Jumping Jenny - (British Library Crime Classics) by Anthony Berkeley (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published in 1933 by Hodder & Stoughton, London"--Title page verso

Book Synopsis

Tightly paced and cleverly defying the conventions of the classic detective story, this 1933 novel remains a milestone of the inverted mystery subgenre. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar (R) Award-winning author Martin Edwards.

At a costume party with the dubious theme of famous murderers and their victims, the know-it-all amateur criminologist Roger Sheringham is settled in for an evening of beer, small talk, and analyzing his companions. One guest in particular has caught his attention for her theatrics, and his theory that she might have several enemies among the partygoers proves true when she is found hanging from the decorative gallows on the roof terrace.

Noticing a key detail that could implicate a friend in the crime, Sheringham decides to meddle with the scene and unwittingly casts himself into jeopardy as the uncommonly thorough police investigation circles closer and closer to the truth.

Review Quotes

"Berkeley games the conventions of golden-age whodunits yet again in this ghoulish bonbon first published in 1933...[and] makes his highly artificial plot consistently lively, amusing, and treasurable." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Set in post-WWI England, this outstanding 1933 mystery from Berkeley (1893-1971) opens at "a murderer-and-victim party" outside London attended by amateur sleuth Roger Sheringham. Berkely adroitly plays on readers' expectations of genre conventions with a witty and tricky plot and a genuinely shocking conclusion. The British Library Crime Classics series does golden age fans a great service with this reissue. " -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review