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Ludovic Travers #2
The Perfect Murder Case
"I am going to commit a murder. I offer no apology for the curtness of the statement."
An individual taking the name ‘Marius’ boasts in a series of letters that he will commit the perfect murder, daring Scotland Yard detectives to catch him if they can. Ex-CID officer John Franklin and the amateur but astute detective Ludovic Travers will need to draw conclusons from a soiled letter, a locked room murder, four cast-iron alibis, and trips to France, in a feverish search for the killer and proof of his misdeeds — before ‘Marius’ can strike again.
'The Perfect Murder Case' was originally published in 1929. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
An individual taking the name ‘Marius’ boasts in a series of letters that he will commit the perfect murder, daring Scotland Yard detectives to catch him if they can. Ex-CID officer John Franklin and the amateur but astute detective Ludovic Travers will need to draw conclusons from a soiled letter, a locked room murder, four cast-iron alibis, and trips to France, in a feverish search for the killer and proof of his misdeeds — before ‘Marius’ can strike again.
'The Perfect Murder Case' was originally published in 1929. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
243 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1929
26 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Bush
94 books14 followersChristopher Bush was educated in the local school. He then won a scholarship to Thetford Grammar, and went on to study modern languages at King's College London, after which he worked as a school teacher.
He participated in both world wars.
He was a prolific writer of detective novels, wrote three autobiographical novels and nine books about Breckland life using the nom-de-plume Michael Home.
He lived in Great Hockham.
He participated in both world wars.
He was a prolific writer of detective novels, wrote three autobiographical novels and nine books about Breckland life using the nom-de-plume Michael Home.
He lived in Great Hockham.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
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August 27, 2019More on my 20s murder binge. This series seems to go really big on painstaking detail, taking us through the investigation step by step including all the dead ends and trails that go nowhere. If you enjoy procedurals you'll be in heaven. I can't help feeling the author could have cut this by a third by keeping to the point *demands instant gratification*. There is a strong sense of the detectives closing in on the killer by relentless determination, and it's a clever set-up but overall this series isn't my cuppa.
March 21, 2018
Four and a half stars.
This is a brilliant book. A really complex and clever plot written in wonderful English. Ludo Travers actually doesn't figure in it over much. The main protagonist is ex Scotland Yard man John Franklin with occasional pearls of wisdom from Ludo sort of nudging him in the right direction. Lots of detection. Thoroughly enjoyable and there are plenty more in the series which I intend to read in chronological order.
Highly recommended for those who like police/detective procedurals.
This is a brilliant book. A really complex and clever plot written in wonderful English. Ludo Travers actually doesn't figure in it over much. The main protagonist is ex Scotland Yard man John Franklin with occasional pearls of wisdom from Ludo sort of nudging him in the right direction. Lots of detection. Thoroughly enjoyable and there are plenty more in the series which I intend to read in chronological order.
Highly recommended for those who like police/detective procedurals.
February 23, 2021
I have become a big fan of the Christopher Bush murder stories and luckily there are a lot of them now available!
This is beautifully plotted and intelligently written. It deserves to reach a wider audience.
This is beautifully plotted and intelligently written. It deserves to reach a wider audience.
October 12, 2017
This is quite decidedly a forgotten Classic of the Golden Age.
It is well-plotted, with four apparently unshakeable alibis for the most likely murderers, a closed room puzzle and a mysterious letter. The detection is excellent and the clues are there for the spotting. Chapter One is masterly and repays careful reading.
Once we have the murderer in view, it is a matter of gathering sufficient proof to make for a viable prosecution.
The police are warned that as murder will take place. The murdered man, the unlikeable Thomas Richleigh, has an unsavoury past, was rich, and has four nephews with sound economic motives for murder.
Wharton, Franklin and Travers, the staple Bush detectives, are all involved, but it is John Franklin who is very much the hero in this one. The trick used by the murderer is, I think, original, and anticipates by four years that used by Christie in Lord Edgeware Dies.
An excellent read.
It is well-plotted, with four apparently unshakeable alibis for the most likely murderers, a closed room puzzle and a mysterious letter. The detection is excellent and the clues are there for the spotting. Chapter One is masterly and repays careful reading.
Once we have the murderer in view, it is a matter of gathering sufficient proof to make for a viable prosecution.
The police are warned that as murder will take place. The murdered man, the unlikeable Thomas Richleigh, has an unsavoury past, was rich, and has four nephews with sound economic motives for murder.
Wharton, Franklin and Travers, the staple Bush detectives, are all involved, but it is John Franklin who is very much the hero in this one. The trick used by the murderer is, I think, original, and anticipates by four years that used by Christie in Lord Edgeware Dies.
