Wade, Henry - The Verdict of You All

Review by Nick Fuller

3/5

The author’s first novel, which shows that his talents dramatically improved with later books. The construction isn’t bad, with ingenious complications (many unfortunately left unexplained) and red herrings, and the plodding detection of the Crofts school made interesting. The identity of the man who coshed the financier in his study is as obvious from the beginning as his false alibi, but there is still plenty of interest.

Note that this is one of the earliest courtroom dramas written; and it is also the second of at least three novels published in the 1920s which hinge on the fact that a murderer, once tried, cannot be retried. The others (SPOILER!) are Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Rhode’s The Davidson Case.