Trent’s Last Case

Trent’s Last Case
John Curran

Dorothy L. Sayers

E. C. Bentley

Written in reaction to what Bentley perceived as the sterility and artificiality of the detective fiction of his day, Trent's Last Case features Philip Trent, an all-too-human detective who not only falls in love with the chief suspect but reaches a brilliant conclusion that is totally wrong.Trent’s Last Case begins when millionaire American financier Sigsbee Manderson is murdered while on holiday in England. A London newspaper sends Trent to investigate, and he is soon matching wits with Scotland Yard's Inspector Murth as they probe ever deeper in search of a solution to a mystery filled with odd, mysterious twists and turns.Called by Agatha Christie "one of the best detective stories ever written," Trent's Last Case delights with its flesh-and-blood characters, its naturalness and easy humor, and its style, which, as Dorothy Sayers has noted, "ranges from a vividly coloured rhetoric to a delicate and ironical literary fancy."

‘THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB is a clearing house for the best detective and mystery stories chosen for you by a select committee of experts. Only the most ingenious crime stories will be published under the THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB imprint. A special distinguishing stamp appears on the wrapper and title page of every THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB book—the Man with the Gun. Always look for the Man with the Gun when buying a Crime book.’

Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1929

Now the Man with the Gun is back in this series of COLLINS CRIME CLUB reprints, and with him the chance to experience the classic books that influenced the Golden Age of crime fiction.

Copyright (#ulink_1bd0c84d-295c-5f6a-abe8-d5ddd0e0c9cb)

COLLINS CRIME CLUB

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Thomas Nelson and Sons 1913

Copyright © Estate of E. C. Bentley 1913

Introduction © John Curran 2017

Afterword © Estate of Dorothy L. Sayers 1978

Jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1913, 2017

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008216269

Ebook Edition © August 2017 ISBN: 9780008216276

Version: 2017-06-27

Contents

Cover (#u97eb57ae-ab43-5084-b78c-cb80f2aa0a01)

Title Page (#ua64c73fe-c60f-5bb3-ae76-acd8c8c12210)

Copyright (#ub87904b1-2a80-5313-9d8a-61b96d6efdd8)

Introduction (#ubcebf94c-f10b-5a2a-84dd-6c2e169ef9ca)

Dedication (#u95e0111e-eff3-5215-b268-e1284960af1b)

I. BAD NEWS (#ub49df467-6009-56ae-8ace-a52371710ef1)

II. KNOCKING THE TOWN ENDWAYS (#uaa5aac93-9ffb-5f08-8abf-4fb0398ea8ef)

III. BREAKFAST (#uf3671475-d542-58a4-a8f5-f49be585fad5)

IV. HANDCUFFS IN THE AIR (#u98e3035b-1d1a-5092-a3d2-efdf82226ad3)

V. POKING ABOUT (#litres_trial_promo)

VI. MR BUNNER ON THE CASE (#litres_trial_promo)

VII. THE LADY IN BLACK (#litres_trial_promo)

VIII. THE INQUEST (#litres_trial_promo)

IX. A HOT SCENT (#litres_trial_promo)

X. THE WIFE OF DIVES (#litres_trial_promo)

XI. HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED (#litres_trial_promo)

XII. EVIL DAYS (#litres_trial_promo)

XIII. ERUPTION (#litres_trial_promo)

XIV. WRITING A LETTER (#litres_trial_promo)

XV. DOUBLE CUNNING (#litres_trial_promo)

XVI. THE LAST STRAW (#litres_trial_promo)

Afterword (#litres_trial_promo)

The Detective Story Club (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

INTRODUCTION (#ulink_ae5b3db3-a51a-5ce9-89cc-3ac4da683ff1)