Conqueror Inn

Bobby Owen Mysteries #18

by E.R. Punshon

“I wouldn’t come any nearer if I were you. It’s not a thing to see unless you have to.” The remote Conqueror Inn, possibly the oldest licensed house in England, has an unexpectedly key role to play in World War Two. Lorry drivers, army camps, black marketeers and even the IRA become entangled in the sinister web which draws this novel’s plot together. Bobby Owen, after finding a case of banknotes, has to identify a corpse mutilated in its grave, ignore the red herrings thrown in his way … and identify a ruthless killer who uses the confusion of war to conceal his tracks. The Conqueror Inn was first published in 1943, the eighteenth of the Bobby Owen mysteries, a series eventually including thirty-five novels. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. “What is distinction? … in the works of Mr. E.R. Punshon we salute it every time.” Dorothy L. Sayers “[An] extremely intricate crime puzzle with an equally intricate solution” New York Times Book Review “[An] impressive baffler by one of the better English practitioners.” New York Herald Tribune Book Review “Solid construction … distinguished characterization” San Francisco Chronicle “One of the foremost British thriller-writers here gives us a first-class mystery, replete with creeps, thrills and tingles of foreboding as one grim scene builds into another and suspicion is expertly thrown in turn against each actor in this sinister drama of greed and hate couched in wartime datelines. … A better tale of dark deeds would be hard to come by.” Hoofs and Horns

Genres: Mystery

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Aka Robertson Halket.

E.R. Punshon (Ernest Robertson Punshon) (1872-1956) was an English novelist and literary critic of the early 20th century. He also wrote under the pseudonym Robertson Halket. Primarily writing on crime and deduction, he enjoyed some literary success in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, he is remembered, in the main, as the creator of Police Constable Bobby Owen, the protagonist of many of Punshon's novels. He reviewed many of Agatha Christie's novels for The Guardian on their first publication.

Reviews

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Conqueror Inn sits on the moor a few miles out of Midwych. This setting had me thinking about du Maurier's Jamaica Inn. I could be wrong, but I felt as if Punshon was influenced by that novel. The time period is entirely different, but the same isolation is there and immediately we are entitled to have suspicions about the owner.

I thought the mystery in this installment one of the better ones. First of all, the identity of the murder victim is unknown. The body is found without clothing and the face bashed in in order to prevent identity. We aren't left just to founder, however. Bobby narrows it down to two possibilities for us. And so he begins his police work.

With the good mystery, there was something to give up. There were quite a few characters and I thought Punshon's normally good characterizations left a little to be desired. I also felt the solution a tad rushed. I wanted more build up, more opportunity to see what was coming. However, all in all this was at least as good as those of the series I've liked the most and I look forward to continuing this series.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Punshon conjures up an original and rather gripping story. Bobby Owen is called to the discovery of a newly dug grave near the remote Conqueror Inn, and a body is found whose face is so badly mutilated that identification is almost impossible. Bobby must add a few scraps of information to his own intuition and experience in order to discover the culprit.

This was one of the darker Bobby Owen mysteries that the war years brought, with some unpleasant crimes involved and the impact of the horror of WWII lurking in the background. It’s to Punshon’s credit that he manages to make the combination of dark deeds in sleepy Wychshire both compelling and convincing, and tops it off with a thrilling if eccentric car chase at the climax of the investigation.
The remote inn and its taciturn occupants add to the air of mystery, while there are hints of romance that occasionally lighten the mood.

