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Desmond Merrion #34
Situation Vacant
An English country village is disturbed by the drowning of a young local girl, secretary to the woman who occupies the role of lady of the manor. The local police can find no evidence of foul play and a verdict of accidental death is decided. However, when her replacement is also found dead, this time from carbon monoxide poisoning, they begin to have their doubts, and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard is called in.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1946
4 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Miles Burton
93 books25 followersAKA John Rhode, 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
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2013
A bit far fetched but enjoyable nevertheless. Merrion doesn't show up until page 120 and then figures out in a couple of days what the police have been unable to do for months. The plot angle in general is easy to spot but the actual perpetrator not quite so.
Not quite sure why Miles Burton's books are so sought after and expensive. Maybe it's because he wrote loads of them which makes them collectable but they're quite hard to find.
I liked it. It was quite good but not very good.
Not quite sure why Miles Burton's books are so sought after and expensive. Maybe it's because he wrote loads of them which makes them collectable but they're quite hard to find.
I liked it. It was quite good but not very good.
March 13, 2026
Another cracking classic crime novel!
I thoroughly enjoyed this! I had my suspicions as to the killer and their motives early on, but it was fun watching Arnold and Merrion tease out the details.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! I had my suspicions as to the killer and their motives early on, but it was fun watching Arnold and Merrion tease out the details.
April 23, 2026
lost in the middle
A lot of grammar needs to be corrected. The story did ramble quite a lot in the middle which was quite tedious. Some parts of the ‘mystery’ were blindingly obvious from early pages .
A lot of grammar needs to be corrected. The story did ramble quite a lot in the middle which was quite tedious. Some parts of the ‘mystery’ were blindingly obvious from early pages .
October 23, 2018
Not his best work by quite some distance. Full review at classicmystery.blog
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews