Murder In The Basement by Anthony Berkeley

Murder In The Basement
by Anthony Berkeley

ISBN-13: 9781728261249
Trade Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Released: December 6th 2022

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Anthony Berkeley, one of the most influential crime writers of the 1920s and 1930s and founder of the prestigious Detection Club, returns to the reading public. Murder in the Basement was first published in 1932.

When newlyweds move into a new home only to discover a corpse in their basement, a grueling police investigation begins to identify the victim. When avenues of inquiry peter out, Chief Inspector Moresby follows a tenuous lead to amateur criminologist Roger Sheringham, who has been working in a school south of London. In need of evidence of any kind, Moresby picks through Sheringham's satirical novel about his colleagues at the school, convinced that the colorful cast of teachers hides the victim—and perhaps their murderer.


My Review:
Murder In The Basement is a mystery set in 1932 in England. This novel is the 8th in the series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one. This story didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous books. The first part of the novel described the finding of the body and the investigative steps taken by Chief Inspector Moresby to first identify the victim and then the murderer. While all the clues pointed toward one person, there wasn't enough proof to win the case in court.

Roger temporarily worked at the school that the victim was tracked back to and contributed to the investigation by describing the people and their relationships. By the end, Roger decided that he had to know what really happened for his personal satisfaction. He described his version of what happened to someone who knew more about the crime to see if he'd confirm it. I assume we're supposed to accept this scenario and feel satisfied, but I didn't like that neither man cared about justice. I also felt like whodunit was portrayed as too passive to "seize the chance" or plan such a detailed murder and another character better fit the clues.

I liked the writing style and found the characters interesting, but I read mysteries because I like having the real murderer go to jail at the end. There were a few of uses of bad language. There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.