#20booksofsummer23 is a reading challenge started by 746 Books where participants attempt to read 10, 15, or 20 books off of their TBR and review them between June 1 – September 1, 2023. I am trying to read and review 6-7 books that I picked per month. You can see my complete reading list here.
Reverend Dodd and Dr. Pendrill are indulging their mutual weakness, reading and discussing good mystery novels after dinner on a dark and stormy night. Like all armchair sleuths, they like arguing the merits of the cases in the pages they devour. However, their mystery-solving prowess is tested when local judge, Julius Tregarthan, is found brutally murdered in his study. Suspicion immediately falls on Tregathan’s niece, Ruth, who was seen violently quarreling with Tregarthan before he was found with three bullet holes in him.
Ruth’s alibi that she was out walking in the raging storm, which she tells Inspector Bigswell, is exceedingly weak, especially when Ruth mysteriously leaves her Uncle’s house in the night and is caught. Again, her lame alibi throws suspicion on her. Inspector Bigswell investigates Ruth’s life and quickly confirms that she is in love with a novelist that her Tregarthan disapproved of, and together, they commit murder.
Inspector Bigswell, initially convinced that the two lovers were working in tandem, is further convicted when the local district nurse swears in open court that she saw Ruth Tregarthan with a gun by the cliffs while her uncle was killed. Despite much circumstantial evidence against Ruth Tregarthan, including the baffling disappearance of her lover, Inspector Bigswell is having difficulty squaring the actual evidence with his theory. Why did Ruth Tregarthan fire three wild shots? How come there are no footprints outside the window or on the grounds, and how did gravel get to the other side of the house unless brought there by the murderer?
Enter Reverend Dodd, who knows Ruth Tregathan didn’t commit the murder, and he must prove her innocence before she’s sitting on the docket for murder.
The Review
The Cornish Coast Murder is such an exciting debut mystery. There are shades of Father Brown in how good Reverend Dodd is at understanding what motivates people and their essential character. Still, Dodd is more methodical and liable to use the scientific method to work out his murder theories.
Despite the initial setup of Dr. Pendrill, Reverend Dodd, and Inspector Bigswell creating an investigative trio, Dr. Pendrill is mainly absent from the meat of the book and only reappears at the end to talk to Reverend Dodd about whether they will continue their weekly mystery book exchange, which is a shame because I think he could have been an interesting character. Still, he wasn’t helpful to the story outside of the initial examination of the corpse- which is a big clue; this case will not be solved by forensic evidence or medical knowledge; Julius Tregathan’s killer will be found by the unique method of the killing.
Inspector Bigswell is a good character if a shade of unimaginative in putting the clues and facts of the case. Try as Inspector Bigsell might, he cannot get the puzzle pieces to fit, especially how the murderer killed Tregarthan through the window and why it took three erratic shots. His lack of knowledge about the terrain and how people get around the coastline stymies the investigation and ultimately makes Reverend Dodd the only person who can solve this murder.
And when I say only person, I mean only person. If, for some reason, you can figure out the three-bullet problem, it will be impossible for you to figure out who the killer is and, more importantly, why Julius Tregarthan was murdered because important backstory and even whole characters connected to the murder aren’t revealed by Bude until the final chapters. The motive behind the killing is deeply relevant to solving the case, and Bude doesn’t sprinkle any clues about the reason within the book.
I found the solution to the murder proffered by Bude highly implausible. I would have found a diagram or map of the area helpful in finding the answer for myself and making his explanation more believable. The Cornish Coast Murder is a book that I enjoyed many individual elements such as the characters, the setting, and the atmosphere. Still, in the end, I didn’t think the book hung together satisfyingly. It’s a case of the parts being more significant than the whole for me. It’s a fun read, but I much prefer the Inspector Meredith series Bude later developed. The Cornish Coast Murder is a solid read, if a little uneven in its execution.
The Cornish Coast Murder Reviews
My #20booksofsummer23 Reviews
Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
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