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The Grell Mystery
Mr. Robert Grell, social idol, millionaire, diplomat, and winner of the greatest matrimonial prize in London is apparently found murdered in his study. The police soon realise that the corpse is not that of Robert Grell, but someone who looked a lot like him. Where has Grell gone? And who is the corpse? Scotland Yard investigates... A must-have for fans of the classic mysteries!
324 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1913
16 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Frank Froest
70 books5 followersSuperintendent Frank Castle Froest was a British detective and crime writer.
Froest was described by a journalist as being "...short, thick-set, full-faced, Mr.Froest in uniform looked more like a Prussian field-marshal than anything else. Out of uniform (which he generally was) he was always immaculate in silk hat, patent leather boots, and carrying a carefully rolled umbrella." Called 'the man with iron hands', Froest was incredibly strong, and could tear a pack of cards in half and snap a sixpence 'like a biscuit'.
Froest was described by a journalist as being "...short, thick-set, full-faced, Mr.Froest in uniform looked more like a Prussian field-marshal than anything else. Out of uniform (which he generally was) he was always immaculate in silk hat, patent leather boots, and carrying a carefully rolled umbrella." Called 'the man with iron hands', Froest was incredibly strong, and could tear a pack of cards in half and snap a sixpence 'like a biscuit'.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 28, 2022
Man hunt!
On the night before his wedding, American millionaire Robert Grell leaves his club, telling his friend, Sir Ralph Fairfield, that he’ll be back shortly. He does not return, however, and Sir Ralph later learns that he has been found murdered in his flat. Chief Inspector Heldon Foyle of the CID takes personal charge of the case since Grell is a prominent figure with ties to his government in the States. The case already seems difficult since no one has a known motive to murder Grell. But it soon becomes even more mysterious when it transpires the dead man is not Grell at all – it is in fact another American, called Goldenburg, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Grell. Grell has disappeared, as has his Russian valet, Ivan, not to mention the mysterious veiled woman who was in the flat around the time of the murder, who might be Princess Petrovska or is possibly Lola the showgirl or could be someone else entirely. So to have any hope of solving the crime, first Foyle must find all these missing people…
And that’s exactly what he does. The book almost entirely concentrates on the hunt for Grell and the others, the theory being that, when they are found, they will be able to reveal what exactly happened to Goldenburg and why. So there’s no real investigation of the murder in terms of motives and so on – it’s strictly a police procedural account of a man (and woman) hunt, filled with details of how the Metropolitan Police went about their job back in 1913 when the book was published. This isn’t too surprising since the author was himself an active police officer from 1879 until his retirement in 1912 from the post of Superintendent of the Met’s CID – effectively Foyle’s boss, though one feels Foyle is probably something of an alter-ego for Froest himself. Which is a bit of a worry, since Foyle seems to feel that as far as police officers go, following the law should be optional…
“There were things, of course, that could not be put in writing, but Foyle never invited his subordinates to act against the law. Such things have to be done at a man’s own discretion without official sanction.”
It seemed to me that Froest’s aim was not so much to tell a mystery story as to describe the workings of the CID and the types of people and criminality they deal with on a daily basis. So in the course of the hunt we are taken to gambling dens, we meet petty crooks and informers, we learn about fingerprinting and record-keeping and liaising with foreign police forces, we get an idea of the police hierarchy and discipline, we spend time with the river police on the Thames, and so on. Foyle and his colleagues also tell each other anecdotes about previous cases they have dealt with. It’s all quite interesting, giving a snapshot of police work at this specific time in the first decade of the twentieth century, when forensic techniques were in their infancy.
However, in order to have room for all this it’s necessary for the police to be singularly incompetent at actually finding any of the missing people! Near miss follows near miss, with all of the detectives making blunders just as they’re about to lay hands on Grell, letting him escape so that Foyle can go on hunting for another few chapters, then another few, and so on. I gradually found I had tired of the chase – I would probably have preferred to be reading a factual memoir of Froest’s time as a detective than have it all rolled into a fictional mystery. The mystery element is well set up in the first few chapters and then is put on hold for a couple of hundred of pages while the manhunt takes place, before being wrapped up rather quickly in the last few pages with a written confession from the murderer to explain all. I confess I started to skim at about the halfway mark, eventually leaping over chunks of the procedural stuff and only tuning back in properly when the solution finally hove into view.
