Murder Jigsaw

“Jiminy! He’s going to fish for him.”

A small Cornish fishing hotel, The Tremarden Arms, is renowned for its adjacent waters where guests fish for salmon and trout. The unpleasant Colonel Donoughmore is found drowned in a salmon pool in the hotel grounds. He was dressed for fishing and his rod was on the bank nearby. The local Police concluded it was an unfortunate accident but Doctor Manson finds two peculiar circumstances which convinced him that this was a skilfully contrived murder. There were fellow fishermen out on the river banks near to where the Colonel was found dead, two of whom had publicly uttered threats against him. Furthermore, several other hotel guests had strong financial motives for removing him.

Murder Jigsaw was originally published in 1944. This new edition includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Nigel Moss.

“Murder Jigsaw is a return to the type of detective story of which we have not had enough lately” Elizabeth Bowen

“If these Radfords can keep writing thrillers of this class, they are going to take their rightful place very near the top” Liverpool Evening Express

“This reader found Doctor Manson’s methods of working quite absorbing” Queen

Edwin Isaac Radford (1891-1973) and Mona Augusta Radford (1894-1990) were married in 1939. Edwin worked as a journalist, holding many editorial roles on Fleet Street in London, while Mona was a popular leading lady in musical-comedy and revues until her retirement from the stage. The couple turned to crime fiction when they were both in their early fifties. Edwin described their collaborative formula as: "She kills them off, and I find out how she done it." Their primary series detective was Harry Manson who they introduced in 1944. The Radfords spent their final years living in Worthing on the English South Coast. Dean Street Press have republished three of their classic mysteries: Murder Jigsaw, Murder Isn't Cricket and Who Killed Dick Whittington?