What do you think?
Rate this book
Dr. Priestley #40
Vegetable Duck
Waghorn is in fine shape as, assisted by Dr. Priestley from his armchair, he tracks down the man who disposed of two unwanted relatives using only a vegetable marrow.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
28 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
John Rhode
144 books31 followersAKA Miles Burton, Cecil Waye, Cecil J.C. Street, I.O., F.O.O..
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 20, 2025
This was a well-done procedural and I enjoyed the way it was told. If, like me, you read a lot of mysteries and crime fiction, you likely will figure out the Who and Why about halfway through. The thing that is really interesting here is the How. The planning and setup the killer goes through is very methodical and I think the writer did a great job with that. The method of murder was one I had not encountered before.
The inspector drove me a bit crazy because at the outset of having decided the Who, and was just backfilling circumstantial evidence to make it so. Worse, there were a couple of things he couldn't suss and did not fit the circumstantial evidence, but he wanted to discount them because he was so beholden to his Who and Why. As it happened, when those instances were solved for, it could not be the one the inspector was so sure about. It was a good example of why letting the evidence lead, not the other way around, is the way to go. The end felt quickly wrapped up when the killer is finally nabbed.
This wasn't my first read by Rhode and I will read more. Recommended.
The inspector drove me a bit crazy because at the outset of having decided the Who, and was just backfilling circumstantial evidence to make it so. Worse, there were a couple of things he couldn't suss and did not fit the circumstantial evidence, but he wanted to discount them because he was so beholden to his Who and Why. As it happened, when those instances were solved for, it could not be the one the inspector was so sure about. It was a good example of why letting the evidence lead, not the other way around, is the way to go. The end felt quickly wrapped up when the killer is finally nabbed.
This wasn't my first read by Rhode and I will read more. Recommended.
April 13, 2025
Despite the plaudits which seem to have been showered, almost universally, on this 1944 entry in the Dr Priestley canon-“unbelievably ingenious “ and “engrossing “ amongst them, I was not impressed. My perception runs the gamut from “indubitably tedious” to “ mind-numbingly dull”.
I am probably bored by the formula which means that the people fingered by Hanslet and/or Waghorn cannot possibly be the culprits and therefore the theories they propose may be instantly dismissed. Here their contentions centre round “ who benefits?” -which is correct- but their ideas, naturally, do not stretch far enough. The solution stretches credulity and credibility in ways I cannot explain without spoiling other readers’ enjoyment.
It took me ages to get through this, partly due to my current inability to concentrate and partly due to my frustration with the plot.
I am probably bored by the formula which means that the people fingered by Hanslet and/or Waghorn cannot possibly be the culprits and therefore the theories they propose may be instantly dismissed. Here their contentions centre round “ who benefits?” -which is correct- but their ideas, naturally, do not stretch far enough. The solution stretches credulity and credibility in ways I cannot explain without spoiling other readers’ enjoyment.
It took me ages to get through this, partly due to my current inability to concentrate and partly due to my frustration with the plot.
March 30, 2025
Goodish
I liked this well enough, but it was slightly spoiled by an avalanche of typos. That apart, this book was a little too long.
I liked this well enough, but it was slightly spoiled by an avalanche of typos. That apart, this book was a little too long.
May 9, 2025
B+:
A bit convoluted, even for Rhode's standard, but truly original. Well paced and had me hooked throughout. Not enough of Priestley?
A bit convoluted, even for Rhode's standard, but truly original. Well paced and had me hooked throughout. Not enough of Priestley?
June 18, 2025
Appeared to start as a very mundane predictable story but the author was busy laughing up his sleeve (which I knew would be the case but it took him a while to reveal his real intention). Turned into a very entertaining story, although I sometimes want to slap Dr Priestley for his smug knowingness!
February 2, 2017
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Can't understand how a person who could come up with such an ingenious murder plan as well as that trick with the letter could slip so badly? Come on, no disguise when interacting (profusely, no less) with others who might very well be called as witnesses.
First Line: At a quarter to nine in the evening of Thursday, August 31st, Mr. Charles Fransham walked hastily up to the entrance of G Block, Mundesley Mansions, Battersea, and went in.
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Can't understand how a person who could come up with such an ingenious murder plan as well as that trick with the letter could slip so badly? Come on, no disguise when interacting (profusely, no less) with others who might very well be called as witnesses.
First Line: At a quarter to nine in the evening of Thursday, August 31st, Mr. Charles Fransham walked hastily up to the entrance of G Block, Mundesley Mansions, Battersea, and went in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2015
Also known as 'Too Many Suspects'. Quite good police procedural from the Golden Age.
Want to read
April 20, 2019Synopsis: Waghorn is in fine shape as, assisted by Dr. Priestley, he tracks down the man who disposed of two relatives using only a vegetable marrow.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews