I realized it had been quite awhile since I looked at the Bobby Owen detective mysteries by Ernest Robertson Punshon (1872-1956). I was a bit disappointed by the last one or two I read in the series so I thought perhaps I would have better luck with an early title. The third one in the series of 35 books is called Crossword Mystery (Victor Gollancz, 1934; Dean Street Press, 2015), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. under the name The Crossword Murder later in 1934. It takes Owen on an unusual assignment out of London to a rural county, where he is to watch Mr. George Winterton, whose twin brother drowned recently. The death was ruled an accident but Winterton is convinced his brother was murdered and that he is destined for the same fate.
Winterton had among his friends an MP, who could bring enough pressure on the local police force for Winterton to receive police protection for a time. To maintain an anonymous police presence, the superintendent had to borrow someone from Scotland Yard, as his staff were all well known to be law enforcement personnel.
The Winterton household included a married couple who served as butler and housekeeper, a secretary who was assisting Winterton with a book he was writing, and an Airedale dog with a gardener and his wife who lived on the grounds. Winterton had two nephews living with him, one obsessed with horse racing and one between jobs. A third nephew was an artist working in Paris. Winterton had been a stockbroker and was well informed about economics. He was convinced that moving the nation to a currency basis was a serious mistake. He held forth on his beliefs often and at length, and his book was all about the need to reinstate the gold standard. His other interest was in crossword puzzles. He enjoyed developing them, as did his secretary who was so capable that she routinely sold her creations to newspapers.
Owen could not see what worried Winterton and Winterton refused to provide details. He decided he was in for a leisurely few weeks, but that’s not at all what transpired.
Compared to the later books in the series, this volume is more carefully written with some striking characters. In fine Golden Age style, not only is a country house prominent in the story, the book also offers a detailed map of the house and area around it and a crossword puzzle with clues. The resolution can not be anticipated by even the most jaded of crime fiction readers. It is simply stunning.
Living in an area subject to pervasive encroachment by builders, I was impressed by an early chapter where Winterton throws a land developer off his property, despite the developer’s offered enticements of a golf course and a resort hotel in place of the trees and rolling greenery around Winterton’s house. Developers were a nuisance even then.
Of course fans of Golden Age mysteries can always look to Dean Street Press for good reading but this particular title is a bit out of the routine for the time and those readers looking for a change will be especially interested.