Cecil John Charles Street (1884-1964) was an impressively productive author of Golden Age crime fiction. As John Rhode, he created a series of about 70 books with Dr. Lancelot Priestley, published between 1925 and 1961. He also wrote short stories, stand-alone novels, stage plays, and non-fiction under this pseudonym. As Cecil Waye, he wrote four novels about Christopher and Vivienne Perrin, private investigators in London. Under the name Miles Burton, he wrote about 60 novels between 1930 and 1960 featuring Desmond Merrion and Inspector Henry Arnold.
For more about Street and his extensive body of work, see Masters of the Humdrum Mystery: Cecil John Charles Street, Freeman Wills Crofts, Alfred Walter Stewart and the English Detective Novel by Curtis Evans (McFarland, 2012).
Dr. Priestley was Street’s most enduring creation. A former mathematics professor, he is a sort of armchair forensics specialist, only interested in the cases that offer an intriguing puzzle. His sidekicks bring him cases and serve as a sounding board for the results of his thinking as he works out the details of the problem. Most often Superintendent Hanslett of the Criminal Investigation Division fulfills this role. In The Venner Crime (Oldhams, 1933; MysteriousPress.com/Open Road, 2022), Sir Alured Faversham, an eminent pathologist, and Doctor Oldland, a general practitioner, also share Priestley’s sherry and cigars and listen as Priestley delves into the disappearance of Ernest Venner.
Venner was on the verge of financial disaster when his wealthy uncle died, leaving his estate to his nephew. Shortly after Venner took possession of his uncle’s estate, he settled his bills and vanished. His sister with whom he shared an apartment had no idea where he went. His secretary thought he was traveling on business. He did not take a suitcase, no trace of him at the train stations could be found, he simply evaporated.
What follows is a careful, or laborious, depending on the reader’s outlook, dissection of the circumstances of the uncle’s death, Venner’s disappearance, his business affairs, his sister’s character, and on and on until Priestley comes to a logical conclusion which he reveals during an unnecessarily dangerous confrontation with the malefactor.
Fans of classic puzzle mysteries will appreciate this book. Not the most energetic of Priestley’s adventures, thrill-seeking readers should skip it. I could see most of the answer early but I found it a pleasant way to watch a logical mind and impressive intelligence identify and organize every bit of relevant data and piece it together to arrive at the correct answer to a problem that seemed insoluble.
Nick Fuller’s thoughts on the book are here: https://grandestgame.wordpress.com/list-of-authors/john-rhode-miles-burton/the-venner-crime-john-rhode/