The Layton Court Mystery (1925) by Anthony Berkeley

💙 Anthony Berkeley Cox was one of the most influential authors during the Golden Age detective fictions era. He was also the initiator of the Detection Club, which was formed in 1930 by several murder mystery authors such as Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and their peers. As a fan of that sub genre, I was a little ashamed that I have not yet read many of Berkeley's works. I have read The Wintringham Mystery two years ago, and quite liked it, but none of his Roger Sheringham series. And so, I plan to work through the series by starting properly at the beginning, our first introduction to Roger Sheringham, the amateur detective. Interesting fact, The Layton Court Mystery was first published anonymously. 

💙 Roger Sheringham is a writer with intelligent mind. Along with his friend, Alexander Grierson, was invited to a house party at Layton Court by a wealthy businessman Victor Stanworth. At first, the atmosphere of the party was a jolly one; particularly for Mr. Grierson, or Alex, as Sheringham calls him, who has just been engaged to a girl called Barbara, also another guest at the party. However, things were quickly changed. First of all, Barbara suddenly calls off the engagement, with no clear reason. Then, the host, Mr. Stanworth was found dead in the library, shot on the head, with his hand still clutching the gun. The room was locked from the inside. The police and the coroner concluded that it was a suicide. But was it so? Roger Sheringham found some facts that didn't match with suicide idea, and with the help of Alex (the Watson to his Sherlock), Sheringham decided to investigate the murder, which, he was sure, was the true cause of his host's death.

💙 Berkeley had an idea to create an imperfect detective - contrary to the typical Golden Age detectives, which were usually good in their jobs, who could find the whodunnit when no one else could. They might made a few mistakes at first, but usually solved the case near the end. Roger Sheringham isn't that. He is confident of his deduction skill - and boasts about it a lot to Alex - but he made a lot of rush judgement, which usually leads him to a humiliating failure. I don't think this aspect appeals to me; I like it in fictions when the hero, well, acts like a hero, not fallible like we readers should be. Another thing, I felt that interactions between Sheringham and Alex were mostly redundant. I would love it if Berkeley involved the other characters more. I admit that the redundancy had something to do with the plot twist at the end (a very good one), but I have had lost interest long before the juicy part of the mystery came out. And thanks to Sheringham's many faulty deductions, and the redundancy, I have guessed the plot twist a chapter before it's supposed to be revealed. 

💙 On the whole, it is interesting as a debut series, but I would have enjoyed it more had it followed the usual course of Golden Age detective stories. I wonder if Roger Sheringham would turn better in the next cases. I might try another one, but if it's the same as this one, I might stop reading the series altogether.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

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