‘THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB is a clearing house for the best detective and mystery stories chosen for you by a select committee of experts. Only the most ingenious crime stories will be published under the THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB imprint. A special distinguishing stamp appears on the wrapper and title page of every THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB book—the Man with the Gun. Always look for the Man with the Gun when buying a Crime book.’
Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1929
Now the Man with the Gun is back in this series of Collins Crime Club reprints, and with him the chance to experience the classic books that influenced the Golden Age of crime fiction.
Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by The Crime Club by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1923
Copyright © Estate of Anthony Berkeley 1928
Introduction © Tony Medawar 2017
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1928, 2017
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008216399
Ebook Edition © February 2017 ISBN: 9780008216405
Version: 2016-12-28
TO
A. B. COX
WHO
VERY KINDLY
WROTE THIS BOOK FOR ME
IN HIS SPARE TIME
Contents
III. MISS CARRUTHERS IS DRAMATIC
V. ENTER CHIEF-INSPECTOR MORESBY
VI. DETECTIVE SHERINGHAM, OF SCOTLAND YARD
VII. GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE CASE
VIII. A VISITOR TO SCOTLAND YARD
XIV. DETECTIVE SHERINGHAM SHINES
XVII. AN UNOFFICIAL COMBINATION
XVIII. ‘AN ARREST IS IMMINENT’
ANTHONY BERKELEY COX (1893–1971) was a versatile author who wrote under several names. Under his real name, he wrote humorous novels, political commentary and even a comic opera. As A. Monmouth Platts, he wrote a light-hearted thriller involving a vanishing debutante. As Francis Iles, he wrote the groundbreaking psychological crime novels Malice Aforethought (1931) and Before the Fact (1932). And, as Anthony Berkeley, he wrote 14 classic detective