Windows To The World

The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald A. Knox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ronald A Knox  was a mystery writer in the early part of the 20th century who belonged to a club peopled by such writers as Christie, Sayers and G. K Chesterton. He made a list of the ten commandments of detective fiction which includes such gems as
1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story
2. No supernatural explanations
and 3. No Chinaman must figure in the story which may mean a foreign servant or passerby. He also says at #10 that if twins or doubles are used in the story the reader must be prepared in advance for them.

In this mystery there are two young men who do indeed bear a mild resemblance to each other but he doesn't break any of his rules. The story is about the disappearance of one young man while on a rowing trip up the Thames with the other.  This is one of those delicious tales where you have to decide who is really the victim .

Most of Knox's commandments have become outdated in modern crime writing, especially #2. and #4 which calls for the exclusion of unknown poisons and the use of any appliance which requires a long scientific explanation at the end. In this story the setting is a river, a boat  and some oars.