Tue 5 Jul 2011
Reviewed by William F. Deeck: RICHARD SHELDON – Poor Prisoner’s Defense.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Reviews[8] Comments
William F. Deeck
RICHARD SHELDON – Poor Prisoner’s Defense. Simon and Schuster, US, hardcover, 1949. Hardcover reprint: Unicorn Mystery Book Club, 4-in-1 edition, December 1950. First published in the UK: Hutchinson, hardcover, 1949.
Offered the junior brief in a [pro bono] “poor prisoner’s defense,” Dick Rayne can’t afford to turn it down, even though he has no experience in murder trials. Rayne has come late to the law and needs any brief he can get to keep going as a barrister. Even working with an incompetent solicitor is better than nothing.
About a quarter of the novel is taken up by the trial of Rayne’s client for slitting the throat of his alleged paramour. Rayne himself isn’t sure whether he is guilty or not guilty. There is, however, no doubt in the jurors’ minds. A guilty verdict is arrived at, followed by a sentence of death.
Still uncertain about his client’s guilt, Rayne, with the aid of his wife, begins his own investigation, with limited time and even more limited funds. Since apparently no one on trial in a mystery novel is ever guilty of the crime charged — although Jon Breen, the expert in this area, may be aware of exceptions — the reader knows the defendant didn’t do it.
Who, then, did do it? That, too, is no surprise, but getting to the solution with Rayne and his wife is an enjoyable process.
Bibliographic Note: Richard Sheldon was the author of one other crime novel, that being Harsh Evidence (Hutchinson, 1950). This later book takes place in England in 1874, according to Hubin, which means that Dick Rayne and his wife never had a second chance to show off their investigative abilities.
[UPDATE] 07-07-11. After some discussion of the author in the comments, centering about the fact that nothing was known about him, Jamie Sturgeon purchased a copy of Sheldon’s second book and was rewarded with not only a photo and but a short biography as well. I’ve created a followup post here to include this and perhaps any additional information that may be found.
July 6th, 2011 at 11:28 am
A small correction, the UK edition uses the British spelling POOR PRISONER’S DEFENCE. The author’s second book HARSH EVIDENCE is much harder to find
July 6th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Correction noted. Thanks, Jamie!
And as long as you left a comment, let me ask you (and anyone else who might know): There’s no biographical information in Hubin for Sheldon. No date of birth, death, nothing. Sheldon in fact could be a pen name, but it’s too common for Google to be of any assistance — or I didn’t look thoroughly enough. Have you ever come across anything more about him other than he wrote two mysteries, one considered good, the other hard to find?
July 6th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
The US Catalog of Copyright Entries 1950 says copyright Richard Sheldon so probably his real name. The book was issued in Britain in Hutchinson’s First Novel Library but that might just be first novel under that name. I don’t have either book to hand to see if there’s any biographical info contained within.
July 8th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Sounds interesting but too hard to find.
So nice to “hear” Bill Deeck’s words!
July 8th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Not all that hard to find, Richard, thanks to the Internet. Before then, it was traipse from used bookshop to bookshop with a list of all your wants, hoping maybe to find one of them, and usually none.
At least there were used bookshops then.
In any case, there are maybe a dozen copies of POOR PRISONER on ABE for less than $20, including postage, and one offered by Powell’s for less than $10.
The best bargain would be the Unicorn Book Club edition, the one I have. Not only do you get the Sheldon book, but you also get Murder Charge by Wade Miller, Dream Sinister by Sturges Mason Schley, and Dead Of Night by Stewart Sterling.
The Wade Miller ought not to be bad. You also get a handsome looking binding, too.
December 7th, 2023 at 8:16 am
I’ve finally read Poor Prisoner’s Defence and agree with Bill Deeck’s review, it’s an excellent book which would be well worth reprinting. The author’s real name was William Laurence Burn, 1904-1966, he has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, he was an historian and lawyer. The article on him states that Harsh Evidence is much the better of the pair. Sadly I sold that copy I had before I read it, I’ll have to find another copy now!
December 7th, 2023 at 11:49 am
A problem inherent to mystery sellers who are also mystery readers!
December 7th, 2023 at 8:45 pm
Or vice versa…