Deed Without a Name (1940)

by Dorothy Bowers

Series: Inspector Dan Pardoe (3)

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38	2	653,638	(3.45)	2
My accidents can't be accidental. Very well, there's only one thing they can be-and that's attempted murder." Archy Mitfold had always loved a mystery, but he never expected to take the lead role in a thriller. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that someone was trying to kill him. First there was the narrow miss on Trumpeter's Row, where a car accelerated straight at him. Then there were the chocolates Archy received on his birthday-with an unsigned card-that made him ill. Most recent was the sharp push in the back that almost sent him sprawling in front of an oncoming commuter train. What does Archy know that someone is willing to kill for? And does the recent kidnapping of millionaire Sampson Vick have anything to do with his accidents? Or is all this just the sign of self-absorbed and histrionic young man? Before long, Chief Inspector Dan Pardoe is called to investigate and untangles more than one mystery in the process. A Deed Without a Name has a well-realised and atmospheric setting during England's "phony war" period in 1939.… (more)

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The third in my Dorothy Bowers binge as recommended by the Shedunnit podcast. This for me was the best Bowers. Set in London during the blitz, the war is almost another character in this story. Young Archie Mitford suspects that someone is trying to kill him, so when he dies suddenly in a blacked out house Inspector Pardoe soon realises it's not suicide but murder. There are potential spies, ornithological clues, and a missing millionaire to be sorted out before the perpetrator is bought to justice. A fun romp! (

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Figgles | Jul 19, 2023 |

It is to be regretted that Dorothy Bowers managed to write only five books before dying of tuberculosis at only 46. This short series of Pardoe and Salt detective novels,of which 'Dead Without a Name' is the third,are well worth reading.
The body of a young and somewhat callow man,one Archy Mitfold, is found hanged.It is at first supposed that he has taken his own life,until the police discover that several earlier attempts have been made.It transpires that Mitfold has been on the trail of a pro-Nazi organisation ( It is in the early days of the Second World War) He has also been looking into the disappearance of a Millionaire which could be connected.
Inspector Pardoe and his assistant Tommy Salt struggle to follow the clues left behind by the dead man. (

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devenish | Dec 12, 2009 |

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Inspector Dan Pardoe (3)

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Doubleday Crime Club (1940.08)

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Deed Without a Name

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1940

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Dan Pardoe (Inspector)

Tommy Salt (Sergeant)

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My accidents can't be accidental. Very well, there's only one thing they can be-and that's attempted murder." Archy Mitfold had always loved a mystery, but he never expected to take the lead role in a thriller. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that someone was trying to kill him. First there was the narrow miss on Trumpeter's Row, where a car accelerated straight at him. Then there were the chocolates Archy received on his birthday-with an unsigned card-that made him ill. Most recent was the sharp push in the back that almost sent him sprawling in front of an oncoming commuter train. What does Archy know that someone is willing to kill for? And does the recent kidnapping of millionaire Sampson Vick have anything to do with his accidents? Or is all this just the sign of self-absorbed and histrionic young man? Before long, Chief Inspector Dan Pardoe is called to investigate and untangles more than one mystery in the process. A Deed Without a Name has a well-realised and atmospheric setting during England's "phony war" period in 1939.

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At the beginning of the Second World War, Chief Inspector Parode is called to investigate the murder of Archy Mitfold, a young man cut down in his prime whilst training to enter the Foreign Office. Interviews with Archy’s friends and family reveal not only that the young man had already survived three attempts on his life, but also that he knew the identity of his would-be assassin. Could the affair have anything to do with the fascist organisation Archy had infiltrated? What is the connection with the empty house that Archy mistakenly stumbled into one evening under the impenetrable cover of the blackout, but which now seems to have completely vanished? And what could possibly be the significance of the bird sketches which the young man appears to have left as clues to his killer's identity?

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