So overall I found it overly detailed, with too much concentration on the minutiae of detective work at the expense of moving the plot along. However, the minutiae was interesting, and probably even more so in 1913 when the mystery novel was still a new concept and the readership might well be reading about police practices for the first time. For those of us modern readers who have read a million police procedurals it doesn’t feel quite so original and therefore the detail just serves to slow the book to a crawl. I feel the impatience I developed with it is quite subjective, though, and I can imagine that plenty of people would thoroughly enjoy this detailed look at early policing.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
On the night before his wedding, American millionaire Robert Grell leaves his club, telling his friend, Sir Ralph Fairfield, that he’ll be back shortly. He does not return, however, and Sir Ralph later learns that he has been found murdered in his flat. Chief Inspector Heldon Foyle of the CID takes personal charge of the case since Grell is a prominent figure with ties to his government in the States. The case already seems difficult since no one has a known motive to murder Grell. But it soon becomes even more mysterious when it transpires the dead man is not Grell at all – it is in fact another American, called Goldenburg, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Grell. Grell has disappeared, as has his Russian valet, Ivan, not to mention the mysterious veiled woman who was in the flat around the time of the murder, who might be Princess Petrovska or is possibly Lola the showgirl or could be someone else entirely. So to have any hope of solving the crime, first Foyle must find all these missing people…
And that’s exactly what he does. The book almost entirely concentrates on the hunt for Grell and the others, the theory being that, when they are found, they will be able to reveal what exactly happened to Goldenburg and why. So there’s no real investigation of the murder in terms of motives and so on – it’s strictly a police procedural account of a man (and woman) hunt, filled with details of how the Metropolitan Police went about their job back in 1913 when the book was published. This isn’t too surprising since the author was himself an active police officer from 1879 until his retirement in 1912 from the post of Superintendent of the Met’s CID – effectively Foyle’s boss, though one feels Foyle is probably something of an alter-ego for Froest himself. Which is a bit of a worry, since Foyle seems to feel that as far as police officers go, following the law should be optional…
“There were things, of course, that could not be put in writing, but Foyle never invited his subordinates to act against the law. Such things have to be done at a man’s own discretion without official sanction.”
It seemed to me that Froest’s aim was not so much to tell a mystery story as to describe the workings of the CID and the types of people and criminality they deal with on a daily basis. So in the course of the hunt we are taken to gambling dens, we meet petty crooks and informers, we learn about fingerprinting and record-keeping and liaising with foreign police forces, we get an idea of the police hierarchy and discipline, we spend time with the river police on the Thames, and so on. Foyle and his colleagues also tell each other anecdotes about previous cases they have dealt with. It’s all quite interesting, giving a snapshot of police work at this specific time in the first decade of the twentieth century, when forensic techniques were in their infancy.
However, in order to have room for all this it’s necessary for the police to be singularly incompetent at actually finding any of the missing people! Near miss follows near miss, with all of the detectives making blunders just as they’re about to lay hands on Grell, letting him escape so that Foyle can go on hunting for another few chapters, then another few, and so on. I gradually found I had tired of the chase – I would probably have preferred to be reading a factual memoir of Froest’s time as a detective than have it all rolled into a fictional mystery. The mystery element is well set up in the first few chapters and then is put on hold for a couple of hundred of pages while the manhunt takes place, before being wrapped up rather quickly in the last few pages with a written confession from the murderer to explain all. I confess I started to skim at about the halfway mark, eventually leaping over chunks of the procedural stuff and only tuning back in properly when the solution finally hove into view.
So overall I found it overly detailed, with too much concentration on the minutiae of detective work at the expense of moving the plot along. However, the minutiae was interesting, and probably even more so in 1913 when the mystery novel was still a new concept and the readership might well be reading about police practices for the first time. For those of us modern readers who have read a million police procedurals it doesn’t feel quite so original and therefore the detail just serves to slow the book to a crawl. I feel the impatience I developed with it is quite subjective, though, and I can imagine that plenty of people would thoroughly enjoy this detailed look at early policing.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
September 22, 2023
On the eve before his wedding, Robert Grell was dining with his friend, Sir Ralph Fairfield, at their club. About 9-o'clock or so, Grell said that he had an appointment and, if there were any phone calls for him, would Ralph please take them and tell the caller Grell was busy and couldn't come to the phone. Grell never returned. Later, Grell's butler found him dead with a dagger in his chest. Superintendent Heldon Foyle of Scotland Yard's CID was called in.
