Dead In the Long Room/Andrew Green

Dead In The Long Room is a novel which works on several levels: as a murder mystery, as a depiction of Edwardian literary life and as a description of the pavilion at Lords.

The story is of a murder of an actor Harold Wilde during the Authors v Actors match at Lords. This fixture still takes place but the venue is now Arundel.

Inspector Cough of the Yard investigates the crime, assisted by 17 year old Agatha Miller, later better known as Agatha Christie.

Initially the finger points to Arthur Conan Doyle – the authors’ captain – who is off the field and his bat is the murder weapon.

Then the finger is pointed at A.A. Milne, also off the field and spotted on the balcony of the pavilion.

Conan Doyle’ s great friend P.G. Wodehouse also features and there is a fleeting appearance from his Dulwich schoolmate Raymond Chandler.

Conan Doyle feels himself to be a victim of his success as Sherlock Holmes has become bigger than him. This leads to attempted blackmail.

I did not guess who the murderer was and perhaps the execution of the crime could be better explained. It’s a minor criticism of a well-constructed and researched fiction which is an enjoyable read.