The House of Godwinsson (Gollancz, 1948; Dean Street Press, 2016) is the 25th book about policeman Bobby Owen written by Ernest Robertson Punshon (1872-1956). Through his long career Owen worked in London and in a more rural part of the country, gradually climbing the law enforcement ladder. This entry finds him back at Scotland Yard, where apparently he developed a reputation for brawling. This is the most energetic of the series I have read so far, with Owen engaging in fisticuffs with various members of the underworld and enjoying every minute of it. In one scene as Owen dashed off in pursuit of someone, a sergeant remarked that Owen had apparently heard about a set-to somewhere and was afraid that he would miss it.
The book opens with Owen being called to an unsavory part of London called Angel Alley where the body of a murder victim was found. Among his effects was a detailed map of Owen’s flat, describing the placement of the furniture and other of his possessions. Owen did not recognize the victim and was understandably puzzled as well as concerned about the map of the apartment of which he had only recently taken possession.
Identifying the victim became Owen’s first priority despite the rash of unsolved jewel robberies about which the newspapers had been vocally critical. During his search for the victim’s name, he encountered multiple members of the neighborhood criminal gangs and he met the aristocratic Colonel Harold Godwinsson and his sons, who cropped up in the midst of these proceedings in a most perplexing way.
Perhaps more of a thriller than a true mystery, this was still an entertaining read that added to my knowledge of the Owen canon.