An excellent read.
August 26, 2023
Breaking the alibi…
London is agog! A letter has been sent to all the major newspapers and to Scotland Yard from a person calling himself “Marius”, informing the public that he intends to commit a perfect murder in a few days’ time. He’s so confident of his own ability to escape detection he gives the date and approximate location of the deed. Now London waits to see if it’s a hoax, or, if not, who the victim will be. Scotland Yard can do little but spread their forces around and hope they can somehow stop the crime, or at least catch the murderer. Meantime, Sir Francis Weston, head of consultancy firm Durangos, has recently decided to add an investigative branch to the business. He thinks it would be a great advertisement if his investigators can catch Marius before the police do, so he gives the task to his chief investigator, ex-CID detective John Franklin, who enlists the aid of another employee of Durangos, Ludovic Travers. When Thomas Richleigh is duly murdered at the appointed time and place, the race is on between the police and the private investigators…
Richleigh had a reasonable fortune – enough to be tempting – and he was an unpleasant creature. The obvious suspects are his four nephews who have long expected to inherit his wealth, but who have recently discovered they’re in danger of being cut out because Richleigh had decided to marry his housekeeper. The problem is that each of the nephews has a cast-iron alibi, vouched for by a variety of reputable people with no motivation to lie. Unable to break the alibis, the police investigation stalls – no one else seems to have a motive. But Franklin and Travers haven’t given up. With Franklin doing the legwork and Travers the bulk of the brainwork, they set out to prove that their theory of the crime is the right one, and to produce evidence that will stand up in a court of law.
This is billed as the first in the Ludovic Travers series which eventually ran to over sixty books, according to Martin Edwards in his The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. However in this one Franklin is really the main character, and Travers just assists him with the occasional pointer based on his excellent observation and deductive skills. It’s all about alibis, and I found it rather plodding. Although we are whisked over to the South of France in the second half, Bush doesn’t really spend much time on developing either the setting or his characters. Even Franklin and Travers are rather blank, with few details of their lives beyond the investigation. The writing is workmanlike, but rather monotone. The four suspects aren’t really developed as characters beyond their alibis. Each has the same motive – money – although some are in more need of it than others. Eventually when Travers and Franklin decide on their main suspect we learn a little more about that person, and the book becomes more interesting at that stage, with the long overdue addition of a human element. It has a kind of thriller-ish ending, but it’s all feels a bit sedate – I never felt any true level of tension.
Overall it fell into the OK category for me, neither great nor terrible. The alibi stuff is well done and quite interesting, but it didn’t make up for the lack of characterisation. I would have said I’d be interested to read another to see how the Ludovic Travers character develops, except that Martin Edwards tells us that alibi-breaking is a regular major feature of the books, never a favourite theme for me. Plus Edwards also describes this as “his most renowned novel”, which suggests that the series didn’t improve over time. So while I wouldn’t refuse to read another, I won’t be actively seeking them out. Those who prefer puzzle-based mysteries may enjoy it considerably more, though.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
London is agog! A letter has been sent to all the major newspapers and to Scotland Yard from a person calling himself “Marius”, informing the public that he intends to commit a perfect murder in a few days’ time. He’s so confident of his own ability to escape detection he gives the date and approximate location of the deed. Now London waits to see if it’s a hoax, or, if not, who the victim will be. Scotland Yard can do little but spread their forces around and hope they can somehow stop the crime, or at least catch the murderer. Meantime, Sir Francis Weston, head of consultancy firm Durangos, has recently decided to add an investigative branch to the business. He thinks it would be a great advertisement if his investigators can catch Marius before the police do, so he gives the task to his chief investigator, ex-CID detective John Franklin, who enlists the aid of another employee of Durangos, Ludovic Travers. When Thomas Richleigh is duly murdered at the appointed time and place, the race is on between the police and the private investigators…
Richleigh had a reasonable fortune – enough to be tempting – and he was an unpleasant creature. The obvious suspects are his four nephews who have long expected to inherit his wealth, but who have recently discovered they’re in danger of being cut out because Richleigh had decided to marry his housekeeper. The problem is that each of the nephews has a cast-iron alibi, vouched for by a variety of reputable people with no motivation to lie. Unable to break the alibis, the police investigation stalls – no one else seems to have a motive. But Franklin and Travers haven’t given up. With Franklin doing the legwork and Travers the bulk of the brainwork, they set out to prove that their theory of the crime is the right one, and to produce evidence that will stand up in a court of law.
