Knox, Ronald - The Footsteps at the Lock (1928)

The best part of this work has nothing to do with mystery; it is the lyrical description of the Oxford countryside at the beginning of the book (Chapters 2 and 3). This description reminds me a little of Matthew Arnold's poem "The Scholar-Gypsy", which also takes place in the countryside around Oxford. The two works seem complementary. Knox's use of a river and its locks is especially fascinating. The flow of water down a river can represent both the flow of life and of time; Knox draws on this imagery very naturally by making the progress of his characters down their river journey the subject of a timetable mystery. I especially liked the garden on the island at the lock. It is beautiful, and also somehow suggestive of the secret mysteries of life. The two young men in the story seem to be "doubles" for each other as well, something that also unlocks a whole world of symbolism for the author. Knox is also helped in his evocation of the countryside by his map, one of the best features of the traditional detective story.

Mike Grost

Two young cousins go for a canoe trip on the upper reaches of the Thames, staying at inns on the way. Derek Burtell is a coarse libertine, his health eroded by drink and drugs. If he lives another few weeks he will inherit his grandfather's fortune; if not, his cousin Nigel will. One morning Nigel leaves the boat, ostensibly to attend an examination at Oxford; when he returns to the river Derek is nowhere to be found. The broken canoe turns up just downstream of the lock where Nigel disembarked; but where is Derek?

Nigel, under suspicion, promptly disappears, and Miles Bredon, Knox's detective, is called in to investigate by the Indescribable Insurance Company, which has insured Derek on behalf of his creditors. Bredon, aided by his wife Angela and Inspector Leyland of the CID,, flings himself at the case with inexhaustible energy and uncovers what appear to be half-a-dozen plots involving discarded note-cases, faked photographs, impostors and dragged corpses. But he still needs a hefty assist from coincidence to help him come up with the solution.

There are many Carrian apects to this book, especially in the way increasingly complex layers of deductions are hung from what appears at first to be a simple occurrence. It is well written and -- as Mike Grost says in his review -- attractively rural in its setting. I enjoyed it a great deal, but for me it failed as a detective story: partly because of the introduction of coincidence, partly because the reader simply isn't prepared for the complete reversal of character that is revealed towards the end. Others may disagree. But either way, it deserves to be read and remembered.

Jon.

See also http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/forgotten-book-footsteps-at-lock.html