Trent's Last Case
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season182 pages, about 4 hours: half the length of a typical book on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbOne reader abandoned the opening twice before finishing it, and another skipped a chapter after Trent’s first theory.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesThree reviewers compare it to Holmes, and a fourth says it anticipates Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case, on the shelf at 256 pages.
The case for it
on Trent and Inspector Murch
“Trent, a painter, who on several previous occasions has shown decided talent in solving criminal mysteries, is sent to the scene of the crime by a great London newspaper. There is the inevitable foil in the person of Inspector Murch, of the official police, whose years of experience in the practical service of Scotland Yard avail him but little when pitted against the superior imagination of the brilliant amateur.”
Unsigned review · The Bookman (New York), May 1913 on the scene-setting
“some bits of scene-setting and characterisation that feel really vivid”
three stars · a book blog on the prose and humor
“graceful prose and quiet humor that have stood up well with the passage of time”
Edward D. Hoch · 1001 Midnights, 1986 on Philip Trent
“an amiable, attractive young man with quick intuition, who works as a freelance newspaper reporter”
a book blog
The case against
on international financiers
“financiers, but I rather think the author of this novel has (if possible) known fewer.”
Raymond Chandler · The Simple Art of Murder, 1950 on Bentley’s language
“which I liked early on but found it wearisome as the book progressed”
a book blog on the pacing
“the pacing feels really slow, and I found Trent a mite less charming”
three stars · a book blog on the early chapters
“early chapters are a bit of an info-dump”
a book blog
