Piper, Henry Beam - Murder in the Gunroom

With Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand as the hero of this classic story, there is no question where Piper's Civil War sympathies lie. Rand, like his creator, collects guns, as well as running a detective agency; which is why he is called in by Mrs Gladys Fleming to solve the murder of her husband when it is dismissed by the police as an accidental shooting.

Anthony Boucher uses the word 'bonus' to describe the extra titbits of information that one can pick up from a detective story - here the bonus is a detailed and entertaining description of the American gun trade and some of the collectors and dealers that feature in it. The story rattles along entertainingly with a minimum of tough-guy posturing and romance, and the murderer remains genuinely in doubt until the final dramatic revelation. Is it one of the catty sisters? The crooked dealer and his effeminate assistant? The shady lawyer, the scientist or the brother-in-law?

Well worth reading, especially for the erudite bonus. Murder in the Gunroom is available from Project Gutenberg.

Jon.