Good read, the plot perhaps a bit far-fetched, the author including entertaining self-mockery of the genre he is writing. ( )

An American Penguin edition. ( )

This Penguin edition has a blurb saying MacDonald belongs to the "cards on the table school" of mystery writer and is almost fanatical about sharing every clue with the reader. In this particular book, that is absolutely true --it is one of the very few mysteries I know in which all the facts are laid out clearly wit no deception. For that reason, I found it very easy to spot the murderer, but that was all right. in other respects, it is a classic British country-house murder, with a cabinet officer murdered in his own house where everyone else seems to have a good alibi. Col. Gethryn, formerly of he secret service, is asked to investigate by a major newspaper, beginning his career as MacDonald's lead detective. . ( )

good characters, good story, good mystery, well explained. i sort of liked the long explanation. i really understood how the murder was done. ( )

A country house murder mystery. MacDonald has a flair for creating extremely likable characters in just a line or two. An English government Minister is found dead in his study, his heady savagely bashed in, and all the clues point to one man. Anthony Gethryn- scholar, spy, and man-about-town- sets out to prove the accused’s innocence. This is a locked room mystery that doesn’t play fair, so the attraction of the story is its charm, which it delivers in spades. The denouement is long but interesting, and it must have been something of a shocker when it was written in 1924. The murderer, when apprehended, is mad and repellent; an interesting theme I’ve noticed in mysteries of the 30s and very different from the portrayal of killers today.