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Duke de Richleau #4
Three Inquisitive People
22 Nov 1931 - Jun 1932
MURDER
in the rich atmosphere of London's Clubland – here is Dennis Wheatley at his thrilling best.
MEET
a somewhat unusual detective force: the connoisseur Duke de Richleau, a husky American millionaire and a young man-about-town on a charge of matricide.
FOLLOW
the delicious young Lady Felicity and you have a sensational love-affair on your hands.
PLANT
a dead body in a bath and go to tea with an old lady in Sussex, and you have a twist that only Wheatley can give to a first-rate crime story.
MURDER
in the rich atmosphere of London's Clubland – here is Dennis Wheatley at his thrilling best.
MEET
a somewhat unusual detective force: the connoisseur Duke de Richleau, a husky American millionaire and a young man-about-town on a charge of matricide.
FOLLOW
the delicious young Lady Felicity and you have a sensational love-affair on your hands.
PLANT
a dead body in a bath and go to tea with an old lady in Sussex, and you have a twist that only Wheatley can give to a first-rate crime story.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
7 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Wheatley
385 books248 followersDennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) [Born: Dennis Yeats Wheatley] was an English author. His prolific output of stylish thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors in the 1950s and 1960s.
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
His first book, Three Inquisitive People, was not immediately published; but his first published novel, The Forbidden Territory, was an immediate success when published in 1933, being reprinted seven times in seven weeks.
He wrote adventure stories, with many books in a series of linked works. His plots covered the French Revolution (Roger Brook Series), Satanism (Duc de Richleau), World War II (Gregory Sallust) and espionage (Julian Day).
In the thirties, he conceived a series of whodunit mysteries, presented as case files, with testimonies, letters, pieces of evidence such as hairs or pills. The reader had to go through the evidence to solve the mystery before unsealing the last pages of the file, which gave the answer. Four of these 'Crime Dossiers' were published: Murder Off Miami, Who Killed Robert Prentice, The Malinsay Massacre, and Herewith The Clues.
In the 1960s his publishers were selling a million copies of his books per year. A small number of his books were made into films by Hammer, of which the best known is The Devil Rides Out (book 1934, film 1968). His writing is very descriptive and in many works he manages to introduce his characters into real events while meeting real people. For example, in the Roger Brook series the main character involves himself with Napoleon, and Joséphine whilst being a spy for the Prime Minister William Pitt. Similarly, in the Gregory Sallust series, Sallust shares an evening meal with Hermann Göring.
He also wrote non-fiction works, including accounts of the Russian Revolution and King Charles II, and his autobiography. He was considered an authority on the supernatural, satanism, the practice of exorcism, and black magic, to all of which he was hostile. During his study of the paranormal, though, he joined the Ghost Club.
From 1974 through 1977 he edited a series of 45 paperback reprints for the British publisher Sphere under the heading "The Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult", selecting the titles and writing short introductions for each book. This series included both occult-themed novels by the likes of Bram Stoker and Aleister Crowley and non-fiction works on magic, occultism, and divination by authors such as the Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, the historian Maurice Magre, the magician Isaac Bonewits, and the palm-reader Cheiro.
Two weeks before his death in November 1977, Wheatley received conditional absolution from his old friend Cyril ‘Bobby’ Eastaugh, the Bishop of Peterborough.
His estate library was sold in a catalogue sale by Basil Blackwell's in the 1970s, indicating a thoroughly well-read individual with wide-ranging interests particularly in historical fiction and Europe. His influence has declined, partly due to difficulties in reprinting his works owing to copyright problems.
Fifty-two of Wheatley's novels were published posthumously in a set by Heron Books UK. More recently, in April 2008 Dennis Wheatley's literary estate was acquired by media company Chorion.
He invented a number of board games including Invasion.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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August 12, 2019Standard 1930s Posh Amateurs Solve Crime tosh, regrettably lacking in the occult weirdness of other Richlieu books. Contains the usual ghastly antisemitism (even with one of the heroes being Jewish), homophobia and sexism though there's a fascinating twist here, in that:
--sole witness to prove the murderer did it is gay
--hero bullies him horrifically out of pure homophobia and threatens him with prosecution if he doesn't co-operate or maybe to prosecute anyway
--witness very sensibly blackmails the murderer and legs it to the continent to escape this bigoted psycho
--hero is completely amazed and distraught to realise that the witness has gone and the case has thus collapsed, letting the murderer get away with it, but *at no point* reflects that he might bear any responsibility whatsoever for the sequence of events. It all just happened, apparently. Arsehole.
The book also ends in the most WTF manner with an entire chapter killing off the heroine in spectacularly mawkish fashion for no reason except, I suppose, series needs.
I have only to add that I read this purely because the blurb promised me it was set in the London clubland of the 30s. It wasn't. Thanks, publisher, owe you one.
--sole witness to prove the murderer did it is gay
--hero bullies him horrifically out of pure homophobia and threatens him with prosecution if he doesn't co-operate or maybe to prosecute anyway
--witness very sensibly blackmails the murderer and legs it to the continent to escape this bigoted psycho
--hero is completely amazed and distraught to realise that the witness has gone and the case has thus collapsed, letting the murderer get away with it, but *at no point* reflects that he might bear any responsibility whatsoever for the sequence of events. It all just happened, apparently. Arsehole.
The book also ends in the most WTF manner with an entire chapter killing off the heroine in spectacularly mawkish fashion for no reason except, I suppose, series needs.
I have only to add that I read this purely because the blurb promised me it was set in the London clubland of the 30s. It wasn't. Thanks, publisher, owe you one.
December 3, 2015
The solution seems predictable but good insofar in depicting the millieu - and yes, introducing the four characters to each other
May 1, 2021
The fourth in the Duke de Richleau series and it's the weakest yet by far, a mere average sort of read. This one's a prequel that goes back to look at the circumstances surrounding the Duke, Rex, Simon and Richard coming together and befriending one another for the first time. This time the format of the story is a straightforward murder mystery with a small cast of characters and lots of dialogue. I found it a bit long-winded and clunky, particularly at the climax which hinges on someone randomly finding something they'd forgotten about in their pocket - very weak. Plus that pure melodrama of the final chapter, which comes out of nowhere and just doesn't feel very nice. Although I like the fact that each book in this series so far is a different genre - horror, thriller, mystery - I hope Wheatley brings more 'meat' into the next adventure.
December 26, 2015
An easy read, similar to most Wheatley's. The good Duke meets his future American banker friend, discover a murder next door, investigates, and, in doing so saves an innocent man while seeing the guilty party convicted.
Nothing particularly exciting, no supernatural, no great drama. Something to read when in a relaxed frame of mind.
Nothing particularly exciting, no supernatural, no great drama. Something to read when in a relaxed frame of mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2013
'Who done it' detective story pre WW2 .
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews