AS THE TRAIN glided into the wayside station, Jim Brandon lifted his well-worn suitcase and a shabby leg-of-mutton guncase down from the rack. Through the windows he caught successive glimpses of fresh-painted white palings, trim flwer-beds dripping from a recent shower, a girl’s figure on a broad sweep of gravelled platform, a tiny station-house, a handful of waiting travellers by the overhead bridge, and a ticket-collector at the gate giving egress into the station yard.

AS PHILIP CASTLEFORD came down the broad stairs, a faint burst of laughter reached him through the closed door of the drawing room. At the sound of his wife’s shrill titter rising above the bass of the two men’s voices, he winced and gave vent to his spleen in an ejaculation, all the more vehement because it was uttered under his breath.“Damn those people!”In that concise imprecation he included his wife, the two brothers of her first husband, and her companion, Constance Lin...

Mystery At Lynden Sands, first published in 1928, is the fourth book in author J. J. Connington's series featuring chief-constable Sir Clinton Driffield. Set on the English seaside, Driffield encounters the return of a missing heir (who is possibly an impostor), an accidental bigamist, secret marriages and impersonations, embezzlement of trust funds, a kidnapping, and two murders. As is typical of Connington's detectives, Sir Clinton is able to deduce impressive insights f...

Grim Vengeance, first published in 1929, is the fifth book in author J. J. Connington's series featuring chief-constable Sir Clinton Driffield. From the dustjacket of the first edition: "Two murders at night, both the victims foreigners; and when Sir Clinton Driffield, visiting his sister, is forced to suspect the South American whom his niece has just married, he finds himself faced with a problem in morals and psychology. Finally, a third murder takes place, this one in ...

The Sweepstakes Murders, first published in 1931, is the 7th book in author J. J. Connington's series featuring chief-constable Sir Clinton Driffield. From the dustjacket: "Mr. Connington's new detective story opens at the end of a bridge-party, when one of the players suggests the formation of a small syndicate to have a flutter in a coming sweepstake. Winnings are to be pooled and divided among the members. Most of the bridge-players join, on terms proposed and accepted ...

The Eye in the Museum, first published in 1930, is the first book in author J. J. Connington's series featuring Superintendent Ross of Scotland Yard. This 'golden-age' mystery centers on a young woman, Joyce Hazlemere, and her wealthy Aunt Evelyn. The aunt, who can become violent when drunk, stands to inherit the Hazlemere estate instead of Joyce. Miss Hazlemere speculates on the possibility of her aunt's death when the next day Evelyn is found murdered, and Superintendent...

The Two Ticket Puzzle, first published in 1930, is a traditional British murder mystery; the victim is killed by a gunshot aboard a local train; however, the autopsy reveals that the fatal bullets were of differing calibers. Several suspects are immediately evident: his wife's lover, an employee with a grudge, and a young heiress. Police Superintendent Ross sets out to methodically solve the mystery based on a number of clues and pieces of evidence. J. J. Connington is a p...

MARK BRAND turned into the door of an Oxford Street office building, past the indicator-board which bore: “THE COUNSELLOR, Second Floor,” among the names of other concerns. He was a shade below middle height, wiry, quick-stepping, with a sparrow-like alertness; and his taste in fabrics favoured the louder varieties for his clothes. There was a hint of raffishness about him, a faint indefinable air of horsiness, though he seldom attended a race-meeting.

Dr. Ringwood pushed his chair back from the dinner-table. A glance at the clock on the mantelpiece told him that on this evening he had been even later than usual in getting home for dinner. The expression in his eyes showed that he had gone short of sleep for some time past; and when he rose to his feet, every movement betrayed his over-tired condition.“Bring my coffee to the study, please, Shenstone,” he ordered. “And you might take the telephone in there as well.”He crosse...

COLONEL SANDERSTEAD looked gloomily at his wrist-watch for the third time. Punctual to a second himself, he expected an equal clockwork precision from others; and even his long series of disappointments in the matter had failed to reconcile him to humanity’s slipshod methods. He gave another glance down the empty avenue which fell away from the terrace of the Manor towards the gates on the Fernhurst Parva road; then he addressed the dog at his side:“If that young man doesn’t put in ...

Alfred Walter Stewart was born on the 5th September 1880 in Glasgow, Scotland.He was educated at Glasgow High School before entering Glasgow University to earn his doctorate in chemistry in 1902. Such was his talent that he was awarded the Mackay-Smith scholarship.After a year in Marburg engaged in research he entered, in 1903, University College, London. Here he began independent research and the results formed part of his thesis which gained him a DSc degree from Glasgow ...

Chief Constable Sir Clinton Driffield's holiday on the coast is interrupted when he's asked to assist with the investigation of a murder on a nearby country estate. As Sir Clinton, his friend Wendover, and the local police work to uncover who's behind the murder, they encounter an expanding web of clues, characters with possible motives, questions related to the large inheritance involving the estate, and additional misdeeds. Working against time and the tides, Sir Clinton and his team mus...