This is billed as the first in the Ludovic Travers series which eventually ran to over sixty books, according to Martin Edwards in his The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. However in this one Franklin is really the main character, and Travers just assists him with the occasional pointer based on his excellent observation and deductive skills. It’s all about alibis, and I found it rather plodding. Although we are whisked over to the South of France in the second half, Bush doesn’t really spend much time on developing either the setting or his characters. Even Franklin and Travers are rather blank, with few details of their lives beyond the investigation. The writing is workmanlike, but rather monotone. The four suspects aren’t really developed as characters beyond their alibis. Each has the same motive – money – although some are in more need of it than others. Eventually when Travers and Franklin decide on their main suspect we learn a little more about that person, and the book becomes more interesting at that stage, with the long overdue addition of a human element. It has a kind of thriller-ish ending, but it’s all feels a bit sedate – I never felt any true level of tension.
Overall it fell into the OK category for me, neither great nor terrible. The alibi stuff is well done and quite interesting, but it didn’t make up for the lack of characterisation. I would have said I’d be interested to read another to see how the Ludovic Travers character develops, except that Martin Edwards tells us that alibi-breaking is a regular major feature of the books, never a favourite theme for me. Plus Edwards also describes this as “his most renowned novel”, which suggests that the series didn’t improve over time. So while I wouldn’t refuse to read another, I won’t be actively seeking them out. Those who prefer puzzle-based mysteries may enjoy it considerably more, though.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
April 7, 2017
When a man writes to the London newspapers and to Scotland Yard to announce that he will commit a murder on a given night, many think it is a hoax. But the death comes off, and there are few, if any, clues. Bush gives us a full house of detectives--Scotland Yard's methodical methods, a former Yard man whose more imaginative approach has full scope at his private employment, and a gifted amateur Ludovic Travers. It takes work by all of them to track down the killer, and in the end the book turns into a hunt in a way that I don't particularly care for.
August 31, 2019
Interesting classic mystery, full review ASAP at classicmystery.blog
September 17, 2019
An Excellent Mystery
“Marius” sends letters to several of the large daily newspapers and to Scotland Yard stating that he is going to commit a murder on a certain date and in a certain area of London. Some of the newspapers print something but the story focuses on one paper in particular, and soon London is buzzing, with opinion divided as to whether it is genuine or a hoax. Scotland Yard, however, has to treat it as genuine and formulates a plan to try to catch the murderer, as there is no way to stop him.
The murder is duly committed and although the police move quickly and smoothly into action the murderer escapes, and machinery of routine police work is set in motion.
Ludovic Travers, head of the Financial Department at Durangos Limited, is a friend of Chief-Constable Scott and tags along when the police first swing into action. He is, therefore, connected with the murder from the beginning. John Franklin, former C.I.D. officer and now head of the newly-created Enquiry Department at Durangos is put on the case by the powerful owner and founder of Durangos.
Ludo’s mind works in unconventional ways and he looks at matters differently from others, and because of this he gives John Franklin some valuable insights. Franklin and Scotland Yard are working co-operatively and Franklin leaves much of the investigative work to the police as they have the resources to cope.
Superintendent Wharton of New Scotland Yard is in charge of the case and every conceivable clue is followed up and checked. Suspects are considered and then discounted, until finally, the only possible suspects are the four nephews of the murdered man. The only problem is that they all have unbreakable alibis.
The characters are very-well portrayed and are easy to picture. The story is engrossing, the plot complex and well thought-out and the book is very well-written in an easy-to-read style.
The first chapter is by nature of a prologue and in it the writer assures the reader that it provides the solution, or at least part of the solution to the mystery. This reader figured it out without too much trouble but it did not spoil my enjoyment of an excellent mystery.
“Marius” sends letters to several of the large daily newspapers and to Scotland Yard stating that he is going to commit a murder on a certain date and in a certain area of London. Some of the newspapers print something but the story focuses on one paper in particular, and soon London is buzzing, with opinion divided as to whether it is genuine or a hoax. Scotland Yard, however, has to treat it as genuine and formulates a plan to try to catch the murderer, as there is no way to stop him.
The murder is duly committed and although the police move quickly and smoothly into action the murderer escapes, and machinery of routine police work is set in motion.
Ludovic Travers, head of the Financial Department at Durangos Limited, is a friend of Chief-Constable Scott and tags along when the police first swing into action. He is, therefore, connected with the murder from the beginning. John Franklin, former C.I.D. officer and now head of the newly-created Enquiry Department at Durangos is put on the case by the powerful owner and founder of Durangos.
Ludo’s mind works in unconventional ways and he looks at matters differently from others, and because of this he gives John Franklin some valuable insights. Franklin and Scotland Yard are working co-operatively and Franklin leaves much of the investigative work to the police as they have the resources to cope.
