JOHN RHODE – The Davidson Case. Geoffrey Bles, UK, hardcover, 1929. Dodd Mead, US, 1929, as Murder at Bratton Grange. Reprinted several times in hardcover. Perennial Library, US, paperback, 19?? (See the note following Marv’s review.)

   Perennial Library has recently reprinted two of John Rhode’s Dr. Priestley mysteries, so there is hope that more of that maligned author’s work (Julian Symons called him “humdrum”) will be reprinted. The Davidson Case is one of his best, representative of Rhode’s earliest and best period, before tedium did often set in.

   This is a book of old fashioned dialogue, yet surprisingly includes a career woman having to choose between marriage and independence. Don’t expect that Rhode’s consciousness had been too raised back then, however. He has his not-too-bright Watson, Inspector Hanslett, say things like, “most women are fools where maps are concerned.”

   Dr. Priestley is even more sexist on the subject and at another point comments, “That insecurely tied string looks like woman’s work.” In the Lachman family it is Carol who does the best job of tying packages.

   Don’t read The Davidson Case for its attitudes but for its well developed, fast moving plot. Though I doubt you’ll have too much trouble guessing the murderer’s identity, there are still several surprises along the way, so you’ll never be really sure until the very end.

   You’ll also enjoy some of the cliches. Dr. Priestley knows the murderer, but does he tell Scotland Yard? Not a chance. Instead, he says (as have so many other detectives), “I have my suspicions as to the identity of the criminal. But I am not going to reveal my suspicions at this stage.”

   According to Rhode, Priestley’s one and only hobby is criminology, though he is “known only to the public as the propounder of the most revolutionary scientific theories.”

   We never learn these theories, but we do get to watch a great detective mind at work, albeit in a man with relatively little concern for “justice.” As Priestley says, “i regard these as problems which do not concern me except in the solution. Once they are solved, the fate of the criminal is a matter of complete indifference to me.”

   Fortunately, they do not bring about indifference in us; instead, there is considerable intellectual excitement in watching Priestley at work.

Editorial Comment:  I have spent a short amount of time scouring the Internet for a photo image of the Perennial reprint, or even another reference to the book, and so far I have come up empty-handed, under either title.