This is a police procedural. Author Frank Froest (does anyone else think his name looks like a typo?) spent the greater part of his working career as a detective for Scotland Yard. Froest provides an enormous amount of detail about how such a murder investigation would be conducted. There are lots of clues to be tracked down and lots of manpower required to do it. The murderer was not obvious to me until late in the novel when I thought I had a good idea - as did Superintendent Foyle, I might add. We were both wrong, although Foyle recognized his error and had it solved a good couple of chapters before I did.
The writing style was better than I might have anticipated for 1913. The plot very good. The depiction of the the Yard's CID I thought very good. I couldn't fall asleep easily last night and got up to read. I read to the end. This long nighttime reading session is *very* unlike me. I thought this novel very good, but not superb - not five stars, but four, though perhaps you can see all four of them flashing now and then.
This is a police procedural. Author Frank Froest (does anyone else think his name looks like a typo?) spent the greater part of his working career as a detective for Scotland Yard. Froest provides an enormous amount of detail about how such a murder investigation would be conducted. There are lots of clues to be tracked down and lots of manpower required to do it. The murderer was not obvious to me until late in the novel when I thought I had a good idea - as did Superintendent Foyle, I might add. We were both wrong, although Foyle recognized his error and had it solved a good couple of chapters before I did.
The writing style was better than I might have anticipated for 1913. The plot very good. The depiction of the the Yard's CID I thought very good. I couldn't fall asleep easily last night and got up to read. I read to the end. This long nighttime reading session is *very* unlike me. I thought this novel very good, but not superb - not five stars, but four, though perhaps you can see all four of them flashing now and then.
March 13, 2018
An excellent vintage crime story about police procedural.
The plot is exciting with some intense actions. Given the fact "The Grell Mystery" is written by an ex Scotland Yard Superintendent, Frank Froest, the methods and ways to solve the crime in the story seems credulous. There were few funny moments when the policemen made the most silliest mistakes which regress their progress to solve the crime speedily. Overall an enjoyable read. Some chapters looked repetitive but they were needed to reinforce the us of the method of deduction and elimination.
"The Grell Mystery," according to a crime novels expert, Martin Edwards, is one of the 100 books crime fiction readers should get acquainted with or as a starter point to embark the journey of vintage crime literature (Refer to "The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books" published by Poisoned Pen Press in 2017.) I strongly believe genuine vintage mysteries lovers would appreciate "The Grell Mystery" and find it an excellent read.
4.5 stars
The plot is exciting with some intense actions. Given the fact "The Grell Mystery" is written by an ex Scotland Yard Superintendent, Frank Froest, the methods and ways to solve the crime in the story seems credulous. There were few funny moments when the policemen made the most silliest mistakes which regress their progress to solve the crime speedily. Overall an enjoyable read. Some chapters looked repetitive but they were needed to reinforce the us of the method of deduction and elimination.
"The Grell Mystery," according to a crime novels expert, Martin Edwards, is one of the 100 books crime fiction readers should get acquainted with or as a starter point to embark the journey of vintage crime literature (Refer to "The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books" published by Poisoned Pen Press in 2017.) I strongly believe genuine vintage mysteries lovers would appreciate "The Grell Mystery" and find it an excellent read.
4.5 stars
November 14, 2017
Three and a half stars
If you like police procedurals (like I do) then you will probably enjoy this. Some might feel that it drags on a bit with lots of procedural detail and so it does but I don't mind this. It was fairly easy to work out who committed the murder but this didn't spoil it for me. Froest was a Scotland Yard man himself so I imagine it was a fairly accurate portrayal of how things were done in 1913. The language and opinions are of the time and are not particularly politically correct by today's standards but I didn't feel that the author was racist or as prejudiced as a lot of other authors of the period.
The story is unusual: Grell, a wealthy American business man/adventurer disappears on the eve of his wedding to a titled Englishwoman. In his flat, the body of someone else is found dressed in Grells' clothes with his possessions in his pockets. Superintendent Foyle harnesses all the resources of Scotland Yard to gradually piece it all together.
I enjoyed it.
If you like police procedurals (like I do) then you will probably enjoy this. Some might feel that it drags on a bit with lots of procedural detail and so it does but I don't mind this. It was fairly easy to work out who committed the murder but this didn't spoil it for me. Froest was a Scotland Yard man himself so I imagine it was a fairly accurate portrayal of how things were done in 1913. The language and opinions are of the time and are not particularly politically correct by today's standards but I didn't feel that the author was racist or as prejudiced as a lot of other authors of the period.
The story is unusual: Grell, a wealthy American business man/adventurer disappears on the eve of his wedding to a titled Englishwoman. In his flat, the body of someone else is found dressed in Grells' clothes with his possessions in his pockets. Superintendent Foyle harnesses all the resources of Scotland Yard to gradually piece it all together.
