DDC/MDS
| 823.912 |
Publication
Garden City, N.Y. : Published for The Crime club, inc., by Doubleday, Doran, 1929.
Original publication date
1929-06-01
Description
Graham and Joan Bendix have apparently succeeded in making that eighth wonder of the modern world, a happy marriage. But into the middle of it drops a box of chocolates. Joan Bendix is killed by a poisoned box of liqueur chocolates that cannot have been intended for her. The police investigation reaches a dead end. Chief Inspector Moresby calls on Roger Sheringham and his Crimes Circle - six amateur but intrepid detectives - to consider the case. The evidence is laid before them and they take turns to offer a solution. Each is more convincing than the last, slowly filling in the pieces of the puzzle, until the dazzling conclusion.
Status
Available
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User reviews
LibraryThing member smik
THE POISONED CHOCOLATES CASE allows six detectives to take a case of death by poisoning and to place their own interpretation on the facts. As each presents his or her interpretation so the others, all except one, agree that this is the best interpretation and that the murderer has been uncovered.
The novel floats the idea of a "detection club" similar to the one which Berkeley in fact brought into being the year after THE POISONED CHOCOLATES CASE was published.
ROGER SHERINGHAM took a sip of the old brandy in front of him and leaned back in his chair at the head of the table. Through the haze of cigarette-smoke eager voices reached his ears from all directions, prattling joyfully upon this and that connected with murder, poisons and sudden death. For this was his own, his very own Crimes Circle, founded, organised, collected, and now run by himself alone; and when at the first meeting five months ago he had been unanimously elected its president, he had been as full of proud delight as on that never-to-be-forgotten day in the dim past when a cherub disguised as a publisher had accepted his first novel.
It was the intention of the club to acquire eventually thirteen members, but so far only six had succeeded in passing their tests, and these were all present on the evening when this chronicle opens. There was a famous lawyer, a scarcely less famous woman dramatist, a brilliant novelist who ought to have been more famous than she was, the most intelligent (if not the most amiable) of living detective -story writers, Roger Sheringham himself and Mr. Ambrose Chitterwick, who was not famous at all, a mild little man of no particular appearance who had been even more surprised at being admitted to this company of personages than they had been at finding him amongst them. With the exception of Mr.Chitterwick.
I found the novel a little dated but nevertheless interesting as the detectives basically used most of the common methods for deciding on who the murderer was. And as each of them did, so I nodded in agreement with each explanation, so persuasive were they. One of the characters remarks on how difficult it is to contradict a thesis when it is presented so persuasively.
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They use of a variety of methods, both deductive and inductive, placing new interpretations on existing evidence, and conducting active investigation that brings new evidence to light. The agreement is that they will eventually present the correct answer to Scotland Yard, and indeed the answer they will present to Chief Inspector Moresby will differ from what he thinks has happened.The novel floats the idea of a "detection club" similar to the one which Berkeley in fact brought into being the year after THE POISONED CHOCOLATES CASE was published.
ROGER SHERINGHAM took a sip of the old brandy in front of him and leaned back in his chair at the head of the table. Through the haze of cigarette-smoke eager voices reached his ears from all directions, prattling joyfully upon this and that connected with murder, poisons and sudden death. For this was his own, his very own Crimes Circle, founded, organised, collected, and now run by himself alone; and when at the first meeting five months ago he had been unanimously elected its president, he had been as full of proud delight as on that never-to-be-forgotten day in the dim past when a cherub disguised as a publisher had accepted his first novel.
It was the intention of the club to acquire eventually thirteen members, but so far only six had succeeded in passing their tests, and these were all present on the evening when this chronicle opens. There was a famous lawyer, a scarcely less famous woman dramatist, a brilliant novelist who ought to have been more famous than she was, the most intelligent (if not the most amiable) of living detective -story writers, Roger Sheringham himself and Mr. Ambrose Chitterwick, who was not famous at all, a mild little man of no particular appearance who had been even more surprised at being admitted to this company of personages than they had been at finding him amongst them. With the exception of Mr.Chitterwick.
I found the novel a little dated but nevertheless interesting as the detectives basically used most of the common methods for deciding on who the murderer was. And as each of them did, so I nodded in agreement with each explanation, so persuasive were they. One of the characters remarks on how difficult it is to contradict a thesis when it is presented so persuasively.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley was originally published in 1929 and this gem of a mystery has been puzzling mystery buffs every since. My particular edition was a 2016 British Library reprint and includes “A New Denouement” by author Christina Brand which she wrote in 1979 and
This story that causes so much speculation is set in London during the 1920’s as a group of armchair detectives, who are members of a “Crime Circle”, present their theories on a recent murder case that Scotland Yard has been unable to solve. Each of the six members, using very different methods of detection, arrives at an entirely different solution. Each solution appears to be entirely plausible, but each is debunked by the other members of the Crime Circle. That is until the final solution is presented.
While the author was obviously poking fun at the day’s popular detective fiction, showing how easily the clues and motives can be weaved together to point at one person or another, this tongue-in-cheek, subtle story is a delight to read and keeps the reader guessing right up to the last page. Personally I would have preferred not reading the later additions as I loved how this book ended. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is a stylish, unique and truly enjoyable classic mystery.
