Cover of the 1953 edition of The Mystery Book Guild (from Flickr)
"I always like novels by ex-policemen (provided that they can write novels). There is an air of authenticity about them which makes one feel 'this could have happened'. Rich is the Treasure is no exception. His excellent tale of smuggled currency and murder is both exciting and convincing; and there are pleasant touches of humour which make the book still easier to read." --- Francis Iles (
Berkeley, Anthony) ,
Sunday Times
Review by Juergen Lull
Two US-American gangsters come illegally to London with 300,000 dollars (a lot of money in those days). On their heels follows the Federal agent Dennison who contacts Chief Inspector Philip Hunter from Scotland Yard and they both manage to catch the gangsters with the stuff they bought: diamonds. These turn out to be synthetic and investigations into their origin and chases for the lost money ensue. Several violent deaths are brought about by the psychopathic killer Yazoo Stevens, the leader of the gang Hunziger and by the G-man. 'In his own way he was as trigger-happy as Yazoo Stevens', tells us Hunter about Dennison. In any case violence with firearms is an import from the USA. The English policeman is better off without a gun, but from time to time it's unavoidable, sums up the English inspector.
There are elements of detection, chiefly concerning the origin of the synthetic diamonds, but mainly Rich is the Treasure is an uneasy mixture of the thriller with the police-procedural. With a bit of irony the author acknowledges this when Chief Inspector Hunter after the burning of hidden underground laboratories says '... secret infernal machines and awful warnings.' I said. 'You tread on the mat and burn the place down. It isn't right. It just doesn't happen in sensible police work.' Two years after Rich is the Treasure in 1954 Maurice Procter started a genuine procedural series with his Detective Inspector Harry Martineau of the "Granchester" Police Department.
The story is told by Hunter in the first person and switches to an impersonal narrator, when the actions of Dennison are described. For instance, the story follows Dennison after a shootout with two gangsters into a telephone booth where he informs Hunter. Then the detective takes over as narrator of the dialogue and it goes back again to the impersonal voice: 'He stepped out the booth - and that is where I step out of the tale again'.
Recommended for those who want to have a look around crime fiction of the past in general, not for exclusive readers of the puzzle form.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.