The Boat-House Riddle — J.J. Connington

In this Golden Age mystery classic the famous Sir Clinton Driffield reappears. A young land owner, Colin Keith-Westerton, has just brought home his bride, who is accompanied by her confessor, a French priest. They settle down temporarily at the Dower House of the estate, pending the modernizing of the mansion Silver Grove. Shortly after their arrival, one of Keith-Westerton's keepers is found by the lake side, shot through the head in what appears to have been a gun accident. In searching the ground near they body, Sir Clinton discovers a few valuable pearls, evidently part of a necklace, and it becomes clear that something more than an accident is needed to account for the facts. The reader must learn for himself what happened at the boathouse, how the gramophone motor was used, who owned the pearls, why Mrs. Keith-Westerton disappeared on the night of the murder, and what part Save-Your-Soul Sawyer played in the mystery. The Boat-House Riddle was published in 1931. The Coachwhip edition includes an introduction by Curtis Evans.