From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Three Taps: A Detective Story Without a Moral

Ronald Knox

Start date: March 1, 2022

Finish date: March 31, 2022

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: Next in our Detection Club challenge. Ronald Knox drew up the club's famous rules.…more
[close] Next in our Detection Club challenge. Ronald Knox drew up the club's famous rules.

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
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What Members Thought

Feb 10, 2022 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having read "The Knox Brothers," by Penelope Fitzgerald and, as a lover of Golden Age detective fiction, I was keen to read something by Ronald Knox. Published in 1927, this is the first mystery featuring Miles Bredon and his wife, Angela. Miles is a detective at an insurance company and is called in to investigate the sudden death of a man who recently changed his will.

This is a light hearted mystery, with a lot of humour and it is good to see Angela, Miles wife, being very much a partner in th ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

Feb 13, 2022 Susan in NC rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: det-club-2022

2.5 stars, an “okay plus” for me! I loved the humor of the first few pages, and the relationship between Miles Bredon and his wife. He’s a private investigator for a huge company, Indescribable Insurance, and she acts as his Watson. She’s funnier and apparently smarter.

I definitely appreciated the snark in the first few pages aimed at the insurance agency’s London office building, the description of the over-the-top, lavish business premises, and “the American mode” of conducting business. We le ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2022 Jill rated it really liked it

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I did find it entertaining. The mystery is a case of whether the death of a very wealthy man is a murder or suicide. If it is indeed a murder, then who is the murderer? A Mr Mottram, had taken out an insurance policy, on the understanding that if he died before reaching the age of 65, a hefty sum of money would be paid out to a designated person. He had named a nephew of his as the recipient of this money if it came to be paid, the nephew be ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2022 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gr-group-read, 2022, mystery

I enjoyed this. Lighthearted. Amusing.

Miles Bredon is an insurance investigator. Takes his wife with him on the job. Investigating whether a death was suicide, accident or foul play. Meets his friend, police investigator Langley (?). They make a friendly wager on foul play vs. suicide. They discover fairly early on that someone is eavesdropping on them.

I was quite confused on the three taps - I think because I have never seen any taps for gas. So I wasn't too sure about it. But it was an inter ...more

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Mar 31, 2022 Carolien rated it liked it

Shelves: 2022, english-mystery

A very complicated plot with multiple suspects and motives and an interesting cast of characters. A man is found dead in a locked room due to a gas leak. But was it murder or suicide? This was my first read of the author and I will read others in the series as I enjoyed it overall.

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2020 Diana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, read-in-2020

Just okay. This has all the elements that should make a good golden age murder mystery: isolated country inn, witty repartee, locked door murder (or was it suicide?), eccentric characters. Unfortunately it seemed that most of the book was taken up with the two detectives discussing theories of the crime based on what little evidence they had. Over and over and over again.

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Mar 03, 2022 Sandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, own, mystery-classic, z2022-own-24, z2022-ga-challenge, rread-2022

I liked the banter among Bredon, his wife, and his friend from the Yard, including the ever-increasing wager. While, in my opinion, the planned scheme was too elaborate, the death and its aftermath were explained reasonably. Knox's profession as a Roman Catholic priest means the clergy were portrayed as real, live, well-rounded (and likeable) characters. ...more

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