Edgar Jepson (1863–1938)

Jepson translated Maurice Leblanc's Arsene Lupin books. He published his first book in 1885 and Barradine Detects in 1937, the year before his death. Fay Weldon was his granddaughter.

Barradine Detects is a more like a collection of linked short stories than a novel. The young Earl of Barradine and Sharples supplements his income by running a detective agency for which he is the principal investigator. Most of these investigations involve an attractive young woman, Mary Fearn, whose father show more was swindled, leaving her with very little money and a desire to revenge the swindlers.

There's not much space for detection, because there are quite a few crimes in less than 300 pages. On top of that, the villain is almost always the foreigner or, failing a foreigner a parvenu, so there's a lot of snobbery and xenophobia, which isn't unusual in books from the time. Barradine and Mary don't take themselves too seriously, and their ethics are flexible. An odd and entertaining read. show less

Originally published in 1920, I thoroughly enjoyed The Loudwater Mystery by Edgar Jepson. The murder of the highly unlikable Lord Loudwater gave the police plenty of suspects but timing, alibis and evidence slowly eliminated each one. Also with all the witness lying to protect one another, the police have a lot of checking and re-checking to do. During the course of the book, the reader becomes acquainted with each suspect and find themselves hoping that the case is never solved as everyone show more in the book is much a much better person than the departed Lord Loudwater.

I wasn’t a big fan of the twist at the end of the book but realize that this was a nod to the morality of the day but overall I did find The Loudwater Mystery to be a satisfying read. show less

The Murder in Romney Marsh was originally published in 1929 and author Edgar Jepson takes a straight forward murder mystery and turns it into a diverting and lively story about catching drug smugglers. When Detective Inspector James Carthew of Scotland Yard is sent to the tiny village of St. Joseph’s on Romney Marsh he soon realizes that the victim was a scoundrel who was involved in bringing cocaine into England. He is planning on leaving the police force soon to open his own detective show more agency and decides that capturing the drug smugglers is far more apt to bring him the kind of publicity he is seeking.

Young, clever and ambitious, Carthew manages to also help a young woman and an old army acquaintance and along the way makes judgments and decisions that may not necessarily be in the best interest of the law. He comes across rather smug and has a superior attitude, but I liked him and enjoyed having the story unfold through his eyes. This is the first mystery that I have read by this author, but I certainly would not hesitate to pick up another as this one was both entertaining and different. show less

A young man moves into an apartment on a street with lots of vacant housing. There's something not quite right about the adjacent property. The garden is silent-- no chirping birds, not even crickets.

Perhaps because I've lived in cities where you can hear your neighbor sneeze, you know the music that they like, their pacing the floor habits, this one, while not scary, seeped into my psyche and has taken up residence.

You just never know what your neighbors are up to exactly, do you? And show more what if they are summoning evil? This story was brought up in a classic ghost story group and someone commented that Aleister Crowley loved this story and gave out copies to his friends. Hmmm...

It's a bit long, simple--or, if there is depth, subplot or wink wink symbolism I totally missed it. The narrator's naivete at the end is annoying. I really liked it though, for all that. Were I a film-maker, I'd be figuring out how to work the ending and looking for the perfect location to start filming. This could be a terrific short film. It's very visual.

The number 19 will, going forward, summon images of dread in a sinister garden for me. show less