I seem to recall that Sherlock Holmes claimed to have written a treatise on distinctive cigarette ashes. He might have done the same about the distinctive smell of certain types of tobacco. It is on such a scent that the mystery hangs in "A Smell of Smoke," by Miles Burton. It's the subject of today's Classic Mysteries podcast review, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.
Miles Burton was one of the pen names used by Cecil John Charles Street, who also wrote mysteries as "John Rhode" and a couple of other names. While he is largely forgotten today, he turned out four mysteries a year for 37 years - quite an impressive output.
In "A Smell of Smoke," we meet a man named Matthew Calder. Taking a walk late one night, he hears a splash from a nearby stream. He also smells the scent of a distinctive brand of Turkish cigarettes - a brand used only by his nephew. He thinks no more of it until the next day, when the body of a generally disliked local resident is fished out of the stream. It appears to be an accidental death - but Calder cannot forget the scent of that cigarette. And he suspects foul play - and that his own nephew may have been responsible for it.
His suspicions will lead to another murder. And that will lead to the arrival of Burton's detective team - the police, in the person of Scotland yard Inspector Henry Arnold, and a "freelance" sleuth named Desmond Merrion, who work together to peel back the layers of this most enjoyable mystery.
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