What do you think?
Rate this book
Sir Clinton Driffield #11
Minor Operation
There was blood on the drawing-room floor and Hazel Deerhurst had disappeared wearing slippers over walking shoes, two pairs of stockings and a bright silk kimono. First investigations shed interesting light on Hazel. A mysterious machine is found at her home, some paintings and a cryptic telegram. She was also secretary to a man whose secrets involved the future of the empire. Is she victim or villainess? 'JJ Connington stories are always attractive' TheSunday Times
- GenresMystery
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1937
16 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 26, 2017
Hazel Deerhurst has disappeared leaving behind a pool of blood on the drawing room floor, and taking not much more than some underwear and a dressing gown with her. Her cousin seems to know more about the mystery than he's saying and his belligerent attitude to the police is not helping his case.
Gradually Sir Clinton Driffield and his colleagues build up the clues and manage to unravel what exactly has happened and who precisely committed the murder and who dumped the body where it was found.
I think J J Connington has to be one of the best authors for providing the reader with all the clues available to the detectives. His attention to detail was phenomenal. If you enjoy classic detective stories then this series is a must.
Gradually Sir Clinton Driffield and his colleagues build up the clues and manage to unravel what exactly has happened and who precisely committed the murder and who dumped the body where it was found.
I think J J Connington has to be one of the best authors for providing the reader with all the clues available to the detectives. His attention to detail was phenomenal. If you enjoy classic detective stories then this series is a must.
March 2, 2023
One of my favourite vintage detective novelists, E R Punshon had this to say in his contemporary review in the Manchester Guardian:-
"When a released convict is murdered and bloodstains are found in the house of the wife who feared and dreaded his return, and when she herself has vanished “without a trace”, a very pretty problem is presented...it is Mr. Connington’s high merit as a writer of detective novels that each one of these clues is fairly presented for the reader to draw from it, if he can and will, the conclusions that afterwards prove correct when each small detail fits neatly into its place in the completed pattern.”
Indeed this is an interesting puzzle which, given the limited cast, and Connington's notions of fair play, is not too difficult of solution as to perpetrator and motive. The characters are also well-rounded, and if one of them is rather strangely absent-minded, it simply allows for a few more red=herring to be trailed.
A good, solid, nicely-written Golden Age puzzle.
Highly recommended.
"When a released convict is murdered and bloodstains are found in the house of the wife who feared and dreaded his return, and when she herself has vanished “without a trace”, a very pretty problem is presented...it is Mr. Connington’s high merit as a writer of detective novels that each one of these clues is fairly presented for the reader to draw from it, if he can and will, the conclusions that afterwards prove correct when each small detail fits neatly into its place in the completed pattern.”
Indeed this is an interesting puzzle which, given the limited cast, and Connington's notions of fair play, is not too difficult of solution as to perpetrator and motive. The characters are also well-rounded, and if one of them is rather strangely absent-minded, it simply allows for a few more red=herring to be trailed.
A good, solid, nicely-written Golden Age puzzle.
Highly recommended.
December 18, 2025
At one point the police inspector says to a man who is assisting the police, "and yet next morning he did his damnedest - excuse me!" How wonderful it is that he's excusing himself for using language that nowadays would be seen as absolutely the mildest.
This story was of the puzzle variety - here are the clues, fairly presented, can you figure out the basics of the crime? Although I spotted the significance of some of the clues, I did not figure out the basics.
This story was of the puzzle variety - here are the clues, fairly presented, can you figure out the basics of the crime? Although I spotted the significance of some of the clues, I did not figure out the basics.
December 30, 2018
The setup is not so typical for a Golden Age mystery : a formerly respectable family embroiled in scandal. Hazel Deerhurst has seen her brother, Nicholas Adeney, go to jail for a financial fraud masterminded by her husband, Deerhurst. Now Deerhurst is about to be released from jail and Hazel wants nothing to do with him. Then Hazel disappears, and a small amount of blood is found on the parquet in her living room. Has there been foul plaly? Sir Clinton, chief constable of the county, is intrigued by little things that don't make sense : why did Hazel Deerhurst possess a Braille typewriter? Where are the three library books that arrived shortly before Hazel's disappearance?
As usual in this series, the story is complicated, with multiple false trails. Sir Clinton never fails to point out that his Watsons, in this case his old friend Wendover, has access to all the same information as he does. His constant hints that he's seeing/noticing/understanding things that escape his Inspectors and confidants becomes irritating, though. We also hear nothing of his private life, and the result of this is that he never becomes a real character. He's just the cardboard cutout of the stereotypical cerebral detective.
As usual in this series, the story is complicated, with multiple false trails. Sir Clinton never fails to point out that his Watsons, in this case his old friend Wendover, has access to all the same information as he does. His constant hints that he's seeing/noticing/understanding things that escape his Inspectors and confidants becomes irritating, though. We also hear nothing of his private life, and the result of this is that he never becomes a real character. He's just the cardboard cutout of the stereotypical cerebral detective.
April 7, 2017
A very strong Golden Age mystery. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews