Murder in the Basement

The beginning of this Golden Age mystery is a bit grisly, but it quickly moves on to matters of police procedure. Most interesting, however, is the framework about a quarter of the way into the story, which becomes a bit meta as it allows the reader to look at the situation through an additional lay......more

This book opens with a letter from the press warning the reader about changing mores. I spent the book on guard for evidence of this ("I found some slight anti-Lancashire sentiment! Was that it?"), only to discover why in the last few pages, making an otherwise entertaining read a bit hard to endors......more

B+: Terrific, but I have to dock a half-star for a strangely unjust ending that implies that the killer's heinously-motivated crime was partly justified. A baffling move from Berkeley that exemplifies his tendency to be idiosyncratic with his finales, but it hampers what is an otherwise faultlessly w......more

(3.5 Stars) A very enjoyable mystery, and an excellent introduction to Berkeley’s work. The story opens with the discovery of a body, carefully concealed in the basement of a rented house in Lewisham – much to the horror of newlyweds Reginald and Molly Dane, who have just taken possession of their new......more

This my 3rd British Crime Library Classics book in a row, they just seem to be grabbing my attention lately. It's also my 3rd Berkeley book. I really liked this one too-the sleuth Roger Sherringham is studying teachers at a private school(while working there temporarily)and journals about their beha......more