The Poisoned Chocolates Case: A Roger Sheringham Detective Story

by Anthony Berkeley

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: B001V312LQ
• Release Date: January 1929
• Publisher: Crime Club/ Doubleday
• Length: 299 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Ur Golden Age Detective Novel

The Poisoned Chocolates Case should never have gone out of print and it is great news that it is being published anew. (I made do with a charming but disintegrating edition from 1929.) It not only belongs to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, it does a bang-up witty job of defining it. This title is one of several books Anthony Berkeley wrote starring his mystery writer character Roger Sheringham. Sheringham has gathered an exclusive club of people who enjoy the exercise of reasoning out crime mysteries, each with their own differing approach. In this novel, a chief inspector from Scotland Yard presents a dead-end case to Sheringham's group and challenges the members to solve it. The group decides each will conduct his/her own investigation and by turns present their individual solutions for a group critique. The members are a successful courtroom barrister, a sentimental female playwright who specializes in romantic dramatic plots, a female modernist literary novelist who prefers psychological insights to plotting and other traditional fictional conventions, a bestselling detective novelist, a bestselling detective novelist, Sheringham himself and the group's enigma, the seemingly undistinguished Chitterwick who comes to represent the perfect audience member. Each succeeding presentation seems to be it, especially the penultimate (that was my guess from page 45); but there is a surprise awaiting everyone at the very end. Berkeley (who also wrote the terrific Malice Aforethought under the nom de plum Francis Iles), goes to town sorting out the different types of fictional sleuthing, often satirically, with occasional comments from the Chief Inspector about the differences between the real thing and novels. For a novel where the present action is largely people theorizing over and over again about the same event, it never lets go of your attention and moves swiftly.

Who Sent You Your Last Box of Chocolates?

What is there not to love about chocolate, except when they are filled with a dab of nitrobenzene. This classic mystery from 1929 makes nearly every major list of the best of the best. Roger Sheringham and his friends at the Detection Club are presented a stump-er by Scotland Yard. Each member presents their solution based on their insight into the murder, the characters, and the evidence. You will be turning the pages all night wondering who has their facts straight. This one contains all the elements that cozy mystery lovers enjoy in a read that is well paced and full of surprises. I discovered my copy on the bottom of a "to read" pile, had forgotten buying it, but it goes near the top of my list of all-time favorites. Writing as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelUnder the Liberty Oak

Very clever and inexpressibly bright!

This is a very clever little mystery. It is easy to understand why Anthony Berkeley is considered to be the grandfather of the Golden Era of detective fiction. The book was written in 1929, but in spite of that date the mystery itself is not at all dated. The book is based on the premise of six amateur detectives given an unsolvable case by Scotland Yard. Each member of the Crime Club has to come up with a theory and point out the murderer. Each of the six come up with completely plausible solutions, but we don't actually find out the correct one until the last sleuth speaks. It is certainly a different take on "and then there was one". Berkeley certainly knew what he was about when he penned his detective stories! They are true gems.

A clever new device for an old-fashioned kind of mystery

It's British, it's amateurs solving a murder, the clues are all in front of you. What's better? And then on top of it all, this book gives us a crime club at which the members present their individual results and critique each other (with some dry wit at the expense of the genre). Great stuff.

What a delight!

I read this book after seeing it mentioned over and over again on best-mysteries-of-all-time lists.Berkeley's novel is built around a fictitious, famed detection club (no doubt based on a real club that had authors such as Christie, Sayers and Dickson Carr as members). The members of this illustrious club set out to solve a mystery revolving around a poisoned box of chocolates. Every sleuth turns in a seemingly plausible solution, each topping the previous person's explanation. Until the end, that is, when a less-than-likely member offers the most surprising (and probably correct) interpretation of the facts.Not only is this a real puzzle of a book, but it gently and self-consciously tweaks the fair-play traditions and cliches of the ultra-British "Golden Age." It's very clever, very funny, and reads like a shot. What else do you want from a mystery?