Rhode, John - In Face of the Verdict (1936)

Review by Nick Fuller

4/5

This is, as Dr. Priestley remarks of the considerably ingenious murder, “a highly-skilled piece of work, displaying considerable ingenuity. It showed signs of preliminary study and careful preparation." Dr. Priestley, called in by Dr. Oldland to assist a patient of his who believes a friend was murdered, is active from page 1 (his unusual activity suiting one of Rhode’s most briskly-paced books), and his brain at its keenest as he sleuths around the harbour town of Blacksand to discover the murderer of two brothers, both of whom drowned. The method used in the first murder is particularly clever (although a similar device was used in Philip MacDonald's The Choice); and, although the murderer only makes his appearance at the end of the book, we know what he is from early on.