Murder in the Basement (1932)

My review:

Solidly plotted—and one of the dullest detective stories ever written.  One could accept this account of humdrum police work solving the mystery of an unidentified corpse found in a cellar from Crofts or even from Wade (although Wade would flesh out the characters a lot more), but from the ingenious and witty writer of The Poisoned Chocolates Case, The Piccadilly Murder and Jumping Jenny?  Never!  The only part which shows Berkeley’s talents is Sheringham’s account of a school where he once worked, a narrative which is crucial to the solution.  The book loses impetus after this, as it consists largely of Moresby traqcking down the obvious suspect.  Unfortunately, unlike either Sayers or Wade, Berkeley lacks the ability to make it interesting.  The whole piece comes across as uninspired and minimalist, sordid, humourless and dull.  The characters are not given any opportunity to breathe, and only three characters (Wargrave, Harrison and Amy) are on page for any length of time.  Sheringham—an utterly colourless deus ex machina—solves the case using psychology, but his solution is an anti-climax.

To the Bibliography.

To the Berkeley Page.

To the Grandest Game in the World.

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