The Lake District Murder by John Bude: A review

Many mystery novels ask "Who done It". Some mystery novels ask "How was it done?" This novel asks "What in the world are they doing".

One evening Luke Perryman stopped at the garage owned by Clayton and Higgins to buy petrol for his car. (There is little use of first names in this book). Perryman discovered Clayton sitting in a running car in a closed garage with a tube from the exhaust pipe to his head which was covered by a macintosh. Clayton was dead. Inspector Meredith was called to the scene, and his immediate thought was that Clayton had committed suicide. Apparently, however, Clayton had started preparing his dinner, and had left his tea kettle on the heat. Further investigation showed that Clayton had money in the bank, was engaged to be married, and had purchased tickets on a ship to Canada for himself and his new bride. Everything seemed to be going well for him, and Meredith started in to investigate the possibility that Clayton was murdered. His rather worthless partner Higgins has a strong alibi for the time of the murder. Meredith did find that a petrol delivery truck which delivered Nonocks petrol to the garage was seen in the vicinity of the garage that evening.

Meredith is a very, very meticulous investigator.  Operating on the hypothesis that Clayton's death is somehow related to the Nonocks petrol truck and its owner Ormsby-Wright, he sets out to discover the link, and the discovery of that link is the major focus of the book. Meredith's investigations are described in great detail as he eliminates one possibility after another. There are a great number of measurements and schedules which is in the best tradition of writers such as Freeman Wills Crofts, but modern readers may be put off by the description of so many details.

Meredith does succeed in the end in discovering what crime was being carried out by Ormsby-Wright and in finding the murderers of Clayton. Actually what that crime is is rather ingenious, and I will give you no hint of what it is. This is Meredith's first independent murder investigation, and he and the reader enjoy his success.

This book was published in 1935. You will learn that a petrol lorry at that time carried 1000 gallons and was not able to go faster than 20 mph. Think about that the next time time a tanker truck passes you on the turnpike. There are some rather nice descriptions of the Lake District. This book has been reissued by the British Library, and has an introduction by Martin Edwards.