'As a maker of watertight puzzles, Mr Connington has no superior'Daily Mail
Thief, criminal and probably a coward, would Hyson have had the courage to kill himself or did someone catch up with him? Did his death have anything to do with Mrs Telford, who committed suicide shortly before?
The Inspector, anticipating a routine investigation, finds conflicting stories, poison pen letters, and damning information about Hyson. It takes Sir Clinton Driffield to untangle the case and prove that the cast-iron alibi is the one which should arouse suspicion.
Alfred Walter Stewart (1880-1947), 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.