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    The Paddington Mystery
    The Paddington Mystery
    The Paddington Mystery
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Paddington Mystery

    Written by John Rhode

    Narrated by Gordon Griffin

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    About this audiobook

    A special release of the very first crime novel by John Rhode, introducing Dr Priestley, the genius detective who would go on to appear in more than 70 bestselling crime novels during the Golden Age.

    When Harold Merefield returned home in the early hours of a winter morning from a festive little party at that popular nightclub, the ‘Naxos’, he was startled by a gruesome discovery. On his bed was a corpse.

    There was nothing to show the identity of the dead man or the cause of his death. At the inquest, the jury found a verdict of ‘Death from Natural Causes’ – perhaps they were right, but yet . . . ?

    Harold determined to investigate the matter for himself and sought the help of Professor Priestley, who, by the simple but unusual method of logical reasoning, succeeded in throwing light upon what proved to be a very curious affair indeed.

    This Detective Club classic is introduced by crime writing historian and expert Tony Medawar, who looks at how John Rhode, who also wrote as Miles Burton and as Cecil Waye, became one of the best-selling and most popular British authors of the Golden Age.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 14, 2018
    ISBN9780008268862
    Author

    John Rhode

    John Rhode was born Cecil John Charles Street in 1884. He was the author of 140 novels under the names John Rhode, Miles Burton, and Cecil Wade before his death in 1964.

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    • 4/5
      The Paddington Mystery is a reprint of a Golden Age detective novel featuring Dr. Priestley. Dr. Priestley appears in 72 books published from 1925 to 1961. John Rhode (Cecil John Street) also published another 50+ series mystery novels under the pen name of Miles Burton. Both the Rhode and the Burton novels are being republished by the British Library, Poisoned Pen Press or Collins Crime Club.I won't rehash the plot here, but this is classic Golden Age fare. Dr. Priestley is a mathematics professor who applies his specialty to many of life's problems. He is a detective who uses his brains to analyze the situation, theorizing and rejecting scenarios that don't fit the facts until he comes up with the solution to the mystery. In this story, others come to him with the clues/facts. Priestley is very likable and doesn't seem too full of himself as some other detectives do. I also liked his daughter, April, and the main character, Harold Merefield, and am hoping to see more of them in future novels. As with most Golden Age detective novels, the focus of the story is the mystery and not the characters, so those looking for well-developed characters may be disappointed.I found the mystery to be original, although I must confess that I had a good idea about what was going on right at the beginning and kept thinking that there would be a plot twist that would prove me wrong. Even though I guessed the solution, I still enjoyed the book, as it was interesting to see how it all played out. The story and the clues played out little by little, and it was easy to follow Priestley's solution. Classically, Priestley brings everyone together at the end to resolve the mystery.If you enjoy Golden Age detective fiction, I think you will enjoy this novel. I'm looking forward to reading more of Rhode's Dr. Priestley mysteries.