"Motive generally gives a lead...but here there are half a dozen different people with half a dozen different motives, and nothing to suggest which one was operative - revenge, greed, hate, love, jealousy, they all come into it."
Inspector Bobby Owen of the Wychshire County police was summing up the problem which faced him as he tried to discover the murderer of a prominent local lawyer. What he found was an excessive number of potential (and credible) suspects, all of whom had what might be considered very valid reasons to commit murder.
All this, it should be noted, was happening as the storm clouds of World War II were preparing to break over England, leaving Bobby Owen extremely short-handed for the manpower to handle the basics of a criminal investigation. And, it should be noted, he had little idea of the nightmare that awaited him in a small, dark and remote garden. You'll find the full story in The Dark Garden, by E. R. Punshon, first published in 1941. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You can listen to the complete review by clicking here.
A local farmer, Osman Ford, had come to Bobby's office to ask for police help in forcing high-powered lawyer Nathaniel Anderson to turn over money he was holding for Ford's wife. Bobby Owen didn't see where that would be police business, especially at a time when so many men were being called up for military duty. So when Anderson was found dead soon afterwards with a bullet in his back, Bobby Owen had to determine whether Osman Ford had decided to take some action on his own behalf. It soon became clear that there were a number of other people who might have had a grudge against Anderson, with several different possible motives. Inspector Owen was going to have to explore a fair number of those motives – and a fair number of suspects – in his search for a killer - and for evidence that would stand up in court.
More thriller than puzzle, The Dark Garden provides plenty of surprises, as Bobby Owen uncovers secret after secret and motive after motive, all culminating in a powerfully dramatic confrontation in the blacked-out garden of a deserted cottage. Mystery historian Curtis Evans provides an introduction to this new Dean Street Press edition.
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