Tragedy at Ravensthorpe

by J. J. Connington, Curtis Evans (Introduction)

Overview

At Ravensthorpe-a lonely country house inherited by Maurice Chacewater-a masked ball is in progress amid scenes of great gaiety, celebrating the honor of his sister's coming of age. What each guest was to wear had been kept a secret and all who enter Ravensthorpe that night wear masks. Cecil, who is on bad terms with his brother Maurice, arranges a practical joke with several young friends to plunge Ravensthorpe into darkness and to carry out a mock burglary at a given moment; but the plan is overheard. The ensuing situation is doubly complicated. In the drama that follows, the theft of rare Leonardo da Vinci medallions, thrilling chases through the woods, secret passages, suicides and murders, all have their places. Everything is woven into one complex and exciting pattern, and the final unravelment by Sir Clinton Driffield is masterly. Tragedy at Ravensthorpe was published in 1927. The Coachwhip edition includes an introduction by Curtis Evans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616463083
Publisher:	Coachwhip Publications
Publication date:	09/07/2015
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Alfred Walter Stewart, who wrote under the pen name J. J. Connington, was born in Glasgow, the youngest of three sons of Reverend Dr Stewart. He graduated from Glasgow University and pursued an academic career as a chemistry professor, working for the Admiralty during the First World War. Known for his ingenious and carefully worked-out puzzles and in-depth character development, he was admired by a host of his better-known contemporaries, including Dorothy L. Sayers and John Dickson Carr, who both paid tribute to his influence on their work. He married Jessie Lily Courts in 1916 and they had one daughter.