I enjoyed it.
February 13, 2019
I really liked this book. At the end of chapter 5, I was surprised, then all throughout I couldn't figure out why 'he' did it, then on to the last few chapters I was again surprised. Got a little long-winded in an explanation at the end, but all in all, it was a good story.
September 19, 2022
American Robert Grell on the eve of his wedding is spending the evening at his club with friend Sir Ralph Fairfield. Grell has business elsewhere but needs Fairfield to inform anyone that he is detained at the club. But his body is found at his home, stabbed. Heldon Foyle, C.I.D. and his team investigate.
An entertaining historical mystery.
Originally published in 1913
An entertaining historical mystery.
Originally published in 1913
April 16, 2016
Really 2 and 1/2 stars. I just couldn't get into all of the repetition of explaining to different people what was going on in the case. (I wonder if it was serialized originally?) The first quarter of the book was fast paced, but then it slowed down with many interspersed descriptions by the detective of his previous cases. If the book had been better edited and not as long, it would've been much better. I abandoned it a little after the half-way mark, as it failed to hold my interest. Maybe it's just not for me.
May 8, 2020
I was somewhat disappointed in this mystery novel. It was very solidly written as you would expect from someone with the background of Mr. Froest. However, I felt the character development was a bit lacking, and the story itself dragged at points and became repetitious towards the end. Not a bad book, but not a memorable one either.
November 23, 2021
Had high hopes but didn't happen. Felt the story dragged at places and then the end recapped the entire story, might have been an original short story. Have one more by this author that I might attempt.
Want to read
June 1, 2025Synopsis: Robert Grell, a wealthy, socially prominent diplomat, is found murdered at home. But then the police realize the body is a look-a-like!
February 20, 2016
Another free audiobook, published in 1913. A man's double is murdered, the man goes into hiding, the question is why? Some painfully racist descriptions early in the book... but thankfully only there. Overall an interesting mystery.
August 13, 2012
A terrific story, and all the better it is being a straightforward story without the flourishing descriptive detail in so many of these old books. I enjoyed it very much.
March 9, 2018
Suspense that keeps you turning the pages...A charming and intelligent detective. ..interesting characters ...A systematic approach to crime solving ...an excellent read !
July 31, 2024
I did not enjoy this book. The main detective was so irritating that I was rooting for the criminal. I also found annoying the constant reminders of how much better England was compared to the US or France because in England police don't get information by force, and there's such things as rules that English officers have to follow. This was a little incredulous as these English police officers routinely broke into peoples homes, lied and clearly lamented their inability to use force (although it didn’t take much provocation for them to respond to force). The plot sounded very much like it was written by someone who, for some reason, really had to suck up to the British police. If you took out the repetitive sections about how "a police officers work is routine and follows procedures and here are the procedures...
"The book would probably be about a hundred pages and in that case, it might've been good. Perhaps the author’s other books are a bit more polished, but this felt like clumsy first attempt at a mystery.
Also, I'm normally pretty good at not judging past works by today's standards but the part with the Jewish man was so antisemitic and cringy it read like something from Borat.
"The book would probably be about a hundred pages and in that case, it might've been good. Perhaps the author’s other books are a bit more polished, but this felt like clumsy first attempt at a mystery.
Also, I'm normally pretty good at not judging past works by today's standards but the part with the Jewish man was so antisemitic and cringy it read like something from Borat.
September 28, 2025
A murder mystery written over 100 years ago by a retired superintendent at Scotland Yard. The nature of the author gave the book a rather different feel than, say, Agatha Christie, and I enjoyed that.
August 30, 2020
There is a lot of running around in this book without it really getting them anywhere. So not my favorite.
June 1, 2021
A murder mystery set in London in the 19th century. The inspector Foyle solves the mystery and makes some references to "book investigations" versus what actually happens. A cute reference.
June 22, 2023
2.5 stars - very old fashioned
Listening to Agatha Christie books on podcast by Libravox.org
Listening to Agatha Christie books on podcast by Libravox.org
March 16, 2024
Very much a pat on the back procedural.
October 18, 2024
So well written, this who done it flows beautifully!
October 23, 2024
This is a good mystery with a large list of characters and a huge number of plot twists. The one complaint I have is that the author seems a bit too apologetic for the crime(s).
June 15, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
July 26, 2025
A promising start leading to a mediocre mystery. Full review at https://murderatthemanse.substack.com...
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