One might think that the worst thing that could happen to a burglar would be getting caught. But, in J. Jefferson Farjeon’s Seven Dead (a rescued mystery from 1939), not only does the burglar get caught, he also gets caught fleeing the scene of a country house with a room full of dead bodies. From there, Inspector Kendell and journalist Ted Hazeldean take the case. Seven Dead has twist after twist; some these may strain credulity, so be warned.
Seven Dead begins as a locked-room mystery. A burglar discovers six dead men and one dead woman. The bodies show no wounds and, before their deaths, were clearly in straightened circumstances. The shutters were nailed shut. The chimney was stuffed with paper. And the lock to the door is on the outside. Oh, and there’s a bullet hole in a portrait of a young girl. Inspector Kendall, who has a dim view of the abilities of the local constabulary, jumps into action. Ted Hazeldean, a journalist who was in the right place at the right time to capture the fleeing burglar, becomes Kendall’s eager partner in figuring out what happened.
First, we follow Hazeldean as he tracks the owners of the house to Boulonge, France. It is immediately clear that there’s something not right about the owners and the people they’re staying with in France. He gets followed from the docks, locked in a room, and worse—all clearly signs that he’s on the right track. Next, we switch over to Kendall, who draws on all his resources and skill for lateral thinking to work through the puzzle. When they join forces once more, things get really exciting.
I didn’t like Seven Dead as much as I liked the novels of Raymond Postgate (Verdict of Twelve, Somebody at the Door), two other books that were rescued from obscurity by Poisoned Pen Press. Though I suspect that has more to do with my own personal preference for books that mess around with genre and metafiction. Seven Dead is more traditional and provides plenty of clues and red herrings for readers to ponder over. I also had some issues with where the central conspiracy went but, again, that might be a matter of preference.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 6 February 2018.