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an Epilogue with yet another explanation added by author Martin Edwards.This story that causes so much speculation is set in London during the 1920’s as a group of armchair detectives, who are members of a “Crime Circle”, present their theories on a recent murder case that Scotland Yard has been unable to solve. Each of the six members, using very different methods of detection, arrives at an entirely different solution. Each solution appears to be entirely plausible, but each is debunked by the other members of the Crime Circle. That is until the final solution is presented.
While the author was obviously poking fun at the day’s popular detective fiction, showing how easily the clues and motives can be weaved together to point at one person or another, this tongue-in-cheek, subtle story is a delight to read and keeps the reader guessing right up to the last page. Personally I would have preferred not reading the later additions as I loved how this book ended. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is a stylish, unique and truly enjoyable classic mystery.
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LibraryThing member gbill
A delightful mystery in which a group of amateur ‘crime circle’ decide to try to figure out whodunit after Scotland Yard has given up on the case. There are six members, and each works independently, reporting back to the circle with their theory one by one. It was fun speculating myself, and I
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found that the case had the right amount of complexity and possible culprits, while being easy to follow. It’s clever and was written in 1929 by a British author, which carries with it a charm of its own. Show Less
LibraryThing member mstrust
Members of an exclusive club, The Crimes Circle, meet to discuss famous murders each week. But when a recent murder remains unsolved the circle makes it their goal to uncover the murderer and the motive. Each member has a night to speak and prove their theory. Of course, each theory points to a
This book is from the 20's, British and lots of fun. Berkeley also wrote Malice Aforethought, another murder novel that has that dry British humor throughout. The characters here are arrogant, snide, overly eager or just rude, such as the girl at the perfume company who keeps slamming her window to get rid of potential customers. This is a good one.
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different criminal and vastly different motives.This book is from the 20's, British and lots of fun. Berkeley also wrote Malice Aforethought, another murder novel that has that dry British humor throughout. The characters here are arrogant, snide, overly eager or just rude, such as the girl at the perfume company who keeps slamming her window to get rid of potential customers. This is a good one.
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LibraryThing member michdubb
A unique murder mystery in which each member of the club gives their own theory regarding a murder case over the course of several days. Each theory seems logical but they can't all be right! Enjoyable to read and a bit silly.
LibraryThing member mmyoung
This is very much a book of its time, albeit a well-written one. Roger Sheringham and the five other members of his Crimes Circle each attempt to solve a murder which has stumped Scotland Yard. Sheringham had appeared as an amateur detective in previous Berkeley mysteries and the other participants
This reviewer found Berkeley’s prose style to be enjoyable. Each character had a different “voice” and each proposed a solution to the murder that was both reasonable and predictable given that person’s (and the people for whom that person was a stand-in) understandings of the world. Reading each of these proposed solutions and the responses each “solution” elicited from the group told this reader more about a particular slice of English life and culture than would several volumes of academic exposition. The writers of murder mysteries routinely use short-cuts, exaggerations and stereotypes in order to make the story believable (for fiction is often held to a higher stand of “reality” than is reality itself) and yet the picture that they draw must adhere either the reality the reader understands or proscribes. Since different authors attracted different audiences the varied realities one comes across in these books gives the present day reader a vivid picture of the actual and mental world of the English reader of popular murder mysteries in the first half of the interwar period.
While some of the presumptions and understandings upon which the amateur detectives’ solutions are based will probably come as no surprise to today’s reader others seem to be more appropriate to a Monty Python sketch than a book that is not categorized as farce or magical realism. As this reader expected servants and clerks exist only to be questioned and to fulfill their practical functions. For example, at no point in the story did any person suggest that a member of the working or lower middle class might have played an intentional role in the murder. What was surprising was the degree to which the differences in the way in which men who went to one of the public schools and men who were “merely” well educated were considered as real, tangible evidence of who could and could not have committed the crime given the different solutions proposed. There was also a general agreement not only that men acted (and thought) differently than did women but that methods of murder would differ not only by the gender and education of the murderer but also by the gender of the murdered.
Although The Poisoned Chocolates Mystery is not a collection of short stories it can be read in a similar fashion as the the reader (and the members of the Crime Circle) are introduced to the crime and each of the six present, on separate nights, their proposed solution. There are no maps or complicated alibi checklists to reference. In short, a well written and diverting story for the reader who enjoys murder mysteries written in the early period of the “Golden Age.”
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were all suggestive of one or more prominent figures in contemporary English fiction and public life.This reviewer found Berkeley’s prose style to be enjoyable. Each character had a different “voice” and each proposed a solution to the murder that was both reasonable and predictable given that person’s (and the people for whom that person was a stand-in) understandings of the world. Reading each of these proposed solutions and the responses each “solution” elicited from the group told this reader more about a particular slice of English life and culture than would several volumes of academic exposition. The writers of murder mysteries routinely use short-cuts, exaggerations and stereotypes in order to make the story believable (for fiction is often held to a higher stand of “reality” than is reality itself) and yet the picture that they draw must adhere either the reality the reader understands or proscribes. Since different authors attracted different audiences the varied realities one comes across in these books gives the present day reader a vivid picture of the actual and mental world of the English reader of popular murder mysteries in the first half of the interwar period.
