The Shrieking Pit

Grant Colwyn #1

by Arthur J. Rees

288 pages.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Arthur John Rees was an Australian mystery writer.

Born in Melbourne, he was for a short time on the staff of the Melbourne Age and later joined the staff of the New Zealand Herald.

In his early twenties he went to England.

His proficiency as a writer of crime-mystery stories is attested by Dorothy Sayers in the introduction to Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, 1928. Two of his stories were included in an American world-anthology of detective stories. Some of his works were translated into French and German.

Reviews

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes get out of town because Grant Colwyn is here to stay! In The Shrieking Pit the reader is introduced to the renowned American detective Grant Colwyn. The story begins when this internationally famous detective is dining in a hotel restaurant and is made aware of the strange behavior of a fellow guest. This strange behavior is brought to his attention by another guest, Sir Henry Durwood (a well known doctor and amateur paleontologist). His diagnosis is that the young man is suffering from a rare form of epilepsy and may soon present a danger to other hotel guests. The two men restrain the man and take him to his room. The following day the young man left the hotel early before anyone was up. The next day, in another neighboring town a murder is committed and this same man is the main (only) suspect. Although all the circumstantial evidence points to him as the murderer, Grant Colwyn believes in his innocence and sets out to prove it. Grant Colwyn goes about his work in a clear and precise manner without making the reader feel inferior with his “obvious deductions” and I find that he is warmer and infinitely more likeable that the famous Sherlock Holmes. This could have to do with his Yankee background but I think many readers will enjoy this old murder spoof.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather a strange tale featuring a famous American private detective who seems very English. He has about as much personality as a phone box and there is no reason given as to why he should be in Norfolk, England during World War 1. According to the author Norfolk seems to be a drab, dismal stretch of horrible marshland populated by morons. Anyone who has ever been there will know different. It is a beautiful county.

Notwithstanding all this,it is not a bad read. A well-known archaeologist is found murdered at the bottom of a pit, notorious locally for a shrieking ghost. The plot revolves round our detective trying to get to the bottom of the murder.

[Gu Kun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should have been edited down to less than one third of its length - entire chapters might easily have been deleted. Even so, it's a very simplistic murder mystery. Has some humor: "Mr. Crommering would sooner have been the editor of The English Review than the chief constable of Norfolk. His tastes were bookish. Nature had intended him for the librarian of a circulating library, safe pilot of middle class ladies through the ocean of new fiction which overwhelmed the British Isles twice a year." The Librivox reader Kevin Green is excellent - a delight for the non-native speaker.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clean, entertaining plot with some twists. Cast of characters is likable and have enough depth to draw a reader in...Enjoyable reading by Kevin Green.

Free audiobook at librivox.org

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this murder mystery set in Norfolk during WW1. I thought it was well written despite the author's tendency to repeat (in long rambling dialogue) the whole story of what happened on the night in question whenever a new clue was discovered or a new insight was thought up. I enjoyed the characters, especially the wry detective. The ending was a little too blunt for me. Though the mystery was wrapped up nicely, I would have liked something more from all of the characters. Perhaps a reunion at the inn? Sheepish smiles all round? I don't know what, exactly.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty standard classic mystery, with the usual smarter-than-you detective. Lots of twists and turns, and I thought it kept up a pretty good pace, though it did seem a little padded in length and there was some repetition of facts (almost as though it was written as a serial at some point and then aggregated into a novel). I was put off by the lengthy, detailed descriptions of the geography and scenery: I felt as though Rees was trying to use these to develop a Gothic atmosphere, but it was overdone to the point where I started skimming: dank? Yep. Fog? Yep. Uninhabited? Yep.

[Rajrupa Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked atmosphere and the setting...mystery was good, writing style very good, i sincerely enjoyed it...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read.

[crabanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

1919 edition

[Aviar Savijon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic book of murder and mayhem skillfully written with an in depth journey to find out who really did the evil deed and why. I loved it!!!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although published three years later, and featuring a different detective, this has similarities to, and weaknesses and strengths in common with "The Hampstead Mystery".

The major problem, again, for many readers will be the prolix and repetitive writing style which necessitates some skipping, particularly in the section about the trial which basically went over evidence already well-rehearsed earlier in the novel.

The investigating officer here has fixed ideas of guilt based on wilfully misinterpreted circumstantial evidence and the private investigator also gets things slightly wrong in order to facilitate a late "surprise". There is too much conceleament by just about everyone.

However the East Anglian setting is convincing and there are some very atmospheric passages set in and around the dilapidated inn which is the scene if the murder. There is also a deal of sympathetic and sensitive writing about shell-shock and epilepsy which are major factors in the story.

However, the suspects are really too few for there to be much doubt about the perpetrator. Despite this there is a reasonably twisty, if sudden, denouement.

I shall persist with this writer.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I very much enjoy reading Golden Age mysteries, I am hopeless at spotting clues and honestly don’t even really care about solving the mystery, or about the rules of “fair play” (shocking, I know 😏 ). I am there for the characterization, the social milieu, the atmosphere, maybe the prose if I’m lucky. Arthur Rees’ The Shrieking Pit, published at the end of World War I, is an excellent example, set in seaside Norfolk, partly at a creepy inn. Ambience to burn, and well-written too. It also fits very well into my project of reading both non-fiction and fiction about all the English counties.

[GrannyLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful classic British "whodunit" murder mystery. The characters are great. Nice plot. A few twists. Even a little romance thrown in.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard classic mystery, less dramatic than the title suggests. I like the plot and the surprise at the end, the setting was vivid, but the detective needs a personality.

[John Yeoman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wants to make yer skin creep! And it does so, in an unintentionally humorous way.