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Dr. Priestley #14
The Claverton Affair
When an old friend, John Claverton, dies under mysterious circumstances, Dr. Priestly, an amateur detective, is convinced that it is murder
- GenresMystery
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
About the author
John Rhode
143 books33 followersAKA Miles Burton, Cecil Waye, Cecil J.C. Street, I.O., F.O.O..
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 10, 2024
Humdrum…
When Sir John Claverton asks his old friend Dr Lancelot Priestley to visit him, Priestley is concerned to find Claverton suffering from an illness and surrounded by a strange group of relations Priestley didn’t know he had. He also meets there another old friend with whom he’d lost touch years before, Dr Oldland, who is treating Claverton. Later, Oldland reveals to him that Claverton had been poisoned with arsenic a few weeks earlier, but had recovered. So when Claverton dies a few days later, Priestley is convinced that the autopsy will show arsenic and that the murderer is to be found among Claverton’s relatives. Much to his surprise and even disbelief, then, the autopsy shows that Claverton died of a perforated stomach, arising from natural causes. Priestley is appointed as joint trustee to Claverton’s will which brings him into deeper contact with the family, and despite the evidence, he can’t convince himself that there wasn’t something dodgy about Claverton’s death…
Sounds quite interesting, and the first few chapters are. Claverton’s house is old and gloomy, and the relatives consist of a nephew, Ivor Durnford, who expects to inherit all Claverton’s money, a temperamental and somewhat surly niece, Helen Littlecote, who hopes that Claverton will change his mind and leave his money to her instead, and Clara Littlecote, Helen’s mother, who is a kind of silent spooky creature who earns her daily bread by holding spiritualist meetings for the gullible. Surprisingly, however, Claverton in fact leaves the bulk of his money in trust for a woman and child no one has ever heard of, with some rather strange conditions attached.
After this promising start, unfortunately, the book begins to show why the critic Julian Symons included John Rhode as one of his “humdrum” authors – a term which he did not mean as a compliment! The crucial clue is given in the first couple of chapters, with giant flashing arrows pointing to it and a sign saying “Crucial Clue Alert”! It’s dumbfounding, then, that Priestley, Oldland and Claverton’s solicitor all miss it, and it takes Priestley a good 200 pages to catch up with the reader. The clue makes it obvious how the murder was done, so all that’s left is to work out whodunit. This is a little more complex, but only a little, since the suspect pool remains very small. Each had a motive and each had the opportunity, but I felt the “how” was pointing reasonably clearly towards the “who”, though I hoped there might be some kind of twist that would mean I’d been fooled by a red herring. And since none of the suspects is really given a personality beyond the basics, I quickly found I didn’t care which of them was due for an appointment with the hangman.
The plot plods steadily along, with every chapter giving a little more evidence followed by pages of Priestley mulling over what that evidence might mean. Despite being apparently brilliant, his thought processes are incredibly slow with the result that I felt as if I was way ahead of him most of the time, waiting impatiently for him to catch up and move us on a bit further. And when all is eventually revealed, I was, to say the least of it, unsurprised. It isn’t a terrible book, but nor is it terribly good. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Sir John Claverton asks his old friend Dr Lancelot Priestley to visit him, Priestley is concerned to find Claverton suffering from an illness and surrounded by a strange group of relations Priestley didn’t know he had. He also meets there another old friend with whom he’d lost touch years before, Dr Oldland, who is treating Claverton. Later, Oldland reveals to him that Claverton had been poisoned with arsenic a few weeks earlier, but had recovered. So when Claverton dies a few days later, Priestley is convinced that the autopsy will show arsenic and that the murderer is to be found among Claverton’s relatives. Much to his surprise and even disbelief, then, the autopsy shows that Claverton died of a perforated stomach, arising from natural causes. Priestley is appointed as joint trustee to Claverton’s will which brings him into deeper contact with the family, and despite the evidence, he can’t convince himself that there wasn’t something dodgy about Claverton’s death…
Sounds quite interesting, and the first few chapters are. Claverton’s house is old and gloomy, and the relatives consist of a nephew, Ivor Durnford, who expects to inherit all Claverton’s money, a temperamental and somewhat surly niece, Helen Littlecote, who hopes that Claverton will change his mind and leave his money to her instead, and Clara Littlecote, Helen’s mother, who is a kind of silent spooky creature who earns her daily bread by holding spiritualist meetings for the gullible. Surprisingly, however, Claverton in fact leaves the bulk of his money in trust for a woman and child no one has ever heard of, with some rather strange conditions attached.
After this promising start, unfortunately, the book begins to show why the critic Julian Symons included John Rhode as one of his “humdrum” authors – a term which he did not mean as a compliment! The crucial clue is given in the first couple of chapters, with giant flashing arrows pointing to it and a sign saying “Crucial Clue Alert”! It’s dumbfounding, then, that Priestley, Oldland and Claverton’s solicitor all miss it, and it takes Priestley a good 200 pages to catch up with the reader. The clue makes it obvious how the murder was done, so all that’s left is to work out whodunit. This is a little more complex, but only a little, since the suspect pool remains very small. Each had a motive and each had the opportunity, but I felt the “how” was pointing reasonably clearly towards the “who”, though I hoped there might be some kind of twist that would mean I’d been fooled by a red herring. And since none of the suspects is really given a personality beyond the basics, I quickly found I didn’t care which of them was due for an appointment with the hangman.
The plot plods steadily along, with every chapter giving a little more evidence followed by pages of Priestley mulling over what that evidence might mean. Despite being apparently brilliant, his thought processes are incredibly slow with the result that I felt as if I was way ahead of him most of the time, waiting impatiently for him to catch up and move us on a bit further. And when all is eventually revealed, I was, to say the least of it, unsurprised. It isn’t a terrible book, but nor is it terribly good. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
May 30, 2025
Excellent series, more books to be grabbed.
April 27, 2020
B:
Because I'm basically reading whatever I can get my hands on from Rhode's bibliography, I'm not tackling the Priestley books in sequence, as I have with other series'. So far, Priestley has tended to feature in 50% or less of the novels, but in this one he's there from beginning to end. I found myself preferring him in Marple mode here to the more favoured method (at least, it seems, from the half dozen that I've read so far) of having Superintendent Hanslet investigate an impossible crime, to then call on the good Doctor later on for his expertise. What's especially good is the personal angle of the victim being an old friend of Priestley's, and the introduction of Dr. Oldland, who would become a mainstay in the series. The mystery also feels genuinely up in the air until the last thirty pages or so, although it lacks the genius of originality in some of his other efforts.
Because I'm basically reading whatever I can get my hands on from Rhode's bibliography, I'm not tackling the Priestley books in sequence, as I have with other series'. So far, Priestley has tended to feature in 50% or less of the novels, but in this one he's there from beginning to end. I found myself preferring him in Marple mode here to the more favoured method (at least, it seems, from the half dozen that I've read so far) of having Superintendent Hanslet investigate an impossible crime, to then call on the good Doctor later on for his expertise. What's especially good is the personal angle of the victim being an old friend of Priestley's, and the introduction of Dr. Oldland, who would become a mainstay in the series. The mystery also feels genuinely up in the air until the last thirty pages or so, although it lacks the genius of originality in some of his other efforts.
November 3, 2022
Another enjoyable adventure with the Professor. This one spent much more time than usual with him while he struggles to figure out how this particular murder was committed. We see much more action of him, and get a feeling he isn't perfect as indicated in most other stories. A nice addition to the series.
October 23, 2022
For aficionados of GAD, this has many classic elements, a gloomy house with a forbidding atmosphere, a rich and ailing man, needy relations, a recently-altered, eccentric and complex will, a medium, and a sudden death which, after a post mortem, is declared natural
Dr Lancelot Priestley, however, has his professional interest aroused when Sir John Claverton's doctor declares that his patient was poisoned with arsenic some weeks prior to his death. Priestley embarks upon an investigation which involves some trips to Yorkshire to meet the mysterious women who are the main beneficiaries of Claverton's will.
The scientific detective indulges in a lot of speculation before one phrase in the notes of his assistant, Harold Merefield, sparks off the solution to the crime. Since proof is difficult Priestley resorts to that other staple, the staged seance, in order to engineer a confession.
While I am not as enthusiastic about this novel as others seem to be, I do recommend it. I thought a lot of the theorising was pointless and without real foundation. The perpetrator was not difficult to fathom and the same phrase which enlightened Priestley gave me a "light bulb moment" about the murder method as it connected clearly with one previous finding.
This edition has an Introduction by Curtis Evans and purchasers should note that it also contains one chapter of "The Venner Crime". I deplore this practice which means that the book one is buying takes up only 85% of the text.
Dr Lancelot Priestley, however, has his professional interest aroused when Sir John Claverton's doctor declares that his patient was poisoned with arsenic some weeks prior to his death. Priestley embarks upon an investigation which involves some trips to Yorkshire to meet the mysterious women who are the main beneficiaries of Claverton's will.
The scientific detective indulges in a lot of speculation before one phrase in the notes of his assistant, Harold Merefield, sparks off the solution to the crime. Since proof is difficult Priestley resorts to that other staple, the staged seance, in order to engineer a confession.
While I am not as enthusiastic about this novel as others seem to be, I do recommend it. I thought a lot of the theorising was pointless and without real foundation. The perpetrator was not difficult to fathom and the same phrase which enlightened Priestley gave me a "light bulb moment" about the murder method as it connected clearly with one previous finding.
This edition has an Introduction by Curtis Evans and purchasers should note that it also contains one chapter of "The Venner Crime". I deplore this practice which means that the book one is buying takes up only 85% of the text.
November 22, 2022
The answer to the mystery shows up fairly early but it is interesting how the it finally gets revealed.
June 1, 2023
Don't try to predict the ending.
While many authors produce surprise endings, few do it as well as John Rhodes. I'm anxious to see what he delivers next.
While many authors produce surprise endings, few do it as well as John Rhodes. I'm anxious to see what he delivers next.
September 22, 2024
The beginning and the end were Interesting. Everything in between was interminable description of the acuity and greatness of Dr. Priestley and only there to make way for the exciting conclusion
December 28, 2013
a.k.a. The Claverton Mystery.
A thoroughly enjoyable mystery featuring Dr Priestley at his best. It has all the ingredients: an old house, a strange family, a new will, a mysterious clairvoyant woman with a beautiful daughter, an expectant nephew and much more.
How did Claverton die? Apparently from natural causes but Priestley is not convinced and sets out to discover the truth. Rhode plays fair with the reader, providing plenty of clues.
Pretty good stuff.
A thoroughly enjoyable mystery featuring Dr Priestley at his best. It has all the ingredients: an old house, a strange family, a new will, a mysterious clairvoyant woman with a beautiful daughter, an expectant nephew and much more.
How did Claverton die? Apparently from natural causes but Priestley is not convinced and sets out to discover the truth. Rhode plays fair with the reader, providing plenty of clues.
Pretty good stuff.
August 5, 2015
Old fashioned tuppenny murder mystery with the principal character being a cantankerous retired university scholar bachelor.
He visits an old friend living in a gloomy Victorian mansion in a run down part of London, and is annoyed by the prescence of the man's sister - a spiritualist medium - ,her feisty daughter, and his awful masher of a nephew.
His is shocked when, a few days later he dies by a means which is clearly obvious to the reader but ignored by all who investigate.
He visits an old friend living in a gloomy Victorian mansion in a run down part of London, and is annoyed by the prescence of the man's sister - a spiritualist medium - ,her feisty daughter, and his awful masher of a nephew.
His is shocked when, a few days later he dies by a means which is clearly obvious to the reader but ignored by all who investigate.
February 6, 2014
A Classic of Golden Age Detection that requires not one, but two, séances to solve.
August 4, 2015
A hard-to-find treat from the Golden Age with a novel method of murder. Full review at http://classicmystery.wordpress.com
August 19, 2015
There's a reason the word "humdrum" was used to describe this sort of book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews