The Footsteps at the Lock

I won't go over the plot as other people already have. I really enjoy Knox's set-ups. His characters and dialogue are usually a hoot, especially between Miles Bredon and his wife, Angela. I always think I'm embarking on a Wodehouse-esque mystery, only to have it devolve into something rather more prosaic and technical. Still, I'll keep reading them as I find them.

Cousins Derek and Nigel Burtell really don't get along, but the two have agreed to take a canoe trip on the Thames shortly before Derek's 25th birthday when he'll received the inheritance his grandfather left him. If he doesn't make it to his 25th, Nigel will inherit. Derek disappears on the trip. Footsteps are found leading away from the lock and bridge. Nigel is a suspect but then disappears himself. The keeper of the lock reveals there was even a third person in a small punt in the area. Is foul play involved? The investigators have to sort the clues so they make sense. This was a quick and somewhat enjoyable read. It's from the golden age of mysteries.

I found Knox's writing overdone, with long repetitive descriptions. The book itself also went over the details of timetables and logistics too many times to be entertaining for me. On the other hand, as a picture of a time and place, boating on the Thames near Oxford in the 1920s, it was excellent.

A competent, only mildly enjoyable example of the Golden Age puzzler by the framer of the "Ten Rules of Detective Fiction" and author of the clever little detective story "Solved by Inspection." There are too few suspects, a confusing outdoor crime scene that will have you frequently consulting the (supplied) map, and deductions from information known to Bredon but concealed from the reader (e.g. shadows in a photograph, contents of a railway guide and a medical record book; for a mystery by the framer of the "Ten Rules," there's little effort at fair play). The solution depends upon some quaint notions about "dope-fiends." Mainly of historical interest.

On re-reading this after many years, I found it held up well, although Knox as usual poses problems about what's been going on rather than who committed a particular crime. Two cousins, Derek and Nigel, who dislike each other quite strongly, are forced to go on a river trip together in order to secure a large legacy. However, Derek mysteriously vanishes just after passing through a lock, and some photographs are found which suggest that he's been murdered. As he had a policy with the Indescribable Insurance company, enter their investigator Miles Bredon, and not surprisingly his policeman friend Leyland turns up as well, together with a third detective who also plays an important part. When Nigel also disappears the case becomes quite show more complicated, as you might expect. Overall, not quite as good as "The Three Taps", but still a good read for Golden Age devotees. show less

Ronald A Knox was a mystery writer in the early part of the 20th century who belonged to a club peopled by such writers as Christie, Sayers and G. K Chesterton. He made a list of the ten commandments of detective fiction which includes such gems as
1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story
2. No supernatural explanations
and 3. No Chinaman must figure in the story which may mean a foreign servant or passerby. He also says at #10 that if twins or doubles are used in the story the reader must be prepared in advance for them.

In this mystery their are two young men who do indeed bear a mild resemblance to each other but he doesn't break any of his rules. The story is about the disappearance of one young man while on a show more rowing trip up the Thames with the other. This is one of those delicious tales where you have to decide who is really the victim.

Most of Knox's commandments have become outdated in modern crime writing, especially #2. and #4 which calls for the exclusion of unknown poisons and the use of any appliance which requires a long scientific explanation at the end. In this story the setting is a river, a boat and some oars. show less

A rather dreary book, of the humdrum school.