, 2024
Lively 1922 thriller from a reliable but now I think little known author - worth seeking out now that quite a few of his books can be obtained from Project Gutenberg.
July 28, 2024
This is a typical solid JS Fletcher novel. It has a complex plot, good characters and is interesting. This novel, however, does not include any quarry (a rarity).
September 27, 2024
والله هي لغزها مسلي وأكيد كان إعجازي في وقته بس يخربيت اللت والعجن دول لتاتين أكتر من الروس زهقت من كتر الرغي اللي ملوش لازمة
May 25, 2025
Piaciuto. Classico giallo inglese dei primi del '900, un po' alla Christie. Forse il finale niente di sorprendente.
October 15, 2025
The digital narrator is dreadful, making it impossible to immerse yourself in the story. Weird, distracting pauses and incorrect emphasis. Better reading it if you are able.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews