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Roger Sheringham Cases #5 & 11
The poisoned chocolates case and The avenging chance
Berkeley, Anthony
- GenresMystery
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Anthony Berkeley
107 books177 followersAnthony Berkeley Cox was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley Cox, and A. Monmouth Platts. One of the founders of The Detection Club
Cox was born in Watford and was educated at Sherborne School and University College London.
He served in the Army in World War I and thereafter worked as a journalist, contributing a series of humourous sketches to the magazine 'Punch'. These were later published collectively (1925) under the Anthony Berkeley pseudonym as 'Jugged Journalism' and the book was followed by a series of minor comic novels such as 'Brenda Entertains' (1925), 'The Family Witch' (1925) and 'The Professor on Paws' (1926).
It was also in 1925 when he published, anonymously to begin with, his first detective novel, 'The Layton Court Mystery', which was apparently written for the amusement of himself and his father, who was a big fan of the mystery genre. Later editions of the book had the author as Anthony Berkeley.
He discovered that the financial rewards were far better for detective fiction so he concentrated his efforts on that genre for the following 14 years, using mainly the Anthony Berkeley pseudonym but also writing four novels and three collections of short stories as Francis Isles and one novel as A Monmouth Platts.
In 1928 he founded the famous Detection Club in London and became its first honorary secretary.
In the mid-1930s he began reviewing novels, both mystery and non-mystery, for 'The Daily Telegraph' under the Francis Isles pseudonym, which he had first used for 'Malice Aforethought' in 1931.
In 1939 he gave up writing detective fiction for no apparent reason although it has been suggested that he came into a large inheritance at the time or that his alleged remark, 'When I find something that pays better than detective stories I shall write that' had some relevance. However, he produced nothing significant after he finished writing with 'Death in the House' (Berkeley) and 'As for the Woman' (Isles) in 1939.
He did, however, continue to review books for such as 'John O'London's Weekly', 'The Sunday Times', 'The Daily Telegraph' and, from the mid-1950s to 1970, 'The Guardian'. In addition he produced 'O England!', a study of social conditions and politics in 1934.
He and his wife lived in an old house in St John's Wood, London, and he had an office in The Strand where he was listed as one of the two directors of A B Cox Ltd, a company whose business was unspecified!
Alfred Hitchcock adapted the Francis Isles' title 'Before the Fact' for his film 'Suspicion' in 1941 and in the same year Cox supplied a script for another film 'Flight from Destiny', which was produced by Warner Brothers.
His most enduring character is Roger Sheringham who featured in 10 Anthony Berkeley novels and two posthumous collections of short stories.
He died on 9 March 1971.
Gerry Wolstenholme
January 2012 (less)
Cox was born in Watford and was educated at Sherborne School and University College London.
He served in the Army in World War I and thereafter worked as a journalist, contributing a series of humourous sketches to the magazine 'Punch'. These were later published collectively (1925) under the Anthony Berkeley pseudonym as 'Jugged Journalism' and the book was followed by a series of minor comic novels such as 'Brenda Entertains' (1925), 'The Family Witch' (1925) and 'The Professor on Paws' (1926).
It was also in 1925 when he published, anonymously to begin with, his first detective novel, 'The Layton Court Mystery', which was apparently written for the amusement of himself and his father, who was a big fan of the mystery genre. Later editions of the book had the author as Anthony Berkeley.
He discovered that the financial rewards were far better for detective fiction so he concentrated his efforts on that genre for the following 14 years, using mainly the Anthony Berkeley pseudonym but also writing four novels and three collections of short stories as Francis Isles and one novel as A Monmouth Platts.
In 1928 he founded the famous Detection Club in London and became its first honorary secretary.
In the mid-1930s he began reviewing novels, both mystery and non-mystery, for 'The Daily Telegraph' under the Francis Isles pseudonym, which he had first used for 'Malice Aforethought' in 1931.
In 1939 he gave up writing detective fiction for no apparent reason although it has been suggested that he came into a large inheritance at the time or that his alleged remark, 'When I find something that pays better than detective stories I shall write that' had some relevance. However, he produced nothing significant after he finished writing with 'Death in the House' (Berkeley) and 'As for the Woman' (Isles) in 1939.
He did, however, continue to review books for such as 'John O'London's Weekly', 'The Sunday Times', 'The Daily Telegraph' and, from the mid-1950s to 1970, 'The Guardian'. In addition he produced 'O England!', a study of social conditions and politics in 1934.
He and his wife lived in an old house in St John's Wood, London, and he had an office in The Strand where he was listed as one of the two directors of A B Cox Ltd, a company whose business was unspecified!