Superintendent Wharton of New Scotland Yard is in charge of the case and every conceivable clue is followed up and checked. Suspects are considered and then discounted, until finally, the only possible suspects are the four nephews of the murdered man. The only problem is that they all have unbreakable alibis.
The characters are very-well portrayed and are easy to picture. The story is engrossing, the plot complex and well thought-out and the book is very well-written in an easy-to-read style.
The first chapter is by nature of a prologue and in it the writer assures the reader that it provides the solution, or at least part of the solution to the mystery. This reader figured it out without too much trouble but it did not spoil my enjoyment of an excellent mystery.
January 9, 2022
Golden age mystery fiction is known for the puzzle, not so much the characters who may be fairly stereotypical. Like the brainy but somewhat odd protagonist, the confident and arrogant killer and a sort of cold and emotionless view of the crime and the victim. It's not emotional, just a 'justice must be served kinda of thing with the Inspector. Also, lot's of interrogations, lot's of red herrings, lots of rehashing the clues, lot's of sold alibi's to unravel. So this pretty much follows along those lines although not a lot of red herrings in this one. I think I'm probably being a little too critical in my rating. In fact I'm pretty sure, Christopher Bush may be one of the more overlook writers of this particular sub-genre. This one was a good puzzle I just wasn't in the mood for the overly complex plotting by the criminal ...another common trait of Golden Age writers ...hence the puzzle, where we started.
September 14, 2024
"I'm in a tunnel, and if I only have the patience to keep plodding on I must come to the end and where the daylight is."
So says one of the detectives late in this book, and it applies to the novel as well. Despite being the second in the Ludovic Travers/Geoffrey Wrentham series, Travers appears only occasionally and Wrentham not at all. It's a police procedural.
As police procedurals go, it's pretty good, but there are so many detectives from Scotland Yard working on the case that I couldn't keep them straight in my head. The reader's detective—the one whom the book follows—is an ex-Met inspector who is now in the private sector. Bush writes well, and the murderer is an interesting person, but it's not what I expected when I picked up the book. I hope he reverts back to the Travers/Wrentham amateur sleuths in the third and subsequent entries to this series.
So says one of the detectives late in this book, and it applies to the novel as well. Despite being the second in the Ludovic Travers/Geoffrey Wrentham series, Travers appears only occasionally and Wrentham not at all. It's a police procedural.
As police procedurals go, it's pretty good, but there are so many detectives from Scotland Yard working on the case that I couldn't keep them straight in my head. The reader's detective—the one whom the book follows—is an ex-Met inspector who is now in the private sector. Bush writes well, and the murderer is an interesting person, but it's not what I expected when I picked up the book. I hope he reverts back to the Travers/Wrentham amateur sleuths in the third and subsequent entries to this series.
March 22, 2021
"The Marius Letter" causes somewhat of a sensation when it is sent to the press and challenges Scotland Yard to solve the perfect murder. When Thomas Richleigh is found murdered in a locked room, Chief Constable Scott sends out his best officers to chase down every lead. When they draw a blank former Detective Inspector John Franklin and amateur sleuth Ludovic Travers attempt to find the killer for themselves. This is my second Christopher Bush novel and once again he provides a tricky whodunit and despite the clever story I lost interest during the last third of the book.
December 22, 2018
An excellent and complex plot.
An intriguing mystery. I was never bored with the story...just kept following the clues with the various characters as they were challenged to catch the murderer if they were smart enough. I plan to continue reading this series as I get more acquainted with the characters.
An intriguing mystery. I was never bored with the story...just kept following the clues with the various characters as they were challenged to catch the murderer if they were smart enough. I plan to continue reading this series as I get more acquainted with the characters.
July 25, 2023
A Ludovic Travers novel. Well, Ludovic is absent for most of the book, with the grunt work being done by a character named John Franklin. The murderer is known with a third of the book to go, and it's proof that is the issue. It was more like a tepid thriller than a mystery novel, and if this is typical, Christopher Bush won't be high on my reading list. Not bad, but not especially good.
September 4, 2023
Not my favourite mystery but very readable. I was a little confused at the start but it read better as I went along.
Want to read
June 3, 2025Synopsis: amateur detective Ludovic Travers gets the call when 'Marius' sends several letters claiming he is about to commit a perfect murder.
July 21, 2022
An individual taking the name “Marius” boasts that he will commit “The Perfect Murder,” daring Scotland Yard detectives to catch him if they can. “The murder is necessary; of that I am more than ever convinced. I should, however, never cease to reproach myself if I gave a moment’s further uneasiness to any member of the public. Women and children particularly need not be frightened because the matter in no way will concern them.”
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