Anthony Berkeley – Derelict Space Sheep

Ask a Policeman

by Derelict Space Sheep on June 26, 2026 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

Ask a Policeman

by The Detection Club (Arthur Baker, 1933)

aka John Rhode, Helen de Guerry Simpson, Gladys Mitchell, Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Milward Kennedy

audiobook read by David Timson (Lamplight, 2020)

A fix-up murder mystery where famous detective novelists swap protagonists and one-up themselves providing different investigations of/solutions to the same crime. Intended as a parody, supposedly, but all very self-indulgent and neither humorous nor engaging—more an increasingly turgid raking of minutiae.

Murder in the Basement

by Derelict Space Sheep on May 30, 2024 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

Murder in the Basement

by Anthony Berkeley (Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1932)

audiobook read by Seán Barrett (Soundings, 2021)

An experiment in form, which sees what appears at first a straightforward murder investigation proceed by way of a fictional manuscript within-story. Unfortunately, this manuscript’s narrative is one that Sheringham himself admits to having grown bored with and abandoned—for good reason!

Jumping Jenny

by Derelict Space Sheep on December 19, 2023 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

Jumping Jenny

by Anthony Berkeley (Hodder & Stoughton, 1933)

audiobook read by Seán Barrett (Soundings, 2022)

Musing upon what looks to be a house-party suicide, prominent amateur detective Roger Sheringham, present from the outset, indulges one fancy too many and accidentally implicates himself as prime suspect in a murder! A droll study in dramatic irony and narrative doctoring.

The Poisoned Chocolates Case

by Derelict Space Sheep on July 23, 2023 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

The Poisoned Chocolates Case

by Anthony Berkeley (Collins, 1929)

audiobook read by Gordon Griffin (Isis, 2017)

Berkeley employs a Detectives Club scenario to take a sly dig at the mystery genre, proffering several very plausible solutions to a murder by poisoning. While the protagonists aren’t as amusing as he seems to think, this remains a very good read.