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C S Lewis and the Body in the Basement
It’s the summer of 1933, and Oxford don C. S. Lewis,
better known to his friends as Jack, is on a walking
holiday with his brother Warnie and young friend
Tom Morris. When Jack’s wallet is accidentally
destroyed, they visit a bank to replenish their funds—and
walk straight into the scene of an impossible murder.
The victim is in the basement of the bank, alone, cut off
by brick and steel from the rest of the world—and yet he
has been stabbed from behind and the murder weapon
has vanished.
It’s a ‘locked room’ mystery that would have baffled the
cleverest sleuths of the Golden Age of detective stories—
but it’s being tackled by the brilliant mind and larger-than-
life personality of C. S. Lewis: beloved creator of
Narnia and formidable defender of the Christian faith.
The first in a new series of C. S. Lewis Mysteries.
Kel Richards is an author, journalist and broadcaster.
Kel presented Word Watch on ABC radio for 12 years
and is the bestselling author of The Case of the Vanishing
Corpse and The Aussie Bible. He currently hosts The Sunday
Night Open Line Show and Kel Richards’ Word of the
Day on Radio 2CH-1170 in Sydney, Australia.
better known to his friends as Jack, is on a walking
holiday with his brother Warnie and young friend
Tom Morris. When Jack’s wallet is accidentally
destroyed, they visit a bank to replenish their funds—and
walk straight into the scene of an impossible murder.
The victim is in the basement of the bank, alone, cut off
by brick and steel from the rest of the world—and yet he
has been stabbed from behind and the murder weapon
has vanished.
It’s a ‘locked room’ mystery that would have baffled the
cleverest sleuths of the Golden Age of detective stories—
but it’s being tackled by the brilliant mind and larger-than-
life personality of C. S. Lewis: beloved creator of
Narnia and formidable defender of the Christian faith.
The first in a new series of C. S. Lewis Mysteries.
Kel Richards is an author, journalist and broadcaster.
Kel presented Word Watch on ABC radio for 12 years
and is the bestselling author of The Case of the Vanishing
Corpse and The Aussie Bible. He currently hosts The Sunday
Night Open Line Show and Kel Richards’ Word of the
Day on Radio 2CH-1170 in Sydney, Australia.
174 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 5, 2013
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Kel Richards
66 books20 followersKevin Barry "Kel" Richards (born 8 February 1946) is an Australian author, journalist and radio personality.
Richards has written a series of crime novels and thrillers for adult readers which includes The Case of the Vanishing Corpse, Death in Egypt and An Outbreak of Darkness.
Richards currently presents ABC NewsRadio's weekend afternoons, which includes regular Wordwatch segments. Wordwatch is a feature introduced by Richards. Initially developed as a "filler" program for the radio programs to allow time for changes of people or locations, it tapped into an interest by the listening public and several books have been produced based on the show's research. In November 2003 the thousandth episode of the show was produced.
Richards can also be heard on ABC Local Radio programs including Nightlife (national) and Evenings in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
Richards has written a series of crime novels and thrillers for adult readers which includes The Case of the Vanishing Corpse, Death in Egypt and An Outbreak of Darkness.
Richards currently presents ABC NewsRadio's weekend afternoons, which includes regular Wordwatch segments. Wordwatch is a feature introduced by Richards. Initially developed as a "filler" program for the radio programs to allow time for changes of people or locations, it tapped into an interest by the listening public and several books have been produced based on the show's research. In November 2003 the thousandth episode of the show was produced.
Richards can also be heard on ABC Local Radio programs including Nightlife (national) and Evenings in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 23, 2021
This is first and foremost a very ideological book. I was up for a cosy mystery and I was surprised that someone had chosen C.S. Lewis as the detective but I thought it might reveal hidden depths in the man and be well researched.
I am not sure it was particularly well researched, what we have is a 2 dimensional "Jack" spouting his dry, conservative (and logically flawed) theology in a self-consciously painted setting. Warnie is portrayed as a stereotype- a bit of a bumbler but likeable and we have the eager "young Morris" who can be sent off on lengthy red herrings to find out almost nothing and provide filler.
It was disappointing how much of this book ended up being filler one way or the other. The actual puzzle was fairly obvious and I expected more twists but to no avail. We don't get to know the suspects at all, they are at an arms distance while the narrative tells us way too much about Lewis' religious beliefs (presenting this as intellectual rigour when it really- as portrayed in the book - is not), what the three men ate and overly detailed descriptions of their walking and conversations with unimportant characters and interactions with the very hierarchical police (who have names out of Christie novels and I am not sure if that is deliberate). Morris' trip to somewhere-on-the-sea covers 2-3 chapters to give one small glimmer of content but much detail about bacon and eggs and the weather and milk cans.
There is a lot of discussion also of the "new" genre of whodunnits, especially by Warnie who is a superfluous character to the plot. I also got a bit sick of Warnie telling us Jack was going to solve the mystery because his mind was as big as various geographical features. We do not get to see a great mind in the overly detailed conversations (which seem a vehicle for what must be the author's own personal beliefs) nor in the very small amount of detecting that happens (if "Jack" is a genius then so am I). The story is foregrounded by a local piece of folklore which is referred to again in quite silly circumstances toward the end but serves no narrative purpose.