Alfred Hitchcock adapted the Francis Isles' title 'Before the Fact' for his film 'Suspicion' in 1941 and in the same year Cox supplied a script for another film 'Flight from Destiny', which was produced by Warner Brothers.
His most enduring character is Roger Sheringham who featured in 10 Anthony Berkeley novels and two posthumous collections of short stories.
He died on 9 March 1971.
Gerry Wolstenholme
January 2012 (less)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 21, 2025
Six amateur detectives are asked to present their theories on a recent murder case. The six detectives use their brains and both deductive and inductive approaches to offer six absolutely different but absolutely plausible solutions.
Thus, this whodunit mostly consists of talking - discussing the theories, arguments and motives and all this very entertaining. Overall, it is an enjoyable read, especially thanks to the author's ironic tone.
Thus, this whodunit mostly consists of talking - discussing the theories, arguments and motives and all this very entertaining. Overall, it is an enjoyable read, especially thanks to the author's ironic tone.
June 30, 2024
According to a recent London Times article, 1929 was a watershed year for detective fiction, possibly “the most important year in the history of the crime novel.” Georges Simenon published the first Maigret outing; Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie worked up “the first full-length adventures for Harriet Vane and Miss Marple.” There were other landmarks, by authors whose names I recognize only from having worked in bookstores, such as Margery Allingham and S. S. Van Dine. And one I’ve never heard of at all, Anthony Berkeley, published a novel called The Poisoned Chocolates Case, which was described in Julian Symons’s history of the genre as “one of the most stunning trick stories in the history of detective fiction.”
I can lay claim to a high degree of ignorance about detective fiction, although I can tell P. D. James from William and Henry. But I know a promising claim when I see one, and that stunning-trick-story description got me. It turns out that the novel in question has an origin story, literally: it began as a short story called “The Avenging Chance,” and both the story and the novel, along with some illuminating back matter, are contained in the present volume.
The gist of the story is simple. Someone sends a box of chocolates to an aging roué at his club, and he doesn’t want them so hands them off to a fellow club member, who takes them to his wife, who dies of poisoning. The police are baffled. (Even I know how often that’s the case in such tales.) Many people dislike the old rake, but none seem likely to have tried to kill him. The inspector on the case lays it out for a friend, who by chance is able to figure it out.
The foreword calls the story “splendidly stunning.” I might not go that far, but it’s certainly ingenious. It’s nothing compared to the novel, though, which you might think would simply expand everything in the short story; it goes way beyond that. The way The Poisoned Chocolates Case pulls the rug out from under you has something in common with Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap, but then one expects to be surprised in murder mysteries. This novel pulls the rug out from under the very idea of pulling the rug out, and that’s all I’m going to say.
I can lay claim to a high degree of ignorance about detective fiction, although I can tell P. D. James from William and Henry. But I know a promising claim when I see one, and that stunning-trick-story description got me. It turns out that the novel in question has an origin story, literally: it began as a short story called “The Avenging Chance,” and both the story and the novel, along with some illuminating back matter, are contained in the present volume.
The gist of the story is simple. Someone sends a box of chocolates to an aging roué at his club, and he doesn’t want them so hands them off to a fellow club member, who takes them to his wife, who dies of poisoning. The police are baffled. (Even I know how often that’s the case in such tales.) Many people dislike the old rake, but none seem likely to have tried to kill him. The inspector on the case lays it out for a friend, who by chance is able to figure it out.
The foreword calls the story “splendidly stunning.” I might not go that far, but it’s certainly ingenious. It’s nothing compared to the novel, though, which you might think would simply expand everything in the short story; it goes way beyond that. The way The Poisoned Chocolates Case pulls the rug out from under you has something in common with Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap, but then one expects to be surprised in murder mysteries. This novel pulls the rug out from under the very idea of pulling the rug out, and that’s all I’m going to say.
April 22, 2012
Murder as stylish parlour game. Someone sends a scandalous baronet a box of chocolates; he passes it on to a man at his club, who passes it on to his wife, who eats them and dies. The chocolates were, of course, poisoned. But who sent them? The police are baffled, so the members of the exclusive Crimes Circle draw lots and take turns offering their own theories about the case. Much talking ensues. This edition includes a version of the same story in short story form, which I recommend reading after the novel. It would make for an interesting study in the mechanics of expanding a plot.
August 5, 2025
I disliked Double Bluff/Direct Evidence because it was silly. But this one is clever. Although I correctly predicted the whole thing, it is one of the more ingenious crimes. Also, loved the very last twist.
May 25, 2021
Good mystery story
December 9, 2021
A clever mystery from "The Golden Age". It is very much of its time, but quite entertaining.
July 9, 2022
Very clever
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews