20–22232
When Lord Loudwater is stabbed to death and investigations are begun, it is discovered that there is a quite disconcerting wealth of possible suspects. Lord Loudwater was of such a nature that his actions might supply the motive for murder to any one of his family or household or even remoter connections. For instance, on the day of his murder, he had threatened to divorce his wife, he had quarreled violently with Colonel Grey, who had been seen paying attentions to Lady Loudwater, he had discharged his butler in a fit of anger, and he had halved the allowance of a mysterious woman who had sued him for breach of promise. So the doings of these various people at the time of the murder are thoroughly combed over. When these clues lead to nothing but a blank wall, with the story almost at an end, the suspense is finally ended by the discovery of one forged check which gives the actual murderer away.
“We close the book with a genuine regret that a gift so real as Mr Jepson’s cannot be more economically used.”
+ − Ath p1210 N 14 ’19 140w
“The action never lags, and the ending is rather out of the ordinary.”
+ Booklist 17:158 Ja ’21 Boston Transcript p6 O 16 ’20 520w
“Mr Jepson has not been entirely successful in keeping up the tension of the mystery. There are lapses of several months each in the narrative, which break the emotional flow. But the large number of readers who seek to qualify as amateur Holmeses, Craig Kennedies, and Dupins, by vicarious solutions of murder mysteries, will find plenty of opportunities here.”
+ − N Y Times p25 S 5 ’20 420w
“If some of the devices are familiar, most of the characters have—what is rare in novels of the kind—an unmistakable touch of life, and much of the dialogue has—what is still more uncommon—a sprightly turn.”