While some of the presumptions and understandings upon which the amateur detectives’ solutions are based will probably come as no surprise to today’s reader others seem to be more appropriate to a Monty Python sketch than a book that is not categorized as farce or magical realism. As this reader expected servants and clerks exist only to be questioned and to fulfill their practical functions. For example, at no point in the story did any person suggest that a member of the working or lower middle class might have played an intentional role in the murder. What was surprising was the degree to which the differences in the way in which men who went to one of the public schools and men who were “merely” well educated were considered as real, tangible evidence of who could and could not have committed the crime given the different solutions proposed. There was also a general agreement not only that men acted (and thought) differently than did women but that methods of murder would differ not only by the gender and education of the murderer but also by the gender of the murdered.
Although The Poisoned Chocolates Mystery is not a collection of short stories it can be read in a similar fashion as the the reader (and the members of the Crime Circle) are introduced to the crime and each of the six present, on separate nights, their proposed solution. There are no maps or complicated alibi checklists to reference. In short, a well written and diverting story for the reader who enjoys murder mysteries written in the early period of the “Golden Age.”
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LibraryThing member MariaAlhambra
A light-hearted detective metafiction, it follows the attempt of six armchair detectives to solve a particularly puzzling murder involving the poisoned chocolate liqueurs of the title. It is not so much a parody of the genre as an analysis of how deductive methods and psychology are plied and
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manipulated by crime novelists to produce certain narrative solutions. One particularly wonders as to the model of Alicia, the 'psychological novelist', a dig perhaps at certain fashionable Freud-influenced writers (Rebecca West? May Sinclair?). Quite fun. Show Less
LibraryThing member JeffreyMarks
Wonderful mystery of deductions and false trails. A classic.
LibraryThing member RubyScarlett
Excellent book! This is an unusual mystery but so rewarding. I absolutely love the way it was carried, the author's clever interweaving of live scenes along with narrative made sure I was never bored, the resolution is really satisfying and the wit is superb. A classic;
LibraryThing member leslie.98
A terrific Golden Age mystery! Brief background (no spoilers, so don't worry!): Sir Eustace, a womanizing cad, received a box of chocolates at his club with a solicitation from the firm to test their new flavors. He didn't want them, so Mr. Bendix took them home for his wife. After eating some, Mr.
Not only was it a great mystery, but it was fascinating to see the different methods used by each of the 6 amateur sleuths (a playwright, a modern author, 2 mystery writers, a barrister, and a fan). Because so many of the 'Circle' were authors, we get to see the various approaches commonly used in mystery novels critiqued.
I thought that I had guessed the solution early on but the actual killer was a big surprise!! I did feel some pride though that my solution was one of the ones proposed...
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Bendix was taken ill and Mrs. Bendix died. The police are stymied, so they don't object when Roger Sheringham proposed that his 'Crime Circle' try solving the case. Each of the 6 members worked independently and then presented their solution to the club. Not only was it a great mystery, but it was fascinating to see the different methods used by each of the 6 amateur sleuths (a playwright, a modern author, 2 mystery writers, a barrister, and a fan). Because so many of the 'Circle' were authors, we get to see the various approaches commonly used in mystery novels critiqued.
I thought that I had guessed the solution early on but the actual killer was a big surprise!! I did feel some pride though that my solution was one of the ones proposed...
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LibraryThing member SylviaC
An intriguing puzzle, in which a group of six people with an interest in crime attempt to solve the same murder that was presented in Berkeley's short story "The Avenging Chance". Each of the detective characters approaches the case from a different perspective, using different techniques, then (If it is, in fact, the true solution—it was not definitive, and the rest of the book taught me to disbelieve anything that cannot be proven to be an absolute, solid, rock-hard fact.)
Stylistically, the detectives suffered from excessive verbosity. It was in character for most of them, but a bit of a drag to read.
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presents a plausible, and often very convincing, solution to the rest of the group. The group then attempts to pick holes in that theory. This time, the final solution came as a surprise to me. Stylistically, the detectives suffered from excessive verbosity. It was in character for most of them, but a bit of a drag to read.
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LibraryThing member ParadisePorch
Various solutions - mine was offered by one of the participants but it was wrong ;-) The right solution, revealed at the end, didn't seem as 'tight' to me.
LibraryThing member thornton37814
A box of poisoned chocolates provides varying solutions by members of a crimes club and by the police. Alternate solutions to the classic case are provided by well-known Golden Age author Christianna Brand and by series editor Martin Edwards. It's written in a narrative style popular at the time
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but less engaging to today's readers. Show Less
LibraryThing member Overgaard
so well done - just as it's in danger of becoming tedious one realizes who did it - perfectly imagined
LibraryThing member denmoir
A group of crime writers undertake to solve a cold case. Each comes up with a solution in turn so, in effect, the one story becomes ten. It is entertaining enough to read yourself to sleep with.
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Physical description
299 p.; 20 cm
Local notes
!Pronzini-Muller 56