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The Bloody Tower by John Rhode, also published as The Tower of Evil
“Any murder planned
my Mr. Rhode is bound to be ingenious.”—The Observer
The old man dragged his dilapidated chair
to the window. With difficulty, he slowly extended a gnarled, shaking hand and
pointed toward a distant, formless bulk outlined against the sunset. “The tower
still stands,” he said in a high-pitched, quivering voice, which seemed to
conceal a note of triumph.
Strange words from a man who has just been
told that his eldest son lies dead, killed by the inescapable explosion of his
own shotgun. To be sure, the body had been found near the tower, but what could
be the significance of this ungainly structure that the old man should mention
it so mysteriously? Could the key exist within the old letter bearing biblical
citations alongside a cipher of odd, hand-drawn shapes?
Subsequent developments draw Jimmy Waghorn
and Inspector Hanslet far from the actual crime scene in their search for the
murderer. When they finally bring their theory to that intrepid
scientist-detective, Dr. Priestley, he offers a strangely enigmatic suggestion
which throws new light on the case and sets them on the track of an amazing
discovery.
“There are times when I think he is the
finest detective story writer of them all.”—The Manchester Evening Star
“He must hold the record for the invention
of ingenious ways of taking life.”—The Sunday
Times
“It is the soundness of his method that
keeps him in the front rank of detective story artists.”—The London News
