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About the author: Henry Christopher Bailey (1878-1961) was an English author of detective fiction. Bailey wrote mainly short stories featuring a medically-qualified detective Reggie Fortune. Fortune's mannerisms and speech put him into the same class as Lord Peter Wimsey but the stories are much darker. A second series character, Josiah Clunk, is a sanctimonious lawyer who exposes corruption and manages to profit from the crimes. (Fantastic Fiction)
Major characters:
- Josiah/Joshua Clunk, criminal attorney
- Hopley, Clunk's assistant
- --- Pace, Clunk's former client
- David Prior, tutor
- Lady Ann Luel, mistress of Red Castle
- Binks Luel, her 10-year old son
- Godfrey de Caux, her brother-in-law
- Polly, her maid
- Hicks, her butler
- Ritson, her chauffeur
- Inspector Bell, Scotland Yard
Locale: England
Synopsis: Joshua Clunk (the name is inconsistent, sometimes he is Josiah) is a criminal attorney, despised by judges and the authorities for always getting his clients off. He is also an evangelist, always quoting scripture, singing hymns, and operating his own little chapel on the side. He receives an inquiry from a former client, ---- Pace, who was acquited at trial. He drops in to Pace's shop to find him dead.
David Prior arrives at the Red Castle on the moors, having been hired as a tutor. Red Castle is run down, and the only remaining family are widow Lady Ann Luel, her son Binks Luel, and her brother-in-law, idler Godfrey de Caux. The servant staff is down to saucy maid Polly, her grandfather butler Hicks, and chauffeur Ritson. Prior and de Caux are suspicious of each other.
The Luels treasure their one heirloom - the Luel Cup - a silver cup with markings stating that as long as they retain the cup, there will always be a male heir to the peerage.
One night a commotion breaks out - a window broken, a fight occurs, and burglars make off with the Luel Cup.
Joshua Clunk lurks around the castle, and locates clues for the benefit of Inspector Bell. Soon the Luel Cup is found, but also a body.
Review: Joshua Clunk is an interesting character, unlike any I have encountered. He is a little, short, plump, vain type much like Hercule Poirot; working outside law yet seemingly hand-in-hand with the criminal element. He is constantly leading Inspector Bell to the clues and handing them to him as gifts. On top of that, he is a fervent evangelist, quoting scripture and singing hymn selections throughout.
His young assistant, Hopley, is an enjoyable character as he infiltrates the castle by taking up with the saucy maid Polly.
I enjoyed the scenery: much of the action takes place lurking on the dark, wet moors.
A big surprise to me was David Prior. He starts out as our protagonist, and it was apparent he was going to take up with Polly himself and be the hero. But it wasn't meant to be.
So I have a new author to look for. He appears in 11 titles.
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