This mystery appears on many lists as one of the “must read” books for mystery fans.  This is considered the first of the Golden age of Detective fiction books.  Despite the title this is actually the first in the Trent books.  Trent is an artist, who upon request does some investigating and solves mysteries.  He is asked by a newspaper man to investigate the death of a wealthy financier.  Philip Trent accepts and the fun begins … for the reader.

As a reader you need to keep in mind that this was the first of its kind of fiction, so when you are reading it today and think “I’ve seen this before” remember it is not a tired derivative but instead the original.  There are many twists and turns commonly used in mysteries today, red herrings, innocents being set up to take a fall, infidelity, jealousy and revenge. Well written and fast paced, a great read for lovers of classic detective fiction.