Punshon for me is a writer who hasn’t been appreciated as he deserves in the modern era. He casts a dry and witty look at the society of his era while creating interesting stories that combine the best elements of mystery and thriller. I did feel that one of the reveals in this story came a tad too early, but the final unravelling kept me guessing till the end.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best Bobby Owen stories so far. A very complicated plot full of intrigue with lots of suspects but not much evidence. Punshon demonstrates his skill very well by giving the reader access to all Bobby's thought processes. Bobby himself is a most engaging and likeable character. The descriptions of the inn and its location are very atmospheric. More strong female protagonists as well which is welcome. Very enjoyable.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this was very hard work. No way to briefly describe the murder and burial that Bobby Owen stumbles on. He is asked at the end how he came to know for certain who the murderer was and that took about 40 pages....Ugh. No more for me.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this episode in Bobby Owen's investigations. Yet another theme different from the books that have gone before. This being situated on a lonely country road that has in the past had a flourishing Inn, but now is barely used. At first, all Booby knows is that a tin full of banknotes has been found, but then he finds a freshly - dug grave shaped hole that has filled in. This contains the body of a man that has been shot and left naked within it, but the face has been so badly disfigured that he is unable to be identified. The investigation then, into these finds, brings in a variety of characters, all seeming to have something to hide. We are taken to transport companies, army establishments, and also the activity of the IRA.
A great read.

[Calum Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

B

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wartime procedural, well done of its kind and some really beautiful phrases. Not many likeable characters, but characters that feel like real people, although mostly lightly sketched.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lid had been nailed on but now was loose. Christopherson lifted it and showed it was filled with tightly packed bundles of one-pound notes.
“How much is there?” Bobby asked.
“I don’t know,” Christopherson replied. “I’ve touched nothing.”
“We must count it together and I’ll give you a receipt before I take it,” Bobby said. He was experiencing some surprise at finding that the tale told over the ’phone had been in no way exaggerated. The report received by ’phone that a wooden case full of bank-notes had been picked up by the roadside, had not sounded very convincing. The usual thing would have been to ring up the nearest constable and order him to report. But there was something rather queer about this story of a case filled with bank-notes having been picked up in so lonely a spot and Christopherson himself had seemed to think so, for he had asked that an officer of experience should be sent.

Yet murder is no common crime. The fascination that it has for us lies not only in the nature of a deed so terrible and so irretrievable, in which mere man takes upon himself the right to act as God in cutting short the tenure of another’s life; but also because in that it may be committed for strange reasons, throwing strange lights upon the human mind; committed, too, sometimes by those who but for some twist of circumstance would have led the quiet and normal existence of ordinary folk.

The two Krams, father and daughter; Micky Burke and his nephew, Larry Connor; Captain Peter Wintle of Ingleside Camp; the members of the Christopherson family; Loo Leader and his pugilistic mate; they all played their part, Bobby felt very certain in the drama that had culminated in that solitary grave it had been so evidently and so dreadfully intended should preserve its secret inviolate for ever. But what part it was each one of these played, there was as yet little to show...

[Kelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very frustrating book to read. Plenty of story telling but not much detecting. Many pages were spent on Bobby Owen telling the various suspects what he thinks or guesses without really effectively getting any information or answers from them. At the end Bobby just announced he has solved the case and just gave a long speech on how everything happened. But unlike the famous denouncement of Hercule Poirot, Bobby just rambled on without logically walking us through the clues and how he logically reached those conclusions. He just jumped to conclusions. Separately, one interesting twist about this book is that it was published in 1943. Like many detective stories of the period, war and spy are themes that almost inevitably come up in the story.

[michael pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

there are no rattle snakes in england

the only foto I could find of a bayard was a 1906 model. 847 ccs, 3 spd manual trans. good read. why they didnt take dabs early on. plot got hairy with under lying sub plots. still a good read.

[Cece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Endlessly grateful to have found the Bobby Owens mysteries and other mostly forgotten Golden Age British mysteries on the Kindle platform.
Punshon crafted intricate, cerebral puzzles. I have enjoyed every one.

[Jose Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an excellent summary and an erudite introduction to this book, I would suggest to read the prologue by Curtis Evans, available in Amazon. I’m very pleased to have had the chance to read The Conqueror Inn, a really captivating book in my view that reflects very well the atmosphere and the spirit at the English countryside during the Second World War. The storyline is rather complex but is very nicely structured and, at the end, all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly well. The solution to the mystery is stylish and provides an appropriate explanation to all the unknowns posed. Besides, Punshon writes in a style that, in my view, is both elegant and convincing. All in all an enjoyable enigma.