All in all a precious, self-indulgent mess of a book with women characters written as peripherally as only a conservative white man can.
I am not sure it was particularly well researched, what we have is a 2 dimensional "Jack" spouting his dry, conservative (and logically flawed) theology in a self-consciously painted setting. Warnie is portrayed as a stereotype- a bit of a bumbler but likeable and we have the eager "young Morris" who can be sent off on lengthy red herrings to find out almost nothing and provide filler.
It was disappointing how much of this book ended up being filler one way or the other. The actual puzzle was fairly obvious and I expected more twists but to no avail. We don't get to know the suspects at all, they are at an arms distance while the narrative tells us way too much about Lewis' religious beliefs (presenting this as intellectual rigour when it really- as portrayed in the book - is not), what the three men ate and overly detailed descriptions of their walking and conversations with unimportant characters and interactions with the very hierarchical police (who have names out of Christie novels and I am not sure if that is deliberate). Morris' trip to somewhere-on-the-sea covers 2-3 chapters to give one small glimmer of content but much detail about bacon and eggs and the weather and milk cans.
There is a lot of discussion also of the "new" genre of whodunnits, especially by Warnie who is a superfluous character to the plot. I also got a bit sick of Warnie telling us Jack was going to solve the mystery because his mind was as big as various geographical features. We do not get to see a great mind in the overly detailed conversations (which seem a vehicle for what must be the author's own personal beliefs) nor in the very small amount of detecting that happens (if "Jack" is a genius then so am I). The story is foregrounded by a local piece of folklore which is referred to again in quite silly circumstances toward the end but serves no narrative purpose.
All in all a precious, self-indulgent mess of a book with women characters written as peripherally as only a conservative white man can.
August 9, 2015
This is a book on two levels - both levels expounding on the cleverness and erudition of CS Lewis. Lewis, his brother Warnie and an erstwhile graduate student of Lewis (the narrator) are on a hiking holiday when they are caught up in a murder mystery of the locked room variety. Needless to say the three intrepid travellers' frustration with the progress of the investigation leads them to become amateur sleuths. These exploits are inter leavened with short hikes, English breakfasts and philosophical discussions between Lewis and his ex student (this latter ongoing discussion forming the other level of the novel).
Although enjoyable I would not necessarily recommend whole heartedly as its combination of 1930s "boys own" academics and Christian philosophy may pale quickly for some readers.
Although enjoyable I would not necessarily recommend whole heartedly as its combination of 1930s "boys own" academics and Christian philosophy may pale quickly for some readers.
November 24, 2024
Using C.S. Lewis, one of the best known writers of the twentieth century, as the detective in a crime mystery is a good start. The death takes place in the vault of a small town bank in 1933, in the Middle of the "Golden Age of Detectve Fiction", but is simple as locked room mysteries go. This is not the problem with this book: as a mystery, anin the characterisation of "Jack" Lewis and his brother Warnie as amateur detectives, I have no criticism. The problem of this novel is the ongoing debate between Jack and the narrator about the Christian faith, which takes up a large chunk of most chapters. Whether or not the reader is a Christian or is interested in looking into Christianity, this is both heavy-handed and out of place. Readers Interested in Lewis's faith should read his book Mere Christianity, from which the substance of the discussions in this book are probably derived.
June 6, 2020
A tribute to the genre of the "locked room mystery" - which flourished in Britain during C.S. Lewis' own lifetime.
January 1, 2017
Do you know those videos where the christian apologist is like "this is what the atheist says and here's how to challenge it" and half the shit in there is "god is real, therefore god is real"or"you really believe in God because God is real"?
This is that, pretending to be a sub par attempt at an old school murder mystery.
I don't know if it's aimed at converting people or making Christians feel smart of justified in their beliefs, but either way is equally insulting to the intelligence of the people it's aimed at.
Regardless of your beliefs, you will roll your eyes and cringe at the way religious discussion is portrayed, and try to skim through that bit to get to the end of the mystery. No spoilers, but here's a hint: your guess is probably right.
This is that, pretending to be a sub par attempt at an old school murder mystery.
I don't know if it's aimed at converting people or making Christians feel smart of justified in their beliefs, but either way is equally insulting to the intelligence of the people it's aimed at.
Regardless of your beliefs, you will roll your eyes and cringe at the way religious discussion is portrayed, and try to skim through that bit to get to the end of the mystery. No spoilers, but here's a hint: your guess is probably right.
June 27, 2015
A mixture of theological discussion and a murder mystery, staring CS Lewis.
This works better than you might expect a mixture of those three things to - the theological discussions as they sit round bored between murder-related events is a bit clunky but not too much so, and is an interesting look at CS Lewis' reasoning for becoming a Christian, and the murder is nicely baffling, but with all the clues in place.
The author is overly fond of the simile, though!
This works better than you might expect a mixture of those three things to - the theological discussions as they sit round bored between murder-related events is a bit clunky but not too much so, and is an interesting look at CS Lewis' reasoning for becoming a Christian, and the murder is nicely baffling, but with all the clues in place.
The author is overly fond of the simile, though!
July 28, 2015
I enjoyed reading it and found some nice passages but it's nothing to talk much about.
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February 9, 2016Christian Book of the year third prize 2014
July 22, 2014
Enjoyed the story - had enough plot turns to keep you interested.
May 3, 2016
An interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews