The Case of the Treble Twist: A Ludovic Travers Mystery

Ludovic Travers #51

by Christopher Bush

Enough words and enough speed and you can get away with murder. There was something unique about the Case of the Treble Twist. It isn’t often one gets a preview of a case or hovers round its fringes four years before it breaks, but that was just what happened here. The preview began the evening Ludovic Travers had a drink with Chief Inspector Jewle, and first heard the name of Harry Tibball, suspect involved in a series of big-scale robberies. Then a few months later Tibball’s body was found in a wrecked car not far from a newly burgled house in Bedfordshire. The surviving accomplice was caught and gaoled, but nothing was recovered and nothing more discovered concerning Tibball’s past history. Three years went by, and Travers had virtually forgotten the whole business when a pleasant-voiced woman from America rang the Broad Street Agency and asked him to undertake a highly confidential assignment. It proved to be a voice from the past, for it belonged to the daughter of the last man Tibball had robbed. The Case of the Treble Twist was originally published in 1958. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans. “Ludovic Travers disentangles his fifty-first mystery, involving jewel robbery, impersonation, eventual murder, and a most ingenious series of double, not to say treble, crosses.” Tablet “Particularly good.” Birmingham Post “A dry wine, Ludovic, for sophisticated palates.” Western Mail

Genres: Mystery

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Christopher 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.

Reviews

[Eric]

I expected,from the enthusiasm of Curtis Evans’ Introduction, to be wowed by this 1957 outing for Ludo Travers, but I confess to being underwhelmed, finding what he refers to as the “sockaroo“ twist to be a rather glaringly obvious piece of trickery.

The plotting is very clunky with an awkward prologue to the main events, a lot of toing and froing by Travers, and one witness not telling what they knew in a phone call, but delaying until a next-day meeting which never takes place as they are conveniently murdered in the interim.

Ludo is unfeasible thick and rather easily fooled as well as both too garrulous and too reticent.He also chooses to save money by corresponding with a US contact rather than making a couple of phone calls which would have cleared up a lot of the confusion and deception. Perhaps he was feeling the pinch as there also continues to be much wingeing about the iniquity of the taxation system -along with suggestions that Travers was adept at tax avoidance.

Overall it was among the less enjoyable and effective 1950s stories. Despite one brutal murder, this is soft-boiled crime and not particularly convincing at that.

3.5 stars.

[Jillian]

A bit convoluted, but nevertheless nice tale of detection. This is the second I have read of this prolific Golden Age author and I suspect they would improve if read in order. This is, after all, no57 in the series! The relationship between private sleuth .Ludovic Travers, inspector Jewel and Chief Inspector Wharton is clearly key to the narrative. It has its own logic and ethics - not entirely traditional but governed by a moral code on the side of the law.

It would have benefited from hard editing and there are series I’d choose ahead of it, but it was a good read on a chilly public holiday. I’d read more when in the mood, but I’m not lining them up.

[Lesley]

I enjoyed this 1950s crime thriller. There were plenty of twists and turns as we followed Ludovic Travers from England to France and back (several times). Not the best of the ‘50s crime thrillers I have read but enjoyable.

[Ann]

Ludovic Travers is intrigued when he's asked to investigate a case that involves people he'd met briefly years before. Carlotta Speer, daughter of a now-dead jeweler, and her Canadian husband, ask him to try and find out more about the burglary of Carlotta's father years ago. The thieves didn't get away - their getaway car crashed and one criminal was killed, the other, Conward, was caught 24 hours later. His claim was that there was no jewelry in the safe- the burglary was a fail. But new information has come to light that there might have indeed been fabulous jewelry belonging to a prominent family in the safe. So Conward must have hidden it during his short period of freedom between the car crash and his arrest. As he's about to be released from prison, at which point he will presumably head straight to the cache of jewelry, the case begins to heat up again. Not just Carlotta and Scotland Yard, but also the thief's criminal associates plan to follow Conward after his release.

Ludovic Travers conducts a systematic investigation, beginning at the house where the burglary took place. Step by step he manages to reconstitute the trail left by Conward years before.

The story is rather plodding, and as the title indicates, there were lots of twists to the story - double-crossing and triple-crossing in the criminal milieu. What weakened the story for me is that what was probably supposed to be the major twist was very clear early on, and Ludovic Travers' being totally blind to all the red flags was just not convincing.