Who Killed Alfred Snowe?

 Who Killed Alfred Snowe? (1933) by J. S. Fletcher

Mr. Alfred Snowe, a frail and elderly antiquarian, is found strangled at the foot of his stairs. He apparently interrupted an intruder in his home. But did the culprit find whatever he came for? Snowe's nephew, Dr. Aubrey Snowe, is acquainted with Ronald Camberwell, a partner in the well-known Chaney and Camberwell Detective Agency. Fortunately, Camberwell has been playing cricket nearby and is ready and willing to plunge into the fray. Though Inspector Bailiss seems sceptical of "amateurs" at first, he soon welcomes the help of the private detective. However, try as they might, they can find no clues to point them towards a solution to the mystery. Even a mysterious note Alfred Snowe sent to his solicitor mentioning "a most important discovery" that will have "an effect of the most serious sort upon the lives and fortunes of more than one person" leads nowhere since nothing among Snowe's effects seem to indicate what the discovery might be or who might be affected. Until...

Alfred Snowe's will is read. For the most part, it's very straightforward, leaving all he had to his family--life interest shares to his sister and sister-in-law and the remainder to his niece and nephew. And then there's the two codicils. The first instructs that a certain antiquarian bookseller will be offered his library of books--in total (not to be sold piecemeal). Except for one book, A History of Wrenchester by Septimus Flood, which is to be handed over to the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Nothing odd there, except...when they go to find the Flood book, it's not there. Nothing by a nice little empty space on the shelf where it should be. And the local clergyman Canon Revington, who is also an antiquarian, is absolutely certain that the book was on the shelf on the night of Snowe's death. Was that where the important discovery was? And was that the object of burglar? Canon Revington assures the sleuths that he's handled the book often over the years and can think of nothing "important" (other than to historians) therein. 

The inquest is held--murder by person or persons unknown. And then a series of events happen--a solicitor's (not Snowe's) clerk, Skrimshaw, goes missing with 2,000 pounds in one pound notes stashed in small case. A bank clerk seems to know too much about both Snowe's and Skrimshaw's business. There are odd goings-on in a couple of tents on the local squire's property. Skrimshaw's favorite walking stick is found abandoned in a small boat. The local squire's very proper butler isn't telling all he knows. The trail takes Chaney, Camberwell, and Bailiss to Paris and back to a lonely farmstead where the trail ends with a small fortune and nice, old-fashioned shoot-out.

Fletcher, it seems to me, loves a good whodunnit with a thriller ending. Our story begins with a classic whodunnit--murder of a fairly unoffensive man; detectives hunt for clues and track down and interview suspects. Then we move into thriller territory--a "superior" villain who seems untouchable (despite our heroes now knowing precisely who's behind everything); a dash to another country in pursuit of said villain; surreptitious surveillance of the bad guy/s at a creepy abandoned farmhouse; much shooting with one hero injured and one poor, unnamed supporting good guy killed; nice, tidy ending with main villain killed (along with supporting villain and one unnamed henchman)--no expense for a trial (yay!).

I hadn't run across Camberwell and Chaney before--but Fletcher indicates that this isn't our heroes' first adventure (and a quick check of the internet shows me at least ten more with Camberwell (and, I assume, Chaney). I enjoyed this combination, especially in harness with Bailiss (one he got over his condensation towards "amateurs"). Clever gentlemen who seem to know exactly how to handle their business. Depending on the type of suspect/witness to be interviewed, either Camberwell or Chaney will take the lead. And each has his own methods of deduction which are interesting to watch put into practice. I will say that Fletcher needed to work a bit harder on camoflaging his villains. While it was fun to watch the detectives pursue their investigations, once met, it wasn't difficult who the main villain and supporting villain was. A bit more mud in the waters would have been good. But--overall a good read. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: I was in bed, half awake, at the Mitre Hotel at Wrenchester, about half-past six o'clock one fine morning in the June of 1924, when the night-porter came thundering at my door and roused me to awareness of the fact that he was not only there himself, but was accompanied by somebody who was loudly calling my name.

Last line: Everything was very silent there, but somewhere overhead sea-birds were calling.
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Deaths = 6 (one strangled; two poisoned; one fell from height; two shot) Could have had two more if Fletcher had been thoughtful enough to name the good guy and henchman.