Description: Jim Henderson is one of six guests summoned by the mysterious Edwin Carson, a collector of precious stones, to a weekend party at his country house, Thrackley. The house is gloomy and forbidding but the party is warm and hospitable except for the presence of Jacobson, the sinister butler. The other guests are wealthy people draped in jewels; Jim cannot imagine why he belongs in such company. After a weekend of adventure, with attempted robbery and a vanishing guest, secrets come to light and Jim unravels a mystery from his past.
Brief description:
ALAN MELVILLE (1910-1983) was a well-known television broadcaster, as well as a playwright, producer, and scriptwriter. Among his works are several crime novels from the 1930s, often set in the popular entertainment world he knew firsthand. Quick Curtain and Death of Anton were reissued as British Library Crime Classics in 2015.
Review Quotes: This story about guests gathered at a country house for the weekend, originally published in 1934, anticipates Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which appeared five years later...British crime novelist Martin Edwards provides his usual insightful introduction to this latest addition to the British Library Crime Classics series, letting readers know that Raymond Chandler was a huge fan of this novel. Bubbly social satire sets off a clockwork plot. (starred review)--Connie Fletcher "Booklist"