The Layton Court mystery
A Classic Inspector Hanaud Mystery | A Gripping French Detective Story of Secrets, Suspense & Psychological Intrigue

Granted, this was Berkeley's first novel, and granted that summer's heat has just arrived, making me lethargic and uninterested in much. However, I think it fair to warn you, Gentle Reader--this book is full to the brim of tell-not-show. The entire thing is related second- and third-hand. It's far t......more

It appears to be a typical suicide - or is it a locked room mystery? When Roger Sheringham was invited to spend some time at Layton Court by Victor Stanworth, whom he barely knew, little did he know he was going to stumble upon a first class murder mystery. Stanworth is found dead in his library wit......more

4 stars- English Ebook Victor Stanworth, a genial old man of sixty, apparently without a care in the world, is entertaining a party of friends at his country house, Layton Court. One morning he is found shot in the library. Was it suicide or murder? Roger Sheringham, one of the guests, determines to......more

British author Anthony Berkeley's detective Roger Sheringham -- annoying author, bon vivant, exceedingly supercilious, eminently curious, loquacious to a fault -- has been nearly forgotten. What a dreadful shame! Sheringham deserves at least to be as well known as Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey a......more

This book was extremely slow and I was able to guess who did it less than 25% in. While Berkeley is considered a "English golden age of mysteries" author like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, this book was a disappointment to me.......more